Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Heavy Metals Found In Juul's Electronic Cigarettes, Joshua F. Gesselberty

Honors Theses

Electronic cigarettes better known as e-cigarettes have been consistently rising in popularity with new products entering the market daily. E-cigarettes function by vaporizing a liquid composed of propylene glycol, glycerin, benzoic acid, nicotine, and flavor additives with the use of a metallic heating element. This vapor produced is then inhaled by the user. The composition of this liquid is critical to discovering the possible health effects.

This study investigates the presence and concentrations of heavy metals in the e-liquid before and after vaping. An ICP-MS was used because of its ability to scan several metals rapidly and its high sensitivity. …

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 …

Comparative Analysis Of Computationally Accelerated Ngs Alignment, Ada Chaeli Van Der Zijp-Tan

Honors Theses

The Smith-Waterman algorithm is the basis of most current sequence alignment technology, which can be used to identify similarities between sequences for cancer detection and treatment because it provides researchers with potential targets for early diagnosis and personalized treatment. The growing number of DNA and RNA sequences available to analyze necessitates faster alignment processes than are possible with current iterations of the Smith-Waterman (S-W) algorithm. This project aimed to identify the most effective and efficient methods for accelerating the S-W algorithm by investigating recent advances in sequence alignment. Out of a total of 22 articles considered in this project, 17 …

Caregiver Knowledge, Perceived Self-Efficacy, And Level Of Confidence In Limiting Bedtime Screen Use In Preschoolers, Emily Hollingsworth

Honors Theses

Screen time usage is a major factor leading to negative behavioral and health consequences in young children. Screen time also affects sleep, with prior research showing a significant association between screen time, particularly at bedtime, and reduced sleep duration and increased sleep problems. The initial aim of this research was to measure and attempt to increase, through an educational intervention, the knowledge, perceived self-efficacy, and confidence of study participants/primary caregivers with regard to limiting the bedtime screen use of their preschoolers with the goal of health promotion. It was intended to be a quantitative, quasi-experimental, multi-site, pre- post-intervention case study. …

Women Outside The Household In Early Modern Germany, Abigayle Edler

Honors Theses

During the early modern period, women were highly regulated by society. This regulation included everything from sumptuary laws restricting consumerism and clothing to exclusion from guilds and other occupational restrictions. Women were generally expected to remain within the household sphere and were discouraged from deviating from traditional norms. However, some early modern German women were able to challenge and subvert these expectations. Given the prescribed gender roles often enforced within early modern German society, what prominent roles and industries, if any, were women able to participate in outside of the household? “Women Outside the Household in Early Modern Germany” utilizes …

Developing A Deterministic Polymorphic Circuit Generator Using Random Boolean Logic Expansion, Trinity Stroud

Honors Theses

Securing applications on untrusted platforms can involve protection against legitimate endusers who act in the role of malicious reverse engineers and hackers. Such adversaries have access to the full execution environment of programs, whether the program comes in the form of software or hardware. In this thesis, we consider the nature of obfuscating algorithms that perform iterative, stepwise transformation of programs into more complex forms that are intended to increase the complexity (time, resources) for malicious reverse engineers.

We consider simple Boolean logic programs as the domain of interest and examine a specific transformation technique known as Iterative Selection and …

Open Arms: Adult Faith-Based Volunteers: Expectations And Needs To Work With Youth With Disabilities, Merritt B. Vise

Honors Theses

Religious organizations can offer many benefits to society at large such as extended social groups, opportunities for physical activity and service, and emotional support. People with disabilities are often in need of these opportunities most because of the social pressures, rejection, and isolation many experience at school or home. This study was designed to assess the experiences and needs of adult religious volunteers who work with students with disabilities in order to determine expectations and knowledge needs of these volunteers. This study examined the published research about the benefits of religious organizations to students with disabilities, the rate of involvement …

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 …

The Effects Of Higher Education On Socioeconomic Mobility: A Comparative Analysis Of Outcomes At Bucknell University, Katrien Weemaes

Honors Theses

Income inequality and the lack of higher-education opportunities across the United States often correlate with families' socioeconomic status. In this honors thesis, the following questions will be examined: How does the social mobility of Bucknell Students compare with students from other national universities? How do a student’s race and financial aid status affect their ability to achieve social mobility? How has the rate of social mobility through Bucknell changed in recent years? How does a student’s current family socioeconomic status affect their ability to achieve high-income success upon graduation? Does the level of accessibility to Bucknell change when socioeconomic status …

Rights For The “Non-Conforming” Woman: The Intersectionality Of The Fight For Women’S Rights And Lgbtq+ Rights In Argentina, Talia C. Housman

Honors Theses

Argentina has faced many challenges throughout its history of activism as the people have pushed for an equal society. Different movements have sprung up over the years, but they have begun to twist together in recent times due to the need for support during repressive regimes. This brings into question the concept of intersectionality, which spans feminist, queer, and legal theory in its attempt to explain the need for overlap, modeling the natural development of personal identities and groups like family. The feminist movement and the LGBTQ+ movements have woven together in many rallies, especially during El Encuentro Nacional de …

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection Of Race, Art, And Incarceration, Mackenzie A. Gross

Honors Theses

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection of Race, Art and Incarceration is a Comparative and Digital Humanities Honors Thesis concentrating on Africana Studies, theatre, sociology and legal studies to demonstrate the importance of investing in incarcerated communities through theatre and education.

In Chapter I, I critique the loss of identity attached to incarceration, and introduce the foundation for Black bodies individuals being discriminated against in the prosecution system. I analyze the “Punishment vs Progress” mentality, and introduce current educational programs in place in prisons. I elaborate on the details of our production, as well as the makeup of actors. …

Food Insecurity At Bucknell University: A Look At Student Experiences And Contributing Factors, Emma Curtin

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the prevalence of food insecurity at Bucknell and examines the contributing factors. Two research questions frame the present study: 1) What factors contribute to food insecurity on Bucknell’s campus? And 2) How do students at Bucknell experience food insecurity? Additionally, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college student food insecurity is explored. The theoretical framework used in this thesis is Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction. This framework coupled with a phenomenological approach to analyzing the data are the most appropriate for the present study because food insecurity is a systemic phenomenon, maintained by institutions but lived …

Synthesis, Gari Eberly

Honors Theses

Synthesis is a scientifically-aware collection of poetry that explores how gender relations and race amalgamate to impact the maturation of an individual. Employing both sonnet and computer code, I reflect on my experiences as a mixed-raced girl growing up in central Pennsylvania, my growth through several romantic relationships, and how I currently navigate male-dominated spaces as a woman.

For the past four years, I have sought to bridge the gap between my two academic commitments: poetry and science. Both poetry and science exist as a means to ask and answer questions about the messy interactions that shape personalities and relations …

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 …

A Comparative Analysis Of Chinese And American Cinematic Depictions Of The Female Adolescent Life Transition, Lily Li

Honors Theses

The thesis examines the representation through film of the ways social systems in Western and Eastern societies impact female adolescents’ growth. My study focuses on the transition from childhood to adolescence, from a relatively "naive" state to a reflective state of mind, filled with uncertainty about oneself and the future. In this process, there are emotions of confusion, insecurity, struggle, anxiety, and intergenerational conflicts. Some crucial factors such as friendships, family relationships, and societal pressures are influential in adolescents' formation of their personalities. This transformational process is universal across all cultures, as every adolescent experiences the transition from youth to …

Biking At Bucknell: The Evaluation Of The Built Environment, Societal Environment, And Individual Behavior And Attitudes In Relation To Biking At Bucknell University, Makenna Cerney

Honors Theses

A biking market in this thesis is defined by three major contributors: (a) the built environment such as the engineering and construction of bike lanes, parking corrals, and other aspects of the physical infrastructure for biking, (b) the societal environment which includes the norms and communal acceptance of biking, and (c) individual beliefs, behaviors and attitudes toward biking. These three areas form the foundation of the factors that stimulate the demand for biking in the biking market, which in turn drives the supply of biking and biking services. This thesis intends to conduct research on the built environment, societal environment, …

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 …

To Believe Or Not To Believe: Voters’ Responses To Sexual Assault Allegations In Politics, Emily Brandes

Honors Theses

Since the viral 2017 #MeToo movement, public opinion on cases of sexual misconduct has been shaped by the mainstream media coverage of high-profile stories. A shift in public attitude towards these issues has encouraged more victims to come forward and share their stories, many detailing harrowing events perpetrated by successful businessmen and politicians. Credible accusations continue to come forward, and while some end in legal action, many do not, and perpetrators face little to no consequences. I examined how individuals respond to issues of sexual misconduct and assault in politics, and based on the severity of the accusation, how they …

Amplification And Filtering Stage For An In-Home Wireless Polysomnograph, Seth Young

Honors Theses

Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that tends to be easily treatable but, for most sufferers, is undiagnosed. To lower the economic barriers to screening the design of a portion of a polysomnograph, or obstructive sleep apnea testing tool, is considered. A filtering and amplification stage is theorized, simulated, and constructed for testing. The stage, consisting of three cascaded 1st order Butterworth low pass filters and amplifiers, did not achieve the target signal to noise ratio for a sinusoidal waveform of amplitude 200µv, but showed promising signal to noise ratios for waveforms with amplitudes as low as 600µv. The …

Analyzing The Role Of Noncoding Rna-Derived Rnas In Human Cancer, Yulong Huang

Honors Theses

To date, there are no known cures or effective preventative measures for cancer. Research has been conducted on small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and noncoding RNAderived RNAs (ndRNAs) as potential contributors to cancer suppression and/or proliferation. Tumorigenesis may be slowed by identifying and targeting some ndRNAs that are frequently presented in different cases of cancer, which may improve patient prognoses. To identify these ndRNAs, we utilized next-generation sequencing (NGS), a DNA/RNA sequencing technology, to sequence nucleotides in the human transcriptome. Then, we analyzed NGS data in accordance with information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Sequence Read Archive (SRA) to …

Health Care Providers' Attitudes Toward Screening Patients For Sexual Violence And Intimate Partner Violence, Judith Hoyt

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this quasi-experimental study of health care providers at a faith­based clinic for uninsured adults in a metropolitan area was to detennine health care providers' knowledge of and attitudes towards the use of SV and IPV screening tools. This study measured a volunteer group of primary care providers' knowledge and attitudes towards SV and IPV screening tools before and after applying an educational intervention presenting the benefits of screening and identifying patients who have previously been, currently are, or at risk to suffer abuse. A total of IO eligible participants completed all elements of the study. The …

Iot-Enabled Environmental Monitoring Technologies, Clayton Suell

Honors Theses

Environmental monitoring is essential to protect human life and the environment due to issues such as global warming, pollution, and weather phenomena like hurricanes. To this end this thesis presents a prototype IoT (Internet of Things)-enabled environmental monitoring network. The network will include the ability to collect data from various locations that will be uploaded to a cloud so that the data can be accessed from any device with a network connection allowing for greater environmental awareness and a database that can be used for environmental analysis. The network will be flexible enough that every data collection point will either …

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 …

An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of Health Equity As Evaluated Through The Covid-19 Response Concerning French-Speaking Refugees., Margaret Henning

Honors Theses

A collaborative approach is needed to understand the multifaceted medical bias and inequalities experienced by refugee camps of Francophone (French-speaking) nations. A combination of interest and passion for anthropology, medicine, and the French language presents a unique window of intersectionality to analyze this issue. Through a comprehensive review of literature published in both English and French languages, and connections with directors and leaders of refugee camps located in France and French-speaking African nations, we have elucidated a few examples of alarming medical bias experienced by both refugees and migrants. Although an exhaustive list of medical bias could be presented on …

Mortgage Discrimination And District Manipulation: Deterrents To Minority Mobility, Megan M. Rice

Honors Theses

This paper explores the relationship between gerrymandering and home loan discrimination. Gerrymandering, the process of manipulating district plans for political gain, and discrimination in mortgage lending are both illegal; and yet, they still occur in today’s society. By using individual loan application data from the HMDA’s website, a series of regressions will be run using applicant characteristics to measure loan discrimination at the state level. Once a state level model has been constructed, a measure of gerrymandering called the Efficiency Gap will be added into the regression in order to explore the relationship between home loan discrimination and gerrymandering. Regression …

Designing And Implementing A Peer-To-Peer Led Behavioral And Energy Reduction Program For Low-Income Neighborhoods, Jenn Hoody

Honors Theses

Reduction in energy consumption from fossil fuels is a necessary step toward combating climate change as more and more studies are revealing the catastrophic outcomes if the current trends do not change. Residential programs generally managed by energy utilities promoting energy cost savings and reduced consumption are being enacted to decrease the greenhouse emissions. However, thus far, little to no measures have been taken to extend the reach of such programs to low-income communities. Reducing household energy consumption would be particularly beneficial for these communities as it would lower utility bills for low-income households who spend a substantially greater portion …

Upper Extremity Motion Assessments In Virtual Reality Environments, Lanna Nicole Klausing

Honors Theses

Traditional upper extremity rehabilitation techniques often utilize tedious and repetitive reaching motions. Fully immersive virtual reality (VR), involving a VR headset, is a technology with the potential to have non-gaming uses and applications, specifically as an upper extremity rehabilitation tool. This study was designed with the long-term goal of evaluating immersive VR as an upper extremity rehabilitation tool. The purpose of this research is to quantify different movement deficits that may arise due to MS or Parkinson’s, and to understand how the motions of patients with MS or Parkinson’s may differ from healthy controls. This thesis documents the first step …

Future Teachers Of Color: A Documentary, Sarah Giramia

Honors Theses

“Future Teachers of Color: A Documentary” explores the lack of diversity within education and provides a solution. The paper begins by explaining the background of the issue through statistics collected from the United States Department of Education and Michigan Education Data. Once the background has been established, the paper uses peer-reviewed articles to examine the specifics of the issue and its impact. Afterwards, the solution to the problem is introduced by utilizing other outside sources and transitioning into the story of Future Teachers of Color (FTC), a registered student organization at Western Michigan University.

A documentary was the best method …