Digital Commons Network^™

Derivatives: Benefits, Risks, And Regulations, Kristopher Nguyen

Honors Theses

This paper explores much preexisting research and history about derivatives. Derivative contracts can be used to hedge risk and to speculate in markets. To find the affects of hedging and speculating, I explored what other researches had found in studies and documented in history. Through out history, the regulations of derivatives have changes. I further explore some of the most recent changes in legislation and included those changes and some of the affects in this paper. Based upon the research of others I find that when non-financial firms hedge, those firms receive a lower cost of equity and cost of …

Evaluation Of The Prevalence And Treatment Trends Of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Among Patients With Diabetes In A Rural Population, Lauren Daigle

Honors Theses

Evidence for adherence to the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) screening and treatment guidelines for various health complications of diabetes in rural populations is limited. The ADA recommends annual foot and eye exams and supports the use of the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament (SWM) to detect signs of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). This study evaluated the prevalence and treatment trends of DPN among patients with diabetes in a rural population. Fifty-two individuals over the age of 18, with known Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus, were recruited to participate. Participants were asked to respond to a 29-item, multiple choice and freeform question …

Someday My Prince Will Come: How Are Gender Roles Enabled And Constrained In Disney Music, During Classic Disney, The Disney Renaissance, And Modern Disney?, Lauren Hughes

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to study how Disney has promoted gender roles through its music over three different Disney eras: Classic, Renaissance, and Modern Disney. While Disney movies have been criticized in the past for having characters with unattainable bodies and unrealistic views on love and life, the role that Disney music plays in promoting gender roles has not been as thoroughly researched or as widely criticized. With the immensity that children learn and are surrounded by Disney music, it is imperative that the message that the children take in is a healthy one. Through the analysis of …

Exogenous Barriers To The Incorporation Of The Second Generation North Africans In France, Amber Malone

Honors Theses

Immigration is a polemic subject in French society today. The 2005 riots in the banlieue and the government's response to the outraged and discontented immigrant populations brought forth a topic left out of public discourse for years before the heavily televised protests. At the forefront of this public debate surrounding identity and incorporation was one of France's largest immigrant populations, North Africans. Marginalization of a particular group often appears in the terms of social and cultural conflict. While this is true, incorporation of the culture of migrants and their representation in French society are not the only exogenous factors that …

The Dodd-Frank Act's Impact On Systemically Important Financial Institutions, Andrew Wilkes

Honors Theses

Following the financial crisis of 2008, President Barrack Obama signed into effect the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on July 21, 2010. The Act contains stated goals of eliminating too big to fail and promote financial stability. In this paper, I analyze the impacts of new regulations on systemically important financial institutions. In Chapter one, I briefly review U.S. financial regulation and the financial crisis of 2008. In Chapter two, I identify how increasing capital requirements affects banks. This thesis then examines how the Order of Liquidation Authority and its Single Point of Entry Strategy has unintended …

Analysis Of Joint Dysfunction During An Aging- Simulation, Laboratory Exercise For Allied Health Students, Anna E. O'Connor

Honors Theses

The aim of this experiment was to (1) develop and assess a joint-dysfunction simulation learning and sensitization activity for a Human Anatomy and Physiology I lab on joint structure and function (Part A) and (2) quantify the range of motion experienced during the simulation (Part B). The lab protocol allowed 318 allied health students to experience some of the physical limitations of aging, specifically arthritis, by asking them to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) while wearing simulation equipment that inhibited their range of movement. In Part A, students completed a pre- simulation survey, which assessed the students' knowledge about …

Chief Justice Roberts And The Salience Of Issues Before The Modern Supreme Court, Anna Whisenant

Honors Theses

This thesis studies whether the Roberts Court has been hearing more important issues than the Warren, Burger or Rehnquist Courts. I operationalize important issues as pre-decision salience and measure mentions of cases in the first section of two newspapers. The research shows that the Roberts Court has been hearing more important issues than the other modern Courts. I reason that the Roberts Court has been hearing more important issues because interest groups and individuals are turning to the Court to make policy. Because the Court is becoming a more important policymaking institution, scrutiny of the Supreme Court will increase.

Internal Displacement In Ukraine: Where The Government Went Wrong, Annelise Albert

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to show how the Ukrainian government has delegitimized itself currently in the eyes of the Ukrainian People through its handling of the internal displacement problem. To show this, this thesis analyzes Ukrainian legislation passed pertaining to internally displaced people and how these pieces of legislation have been ineffective at producing any significant change in the IDP problem. In certain cases, this legislation is correlated with an increase in the number of IDPs. Further, this thesis analyzes the decline in public opinion of Ukrainian citizens with the government. Through interviews of different human rights organizations …

Evaluation Of The Use Of High Frequency Acoustic Cavitation To Improve Water Quality In Commercial Catfish Operations, Bennett Elizabeth Barr

Honors Theses

Catfish processing plants must chill the water used for their fillet wash and flush and refill their piping systems frequently, requiring a pause in operations until the piping flush is complete. There is a need for a (preferably non-chemical) solution that enables the plants to chill the water less and flush their systems less often to mitigate high energy and water consumption. High amplitude acoustic waves (sonication) were introduced into water samples from catfish ponds to determine if they could be used as a replacement for chemical treatments to improve the water quality in the plant piping systems. Preliminary tests …

Dreams About Food, Benson R. Ingram

Honors Theses

The stories contained in this collection are entirely fictional, and any resemblance to reality is just your imagination. The source materials for these stories were dreams I had. Most of my dreams are about food

Hospital Corporation Of America: An Analysis Of The Financial Statements Of Hca Holdings, Inc., C. Haadsma

Honors Theses

A successful and dynamic hospital management company, Hospital Corporation of America owns, manages, or operates hospitals, freestanding surgery centers, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, and other facilities. In fact, Hospital Corporation of America is responsible for between four to five percent of all inpatient care delivered in the United States today. In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi, I have researched the healthcare industry, analyzed the company's financial statements, and provided audit and tax recommendations to the company's management. …

The Person You're Waiting For: Stories, Charles Ramsay Mccrory

Honors Theses

This collection of short fiction explores family, grief, and trauma from a variety of perspectives. Other themes spanning these five stories include parent-child bonds, addiction and recovery, and sexuality. Two pairs of stories (The Parents and The Painter, and Johnnie Walker and Staying Late, respectively) are linked in terms of character and setting; the middle story, Limits, is linked only tenuously to the last two stories through a common character. As stated in my introduction, I wrote each story on its own terms; I did not consider each story's placement in a collection until I had written and edited them …

Reflections On My Journey Using Visual Media In A Voice Recital, Claudia Salcedo

Honors Theses

The following thesis is a reflection of one student's process and execution of her vocal recital in which she incorporated visual media (digital paintings, light graphics, and videos). The author documented the technical and collaborative steps she took to prepare and perform her recital on December 5th, 2015. Preceding the chapters, the author includes a compilation of graphics or stills from the videos used in her recital. First, the author discusses why she felt it was important to present a recital in this manner. Next, the author elaborates on how her undergraduate studies and personal experience lead her to the …

A Study Of The Demographic And Socioeconomic Factors Influencing The Placement Of Retail And Urgent Care Clinics, Cody A. Smith

Honors Theses

Urgent care and retail care clinics are a developing model of health care providers that focuses on immediate walk-in care. This paper explores the influence that hospitals, demographic, and socioeconomic factors have on the placement of these clinics. This study employs a comparative quantitative design to explore the association of these variables with the placement of urgent care and retail clinics in Mississippi's Public Health Districts I and II, which comprise the northernmost twenty counties in the state. The findings show that a high population size, high median household income, low percent of families in poverty, and a low uninsured …

Effects Of Coloring On Immediate Short-Term Stress Relief, Courtney Simmons

Honors Theses

Although research has not yet examined adult coloring books specifically, research suggests that artmaking can reduce negative affect, improve mood, and reduce anxiety (Drake & Hodge, 2015; Pizarro, 2004) and that coloring, specifically, can reduce anxiety on a short-term basis (Curry & Kasser, 2005; van der Vennet & Serice, 2012). These short-term effects are seen more strongly when participants are using art as a form of distraction from their negative feelings rather than as a way to vent (Dalebroux et al., 2008; De Petrillo & Winner, 2005; Drake & Winner, 2012). The present study seeks to expand upon this knowledge …

A Neural Network Approach To Handwriting Recognition In The Codex A, Eleanor C. Anthony

Honors Theses

In this research, an attempt to create a neural network classifier for the Latin uncial alphabet found in the Codex A, a late fourth century manuscript held by the Archivo Capitolare in Vercelli, Italy and the oldest of the Latin Gospels, is outlined. Training data collection methods, as well as image processing and artificial data creation methods used for expanding the training set, are discussed, as is their contribution to the success of the neural networks. While successful results are achieved for the testing sets, classification of new image data is largely unsuccessful. Potential improvement and avenues for expanding the …

How Blackrock Became The Gold Standard, Daniel Scott Drummond

Honors Theses

BlackRock is not a household financial name in American culture today. Most people think of Goldman Sachs. JPMorgan Chase, or Bank of America instead. However. BlackRock. founded in 1988. has the most assets under management in the world with $4.3 trillion and more than likely will be deemed a systemically important financial institution soon. As this research shows, BlackRock has a globalized, diverse, and booming business, but it needs to improve in the following three ways: 1. Obtain greater technological expertise on the board of directors 2. Gain an online brokerage presence 3. Diversify its revenue streams In spite of …

Paleolithic Protection In A Western World: A Look Into Preagricultural Nutrition As A Remedy For The Diseases Of Civilization, Emilie R. Caron

Honors Theses

The aim of this investigation is to discover the associations of the Western diet to noncommunicable diseases and to determine if a reversion to a Paleolithic diet will provide treatment and prevention of these diseases. Noncommunicable diseases, otherwise known as Diseases of Civilization, are lifestyle influenced diseases and encompass obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and associated cancers. Incidences of these diseases have skyrocketed in the past century and show no signs of decline. Since 1900, the death rates due to heart disease and cancer have risen to account for 47% of total deaths in the United States in 2010. (Tippett, …

Delta Air Lines: A Financial Analysis And Corresponding Recommendations For Delta Air Lines, Inc., Emily Bush

Honors Theses

This alternative thesis project is a financial analysis of Delta Air Lines, Inc. Utilizing the 10-K Financial Statements from 2009 to 2013, along with some correlating outside resources, a full business and financial analysis was completed. Starting with the business background and operations, and then working into analysis of the Financial Statements, corresponding recommendations were created for tax, audit and advisory planning strategies.. The bulk of the analysis utilized the 10-K data provided by the SEC, only using minimal other resources for background research. The research found that since filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy Delta Air Lines has improved substantially. Delta's …

Strange Gospels, Emily R. Duhe

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of poetry and short stories dealing with different kinds and perspectives of strangeness, particularly with the concept of the Other.

Providing A Prescription Of School Choice To Improve Mississippi's K-12 Educational System: A Dose Of Education Savings Accounts Mixed With Charter Schools And Private School Vouchers, Eric Bennett

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the research surrounding school choice programs, such as charter schools, private school vouchers, and education savings accounts (ESAs). My research investigates academic effects, fiscal effects, impact upon low-income and minority students, parental involvement and satisfaction, and public opinion of school choice programs. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to answer my central research question of, What is the ideal school choice picture for Mississippi, with two goals in mind: 1.) To rescue children currently trapped within underperforming schools without the means to transfer to a higher quality school. 2.) To reform the K-12 educational system in …

Food Insecurity In Nepal : A Cross-Sectional Analysis From 75 Districts, Aarti Reddy

Honors Theses

There are a number of studies regarding food insecurity, but not many that investigate the simultaneous relationships between food insecurity and the measures of well-being (health, education and gender equality). This paper conducts a district-level cross-sectional analysis of the relationship between food insecurity and the measures of well-being in Nepal using an ordered probit model. Instrument variables are used in a two-stage analysis to address the problem of endogeneity. The study finds that health deprivation levels significantly affect levels of food insecurity in a district but education and gender literacy disparity are less significant. Addressing issues of endogeneity and multicolinearity …

Cameron-Liebler Line Classes And Partial Difference Sets, Uthaipon Tantipongipat

Honors Theses

The work consists of three parts. The first is a study of Cameron-Liebler line classes which receive much attention recently. We studied a new construction of infinite family of Cameron-Liebler line classes presented in the paper by Tao Feng, Koji Momihara, and Qing Xiang (rst introduced in 2014), and summarized our attempts to generalize this construction to discover any new Cameron-Liebler line classes or partial difference sets (PDSs) resulting from the Cameron-Liebler line classes. The second is our approach to finding PDS in non-elementary abelian groups. Our attempt eventually led to the same general construction of PDS presented in John …

Breaking The Language Barrier : The Spanish Translation Of The Barriers To Access To Care Evaluation (Bace), Yosmary Rodriguez

Honors Theses

The Hispanic/Latino population in the United States has been identified as a high-risk group for mental health problems. Unfortunately, due to commonly reported factors such as lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate services, many fail to seek treatment. While growing research has focused on identifying and addressing the different barriers to accessing mental health care experienced by this community, there continues to be a lack of validated Spanish assessments to aid in the evaluation of these barriers. In hopes of overcoming this barrier, and working towards better quality of care for this growing population, this project translated the Barriers to …

Britain's Failed Attempt At Fascism : The British Union Of Fascists, Years 1933-1934, Katherine L. Collier

Honors Theses

This honors thesis examines how and why Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists (BUF) tried to present itself as a viable political entity to mainstream British society in the years 1933- 1934. Though the BUF admired Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, this thesis argues that they sought to create their own distinctly British version of these Fascist movements. The BUF promised that Britain would again thrive, but only under strong fascist leadership which would provide an economic restructuring of government and a cohesive society, free from selfish individualism, decadence, and foreigners. The BUF promised to …

The Moral Price Of The Profit Motive In Medicine, John Sobieski

Honors Theses

The profit motive in medicine, which is the desire to maximize pecuniary profit as a primary motivation in patient care, is unethical. Regardless of whether the functional body outputting a medical profit motive is a physician, a group of physicians, or a large hospital, proper medical care should not be undermined by a desire for monetary gain. To say that medical care should not concern itself with money (i.e. costs, budgets) would be foolish; rather, I am asserting that treating medicine like any other business is disrespectful to the core values that predicate patient care. Human health is too important …

Localized Economic Impact Of Sports Stadium Construction, Scott Sommers

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Transformation Of Heroes In Film, Allison Connelly Toner

Honors Theses

Heroes research is not a new field, and it is widely accepted that in order for a hero to be accepted as such, he or she must undertake a journey during which he or she transforms in some marked way. The aim of this research is to understand the nature of that transformation in terms of 24 character strengths. This was achieved by watching the top grossing films of all time adjusted for inflation and coding for the transformation of the protagonists on a 1-5 scale. Ten traits were found to have a mean transformation of 1 point or greater, …

Beautiful Minds : Exploring The Healing Potentional Of Self-Refexive Art In Facing A Campus Mental Health Crisis, Molly Chapman Rossi

Honors Theses

This interdisciplinary study of mental health seeks to do three things:

1. Identify and investigate the issue of mental health among students within the University of Richmond campus community, through both statistical and ethnographic data,

2. Apply trauma theory to redefine the crisis as a community trauma with unique aspects, and

3. Make a case for hope by proposing a plan that uses self-reflexive art, specifically theatre, to address the individualized community trauma and second-wave trauma.

I explicate new theories in this work, among them the notions of “individualized community trauma,” “second-wave trauma,” and “traumatic fusion.” Another critical concept is …

Impact Of Asean : China Free Trade Area On Trade Flows, Son Tung Nguyen

Honors Theses

This paper estimates the impact of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement on the trade flows between China and the ASEAN countries. A gravity model with FTA specification is used to estimate the treatment effect of ACFTA. Since there are other unobserved variables that correlate with both the trade flows between China–ASEAN and the decision to form ACFTA, a cross-sectional OLS regression runs the risk of having endogeneity bias due to omitted variables. Therefore, this paper applies a panel regression approach with time and country fixed effects as the main method of estimation. The hypothesis is that ACFTA will increase trade …