Digital Commons Network^™

An Accessibility Analysis Of 8th Grade Math Textbooks: Implications For Diverse Learners, Emily Waddle

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Imprisonment Across The Atlantic: The Captivity Experience Of German And American Pows During World War Ii, Sarah Elizabeth Miller

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Discriminative Stimulus Properties Of 3.0 Mg/Kg Mephedrone In Rats, Nathyn Thompson

Honors Theses

Consumption of a prominent synthetic cathinone known as mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) has become a popular alternative to club drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamine within the past decade. The pharmacological mechanisms that contribute to its subjective effects have yet to be fully characterized and are thus warranted for investigation. The present study employed drug discrimination methods to train eight male Sprague-Dawley rats to discriminate injections of 3.0 mg/kg mephedrone from saline. Various doses of mephedrone, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), d-amphetamine (AMPH), cocaine, (+)-methamphetamine (METH), and 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) were investigated for their ability to substitute for the stimulus cues of the training …

Athlete And Team Responses To Injury, Laura Heron

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Gronwall’S Inequality And Systems Of Integral Equations, Bradford Garcia

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of Attitudes Towards Women Physicians In Nineteenth Century Articles And Novels, Hannah White

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Cicero And Epicureanism, Ryan Williams

Honors Theses

Over the course of the last ten years of his life, Cicero devoted much effort to exploring and evaluating the three major philosophical schools prevalent at Rome: Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism. His critique of Epicureanism in De re publica, Cicero's earliest philosophical investigation, is especially clear because in this work Cicero explicitly criticizes the political views of that particular school. What is less clear, however, is how the ending of the work, the so-called Somnium Scipionis, can be understood as a response to Epicureanism. In this thesis, I shall consider how the Somnium Scipionis falls into line with Cicero's anti-Epicurean …

Relationship Between Ambulation And Position Changes During Labor And Hormonal Physiology Of Childbearing, Zoe Nokomis

Honors Theses

The birthing process for many women is a complex period of time that involves many changes in the mother’s body as well as the baby’s preparation to enter the world. Medical advances and technology have improved care for at-risk women but the increased number of unnecessary interventions during labor currently may actually hinder a healthy mother from having the best possible birth experience and outcomes for her and her child. Mothers can use many different, non-medical, non-pharmacological strategies to cope with the stress of labor. These strategies may include ambulating or position changes during the first stage of labor, massage …

Kentucky Wastewater Treatment Plants And The Prevalence Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Anthony Jeck

Honors Theses

Antibiotic resistance has been a growing problem in healthcare and agriculture for several decades. Antibiotic resistance has been evolving naturally for millions of years, but the process is also accelerated by human activities. Wastewater treatment plants have been studied as potential sources of antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments. In this study, several wastewater treatment plants in southern Kentucky were tested for the presence of blaSHV, blaCTX, and tet(B) using PCR and gel electrophoresis. Preliminary evidence suggests that the wastewater treatment plant at West Hickman may be a source of tet(B) and that the wastewater treatment plant at Silver Creek …

Effects Of Acute Stress And Ethanol Consumption On Il-1Β In Female Long Evans Rats: A Pilot Study, Kristin R. Creel

Honors Theses

Background: Acute stress elicits many physiological, behavioral, and neurological responses, and many studies have aimed to better our understanding of these responses and their effects. However, a majority of preclinical studies have used male test subjects, despite growing evidence that males and females have different responses to acute and chronic stressors. This study thus aims to evaluate the ability of three different acute stressors to cause a physiological stress response in adult and adolescent female subjects.

Methods: In this preliminary investigation, Female Long Evans rats (N=12) underwent three acute stressors over the course of three consecutive days. In order, these …

Academic Mentorship In Honors, Victoria L. Abbott

Honors Theses

A recently developed program at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) uses course-embedded tutors called Writing Fellows to provide first-year students with an academic peer mentor. Writing Fellows are assigned to an English 101 class which they attend, and outside of the class, they meet individually with students in consultations concerning their academic projects or papers. Since the Honors Program at EKU currently lacks a sustainable peer mentorship program, the author Tori Abbott attempted to combine elements of the Writing Fellow program with the needs of Honors students. The mentor for this Honors thesis, Katie Patton, taught two sections of the Honors …

What’S The Buzz All About? Creating Understanding Of Colony Collapse Disorder, Kristen Marie Gosnell

Honors Theses

Honey bees are perhaps humanity’s most important pollinators. Although they influence an incredible number of plants that we consume every day, their contributions to mankind’s diet are often overlooked. However, this may soon cease to be the case; if honey bees continue their downward descent and disappear, the foods they pollinate will too, leaving an enormous void in their wake. One of the leading causes of honey bee loss is Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious phenomenon in which hives suddenly collapse, seemingly without cause. This thesis asks several questions: What is CCD? What causes it? How can it be prevented? …

First Person Accounts Of The Proyecta 100,000 Program, Adolfo Diaz

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

One Signal, Two Behaviors: Odor Discrimination In Unmated Versus Mated Female Green Bottle Flies, Lucilia Sericata, George Iannantuono

Honors Theses

The green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, is of critical importance in the field of forensic entomology since it is one of the first insects to arrive at a freshly deceased carcass. These flies use a highly tuned and selective olfactory system to identify and locate the carcass; response to the decomposition odor usually occurs within minutes. Male flies use the carcass for a small protein meal and for locating females while females use the carcass for feeding (unmated) and egg-laying (mated). This divergence in behavior to a common odor cue is the subject of this thesis proposal: do unmated …

Drosophila Models To Investigate The Role Of Regulation Of Cell Death In Development And Cancer, Anam Hussain

Honors Theses

Cell death is of key importance in maintaining health and normal development. In cancer, cell death is improperly controlled provoking uncontrolled proliferation of cells, which results in severe harm to the body. The Hippo pathway is an identified pathway in Drosophila melanogaster that is involved with regulating the different mechanisms of survival and proliferation within the cells. It is known to interact with a gene known as Dronc that is a key participant in the cell death pathway of apoptosis. Previous work has shown how the loss of certain caspases, which are cysteine proteases, is linked with cell survival. My …

Effects Of Combination Ice And Compression Socks On Resting Calf Blood Flow In Trained Male Athletes, Michael John Hudock Jr.

Honors Theses

Compression socks are common tools that are utilized in the realm of athletics. The purpose of the compression is to increase blood flow to the lower extremities, thereby increasing oxygen and energy sources needed for increased skeletal muscle function and/or recovery. Recently, a product has been marketed that combines the compression element with cryotherapy, the goal being increased blood flow to the lower extremities while reducing inflammation post-workout to quicken recovery. However, to our knowledge, direct measures of blood flow using this type of product have not been performed. Thus, this study looks at the effects of compression with and …

Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function And The Pollination Ecology Of Urban Gardens In Dayton, Ohio, Angela Nicole Giaquinto

Honors Theses

Urban agriculture is an ancient concept that is gaining momentum in the United States in connection with urban renewal projects and efforts to mediate urban food deserts. These agriculture efforts represent a potential habitat for pollinator communities within the urban hardscape. Pollinator communities are threatened by urban landscape transformation, and bee species, in particular, are in a state of global decline due to various stressors. Urban agriculture has the potential to sustain both human and ecological communities, and the pollinators that visit gardens may provide pollination to plant species in the surrounding area. We investigated the influence of urban land …

Finding A Correlation Between Zooplankton Abundance And The Aggregation Of Abudefduf Saxatilis (Sergeant Major Damselfish) Beneath Boats, William Duritsch

Honors Theses

Abudefduf saxatilis, or sergeant major damselfish, are a common reef fish in the Caribbean and western Atlantic that form large feeding aggregations. Abudefduf saxatilis are primarily planktivorous, with zooplankton making up over 50% of their diet. Zooplankton are known to have diel movements to avoid predation, which have been shown to be triggered by the presence of ultra violet radiation. Beneath boats along the coast of Bonaire, aggregations of A. saxatilis have been observed, but why they prefer these areas over the open water column had not previously been examined. The abundance of zooplankton was estimated beneath boats as …

Global And Regional Chitinozoan Biodiversity Dynamics In The Ordovician: Relationships To Sea-Level, Carbon Cycling And Tectonics, Jordan Watson

Honors Theses

Fossil species provide extensive information about the past history of life on Earth. This thesis focuses on the global and regional biodiversity dynamics of the extinct fossil group Chitinozoa, and analyzes the impact and influences of sea-level, global carbon cycling and tectonics on their biodiversity. Biodiversity curves were generated from three different paleo-continents, Laurentia, Baltica, and Gondwana using the automated graphic correlation computer program CONOP9. Traditional methods of biodiversity analysis count fossil taxa in individual intervals of geologic time. The results of these methods are highly dependent upon interval length and the relationship of taxon range to interval boundaries. CONOP9 …

Can The Color Red Improve Men's Perceived Mate Value? Examining The Interactive Effects Of Facial Masculinity And Color On Female Evaluation Of Potential Mates, Alejandro Trujillo

Honors Theses

We manipulated facial masculinity (masculine-morph/feminine-morph) and color (red/white) through two independent studies—one in-lab at the University of Dayton and one online using Amazon’s MTurk—to examine its effect on social status and attractiveness for men when rated by women. We specifically aimed to see if the color red could serve a compensatory effect for feminine-faced men, who were least likely to be found attractive by women at peak fertility. When paired with red, women rated the masculine and feminine faces higher in social status. Through this increase in social status, the color red was also able to indirectly increase the physical …

The Effects Of Low Dam Removal And Kayak Run Installation On The Biodiversity Of Fish And Macroinvertebrates In The Great Miami River In Downtown Dayton, Ohio, Sarah Anne Stalder

Honors Theses

Five Rivers Metroparks and the Miami Conservancy District have made plans to remove the upper portion of the Monument Avenue low-head dam in downtown Dayton due to the hazard it poses for recreation on the river and its negative impact on water quality and biodiversity. The plans also include modifying the dam with “kayak drops” and the construction of a second kayak drop slightly upstream of the location of the current low dam to enhance recreational opportunities on the river. Typically, low dam removal alter the flow and depth of a river, especially above the dam in the impounded area …

The Effect Of Early Life Social Stress On Anxiety-Like Behaviors And Ethanol Drinking In Female Long-Evans Rats, Alyssa Roeckner

Honors Theses

Among women with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs), women have higher rates of anxiety-disorders and are more influenced by early life stress compared to men. Preclinical models have been used to study the relationships between early life stress, anxiety-like behavior, and alcohol intake and preference. However, fewer studies have been done with female rats than male rats. To that end, chronic social instability was utilized as a model of early life stress in females. In this model Long Evans rats are placed in different pairs every day, and this has previously produced anxiety-like behavior in female rats (McCormick et al., 2008). …

Phosphorus Adsorption Through Engineered Biochars Produced From Local Waste Products, Peter Ogonek

Honors Theses

Phosphorus contained in agricultural runoff is a major anthropogenic contributor to harmful algal blooms (HABs). Biochars are carbon-based materials produced from the pyrolysis of waste biomass that have the potential to amend soils and remediate inorganic and organic contaminants from water. Engineered biochars tailored to adsorb phosphorus from water could reduce the availability of the nutrient in agricultural runoff, reducing the size and frequency of HABs. This study observed the phosphorus adsorption properties of engineered biochars produced from two source materials, oak sawdust and cornstalk residue, and being unmodified, acid-rinsed, or loaded with magnesium prior to pyrolysis, creating acid-rinsed, unmodified, …

Distribution Of Shell Formation Proteins In Oyster Hemolymph, Hemocytes, And Mantle Tissue, Donald Joseph Kleppel

Honors Theses

The occurrence and composition of L,3-4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-containing proteins (L-DOPA proteins) that participate in oyster shell formation has not been fully determined. It is known that the oyster mantle tissue is primarily responsible for shell formation and recent research has demonstrated the involvement of the hemolymph (blood) and hemocytes (blood cells). L-DOPA proteins are known to aid in the cross linking of shell formation proteins, in turn creating the insoluble organic matrix formed to produce the organic component of the shell. Using the biomarker amino acid L-DOPA, this research focuses on determining the localization of these shell formation proteins in hemocytes, hemolymph, …

Microscopic Analysis Of Rickettsial Co-Infection In The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum, Amanda Benton Harper

Honors Theses

Ticks can pass a variety of organisms to humans, resulting in mild flu-like illnesses or more severe diseases that may be fatal if not treated. One group of tick-borne organisms of interest to us are rickettsiae, which cause an illness known as spotted fever rickettsiosis. The ticks that transmit rickettsiae to humans may also pass these organisms to animals and to other ticks, which allows for these organisms to continue to circulate in nature. In some cases, two rickettsiae will utilize the same tick host, and occasionally this presents itself as co-infection of the bacteria. Co-infection can then lead to …

Distribution And Paleobiology Of Hibernation In Fossil Ground-Dwelling Squirrels From The Great Plains, Usa, Randy Sanchez

Honors Theses

Hibernation is a widespread phenomenon present across mammalian taxa, including in many ground-dwelling squirrels (family Sciuridae). Prior work has shown that a hibernation mark can be identified in the ever-growing incisors of these ground squirrels through surface inspection. In this study, we inspected fossil incisors, originating from the Great Plains, from the C.W. Hibbard collection at the University of Michigan for features associated with hibernation marks in modern species. We noted hibernation mark-like features in several fossil ground squirrel incisors from the genera Otospermophilus, “Spermophilus”, and Urocitellus, ranging stratigraphically from the early Pliocene to the late Pleistocene and providing the …

A Compartmental Model Of Animal Behavior, Saharsh Dass

Honors Theses

Animal behavior is integral to fitness and arises from complex interactions between internal and external factors. An understanding of how external environmental factors drive animal behavior is important for understanding the way organisms adapt to environmental perturbations such as climate change. Glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) at Protection Island, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington display a variety of behaviors on the colony during the breeding season. The most common gull behaviors are sleeping, preening, and resting. I used a system of four differential equations to predict numbers of sleeping, preening, and resting gulls on the colony as a function of …

The Effects Of Omega-3 Fatty Acids On Intracellular Inositol Levels In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Jee Yeon (Joanne) Lee

Honors Theses

Bipolar disorder is a severe and chronic debilitating mental disorder characterized by extreme mood swings between mania and depression. The current medications for bipolar disorder, lithium and valproate, have been associated with numerous negative side effects. Although the therapeutic mechanism by which lithium and valproate (VPA) exert their effect is unknown, a leading hypothesis implicates inositol depletion as a mechanism of action. On the other hand, omega-3-fatty acids have been shown to relieve symptoms of bipolar disorder. In this study, we compare the effects of VPA to the effects of decosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth and intracellular inositol …

Procrastination, Motivation, & Flow, Reginald Desrosiers

Honors Theses

No Abstract.

Determining The Concentration Of Nitric Oxide In Solvent, Emily-Jean E. Bankes

Honors Theses

The body creates nitric oxide (NO) for signaling. One way that researchers study NO signaling is through the use of model complexes, or molecules that have the same metal ion and a similar molecular shape as biological molecules and are easy to synthesize. Currently researchers have limited ways to deliver precisely-known small quantities of NO to an experiment where they are trying to investigate NO-binding to a transition metal complex. A peak shift in the absorption spectrum at ~530 nm makes it possible for UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe NO binding to cobalt tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP). This makes it possible to measure …