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Nicotine-Induced Neuroprotection In Drosophila Models Of Parkinson's Disease, Lynsey Deudne May 2012

Nicotine-Induced Neuroprotection In Drosophila Models Of Parkinson's Disease, Lynsey Deudne

Honors Theses

Parkinson's disease (PD) causes rigidity, tremors, and posture impairments. There is no cure for this disease and its symptoms intensify with age. In this study, fruit flies were induced with PD using rotenone and the flies in treatment group were provided with food that contained nicotine to determine if nicotine causes neuroprotection and alleviates symptoms of PD. A climbing assay was used to assess the severity of symptoms of PD in the control and experimental groups. The PD induced flies that received nicotine did not show a significant difference in motor ability and therefore did not experience neuroprotection.


Analysis Of The Response Of A Bromeliad, Vriesea Gigantea, Subjected To Drought, Taylor Epley May 2012

Analysis Of The Response Of A Bromeliad, Vriesea Gigantea, Subjected To Drought, Taylor Epley

Honors Theses

Drought can quickly alter physiological processes in plants not adapted to such conditions. Epiphytic plants, however, have been noted to have some tolerance to drought, which is evident in their water-holding tanks. Several physiological components were measured to determine if Vriesea gigantea, an epiphytic bromeliad, has drought tolerance. Water content, maximum quantum yield, protein concentration, and protein content were measured and compared between three control plants and three experimental plants, which were subjected to two weeks of no water. Water content showed a significant difference, indicating that the plants were being stressed compared to the control plants. The average maximum …


Of Mice And Mozart: Testing Spatial Reasoning And Memory Of Rats, Kaitlin O'Toole May 2012

Of Mice And Mozart: Testing Spatial Reasoning And Memory Of Rats, Kaitlin O'Toole

Honors Theses

An increase in spatial-temporal reasoning has been documented in the presence of Mozart's sonata K.448; this enhancement of physical and psychological activities is called the "Mozart Effect" (Hughes 2001). This effect has been recorded in humans and animals alike, and its influence reaches a myriad of applications including calming wild animals to increasing test scores in college students to lowering high blood pressure. Using a cheeseboard apparatus to test spatial reasoning in rats, this experiment recorded the results from maze tasks completed in the presence of sonata K.448 compared to trials completed in silence. Results showed a significant difference between …


The Effects Of Xanthigen Supplementation On Body Weight, Resting Energy Expenditure, And Body Composition In An Obese Population, Lisa Knecht May 2012

The Effects Of Xanthigen Supplementation On Body Weight, Resting Energy Expenditure, And Body Composition In An Obese Population, Lisa Knecht

Honors Theses

Since obesity is a significant problem that is facing the American people, there has been great interest in trying to develop a successful health supplement to help counteract the effects of obesity. Xanthigen is a new supplement composed of brown seaweed extract and pomegranate seed oil and is theorized to increase resting energy expenditure and decrease BMI and body fat. This study involved a 16‐week supplementation protocol to examine the effects of Xanthigen supplementation on an obese population in the Mississippi area. Testing of resting energy expenditure, BMI, and body fat percentage took place every four weeks for 16 weeks. …


Spiders Of Riparian Communities In The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, Megan Chevis May 2012

Spiders Of Riparian Communities In The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, Megan Chevis

Honors Theses

Currently there is little literature on what arachnids inhabit the tropics of Central America, especially within the country of Belize. This study aimed to find which spider species are found in riparian areas within the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in central Belize and to distinguish trends among spiders and the microhabitats in which they live. Nocturnal samples were predicted to have greater diversity than diurnal samples at all sites. Pisauridae, Salticidae, and Lycosidae were predicted to be the most common spider families collected. Specimens were collected from three riparian sites located on trails within Cockscomb. Diurnal and nocturnal samples were …


So Please You: A Creative Project On Playing “Oswald” In King Lear, Darren Hayes May 2012

So Please You: A Creative Project On Playing “Oswald” In King Lear, Darren Hayes

Honors Theses

This is a creative project displaying my process and journey through rehearsals—and eventually performances—as “Oswald” in the University of Southern Mississippi’s Theatre and Dance Department’s production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear. All of my research and preparation culminated in a final performance of the show which took place October 14th through the 23rd of 2011. This was the most important part of my creative project, as it showcased all of my hard work throughout the process. All of the documentation that follows was used to support my performance, as is the case in any particular role. If I did …


The Effects Of An Informal Science Education Setting On Students’ Attitudes Towards Learning Science, Lauren Finley May 2012

The Effects Of An Informal Science Education Setting On Students’ Attitudes Towards Learning Science, Lauren Finley

Honors Theses

Informal science education is becoming increasingly popular in today’s classrooms, and for this reason, it is important to understand the effects of informal science education on students. In this study, the Children’s Attitude Survey (Wulf, Mayhew, & Finkelstein, 2009) was used to measure the effects of informal science education on students’ attitude toward science. Questionnaires were administered to two sample sets, and results indicated a slight decrease in attitude after participating in an informal science field trip. Continuing research in this area will provide more insight into why these effects were seen, and how informal science education can be best …


The Role Of Midline And Pexin10 In Regulating Drosophila Eye Development, John Forstall May 2012

The Role Of Midline And Pexin10 In Regulating Drosophila Eye Development, John Forstall

Honors Theses

The Drosophila midline (mid) transcription factor gene encodes a highly conserved invertebrate ortholog of the mammalian Tbx20 gene essential for regulating the development of diverse tissues including the central nervous system (CNS), epidermis and heart. Decreasing mid transcript levels within larval eye discs using RNAi (mid- RNAi) results in poorly organized IPCs and in adult eyes, interommatidal bristles derived from sensory organ precursors are significantly reduced in number within the ventral eye field. We also observe gross abnormalities in bristle polarity, ommatidial organization, cellular adhesion and pigmentation in adult mid-RNAi flies. By combining a classical …


The Effects Of Xanthigentm Supplementation On Body Composition, Serum Markers Of The Metabolic Syndrome, And Hepaptic Enzyme Levels In An Obese Population, Emily Buras May 2012

The Effects Of Xanthigentm Supplementation On Body Composition, Serum Markers Of The Metabolic Syndrome, And Hepaptic Enzyme Levels In An Obese Population, Emily Buras

Honors Theses

XanthigenTM [100 mg brown seaweed extract (0.8 % fucoxanthin) and 100 mg pomegranate seed oil (70 % punicic acid)] has been shown to significantly reduce body fat, liver fat, and improve serum markers of liver function in obese females. Twenty-nine participants were matched for age, gender, and body fat percentage and randomized into either a XanthigenTM group or a placebo group. For 16-weeks, participants were asked to consume a reduced calorie diet while supplementing their diet with their respective pills three times per day. Data were analyzed using multivariate ANOVA with repeated measures and presented as mean ± standard deviation. …


Revolutionary Identities And Competing Legitimacies: Why Pariah States Export Violence, Ari B. Weiss May 2012

Revolutionary Identities And Competing Legitimacies: Why Pariah States Export Violence, Ari B. Weiss

Honors Theses

Amid the burgeoning literature on international norms, the study of states that violate them, so called pariahs, remains sparse (Shannon 2000). Although recent studies of pariah states have the identified numerous ways in which they break international norms, we do not know why they pursue one action over another (E.g Geldenhuys 2004, Nincic 2005). I argue that the export of violence is caused by the state’s "revolutionary identity" which leads to the adoption of competing and incompatible norms. Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) I test this against other alternate and prevailing hypotheses, demonstrating that a combination of sovereignty, existential threat, …


Questions Concerning Reasonable Religious Disagreements, Bradley Champine May 2012

Questions Concerning Reasonable Religious Disagreements, Bradley Champine

Honors Theses

In this paper, I discuss Richard Feldman’s article “Reasonable Religious Disagreement”. In his article, Feldman argues that “reasonable disagreement” is not possible between two “epistemic peers” who have shared all of their evidence. Regardless of whether Feldman’s argument is valid, the two requirements (being epistemic peers and sharing all their evidence) he sets for ruling out a disagreement as reasonable could be impossible to meet in the very situations he is writing about. I argue that in situations of religious disagreements, from the outset the parties involved have reason to judge each other not to be epistemic peers, and that …


The Practice, Regulation, And Political Context Of Midwifery In Mississippi: Attitudes Of Healthcare Professionals, Alexandria Broadway May 2012

The Practice, Regulation, And Political Context Of Midwifery In Mississippi: Attitudes Of Healthcare Professionals, Alexandria Broadway

Honors Theses

The current state-by-state system of midwifery regulation—or lack thereof—has made the issue a subject of debate amongst policy-makers, community-members, and healthcare providers as a whole. In Mississippi, the practice of midwifery is, at present, legal but unregulated, meaning there is no protocol for licensure, certification, or registration. In 2011, a bill that sought to require all non-nurse midwives in the state to become Certified Professional Midwives through the North American Registry of Midwives or a successor organization was proposed. Though the legislation passed the House of Representatives, it was never signed into law. This bill, along with past and current …


Determining The Diversity Of Wetland Fungi Through Molecular-Based Species Identification, Kimberly Chesteen May 2012

Determining The Diversity Of Wetland Fungi Through Molecular-Based Species Identification, Kimberly Chesteen

Honors Theses

This study used molecular techniques to examine the diversity of fungal species inhabiting leaf and stem litter of the freshwater emergent macrophyte, Typha angustifolia, during decomposition. Because morphological identification of fungal species is frequently inaccurate and underestimates the number of fungal species present, molecular techniques involving rRNA genes such as ITS regions (internal transcribed spacer regions) are used to better determine specific fungal species within a sample. In this study, samples of decaying leaf and stems litter of Typha angustifolia were obtained from Independence Lake, Michigan over the span of a year. DNA from litter samples obtained from the months …


The Identification Of Arachnid Species In The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Lauren Auer May 2012

The Identification Of Arachnid Species In The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Lauren Auer

Honors Theses

Despite the known diversity of arachnids in neotropical ecozones there has been little considerable movement towards creating a collective means for identification of arachnids in Belize. Previous studies on ecotourism indicate positive trends between biodiversity education and conservation concern. This study was conducted to engage in a field-based study of arachnids in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary to determine the most frequently encountered arachnid species. For this study, four separate locations were surveyed within the Sanctuary: three trail sites and the main camp area. Each site was surveyed during two alternate time periods to account for diurnal and nocturnal species. …


Synthesis Of A Glutathione Analogue Using 2-Α-Methyl-Β-Cysteine, Nathan Freeman May 2012

Synthesis Of A Glutathione Analogue Using 2-Α-Methyl-Β-Cysteine, Nathan Freeman

Honors Theses

Inhibitors of glutathione reductase (GR) have been synthesized and studied in order to reverse an increasing trend in resistance to common malaria treatments. Analogues of glutathione (GSH) are being synthesized in order to increase resistance to proteolysis, thereby acting as an inhibitor of GR. Through the use of unnatural amino acids, solution-phase synthesis of GSH can be easily performed using modified cysteine (Cys) residues. A modified Cys residue, 2-α-methyl-β-cysteine, has been successfully synthesized, and coupling of this residue with the other required residues of GSH, glycine (Gly) and glutamic acid (Glu), has the potential to be successfully synthesized in good …


Molecular And Functional Characterization Of Tick Salivary Vti Protein Family, Ashley Villarreal May 2012

Molecular And Functional Characterization Of Tick Salivary Vti Protein Family, Ashley Villarreal

Honors Theses

Tick salivary glands serves as the organ of osmoregulation in ticks and are critical to the biological success of ticks both during extended period off the host and also during the feeding periods on the host. The salivary glands are the sites of pathogen development and saliva is the route of transmission. The importance of multifunctional salivary glands to tick survival and vector competency makes the glands a potential target for intervention. The complex process by which tick salivary gland proteins exit the glands and enter the host has been extensively studied, in what is called the SNARE hypothesis, soluble …


A Phylogeny Of Samydaceae Based On Nuclear Gbssi And Emb2765 Dna Sequences, Chelsa Williams May 2012

A Phylogeny Of Samydaceae Based On Nuclear Gbssi And Emb2765 Dna Sequences, Chelsa Williams

Honors Theses

Samydaceae are a tropical family of woody flowering plants, poorly known because they were once included in the ‘dustbin’ family Flacourtiaceae and because there are few economically important species. The family has recently been studied using DNA sequence data, but most of the data were from plastid DNA and some relationships had low statistical support. For this study, two nuclear regions, EMB2765 and GBSSI, were sequenced in order to affirm or refute the relationships inferred from plastid DNA and in order to find stronger statistical support for relationships. The data collected mostly affirm previously collected data from plastid DNA.


Human-Animal Relationships In Traditional Healing Methods: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ashley Long May 2012

Human-Animal Relationships In Traditional Healing Methods: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ashley Long

Honors Theses

Limpiezas are a form of ritual used around the world for healing and diagnosis illness. In a lot of cases, rituals such as these are used with other objects such as bones, flowers, eggs, or animals. Within the Santeria and Andean cultures, limpiezas are performed using animals; it is the goal of this research paper to determine why certain animals are used and how they complement the healing process. Research included an exploration of contextual data and cross-cultural analysis of the different populations. It was found that the differences found in the cosmologies of the separate cultures can be referred …


Evaluating Child Routines As A Mediator Of Marital Conflict And Child Adjustment, Ashley Prine May 2012

Evaluating Child Routines As A Mediator Of Marital Conflict And Child Adjustment, Ashley Prine

Honors Theses

Many studies have examined the relationship between destructive marital conflict and child externalizing behavior, however there are several gaps in the literature about constructive marital conflict and internalizing child behaviors. Also, where many experiments have focused on parenting practices as the mediator of this relationship, no known studies have examined child routines as a mediator. Thus, the current study aims to test child routines as a mediator between both constructive and destructive marital conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing behavior. Participants included 121 married mothers with children from ages 6-12 (M = 8.59, SD = 1.93). Data about the parent’s …


Do Parenting Practices Mediate The Relation Between Maternal Depression And Child Adaptive Behaviors? An Examination Of Outcomes For Children From Varying Socioeconomic Status Groups, Stephanie Smith May 2012

Do Parenting Practices Mediate The Relation Between Maternal Depression And Child Adaptive Behaviors? An Examination Of Outcomes For Children From Varying Socioeconomic Status Groups, Stephanie Smith

Honors Theses

Through a moderated mediational model, the current study examined whether parenting practices mediate the relation between maternal depression and adaptive behaviors in preschoolers and whether that mediation is moderated by socioeconomic status (SES). Data were collected from parent and teacher report questionnaires on 117 preschool children [54 attending Head Start and 63 attending other (non-Head Start ) childcare centers]. It was hypothesized that parenting practices would mediate the relation between maternal depression and child adaptive behavior (positive parenting leading to higher adaptive behavior, negative parenting leading to lower adaptive behavior) and that the relation between parenting and adaptive behavior would …


Exploring The Interaction Between Human Granulin-A (Hgrn-A) And Amyloid-Β (Aβ) Peptide, Michael Samel May 2012

Exploring The Interaction Between Human Granulin-A (Hgrn-A) And Amyloid-Β (Aβ) Peptide, Michael Samel

Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting people over the age of 60, yet a detailed understanding of the molecular changes involved in AD remains a significant challenge to modern medicine. The hallmarks of an AD brain include the presence of senile plaques formed by a protein called amyloid-β (Aβ), along with inflammation of the brain. Aβ self-associates to form clumps of protein called “aggregates” which are known to be the primary toxic agents in AD pathology; however, several other proteins have also been implicated in this pathology. One such protein called progranulin (PGRN), which under …


An Investigation On The Interaction Of Various Natural Products With The Amyloid-Β Peptide; Betulinic Acid Causes Rapid Amyloid-Β Fibril Formation At The Expense Of Soluble Oligomers, Matthew Planchard May 2012

An Investigation On The Interaction Of Various Natural Products With The Amyloid-Β Peptide; Betulinic Acid Causes Rapid Amyloid-Β Fibril Formation At The Expense Of Soluble Oligomers, Matthew Planchard

Honors Theses

In this report we investigate the interaction of the natural compounds asiatic acid (AA), asiaticoside (AS), umbelliferone (UM), and betulinic acid (BA) with the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, the aggregation of which is implicated to be the major pathogenic event in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Screening of compounds for ability to affect Aβ aggregation was performed via ThT fluorescence. Only BA showed consistent deviation from controls, causing virtually instantaneous formation of large amounts of fibrils in a concentration-dependent fashion. Turbidity assays ensured the aggregation monitored via ThT was not experimental aberration. Kinetics utilizing ThT and turbidity indicated that BA causes immediate exponential …


Utilization Of Probabilistic Models In Short Read Assembly From Second-Generation Sequencing, Matthew W. Segar May 2012

Utilization Of Probabilistic Models In Short Read Assembly From Second-Generation Sequencing, Matthew W. Segar

Honors Theses

With the advent of cheaper and faster DNA sequencing technologies, assembly methods have greatly changed. Instead of outputting reads that are thousands of base pairs long, new sequencers parallelize the task by producing read lengths between 35 and 400 base pairs. Reconstructing an organism’s genome from these millions of reads is a computationally expensive task. Our algorithm solves this problem by organizing and indexing the reads using n-grams, which are short, fixed-length DNA sequences of length n. These n-grams are used to efficiently locate putative read joins, thereby eliminating the need to perform an exhaustive search over all possible read …


Differences In Race And/Or Gender In Attitudes And Beliefs Towards Obesity Among Students At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Erick Brown May 2012

Differences In Race And/Or Gender In Attitudes And Beliefs Towards Obesity Among Students At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Erick Brown

Honors Theses

Overweight and obesity have been described by various experts as critical problems in populations around the world, especially in the United States. These issues are so characterized because they affect numerous facets of life in this society. Researchers in the medical community have repeatedly described the health-related risks associated with obesity rates, asserting that higher risks of debilitating or fatal disease are tied to one’s level of obesity. They also say that obesity rates of populations are related to other disease rates, and many imply or clearly state that obesity is the cause and therefore the problem to be contested. …


“Double-Crossed, So To Speak": Black Female Resistance To Gendered Oppression In The South, Amolie Egloff May 2012

“Double-Crossed, So To Speak": Black Female Resistance To Gendered Oppression In The South, Amolie Egloff

Honors Theses

Despite the vast amount of research focused on slavery and the American South, studies focusing solely on the black female’s experience during this time period are a fairly recent development. In the existing literature, these women have been painted a helpless victim caught in the wrath of white men, black men, and even white women. This study presents the stories of black women courageously resisting oppression both while enslaved and just after emancipation from 1830 to 1890. The analysis of a handful of slave narratives taken by the Worker’s Progress Administration in the 1930s and 1940s established that because black …


Career Calling And Work Motivation In Traditional And Non-Traditional College Students, Cara Wells May 2012

Career Calling And Work Motivation In Traditional And Non-Traditional College Students, Cara Wells

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to help define career-related calling through the perception of traditional (18 to 24 years of age) and non-traditional (25 and older) college students and identify what variables of motivation are related to calling. Three hundred and fifty-one participants completed an online survey that measured calling through The Career and Vocational Questionnaire (CVQ), and motivation through the Work Preference Inventory (WPI). Pearson Correlation and independent t-test were used in statistical analysis. Correlational analysis revealed that presence of calling and search for calling are significantly related to intrinsic motivation. Analysis also showed that level of presence …


Libertarian Acceptance Among The Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Joseph Lebeau May 2012

Libertarian Acceptance Among The Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Joseph Lebeau

Honors Theses

How can a potential libertarian portion of USM students be differentiated from the conservative and liberal segments? The most obvious method is to classify students by their respective demographic factors. Demographic categories such as gender, race, age, religion, field of study, etc. could prove to be extremely useful when attempting to identify patterns in populations. The connections between these variables and political ideology are further examined in the literature review. The demographics of a potential libertarian faction have yet to be defined, specifically at the University of Southern Mississippi. Therefore, the goal of my research will be to first locate …


Flora Of The Gopher Farm Sandhill, Wayne County, Mississippi, Shira Brittany Nicholson May 2012

Flora Of The Gopher Farm Sandhill, Wayne County, Mississippi, Shira Brittany Nicholson

Honors Theses

This study documents the vascular plants and common lichens of the Gopher Farm sandhill, Wayne County, Mississippi. The Gopher Farm sandhill is located within the Chickasawhay Ranger District of the DeSoto National Forest and is one of the most northerly located sandhills in the Coastal Plain of Mississippi. The sandhill was surveyed 11 times from the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012, primarily during the spring and fall. The survey resulted in 180 species, including 15 lichens, 1 fern, 2 gymnosperms, and 162 flowering plants. Collections included two rare species (Carex tenax and Rhynchospora megalocarpa) and …


The Effect Of Phosphite On Mycorrhiza Formation In American Chestnut (Castanea Dentata), Matthew T. Perkins May 2012

The Effect Of Phosphite On Mycorrhiza Formation In American Chestnut (Castanea Dentata), Matthew T. Perkins

Honors Theses

One of the primary hindrances to Castanea dentata restoration in the Southeast is the root rot disease caused by the fungus-like microorganism Phytophthora cinnamomi. Root rot can be combated by the application of mono- and di-potassium salts of phosphorous acid, which are marketed as phosphite fungicides. Despite its value in preventing infection by P. cinnamomi it is also thought that phosphite may impede root colonization by beneficial, ectomycorrhizal fungi. I hypothesized that plants given a routine application of phosphite will display fewer mycorrhizas in the root tips than those plants that were not treated with potassium phosphite. Therefore I attempted …


Changes In Handgrip Strength, Flexibility, And Reaction Times Due To The Menstrual Cycle, Katie Money Apr 2012

Changes In Handgrip Strength, Flexibility, And Reaction Times Due To The Menstrual Cycle, Katie Money

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.