Digital Commons Network^™

Curriculum Integration: History And Music Hand In Hand, Kathryn Wilburn

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Discovering Aristotle: An Examination Of His Life And The Development Of His Immutable Brilliance, Timothy H. Sparling

Honors Theses

A synoptic piece which addresses the life of Aristotle and analyzes the development of his philosophical thought, Discovering Aristotle: An Examination of his Life and the Development of his Immutable Brilliance reviews multiple facets of this thinker's being, ranging from his genealogy to his pedagogical and theoretical contributions, and serves as a standard of measurement through which his vast works may be studied, thus granting his "exoteric" or early works with a certain preponderance in the text itself. Additionally, a respectable number of appendices, which are extremely relevant to Aristotle's world, are also included in the work; these provide the …

The Future Of Orthopedic Medicine, Brian M. Willie

Honors Theses

Orthopedic medicine is changing and advancing along with the rest of the medical field. There are new concepts developing in orthopedic trauma, tissue engineering, collagen, nano-orthopedics, biodegradable implants, robot-assisted surgery and more. The changes to orthopedics are focused on the changing needs of patients, and orthopedists are also changing their ways to keep up with the demand required of them. Advancements in fields such as stem cells, imaging technology, functional tissue engineering, and robotic assistance will further propel the diagnostic and treatment abilities of orthopedic medicine. In order to accomplish these advancements and provide for the needs of the future …

Spontaneous Recovery In Children With Expressive Language Delay, Jaimie Sierakowski

Honors Theses

By age 2, most children have an expressive vocabulary of approximately 200 words and begin to combine these words into meaningful phrases. However, some children acquire expressive language skills more slowly than others while displaying no signs of cognitive, receptive, or sensory delays. These children who experience an expressive language delay are often characterized in the literature as late talkers. Research shows that many of these children have delays early in childhood, but eventually catch up to their typically-developing peers, with no need for language intervention. Others, however, continue to experience expressive delays and. have an increased risk of developing …

Activity Choice And Extinction Intervention For Escape Maintained Behavior, Ali M. Markowitz

Honors Theses

Tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors challenge children diagnosed with autism’s progress in early childhood special education classrooms by interfering with the child’s learning opportunities. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder causing abnormal or impaired development in social interactions and communication (DSM-IV, 1994). This paper looks at a single case on a preschool aged child diagnosed with autism exhibiting tantrums and problem behaviors. These tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors included kicking, scratching, screaming, hitting, flopping on to the floor or eloping (leaving the table, chair or work area). One study conducted showed that activity choice intervention decreases the occurrence of problem …

Creating A Multi-Functional Liquid Assay Utilizing Alamarblue Redox Indicator, Victor B. Nguyen

Honors Theses

Yersinia outer proteins (yops) are effector proteins that have been known to cause cytolysis to host cells. Using a yeast genetic model, Yop genes from Yersinia enterocolitica can be inserted and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. With the utilization of alamarBlue® indicator, we hope to create a multi-functional liquid assay with the intent of further analysis and quantitative investigation on the effects of galactose induction of the effector protein genes. AlamarBlue® is a REDOX colorimetric/flourometric indicator specialized in detecting metabolic activity. As Saccharomyces cerevisiae metabolized, the indicator is added to monitor cell viability. In developing an effective assay, we determine that …

Interaction Of Pharmaceutical Compounds With Dissolved Organic Matter, Carlen Nigl Smith

Honors Theses

Highly prescribed pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites used to treat conditions ranging from infections to depression are of environmental concern as these excreted compounds are increasingly appearing in wastewater influent. As pharmaceuticals enter treatment plants they also can interact with dissolved organic matter (DOM) present. This potential interaction between pharmaceutical compounds and DOM may inhibit the advanced oxidation process (AOP) based removal of drugs during water treatment. The focus of this research was to utilize multinuclear magnetic resonance and hydroxyl radical kinetics to assess whether an interaction between influent pharmaceuticals and DOM does occur, the extent of the interaction, and …

Neuromusicology And Combat-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury, Brittany L. Neuser

Honors Theses

The number of reported cases of combat-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American veterans is rapidly increasing. The results of TBI are often a combination of deficits in cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral functions. Each case poses unique challenges for all involved—soldiers, their families, and health care personnel. Though each case is unique, common symptoms include impaired gross and fine motor, speech and language, memory, attention, visual, auditory, and emotional functioning (Davis, Gfeller, Thaut, 2008).

Due to the holistic nature of TBI symptoms, finding an effective yet cost-efficient treatment modality proves to be a difficult task. Previous research has suggested …

Neuromusicology And Combat-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury, Elisabeth C. Spinniken

Honors Theses

The number of reported cases of combat-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American veterans is rapidly increasing. The results of TBI are often a combination of deficits in cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral functions. Each case poses unique challenges for all involved—soldiers, their families, and health care personnel. Though each case is unique, common symptoms include impaired gross and fine motor, speech and language, memory, attention, visual, auditory, and emotional functioning (Davis, Gfeller, Thaut, 2008).

Due to the holistic nature of TBI symptoms, finding an effective yet cost-efficient treatment modality proves to be a difficult task. Previous research has suggested …

Neuromusicology And Combat-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury, Brittany Neuser

Honors Theses

The number of reported cases of combat-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American veterans is rapidly increasing. The results of TBI are often a combination of deficits in cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral functions. Each case poses unique challenges for all involved—soldiers, their families, and health care personnel. Though each case is unique, common symptoms include impaired gross and fine motor, speech and language, memory, attention, visual, auditory, and emotional functioning (Davis, Gfeller, Thaut, 2008).

Due to the holistic nature of TBI symptoms, finding an effective yet cost-efficient treatment modality proves to be a difficult task. Previous research has suggested …

Neuromusicology And Combat-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury, Elisabeth Spinniken

Honors Theses

The number of reported cases of combat-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American veterans is rapidly increasing. The results of TBI are often a combination of deficits in cognitive, physical, emotional, and behavioral functions. Each case poses unique challenges for all involved—soldiers, their families, and health care personnel. Though each case is unique, common symptoms include impaired gross and fine motor, speech and language, memory, attention, visual, auditory, and emotional functioning (Davis, Gfeller, Thaut, 2008).

Due to the holistic nature of TBI symptoms, finding an effective yet cost-efficient treatment modality proves to be a difficult task. Previous research has suggested …

A Literary Review Of Adhd Treatments: An Advocate For Neurofeedback, Jessica A. Steele

Honors Theses

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioral disorder affecting a tremendous portion of children in the United States. Medication and traditional Behavioral interventions have remained the primary forms of treatment. Research has demonstrated that brain wave frequencies are directly associated with behavior. Children diagnosed with ADHD have abnormal EEG profiles compared to their peers. EEG Neurofeedback developed as an operant conditioning treatment for brain waves to influence behavior. Neurofeedback has been found as effective as medication without the negative side effects or high percent of non-responders. Unlike medication and Behavioral Treatments, Neurofeedback offers long-term effects following the conclusion of …

Investigation Of Kinesin-1-Maspardin Interaction: Potential Link Among Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias, Savannah D. Brookins

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

An Ethnographic Analysis Of The Struggles And Priorities Of Medical Missionaries Serving In The Dominican Republic, Randi Hafele

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Prenatal Exposure To Altered Melatonin Levels On Hippocampal Gene Expression In The Male Rat, Anna Uehara

Honors Theses

The stability of the circadian rhythm for mammals depends on the levels of serotonin and melatonin, neurohormones that signal for lightness and darkness, respectively. Disruption in the stability of neurohormones has been shown to be a critical factor in psychopathological disorders in humans. For example, altering levels of melatonin in utero through administration of melatonin or the melatonin receptor antagonist, luzindole, has been shown to cause changes in developmental growth and adult behavior in the male rat. Analysis of relative adult hippocampal gene expression with RT-PCR revealed differences in ARNTL expression that suggested abnormality in clock gene expression of the …

The Relationship Between Live Coral And Macroalgae In South Caicos As Influenced By Herbivorous Fishes, Sarah Byce

Honors Theses

Marine life is the basis for most industries in the Turks and Caicos Islands, located on the outskirts of the Caribbean Sea. Few studies have been carried out to assess the current status of reefs in this region, especially those off the shore of South Caicos Island. The AGRRA v.4.0 methodologies were employed create baseline assessments of stony corals, macroalgae and associated fishes and to explore the relationships between these key reef organisms. This study was based on 10 different locations both inside and outside of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and including exposed and sheltered reefs in proximity to South …

Characterizing The Role Of Pax And Six In An Emerging Model System, The Freshwater Sponge, E. Muelleri, Ian P. Winters

Honors Theses

Sponges can be viewed as a remnant branch of the earliest successful experiments in metazoan multi-cellularity. As such, these organisms hold many clues into the genetic elements fundamental to the formation of complex animalian life. Two of these elements are the transcription factor encoding genes PaxB and Six1/2. Homologs of these genes in animals more complex than sponges have been shown to be members of a gene regulatory network involved in organ development. This is of particular intrigue since sponges do not possess such organ systems. Here, I discuss the putative function of PaxB and Six1/2 in sponges, and whether …

Black Bahamas : Political Constructions Of Bahamian National Identity, Maria A. Lee

Honors Theses

On Tuesday, 27 April 1965, in the House of Assembly an event known as “Black Tuesday” struck the capital city of Nassau, New Providence in The Bahamas. A political furor arose in response to the failure of the ruling government to accurately determine voter distribution and boundaries. In frustration, the leader of the opposition motioned towards the mace, shouting, “This is the symbol of authority, and authority in this island belongs to the people.” With a burgeoning crowd below, he then lifted the mace in front of the Speaker, and threw it down from the window of the House. “Yes, …

Elucidation Of The Pax/Six Gene Regulatory Network In Ephydatia Muelleri, Anna Rued

Honors Theses

The evolution of gene regulatory networks accounts for much of the diversity we observe in the animal kingdom. In particular, the Pax/Six/Eya/Dac gene network has been known to play critical roles in development of all bilaterians and cnidarians. However, this network has not been characterized in Porifera. These studies focus on tracing the evolutionary history of the PSED network back to the most basal organism in the metazoan phylogeny through demonstrating the presence of a direct gene regulatory network between PaxB and Six1/2 orthologs in sponges. To this end, putatitve Six1/2 cis- regulatory elements were identified while the PaxBprd transcription …

Alteration In 5ht1a Receptor Activity From A Prenatal Exposure To Dexamethasone In A Stressed And Non-Stressed Adult Male Rat, Darshan S. Shah

Honors Theses

Synthetic glucocorticoids (GC) are used as a clinical therapeutic to stimulate lung development in fetuses that present the risk of preterm delivery. Previous studies have shown that a prenatal exposure to Dexamethasone (DEX) causes a disturbance in normal GC mediation of neuritic outgrowth, cell signaling, and serotonergic systems. Our hypothesis is that a prenatal exposure to DEX during the third trimester of pregnancy alters 5HT1A receptor function. Pregnant dams were injected daily with 150μg/ml/kg of DEX from gestation day 14 through 19. Control dams were treated with and equal volume of saline. Swim stress followed by elevated plus maze testing …

Mapping Of Stochastic Matrices Into Polynomial Form In The Complex Plane, Jordan Emile Cates

Honors Theses

This thesis originated from a specific problem from biology. Namely we need to study probabilistic models that represent molecular interactions that take place inside living cells, such as the number of molecular heat-shock proteins present in a cell. Because of the intrinsic discrete nature of the number of molecules present in cells, the fundamental mathematical models are based on Markov processes. For such processes a transition probability matrix describes the evolution of the state of the cell, whereas the state itself, i.e. the number of molecules present at a specific time, is described by a vector. The components of this …

Exploring The Role Of Sonic Hedgehog In The Lymph Heart Development Of Xenopus Laevis, Laura Barry

Honors Theses

Xenopus as a Model Organism in Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Xenopus laevis, the African clawed frog, is an important model organism in the field of evolutionary developmental biology research. These tongue-less aquatic frogs are basally branching anuran amphibians that display marked sexual dimorphism and have webbed hind feet that sport several small, sharp claws. This species is a useful model organism despite its long generation time and genomic complexity, for historical and practical reasons. The animal adapts well to housing in a laboratory setting, and its reproduction can be …

The Optimization Of A One-Pot Heteroconjugate Addition-Oxidation-Diels-Alder Reaction, Christina Vivelo

Honors Theses

Ynoate esters are ideal reagents for one-pot reactions due to their ability to undergo multiple addition reactions in one flask. Ethyl propiolate undergoes a heteroconjugate addition reaction with aromatic thiol nucleophiles, producing an enoate which is then oxidized by m-CPBA and is able to undergo a Diels–Alder reaction with cyclopentadiene. The work presents the optimization of a three-step heteroconjugate addition-oxidation-Diels–Alder reaction to yield cyclic compounds favoring endo stereochemistry, which may be used in further synthesis of biologically active compounds such as (+)-Methyl-5-epi-Shikimate or Deipeptyl-IV-Peptidase inhibitor.

The Role Of Histidines In Neurosteroid Binding Of Nmda Glun2b And D Subunits, Sarah Rhoads

Honors Theses

Implicit in cellular mechanisms essential for learning and memory, NMDA receptors are heterotetrameric members of the family of ionotropic glutamate receptors. Activation of the glutamate-specific receptor subunits results in the opening of ion channels, triggering an excitatory pathway, which can be moderated by certain endogenous and exogenous compounds. Previous research with the endogenous neurosteroids pregnenolone sulfate (PS) and 3α-hydroxy-5-β-20-one sulfate (PregS) have indicated that the binding of these neurosteroids to NMDA receptors containing the four A-D isoforms of the GluN2 subunit affects current flow through them1. Binding of PS to NMDA receptors containing GluN2A or GluN2B subunits causes an increased …

Determination Of The Atomic Resolution Structure Of A Dna Polymerase I Isolated From Rhodothermus Marinus, Natalie S. Omattage

Honors Theses

DNA polymerase I employs a multistep mechanism for sorting correctly paired nucleotides from mismatches. We aim to characterize reaction intermediates during nucleotide selection to better understand how this class of enzymes achieves high DNA replication fidelity. DNA polymerase I from R. marinus contains an unusual and disruptive proline in the mobile O helix near the active site. To characterize this enzyme, the structure of the large (5´-to-3´ exo-deficient) fragment of the R. marinus DNA polymerase I (RF) was solved to 2.95 Å (R = 0.234) using multi-wavelength anomalous dispersion. Alignment …

The Assertion Of Identity: Storytelling And Testimony In The Works Of Edwidge Danticat, Michael R. Kurban

Honors Theses

Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat evokes the Haitian tradition of storytelling in many of her novels and short story collections. A tradition formulated by vodou religion and the amalgamation of African cultures, storytelling acts to entertain, educate and enlighten the people of Haiti. Additionally, her novels are often written in the context of traumatic events in Haitian history. While Danticat's works have been studied with focus on their depiction of storytelling and of trauma, little has been done on the restorative power that storytelling provides. In this thesis, I seek to examine the potential for Danticat's characters and works to create …

Angiotensin Ii As A Potential Regulator Of Inflammatory Cytokines In Inducing Hypertension In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Khush Singh Aujla

Honors Theses

The disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune disorder that primarily affects women during their reproductive years. Women with SLE are at a greater risk of developing hypertension, which increases their risk of mortality from a cardiac related event. A proposed mechanism for SLE hypertension suggests that inflammation in the kidneys causes renal dysfunction, presumably resulting in less water excretion, increased plasma volume, and thus high blood pressure. This experiment tests the hypothesis that the T-cells from a mouse model of SLE hyper secrete the inflammatory cytokines IL-17, IL-10, and DFN- y, and are more sensitive to the …

The Development And Morphology Of Zebrafish After Embryonic Ethanol Exposure, Frances Lee

Honors Theses

Maternal consumption of alcohol may subject the fetus to fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FAS or FASD). FAS/D is a public health problem, and affected children are defined by varying degrees of irreversible mental retardation, physical defects, behavioral issues, and vision problems from prenatal alcohol exposure (Riley et al. 2011). Recent studies on FAS have looked towards animal models, such as zebrafish, Danio rerio, that exhibit homologous physical and behavioral effects of alcohol (Bilotta et al. 2004). I exposed zebrafish embryos to low doses of ethanol (0.5% v/v or 1% v/v) in either chronic (at least 8 …

Recurrence Relations, Fractals, And Chaos: Implications For Analyzing Gene Structure, Sarah. M. Harmon

Honors Theses

The “chaos game” is a well-known algorithm by which one may construct a pictorial representation of an iterative process. The resulting sets are known as fractals and can be mathematically characterized by measures of dimension as well as by their associated recurrence relations. Using the chaos game algorithm, is it possible to derive meaningful structure out of our own genetic encoding, and that of other organisms? In this paper, I will present one method of applying the chaos game to biological data and subsequently will discuss both the mathematical and biological implications of the results.

“Called Her Women Together” Home Birth In Maine, Margaret Kruithoff

Honors Theses

Nine months ago, I set out to write a thesis on childbirth: hippies having their babies in the woods, hospital politics, and women’s rights. The final product is very different than what I had intended. Instead of finding crazy hippies in the woods, I found a community of kind and skilled midwives and loving, openhearted mothers. I am deeply indebted to these inspiring women for their stories and wisdom, which fill the pages of this thesis. Interviewing these mothers, midwives, and home birth advocates was a tremendously empowering experience for me, a young woman.