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Honors Theses

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The Forces Of Value: Structure And Content Of Self-Reported Values By Civilian And Military Science Students, Shelly Holland Jan 2014

The Forces Of Value: Structure And Content Of Self-Reported Values By Civilian And Military Science Students, Shelly Holland

Honors Theses

Upon graduation, students in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs are commissioned to lead the individuals tasked with protecting the American people and their ideology. This project examines the values of leaders and followers in military and nonmilitary contexts to determine if students in military education programs endorse values that are different from the values of students in non-military programs. First, this paper discusses the concept of values, and how values are defined and differentiated from other concepts. By providing an overview of past literature on values within the military and in general, the importance leaders place on values …


The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt Jan 2014

The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental and health effects of coal mining in the Appalachian region of the United States in the context of global natural resource extraction, explore existing regulation for the reduction of negative environmental health effects of mining in Appalachia, and explore the social justice implications of current mining practices. The research for this report was limited to literature published in English. It was found that there are widespread negative health effects of mining in Appalachia due to environmental toxins, a toxic social environment of limited economic opportunity, and occupational health hazards. The …


Links Between Friendship, Psychological Symptoms, And Academic Adjustment In An Emerging Adulthood Sample, Lisa Sample Jan 2014

Links Between Friendship, Psychological Symptoms, And Academic Adjustment In An Emerging Adulthood Sample, Lisa Sample

Honors Theses

It is well established that peer relationships, including friendships, have an important influence on children’s adjustment in school (Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Guay, Boivin, & Hodges, 1999). Friendship might contribute to success in school because this relationship often serves as a source of social and emotional support for the child. When a child feels comfortable in his or her environment, he or she is more readily able to participate in his or her learning (Buhs & Ladd, 2001).


The Effect Of Race In Primary And Secondary School Achievement : Evidence From Virginia, Khanh Doan Jan 2014

The Effect Of Race In Primary And Secondary School Achievement : Evidence From Virginia, Khanh Doan

Honors Theses

A large body of literature has studied the achievement gap between white and minority groups in the United States. This paper contributes to this discussion by conducting a cross-sectional study of Virginia using data for 2011-2012. I analyze the impact of race/ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic) on school district pass rates conditional on income per capita, population density, and a cohort effect in each school district. I find that the magnitude of the gap is largest in 3rd grade and smallest in 5th grade. There are little differences between Black-White gaps and Hispanic-White gaps. The gaps are neither widening nor narrowing …


Do The Inter-Nucleotide Domain Loops Act As An Entropic Sink In The Catalytic Activity Of 3-Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase (3pgdh)?, Cristina Adelia Meeham Jan 2014

Do The Inter-Nucleotide Domain Loops Act As An Entropic Sink In The Catalytic Activity Of 3-Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase (3pgdh)?, Cristina Adelia Meeham

Honors Theses

In protein science the relationship between protein dynamics and catalytic activity are the subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Currently, the field of protein science is trying to uncover the deeper role that dynamics plays in the catalytic activity and allosteric regulation of proteins and to better understand how to more effectively and efficiently target proteins in cancer therapeutics and other metabolic pathways.


Emerging Adults' Friendships And Group Identification : Differential Associations With Well-Being, Ethan Wolf Jan 2014

Emerging Adults' Friendships And Group Identification : Differential Associations With Well-Being, Ethan Wolf

Honors Theses

Happiness is a universally desirable state that humans inherently strive to achieve. Researchers have come up with different ways of operationalizing this universal construct, but have generally agreed that happiness can be considered as the frequent presence of positive affect (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). There is a reason we love being happy, and the associations between happiness and success in numerous life domains have been long documented. However, research shows that happiness is more than just a byproduct of successful outcomes and in fact contributes to life success. Positive affect and emotions leads to feelings of confidence, self-efficacy, optimism, …


The Cost-Of-Carry Model And Volatility : An Analysis Of Gold Futures Contracts Pricing, Edward M. Riley Iii Jan 2014

The Cost-Of-Carry Model And Volatility : An Analysis Of Gold Futures Contracts Pricing, Edward M. Riley Iii

Honors Theses

The theoretical price of gold futures relies on the term structure of interest rates, the days to settlement, and the spot price of gold. However, when comparing the theoretical gold futures price and the observed price in the market, there is often a difference. The difference implies that the theoretical pricing model is incomplete. Though limited in explaining much of what causes a difference between the actual and theoretical futures prices, factors such as rise in the credit spread of interest rates and changes in the price of commodities are statistically significant and positively correlated determinants of the difference between …


Macroeconomic Surprise, Forecast Uncertainty, And Stock Prices, Alphonce M. Mshomba Jan 2014

Macroeconomic Surprise, Forecast Uncertainty, And Stock Prices, Alphonce M. Mshomba

Honors Theses

This paper evaluates the effect of surprises in economic data on stock prices. “Surprises in economic data” refer to the difference between the forecast and initial release actual values relative to the sample forecast error. The analysis addresses three questions. Do surprises in economic data affect stock prices? If there is an effect, is the magnitude of that effect symmetrical for positive and negative surprises? If surprises affect stock prices, how does market forecast uncertainty affect the magnitude of the effect on stock prices?


Jacina's Worldview 2.0: Revisiting, Refinding, And Refining Faith In The University Years, Jacina Shultz Jan 2014

Jacina's Worldview 2.0: Revisiting, Refinding, And Refining Faith In The University Years, Jacina Shultz

Honors Theses

In this non-fiction, 44-page, creative extended essay, I revisit my worldview essay from HONS105-106 Western Heritage, specifically focusing on my belief in a loving God. I trace my path to this belief, beginning with my freshmen year of college when I first started to question its legitimacy. Though teetering on the edge of agnosticism, I eventually learned how a belief in a loving God need not be a blind one. I came to understand what it means to have a relationship with God. This project reconstructs the reasoning that verified to me that a faith in God does not have …


The Role Of Sabbath-Keeping, Christian Internalization, Need Satisfaction, And Parental Environment In Well-Being, Paola S. Caceres Jan 2014

The Role Of Sabbath-Keeping, Christian Internalization, Need Satisfaction, And Parental Environment In Well-Being, Paola S. Caceres

Honors Theses

Identifying which specific religious practices promote religious internalization is crucial in understanding the relationship between practice and well-being. The current study employs surveys along with an episodic memory recall task to examine whether the relationship between Sabbath-keeping internalization and well-being is mediated by Christian religious internalization, parental environment, and basic need satisfaction as outlined in Self-Determination Theory. Our mediation analysis results demonstrate a large mediation effect size for daily basic needs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and autonomy) on the relationship between internalization of Sabbath-keeping and well-being. Small to medium effect sizes were found for a general measure of Christian internalization and …


Cytosolic Carboxypeptidase 5 And Cilia Development In Zebrafish, Philip E. Giddings Iv Jan 2014

Cytosolic Carboxypeptidase 5 And Cilia Development In Zebrafish, Philip E. Giddings Iv

Honors Theses

My research project is focused around a specific gene - cytosolic carboxypeptidase 5 (CCP5). Previous research suggests that the CCP5 gene is essential for the modification of alpha-tubulin which is necessary for normal growth of cilia in the olfactory pit of zebrafish. Using a CCP5-MO to knockdown the gene I was able to compare the resulting phenotype to that of a control specimen in order to determine any visible differences with respect to cilia morphology. Through analysis by scanning electron miscroscopy I wasw able to that cilia morphology did appear to be effected by the knockdown of CCP5. However, similar …


Hcnabc Operon Transcription Of Pseudomonas Putida Under Varying Iron And Oxygen Concentrations And Culture Age, Christine Lee Jan 2014

Hcnabc Operon Transcription Of Pseudomonas Putida Under Varying Iron And Oxygen Concentrations And Culture Age, Christine Lee

Honors Theses

The species Pseudomonas putida produces hydrogen cyanide (HCN) through the transcription of the hcnABC operon. Previous research by Myrna Biswas (2010) demonstrated that microaerobic +FeCl3 cultures had the greatest HCN production, but the effects of varying iron and oxygen levels on HCN production were unclear. Isaac Kim (2011) assessed HCN production of P. putida in sand versus soil using different iron concentrations and found that iron was necessary for HCN production. The purpose of this experiment was to determine how the hcnABC operon is affected by varying levels of iron and oxygen, and the age of bacteria culture. To test …


Processing Load And Biopotentials: An Evaluation Of A Consumer Electroencephalogram (Eeg), Kristen M. Bishop Jan 2014

Processing Load And Biopotentials: An Evaluation Of A Consumer Electroencephalogram (Eeg), Kristen M. Bishop

Honors Theses

The general public is extremely interested in mental training and the use of brain imaging to study the mind. One device that combines the two and is currently on the market for consumers is a single channel EEG band produced by NeuroSky which claims to measure concentration. However, the claim that they have developed a single channel measure of concentration and meditation have not been tested. EEG power is related to cognitive memory and performance, which both contribute to concentration. In addition to EEG waves, pupil size is a reliable physiological index of processing load and concentration. The first purpose …


A Study On The Relationship Between Gre Scores Of Doctor Of Physical Therapy Students And First Time Pass Scores On The National Physical Therapy Examination Scores: A Retrospective Study, Givan Hinds Jan 2014

A Study On The Relationship Between Gre Scores Of Doctor Of Physical Therapy Students And First Time Pass Scores On The National Physical Therapy Examination Scores: A Retrospective Study, Givan Hinds

Honors Theses

Background. This study explored relationships between Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) scores. -- Methodology. This is a retrospective correlational design utilizing a purposive sample (n = 102) of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students from three consecutive cohorts. Correlations were examined between GRE Verbal (GREV), GRE Quantitative (GREQ), and GRE Total (GRET) socres with the NPTE first time pass rate utilizing a Spearman rho correlation coefficient. Discriminant analysis was used to calculate the cut-off score that would correlate with a minimum passing score of 600 on the NPTE. -- Results. The results showed a weak, …


A Republic 'On Earth As It Is In Heaven': The Freedom Of The Fall In Paradise Lost And His Dark Materials, Jordan Arellano Jan 2014

A Republic 'On Earth As It Is In Heaven': The Freedom Of The Fall In Paradise Lost And His Dark Materials, Jordan Arellano

Honors Theses

The epic poem Paradise Lost (1667, 74) retells the Biblical creation story through the blind eyes of the Christian political-poet John Milton. Three hundred years later, Milton's work is recast by the atheist children's and fantasy novelist Philip Pullman in the His Dark Materials trilogy (1995, 97, 2000). Although one might assume that these two writers' perspectives would contradict one another, Pullman's adaptation - though a perverted story of the Fall - still pursues the same goal as Milton's by imagining a new and better social structure. And not only do they share that goal, but they also explore the …


The Effect Of Celite Formulated Rhizobium Rubi At3-4rs/6 And Tryptophan On Velvetleaf Plant Growth, Jonathon Ahn Jan 2014

The Effect Of Celite Formulated Rhizobium Rubi At3-4rs/6 And Tryptophan On Velvetleaf Plant Growth, Jonathon Ahn

Honors Theses

Rhizobium rubi AT3-4RS/6 and tryptophan may be useful in replacing chemical herbicides as biological control agents (Kennedy et al., 1990). Previous research has shown that Rhizobium rubi AT3-4RS/6 produces IAA-like compounds that are deleterious to weed growth. In this project R. rubi AT3-4RS/6 will be formulated in Celite, a granular, diatomaceous earth carrier. The purpose of this research is to analyze if tryptophan influences R. rubi AT3-4RS/6 populations in the velveltleaf rhizosphere, and if this colonization is associated with reduced root weight and shoot length. The experiment design consists of five soil treatments (bacteria+tryptophan+celite, tryptophan+celite, bacteria+celite, celite alone, and soil …


How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?, Rachel Goff Dec 2013

How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?, Rachel Goff

Honors Theses

Climate change is a very real phenomenon that currently affects many of the ecosystems on Earth. Climate change occurs on a global scale and can be very detrimental to different environments. This occurrence can cause ocean warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and increased storm intensity. According to the EPA, the ocean's temperature has increased 1.4°F over the past century, and sea levels have risen 3.2 millimeters through the past 20 years. These changes to the oceans can greatly affect many of the ecosystems that reside in them. One of the main ecosystems that are being affected by climate change …


Alzheimer's Disease And Circadian Rhythms In A Drosophila Model, Lauren Alejo Dec 2013

Alzheimer's Disease And Circadian Rhythms In A Drosophila Model, Lauren Alejo

Honors Theses

Sleep disorders are commonly reported in Alzheimer's disease, a debilitating, age-related neurodegenerative disorder that affects neurons in the brain. Recently, several studies have suggested a role for sleep abnormalities and the internal "body clock" known as the circadian system, in the disease onset and progression. Since most of the data has been collected from mammals with complex neural circuitry, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that integrate the two neural networks are still limited. This study examined the relationship between circadian rhythmicity and Alzheimer's Disease presentation using a Drosophila model. Flies were crossed using the GAL4-UAS system to display Alzheimer's disease …


Catching Companies Who Refuse To Go Green Red-Handed, Wylee Mcgreevy Dec 2013

Catching Companies Who Refuse To Go Green Red-Handed, Wylee Mcgreevy

Honors Theses

Recycling, planting trees, and bringing your own bags to the grocery store are some of the activities people regularly think about when it comes to sustainability. In the grand scheme of life, how much difference can one person make? What if there were stricter standards for corporations which accounted for their emission of pollutants? Environmental Accounting is a branch of accounting that is progressively gaining popularity and has the potential to redefine the standards of sustainability for companies. With integration of past proposals for a carbon tax and a cap and trade system, a new proposal could be formed that …


Functional Response Of Venus Flytraps (Dionaea Muscipula), Amber D. Martin Dec 2013

Functional Response Of Venus Flytraps (Dionaea Muscipula), Amber D. Martin

Honors Theses

The feeding response of Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) is widely studied, and many studies have considered the selectivity of prey capture in D. muscipula (Lichtner and Williams, 1977; Hutchens and Luken, 2009). The consumption rate of an organism relative to the abundance or availability of its food is known as that organism's functional response (Jeschke et al., 2004). In this study, a functional response curve will be constructed for D. muscipula based on its response to increasing availability of small prey in the laboratory. Knowledge of functional responses is important for various fields of biology including population biology, evolutionary biology, …


Seed Bank Study Of The Effect Of Land Use On Vegetation Diversity In Carolina Bays, Maeve Snyder Dec 2013

Seed Bank Study Of The Effect Of Land Use On Vegetation Diversity In Carolina Bays, Maeve Snyder

Honors Theses

The intent of my honors thesis is to conduct a comparative analysis of seed banks between Carolina bays of high and low human impact. My study will use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to characterize types of land use within Carolina bays and in 250-m buffer zones. Representative bays from high-impact and low-impact classifications will be chosen as study sites, and seed bank samples will be collected and germinated. While it is beyond the scope of my study to identify a mechanism by which it occurs, I will investigate the presence of a relationship between land use and bay vegetation biodiversity.


Shark Community Structure In Winyah Bay, Sc, Keenen Fryman Dec 2013

Shark Community Structure In Winyah Bay, Sc, Keenen Fryman

Honors Theses

Assessments of local shark stocks are vital to understand population trends and their causes. Local data are incomplete despite many studies over many years. The first published study listed all of the shark species found off the coast of SC (Bearden 1965). Following Bearden's work, Schwartz (2003) used a 30 year data set to describe the elasmobranchs found in NC and SC. In 2004, a survey of coastal habitats in southeast NC helped to identify the nursery habitat for C. acronotus, C. brevipinna, C. limbatus, C. obscurus, C. plumbeus, M. canis, R. terraenovae, S. tiburo, and S. lewini (Thorpe et …


Effectiveness Of Gaming Systems On Balance In Older Individuals, Mary E. Anderson Dec 2013

Effectiveness Of Gaming Systems On Balance In Older Individuals, Mary E. Anderson

Honors Theses

Balance training using gaming systems, called exergaming, is a rising trend for reducing fall risk in older individuals. Previous studies have conducted research pertaining to gaming systems and traditional balance training, however there is a lack of comparison between gaming systems. This study was performed to determine the effectiveness of two gaming systems, the Wii Fit and Xbox Kinect, as compared to traditional balance training. This study was performed with subjects (N=5) over the age of 65, in good health, randomly placed in one of the three balance training groups: Wii Fit (n=2), Xbox Kinect (n=2), and Traditional balance training …


Speech And Language Interventions, Holly Hajnal Dec 2013

Speech And Language Interventions, Holly Hajnal

Honors Theses

In this review of literature, authors examined the effects of speech and language impairments and how to correct them. 15 studies were review that compared when interventions should be implemented, what the best types of interventions are and how speech and language impairments affected children's development. The overall question is, How do interventions assist in correcting speech and language impairments? In order to answer this question, the questions, What are speech and language impairments? Do speech and language impairments affect children's psychological attitude? Do speech and language impairments affect children's behavior? Do speech and language impairments affect children's ability to …


What Variables Affect The United States Decision On The Level Of Involvement During An International Crisis?, Britany Higdon Dec 2013

What Variables Affect The United States Decision On The Level Of Involvement During An International Crisis?, Britany Higdon

Honors Theses

The question being researched is what variables can better explain the level of involvement by the United States in an international crisis? This research question will better explain why the United States decides to use military force in some international crises while in others, they are not involved in at all. Answering this question will help predict if the United States will use military force in future international crises. This research will also show the importance of domestic politics in decisions made on an international level. To test this question, there will be a set of variables used to compare …


Prey Capture In Response To Removing Cilia From Venus Flytraps, Emily Marchini Dec 2013

Prey Capture In Response To Removing Cilia From Venus Flytraps, Emily Marchini

Honors Theses

Carnivorous plants are able to attract, trap, and digest insects. Different types of traps target different prey. There are sticky traps, pitfall traps, and active steel traps (Gibson, 1991). Although this may seem to be a rare modification it appears that there are six origins of carnivorous plants in different groups of angiosperms (Albert et al., 1992). These results indicate that not only were there multiple origins of carnivorous plants, there were also multiple origins of the same trapping mechanism; for example, the flypaper trap has five origins and the pitcher trap has three (Albert et al., 1992). Multiple origins …


Characteristics And Effects Of Muscular Dystrophy In Broiler Chickens, Kayla N. Smith Dec 2013

Characteristics And Effects Of Muscular Dystrophy In Broiler Chickens, Kayla N. Smith

Honors Theses

Muscular dystrophy is very common among broilers, which are chickens raised specifically for meat production. When dystrophic chickens are mated, or when normal and dystrophic chickens are mated, it is very likely that at least fifty percent of the clutch will end up with muscular dystrophy since it is inherited as a co-dominant disorder (Fujiwara et al., 2009). For my study, eggs were obtained from a local farm, and allowed to hatch. Among these hatchings were chicks who exhibited some traits of muscular dystrophy. It is possible that the parents of the seemingly dystrophic chicks may carry the mutated WWP1 …


Prevention Of Increasing Burnout Levels Among Physicians Of Different Specialties And Doctoral Degrees, Taylor Lewis Dec 2013

Prevention Of Increasing Burnout Levels Among Physicians Of Different Specialties And Doctoral Degrees, Taylor Lewis

Honors Theses

Burnout rates are steadily increasing among physicians all over the world (Sime, Quick, Saleh, & Martin, 2007). Burnout is defined as high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), high levels of depersonalization (DP), and low levels of personal achievement (PA) (Ionita, Copotocan, & Copotoiu, S., 2011). These burnout rates are directly correlated with many factors, such as high levels of emotional exhaustion and stress (McManus, Winder, & Gordon, 2002), little experience in the medical field (Keswani, Taft, Coté, & Keefer, 2011), and long work hours which leads to sleep deprivation and fatigue (Jackson, 1999). These moderate to high levels of burnout …


An Intervention To Increase Ioa And Objectivity In Supervisors At Woodsedge Learning Center, Karli Silverman Dec 2013

An Intervention To Increase Ioa And Objectivity In Supervisors At Woodsedge Learning Center, Karli Silverman

Honors Theses

The purpose of my research was to increase interobserver agreement (IOA) and objectivity in supervisors at WoodsEdge Learning Center. We questioned whether or not designing and implementing a new grading sheet would lead to this outcome. Our methodology consisted of internet research regarding interventions to increase these measurements, followed by task analyses of the behaviors that should occur when tutors provided discrete trial training (DTT), surveys regarding the quality of feedback received at WoodsEdge, visits to various early intervention centers, and ended with the creation and multiple revisions of a new grading sheet. My involvement with this intervention ended before …


Success And The Balance Of Commitment And Time: Effects Of Perceived Time Management Control On College Student Performance, Ashley Twehues Dec 2013

Success And The Balance Of Commitment And Time: Effects Of Perceived Time Management Control On College Student Performance, Ashley Twehues

Honors Theses

This study explores how time management and the perception of control over time contribute to undergraduates success in college. Although students have good grades in college, they may not be able to achieve the desirable combination of a high GPA, extracurricular involvement and a career-related employment history. Students often become overwhelmed with the pressure to achieve this success, but lack the time management skills to balance everything. This paper explores how students best use their time in order to gain college success. Extant literature suggests that students who are more involved on-campus with academics, extracurricular activities and employment opportunities achieve …