Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Influence Of Framing Effects And Regret On Health Decision-Making, Sarah Falkof

Honors Theses

This study investigates methods for influencing decision-making regarding preventative vaccine shots. Specifically, the research assessed the influence of message framing on regret and future action likelihood. In Experiment 1, participants read information about an available vaccine shot that was either framed positively or negatively. Participants were told whether they decided to get the shot (action) or not get the shot (inaction) and rated their feelings of regret after being told they got sick, regardless of their decision. Results showed that participants who read the positively framed information experienced more regret overall than participants who read the information with the negative …

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.

Examination Of Spatial Variations In Recrystallization Mechanisms In Quartz, Emma N. Beck

Honors Theses

S-C mylonites form as a result of non-coaxial deformation in ductile shear zones. Planes of weakness develop and delineate two domains, the S and the C Each of these domains accommodates variable amounts of strain. Sample WMSZ-188 exhibits subgrain rotation (SGR) recrystallization in the C domains, and grain boundary migration (GBM) recrystallization in the S domains. This partitioning of recrystallization mechanisms indicates either: (1) strain-rate partitioning during a single deformation event; or (2) a second, lower-temperature deformation event that over-printed the C domains. This study tests these two hypotheses. Optical and EBSD analyses were used to look for evidence of …

Let Them Eat Cake, Courtney Yeager

Honors Theses

My mother has always said she belongs in the kitchen. Sure, she voted in presidential elections and wasn’t surprised when I, as a seventh-grader, mentioned that Elizabeth Cady Stanton wanted all moms to find a real job. But whenever I glanced up at my childhood home, tucked neatly into the hillside towering over town, I envisioned my mother dicing zucchini or fingering the grout between counter tiles as she pored over hardback cookbooks, turning pages as delicately as she would crack an egg.

Forecasting The Future: The Early United States Weather Bureau, Robert T. Canning

Honors Theses

The national weather service of the United States came into being in 1870 for the practical utility of the American people. The interaction between weather, agriculture, and commerce provided the impetus for the inception of the service. Many historians put forward the notion of an obdurate weather bureau, a scientific backwater with no interest in modernization until after World War II. I disagree with this popular historiography and instead offer a history of the weather bureau’s attempts to institute the latest meteorological practices that takes into consideration the burdens and obligations of the bureau, as well as the historical context. …

What Causes Ministers Of Finance To Get Fired?, Bradley Turner

Honors Theses

This paper seeks to establish the determinants of turnover in finance ministers. Based on an original worldwide data set, political and economic factors are considered for 58 countries. While the same political factors affect Minister of Finance turnover in both advanced and developing economies, the economic variables that matter differ between the sub-samples. Finance minister turnover is higher during years that there is also presidential turnover. Further, emerging economies have a higher Minister of Finance turnover than developed economies during years without presidential turnover. Results largely hold for robustness checks.

A Phylogenetic Analysis Of Polygyridae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) Based On Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Data, Nicholas A. Defreitas

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Facebook Sharing Habits And Its Effect On Personal Privacy, Bryan M. Bubulka

Honors Theses

Over the past several years many individuals have jumped on the social networking bandwagon to create Facebook accounts linking their lives to the outside world, over four hundred million according to Facebook (Facebook, 2012). Whether it’s your personal privacy or property, knowing what information to post or share on social networking sites such as Facebook could be the key in protecting both. This research will focus on possible privacy concerns within social networking sites using Richard Mason’s groundbreaking PAPA (Privacy, Accuracy, Property, and Accessibility) Framework (Mason, 1986). The PAPA Framework will be used to identify what is being shared on …

Elucidation Of B-N And B-P Stretching Vibrations Using Raman Spectroscopy And Electronic Structure Calculations, Dana Nicole Reinemann

Honors Theses

Boron-nitrogen (B-N) and boron-phosphorus (B-P) dative bond stretching vibrational frequencies were studied using vibrational spectroscopic methods and electronic structure calculations. There has been a great controversy over the assignment of B-N dative bond vibrational frequencies for many years with a range of inconsistent assignments in the literature. The B-N dative bond stretching frequency in N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) esters was analyzed here using infrared, Raman, and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic methods and compared to the results of electronic structure calculations employing the MP2 and M06-2X methods with a triple zeta basis set. The mode including the B-N stretching motion proved to …

An Analysis Of The Hurricane Insurance Markets In The Southeastern United States, Stephanie Jeanette Jabaley

Honors Theses

As hurricanes are some of the most devastating natural catastrophes in the United States, property insurance for coastal home and business owners is a consistently evolving market. The southeast, specifically the Gulf of Mexico region, is where most hurricanes are concentrated and has accumulated a large amount of losses over the past few decades. After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, less private insurers have offered windstorm coverage for coastal property owners and the state wind pools have increased their amounts of risk exposure. This thesis analyzes the use of wind pools in the Gulf of Mexico, specifically Mississippi, and other …

The Effect Of Extended Durations Of Walking In Different Footwear On Measures Of Balance, Rebecca Lane Macneill

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of extended walking durations on a hard firm surface in different types of industrial footwear on balance and postural control. Postural sway variables (RMS sway and sway velocity in the medio lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions) were measured, based on center of pressure (COP) movement, with the NeuroCom Equitest Balance Master-Posture Platform Sensory Organization Test (SOT). Fourteen healthy adult males participated, and measures were taken at 30 minute time intervals over 4 hours of standing/walking. The eyes open (EO) condition of the SOT was utilized for this study. Each …

Oil Wells And Well-Oiled Guns: The Resource Curse And Government-Directed Violence During The Arab Spring Uprisings, Vihara Anjalee Dharmaratne

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes whether there is a positive correlation between the levels of government-directed violence and oil wealth, against the backdrop of the Arab Spring. Have governments of the Middle East and North African (MENA) states that possess more oil wealth used more violence on their protesting citizens than governments of states that have little or no oil wealth? Does the so-called “resource curse” apply to the outcomes of the Arab Spring? This thesis attempted to answer these questions by (1) studying the levels of government-directed violence in the Arab Spring uprisings and (2) examining the oil wealth and oil …

Intellectual Property And Culture: Differences And Origins, Evan James Extine

Honors Theses

China has for many years been criticized for its poor record of protecting intellectual property rights. However, recent evidence has shown that China may now not be as lax in its protections as previously assessed. This thesis aims to build on these new findings by (1) demonstrating the continued gap in the robustness of Chinese and American copyright laws and (2) finding the possible origins of this perceived gap. The main method for answering the first question centers on the comparison of the American and Chinese “fair use” clauses. Through the findings of this method, China’s “fair use” clause proves …

A Higher Duty:' The Sectionalization Of American Institutions Of Higher Education, Patricia Grace Ethel Gauthier

Honors Theses

This thesis is a comparative study of the rise of sectionalism in northern and southern antebellum American institutions of higher education. The West Point Military Academy, which maintained a roughly equal number of southern and northern cadets. presents a case-study of how faculty, staff, and students dealt with sectionalism in a mixed group. Information was gathered from numerous sources including college histories, archival material from the University of Mississippi, and southern military school studies. Several general trends were discovered from this data. 1) Southern academia actively encouraged the development of sectionalism because it provided public funding and enrollment for southern …

Anything New Under The Sun?: Walker Percy And The Search For A Third Way And Place, Matthew Jordan Griesbeck

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how Walker Percy, through fiction, explores the various inadequacies of place, ontology, and religious belief through his representation of his characters* engagement with these three areas in their attempt to live a meaningful life. 1 analyze three of Percy's novels. The Moviegoer (1961), The Last Gentleman (1966). and The Second Cowmg (1980), as well as Percy's non-fiction essays and Percy criticism. I find that the novels are continuous with Percy's non-fiction, and that Percy critics too often simply restate the author's beliefs instead of undergoing a thorough examination of what the author …

S㭠Se Puede... ¿Leer?: Assessing The Success Of The Cuban And Nicaraguan Literacy Initiatives, Camille Lyn Lesseig

Honors Theses

This research examines the literacy programs conducted in 1961 Cuba and 1980 Nicaragua. Given the similarities in the structure and implementation of the plan as well as the congruencies in rhetoric promoting the plans, this thesis explores the various internal and external variables that affected each country’s program to better understand the widely different results. To research these countries’ programs, I examined both primary and secondary source material related to each country, their educational programs specifically, as well as information about US foreign policy relationships with the countries during this time. Although both programs were initially successful in reducing illiteracy …

Conditioned Place Preference As A Means To Measure Analgesic Drug Effects On Cancer Pain In Murine Models, Hannah Elizabeth Burson

Honors Theses

Pain associated with cancer is unpredictable and may reflect an inability to quantify it in animals. We hypothesize that Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) testing is sensitive to pain relieving drugs in animal models of cancer pain and that CPP scores will reflect varying degrees of pain relief To test this, mice were assigned to one of four groups: tumor or non-tumor groups conditioned to saline or morphine during preference testing. After baseline preference testing in the CPP apparatus, animals received either saline or morphine in the S+ chamber (initially non-preferred chamber). All animals received saline in the S- chamber (initially …

Ethnic Tourism’S Effect On Bai Ethnic Minority’S Identity In Dali, China, Tabitha Bandi

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the Bai minority group in the town of Dali, in China's Yunnan Province and examines the effect of ethnic tourism upon the identity ofthe Bai people. Through an analysis of governmental policies, both on the national and provincial level, economic policies, and different sources of Bai identity, such as travel magazines and articles, I have come to find that the Chinese state and Han Chinese have played a decisive role in the shaping and defining of Bai identity. Through the promotion of tourism and state policies, the Bai people have created a stronger sense ofidentity.

TABITHA …

Celebratory Activism: A Media Portrayal Of Southern Identity, Elizabeth Myhr Lynch

Honors Theses

Celebratory Activism: A Media Portrayal of Southern Identity (Under the Direction of Dr. Mark Dolan)

The objective ofthis paper is to investigate the media's role in portraying southern identity and to determine the media's effect on the surrounding communities. It specifically addresses the three media institutions of Thacker Mountain Radio, The Oxford American, and The Southern Foodways Alliance and determines how they represent and celebrate southern culture. The methodology of the paper consists of the assessment of existing literature in the field of the media's depiction of the South followed by case studies on Thacker Mountain Radio, The Oxford American, …

The Impact Of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals: Supply Chain Issues And Resolutions, Anna Elizabeth Baker

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

A Cultural And Social History On The Role Of Film And Societal Trends: A Case Study Of The Outlaw Jesse James, April Mae Grube

Honors Theses

The use of film as a source of history has been highly contested since the creation of narrative film in the beginning of the twentieth century. While there is no doubt that film cannt be used as a source for the accurate account of an event or an individual, historians are slowly accepting the role that films play as "cultural documents." The benefit of film in the study of popular memory and social and cultural history is best seen in the study of the development of an individual, event, or ideal over time. Because of this, Jesse James is an …

Fusion In New York Politics, Bradley P. Sica

Honors Theses

This descriptive study seeks to answer the question: How does fusion function in the New York state electoral system, and how does that translate into the operations of the New York Legislature - such as, possible coalitions and the allegiances of candidates who are anomalies in the endorsement they receive? Fusion is when parties cross-endorse a candidate for political office with this support appearing on the general election ballot. Anomalies are defines as legislators who receive support from parties in addition to their own that do not occupy the same position in the left-right ideological continuum as their political registration. …

A Feast To My Eyes: Color And Human Behavior, Erica Iris Bruso

Honors Theses

This is a study on color and how it affects emotion and human behavior. Color can both affect and express a person's mood. We see this played out by Pablo Picasso, whose Blue and Rose period paintings consisted of a dominant color expressing his emotions. Impressionist painters, such as Claude Monet, were fascinated with the variations of color that are produced in certain light conditions, different times of day, weather conditions, and seasons. By using studies on color and human behavior done by color specialists, such as Faber Birren, as well as looking back at color explorations of early painters, …

Examination Of The Determinants Of Whether Registered Auditing Firms Correct Their Quality Control System Defects Identified In Pcaob Inspection Reports, Robin Anne Jackson

Honors Theses

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB] is charged with inspecting both individual public company audits as well as audit firm quality control systems. PCAOB inspection reports include information on deficiencies in dividual audits as well as quality control system defects. However, portions of the reports describing any quality control system defects are not made unless the firm does not correct those deficiencies withm one year. 1 classify in inspection public each firm as Type 1, Type 2 or Type 3. Type 1 firms are those whose quality control defects were uncorrected and therefore disclosed after the allotted year, those …

Food Preparation Habits Among College Students: An Exploration And Culinary Intervention, Mary Lindsey Simpkins

Honors Theses

The obesity rate among Americans has been growing at an alarming rate in recent years; because of this, there has been much inquiry into the possible causes, interventions, and prevention methods for this problem. One major trend that appears to have an impact on this obesity epidemic is the large proportion of meals eaten outside the home namely, at fast food or sit-down restaurants. This trend is especially prevalent among college students, whose lifestyle is generally marked by an abundance of stress coupled with a lack of time and money. Because of this lifestyle and a lack of food preparation …

Effects Of Perspective-Taking On Reading Comprehension, Apral Patrice Foreman

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Faulkner In Japan: A “Second Occupation”, Robin P. Helton

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Causes And Effects Of Chinese Investment In Africa, Jamey Hurst

Honors Theses

China’s engagement in Africa represents a radical departure from the modem paradigm of development. To the West, it represents a threat to the “Washington Consensus” and the accepted aid paradigm, but to African countries, the Chinese are providing much desired investment. Due to a paucity of information on this subject, this research aims to consolidate perspectives on this type of investment and identify factors leading to as well as the possible effects of the China-Africa relationship. This is accomplished by contextualizing the China-Africa relationship within a wider discourse on development, and then separating African countries on the basis of total …