Digital Commons Network^™

Feasibility Study Of Portable Solar Powered Blood Storing Refrigerator, Saroj Subedi

Honors Theses

This report is focused on the preliminary feasibility of portable solar-powered blood-storing refrigerators primarily based on calculations of energy required to maintain the temperature of the refrigerator, the electricity required throughout the day, calculating sufficiency of power supplied by the solar panel, and selection of battery for power storage. The method and the trend of a feasibility study involve the study of blood properties, separation of blood components after donation, and their storage conditions. Then, the portable size of the refrigeration has been proposed with three different compartments for storage of each blood component. The further methods involve the selection …

Accountancy Practicum, Connor Mccarthy

Honors Theses

The cases enclosed within this thesis discuss a variety of accounting topics. These were selected by Dr. Dickinson to focus on a number of concepts that aid young professionals like myself in addressing the expectations of the financial reporting world.

Each case involved either formal research or a completion of a task that represented the fulfillment of this overarching goal. A synthesis of knowledge gained was usually included unless otherwise instructed. Two of the enclosed cases were completed alongside fellow students – Case 4 and Case 8, but two case competitions not featured here were also team-based.

The conclusions reached …

An Analysis Of Current Accounting And Financial Matters, Payton Argabright

Honors Theses

This document demonstrates and represents the work done over the course of a full year for Accounting 420, the Honors Thesis Practicum course under Dr. Dickinson at the University of Mississippi. The case studies following delve into a wide variety of topics mean to simulate what various future careers in accounting could like, as well as to expose current issues and debates that are ongoing in the business world.

An Open-Baffle Motional Feedback Loudspeaker, Matthew Quinlivan, William Harvie

Honors Theses

A dynamic loudspeaker mounted in an open baffle has the same parameters as a loudspeaker in free space. A subwoofer mounted in an open baffle has a small total quality factor and therefore the frequency above which the driver has a significant output is too high despite the subwoofer's low resonant frequency. To address this issue, we implemented a motional feedback circuit with the goal of introducing both velocity feedback and acceleration feedback into the loudspeaker system and thus altering the resonant frequency and total quality factor of the system. After verifying the efficacy of our feedback circuit with computer …

The Legend Of Neptune: A Portrait Of Enslavement And Emancipation In 18th-Century Worcester County, Massachusetts, Brigitte Lewis

Honors Theses

“The Legend of Neptune” tracks the life of a man named Neptune, who was enslaved at my childhood home in Still River, MA 01467 for fifteen years during 1742-1757. The general topic of this undergraduate thesis is slavery in seventeenth and eighteenth-century central Massachusetts; the main topic is uncovering the voice, history, and stories of an identified enslaved and then free Black man named Neptune. The project uses a vast array of primary sources to construct a narrative that centers Neptune’s life and experiences, supported by secondary historical research. This project also tells a counternarrative to the official history of …

Perilous Place: Personal Stories Point To Possible Solutions To Widespread Flooding In The Mississippi Delta, Jared Poland

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and create journalistic stories highlighting the Yazoo Backwater Pumps Projects relationship to climate change while utilizing narrative storytelling techniques. Before explaining the methodology used for conducting research and interviews, the researcher describes the influence that innovations of mass communication channels have had on the way humans form groups and persuasively advocate for their positions. The researcher describes their historical perspective of mass media innovations that were vital considerations during their discovery and investigation of this politically divisive issue. The researcher more specifically focuses on the innovations that have occurred since the digital …

Design And Analysis Of A Process To Convert Methanol Into Dimethyl Ether, Elisa M. White

Honors Theses

A recent economic downturn led to the loss of a contract for a company that sells methanol. The company has two options to recover some of the profit lost from the contract termination. One option is to sell the excess methanol at the spot market price, and the second option is to implement a process to convert the excess methanol into dimethyl ether. This project investigated the implementation of a process to convert the methanol from the lost contract into dimethyl ether. The process was simulated in AVEVA Process Simulation to estimate the size of equipment needed. A toller provided …

The Role Of Cannabinoid Receptor 2 In Zebrafish Toxicities Following Developmental Exposure To Thc Or Cbd, Haley Watts

Honors Theses

As the laws concerning the regulation of Cannabis Sativa change across the globe, maternal use of cannabinoid-containing products during pregnancy is a greater concern than ever before. Little research has been conducted on the consequences of maternal use and developmental exposure to ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD. In this study, larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) were used to measure CBD and THC-mediated adverse outcomes including effects on larval length, eye area, and behavior in the cnr^+/+ and cnr2^-/- zebrafish strains where we discovered that cannabinoid exposure results in a decrease in each of these endpoints. Adult …

The Importance Of A Multidisciplinary Approach To Public Health: Addressing Food Insecurity Through A Biological And Sociological Lens, Chloe Grant

Honors Theses

Plants can sense the change of 1 ^oC in their growth environment and thus global climate change has a great impact on plant growth and development. The phenomenon that warm non-stress temperatures promote stem and petiole elongation, as well as leaf hyponastic growth, is collectively known as thermomorphogenesis. While it is known that the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor PIF4 is highly inducible by temperature elevations and controls thermomorphogenesis in dicots (e.g., Arabidopsis thaliana), the molecular mechanism underlying thermomorphogenetic growth in monocots is not clear. In this study, I identify PIF4 orthologs in several economically important monocotyledonous species and …

Use Of Linear Discriminant Analysis In Song Classification: Modeling Based On Wilco Albums, Caroline Pollard

Honors Theses

The study of music recommender algorithms is a relatively new area of study. Although these algorithms serve a variety of functions, they primarily help advertise and suggest music to users on music streaming services. This thesis explores the use of linear discriminant analysis in music categorization for the purpose of serving as a cheaper and simpler content-based recommender algorithm. The use of linear discriminant analysis was tested by creating lineardiscriminant functions that classify Wilco’s songs into their respective albums, specifically A.M., Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and Sky Blue Sky. 4 sample songs were chosen from each album, and song data was …

Perceived Adult/Child Health And Diet By Snap Usage And Food Security In A Rural, Appalachian Mississippi Community, Georgia Inglis

Honors Theses

This study examined if there were differences in perceived adult health score, perceived adult diet score, parent-perceived child health score, and parent-perceived child diet score by SNAP usage and food security in a rural, Appalachian Mississippi community. Adults (n=1084) with elementary school- aged children were surveyed in a rural, Appalachian Mississippi school district. Demographic, household adult food security (USDA 10-item measure), and perceived health and dietary data were collected. Using IBM SPSS version 24, demographic statistics were calculated to summarize data. Independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test was utilized to assess for differences between groups. P.05) …

Using Deep Learning To Automate The Diagnosis Of Skin Melanoma, Akhil Reddy Alasandagutti

Honors Theses

Machine learning and image processing techniques have been widely implemented in the field of medicine to help accurately diagnose a multitude of medical conditions. The automated diagnosis of skin melanoma is one such instance. However, a majority of the successful machine learning models that have been implemented in the past have used deep learning approaches where only raw image data has been utilized to train machine learning models, such as neural networks. While they have been quite effective at predicting the condition of these lesions, they lack key information about the images, such as clinical data, and features that medical …

Exploring The Global Rise Of Ethnoreligious Nationalism: A Case Study Of Vox In Spain And The Bharatiya Janata Party In India, Swetha Manivannan

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes reasons behind the current global growth of ethnoreligious nationalist parties through a cross-regional analysis of the Vox party in Spain and the Bharatiya Janata Party in India. It also looks at the shift in party domination as secularism has fallen in an era of globalization with the end of “Spanish Exceptionalism” and decline in the Indian National Congress. It utilizes the theory of constructivism to present how this current wave of identity-focused ethnoreligious nationalism is a socio-political construct where those from the majority ethno-religious identity feel the perception of threat by minority populations and multiculturalism and seek …

Apiary Wagon Frame, Katelyn Franklin, Ryoma Thomas

Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis to demonstrate how our senior capstone project team took a product from a concept to a mass production manufacturing operation, using the knowledge and experience gained through our four years in the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME). Our product, the Apiary Wagon Frame, is an opportunity to reduce the barrier to entry into the hobbyist beekeeping community. In the design process for the Apiary Wagon Frame, we tested several prototypes and different fabrication methods, ending with a product capable of holding twenty hive frames. After building our final prototype, the group created a …

Challenges And Benefits Experienced By Mississippi Schools In The Adoption Of Farm To School Programs, Manuel Aldair Franco Pech

Honors Theses

Mississippi obesity rates are the second highest in the United States. An appropriate target group to combat the state’s high obesity rates are school age children (ages 18 and under), because healthy eating habits developed at this age translate into adult years. An avenue to encourage and develop healthy eating habits are Farm to School (F2S) programs, which provide in-school accessibility to healthy, locally produced foods. The objective of this study was to analyze the results from the 2015 United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) F2S Census, which collected details regarding F2S participation across the country, to determine the benefits …

Analyzing The Effects Of E-Hook Peptides On Kinesin-1, Ashton Ward Murrah, Baylee Hope Howard

Honors Theses

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Cancerous growth is a result of oncogenes, or mutated genes that increase the rate of cell division in an uncontrolled manner. Cell division, which consists of mitosis and cytokinesis phases, is dependent upon the active movement of kinesin motor proteins along microtubules to rearrange the cytoskeleton for equitable distribution of genetic material to daughter cells. As kinesins are vital to this process, if we could prevent kinesin from binding to the microtubules, cell division would cease.

The goal of this study is to develop a method to prevent …

Mamás Trabajadoras: An Evaluation Of Policies That Incite Maternal Participation In The Labor Force In Spain And The European Union, Anna Kate Ferrell

Honors Theses

While the past few decades have seen women advance their labor force participation, formal work still remains less accessible to them—often as a result of their responsibilities to care for young children at home. This paper investigates the effect that Early Childhood Education and Care policies have on female labor force participation rates across Spain and the European Union through a mixed research design, with both quantitative and qualitative analysis. After a cross-national comparison of case studies, it concludes that these policies increase female labor force participation rates, allowing women to reconcile their identities as both mothers and career women.

Case Studies Of Various Accounting Concepts, Astha Kandel

Honors Theses

Accountancy students enrolled in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College have an opportunity to choose an honors practicum route instead of writing a regular thesis. The students take two ACCY 420 classes taught by Dr. Victoria Lynn Dickinson as part of the practicum. In those two courses, students gain a better understanding of how accounting works in the real world. The thesis is made up of several cases that cover a variety of accounting theories and methodologies. Students are required to do thorough research while writing the cases and each of those cases is carefully reviewed and evaluated by Dr. …

An Overview Of Financial Accounting Through The Use Of Case Studies, Sim Mosby

Honors Theses

This thesis encompasses many major accounting topics and different global phenomena’s that have changed the accounting profession. This thesis has allowed me to understand modern accountancy and the reasons it has had to adapt to the modern world. The University of Mississippi has allowed the accounting students of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College to complete this thesis by participating in the ACCY 420 class in their Junior year prior to their internship. This class was taught by Dr. Victoria Dickinson and consisted of eleven cases throughout two semesters

The Death Penalty In Mississippi: An Analysis Of Its History, Current Inmates, And Counties, Haley Kuhnert

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes uses and prevalence of the death penalty in Mississippi through an analysis of the history, inmates and counties. To gather this information, I looked at the patterns of use throughout the history of Mississippi’s death penalty, the facts of all thirty-nine inmate’s cases, and the demographics of every county that has sentenced someone to death. The main findings are that the death penalty is applied arbitrarily between inmates because even cases with similar underlying felonies have different factual backgrounds that make them more or less heinous. A minority of counties have sentenced people to death. The majority …

Women, Money, And Politics: Do Female Politicians Raise As Much Money As Men?, Taylor Harris

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to answer if female politicians raise as much money as male politicians. In order to answer this question, I collected data from the Harvard MIT Election Data Science Lab. It has every candidate that ran in the general election for the House of Representatives from 1976 through 2018, but, for the purpose of this project, only the Presidential election years from 1980 through 2016 are used in this data set. It also includes how much money they raised, what state they are from, and what party the candidate was affiliated with. This data set also accounts for …

Financial Accounting: A Collection Of Case Studies, Dalton Gibson

Honors Theses

Financial accounting encompasses many topics such as different accounting methods, ethical practices, financial reporting, and more. We were assigned students case studies, each covering a different category of financial reporting, including case studies about accounting methods, accounting standards, and financial statements. The cases are designed to help students understand real examples, think critically to solve problems, and develop strong research and collaboration skills. At the conclusion of this course, students had an improved technical knowledge of accounting and a better understanding of the importance of proper financial accounting methods. The knowledge learned will continue to benefit students in their future …

Synthesis Of A Dd-Π-Aa Organic Dye For Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Hope Lovell

Honors Theses

This project investigates the synthesis of a DD-π-AA (dual donor/dual acceptor) organic dye as a potential sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The design of this dye was based off previous research that found dual donor/dual acceptor dyes exhibited promising results when used in a DSC. The donor groups, acceptor groups, and π-bridge were chosen for their stability, ability to absorb in the near-infrared (NIR) region, and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) abilities.

While many components of the dye were synthesized, the final stages of the synthetic scheme were not completed due to the loss of time from COVID-19. Had the …

An Experiment To Test For Rapid Evolution In An Introduced Ectomycorrhizal Symbiosis, Valerie Rewa

Honors Theses

The rapid evolution of introduced ectomycorrhizal-plant partnerships is an under- explored topic that may have immense impacts on ecosystems around the world. This experiment sought to identify and quantify this evolution and its impacts on both fungal colonization as well as plant growth. I used a laboratory experiment to analyze these factors in native and exotic genotypes of Suillus cothurnatus and Pinus species. Much of the data was not able to be collected, but that which was did not support the presence of rapid evolution in the mutualistic partnership. Pine species was seen to have a significant effect on plant …

Politics Of Privacy: The Role Of Individual Political Views In Consumer Data Privacy Concerns, Connor Neill

Honors Theses

Today, every choice that is made, from where to shop to what music to listen to, has turned into a reflection of one’s political views and identity. The main purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between an individual’s political views and his or hers attitudes toward the security of personal information in the consumer realm. Two studies were conducted in the form of surveys. The first study aims to measure the consumer’s trust and risk beliefs for a company of a certain size as well as their feelings toward the dimensions of control, collection, and awareness of …

Representation Matters: African American Female Readers’ Perceptions Of Young Adult Literature, Asia Harden

Honors Theses

In 2019, only 6% of U.S. children’s books published were written by black authors. This portion of the publishing industry, and particularly the category of young adult literature (YA) has room for improvement when it comes to African American representation. To identify how this lack of representation affects readers, this study was broken into two parts which resulted in obtaining the African American female YA author perspective, as well as African American female readers. J. Elle and Kristina Forest were interviewed in the first portion of the study, and three focus groups were conducted in the second study with 13 …

The Role Of The Kurds In U.S. Foreign Policy, Davis Mccool Iii

Honors Theses

The Kurdish people in the Middle East have played a valuable role in furthering U.S. policy interests in the region. The U.S. has aligned itself with various Kurdish groups in a series of strategic partnerships dating back to the early 1970s, yet has never considered the Kurdish nation an ally. As such, the U.S. has reneged on multiple different pacts with the Kurds and opened the door for state-sponsored conflict against a supposed ally, despite mutual interests between both groups. This thesis aimed to assign a formal role to the Kurds within U.S. foreign policy, and to analyze the function …

Examining Race And Anxiety Sensitivity As Predictors Of Electronic Cigarette Use And Dependence, Carson Schmitz

Honors Theses

Electronic Cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have gained popularity among U.S. adults with rates of use significantly increasing over the past decade. As such, the current literature has begun to explore factors associated with e-cigarette use in significantly affected populations. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of the sensations associated with the experience of anxiety, is a known transdiagnostic risk factor for tobacco use. Additionally, higher AS has been shown to be associated with higher levels of e-cigarette use, greater perceived benefits of use, greater positive outcome expectancies, greater perceived risks of use, more quit attempts, and more difficulty quitting. Further, preliminary research focusing …

A Comprehensive Evaluation Of Accounting: A Series Of Case Studies, Emma Acheson

Honors Theses

The following thesis is a compilation of the evaluation and solutions derived from a variety of case studies provided regarding a variation of accounting topics related to financial accounting. Each case presented in this thesis is accompanied by an analysis describing the valuable knowledge that was extracted from each unique study. Through these case studies, real-world accounting concepts can be observed in accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. In addition to the analyses of these case studies, the completion of this thesis involved participation in two accounting case competitions. These presentations …

China, Xinjiang, And The Genocide Convention: The Fragility Of International Law, Lucy Kate Herron

Honors Theses

This paper examines China’s actions through the lens of the Genocide Convention to examine the whether the crimes of genocide are being committed against the Uyghur population. It contends that according to the Genocide Convention, China is committing genocide, and particularly through conditions, torture, and rape, against the Uyghur population. However, prosecuting a genocide in court would prove difficult due to China's laws and actions that can be used to defer accusations of genocide and problems with the Genocide Convention in the context of China and the Uyghurs.