Digital Commons Network^™

13c Nmr Substituent Effects On Para-Substituted Tolans: Using Deuteration To Assign 13c Signals In Methyltolan, Reece Crumpler

Honors Theses

Substituents are capable of affecting their molecules via induction, resonance, and field effects. Using the Hammett equation, the effect a range of substituents has on different properties of a molecule can be quantified.¹ Hammett’s parameters have been correlated with the substituent effects on ¹H NMR chemical shifts in different molecules, including experiments on substituted chalcones (1,3-diarylpropenones).² The effect a substituent has on a molecule can also be observed using ¹³C NMR. The chemical shifts of carbons throughout the molecule may be affected by the substituent. This was shown to be true by Wilson and Zehr in …

“[Don’T] Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor...” A Study On The Trump Administration’S Unprecedented Reforms To The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program And Their Implications, Savannah Day

Honors Theses

From 2017 to 2020, the Trump administration cut United States refugee admissions tenfold. These reforms come unprecedented to the 40-year-old resettlement program (USRAP). By critically reviewing literature on this topic as well as conducting eight original interviews with five national nonprofits contracted by the Department of State to do refugee resettlement casework, this study sought to identify the implications of the Trump administration’s reforms to the program. Once implications were identified, I used the applied frameworks of program model as well as Michael Worth’s sociological and political science theories of American nonprofit-government relations to better inform and guide the study. …

Success And Failure Of Indigenous Social Movements: A Comparative Case Study Of Ecuador And Chile, Jenna White

Honors Theses

This thesis is a comparative case study of the social movements of the Mapuche in Chile and the fourteen indigenous tribes in Ecuador. I study their social movements by utilizing the structural strain theory of social movements. This theory states that people in society experience deprivation, the people recognize the deprivation, a solution is proposed and this ideology is diffused to the society, events occur to begin motion of the movement, the society (including government) need to be open to change, and eventually there will be mobilization of resources in order to form a successful social movement. The dependent variable …

Synthesis Of Polyethylene Glycol - Trifluoromethyl Sulfonamide And Analysis Of Its Ion-Transport Properties, Andrew Groneck

Honors Theses

This project investigates the synthetic pathway to develop a polyethylene glycol – trifluoromethyl sulfonamide compound to be used as an electrolyte in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The inspiration to develop a trifluoromethyl sulfonamide compound tethered to a polyethylene glycol polymer was inspired by the work of David P. Siska and D. F. Shriver in their studies of polysiloxane – trifluoromethyl sulfonamide electrolytes.

In this thesis, I have developed the synthesis of MePEG7-Trifluoromethyl sulfonamide (MePEG7-NHSO2CF3) from monomethylpolyethylene glycol (MePEG7OH). Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to complete the depronation and ion-exchange to the Li+ and H+ …

Improving Diabetes Self-Management Developing A Patient Decision Aid To Improve Patient Education, Morgan Baker

Honors Theses

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease that affects a large population of people. It is imperative that efforts are made to develop more effective and inclusive treatment strategies for patients with this condition. A promising approach being studied is the utilization of community pharmacists to individualize and implement diabetes self-management training and education. The objective of this study is to develop a preliminary version of a patient decision aid (PDA) designed to evaluate patient knowledge and behavior towards diabetes self-management for use in the community pharmacy setting. The study design used to achieve this objective was a cross-sectional survey …

Producing Thacker Jr. A Guidebook To Production & Reflections Of A Student Director, Ava Street

Honors Theses

This narrative documents a student’s preparation and execution of the children’s music and literature program entitled, Thacker Jr. Radio Hour. The author documents and analyzes experiences over the course of two academic years preparing and producing the program. The author describes the process of production including content creation, marketing, budgeting, fundraising, and casting. The author recounts and reflects upon her experience in the role of Thacker Jr. Executive Director and her desire to create student-centric arts programming. Finally, the author evaluates the immediate impact of the program on the LOU community and predicts how her experience will shape her …

Investigating The Link Between Executive Function And Creativity In School Aged Children, Katherine Crenshaw

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of this research was to examine links between executive function (i.e., EF or conscious control) and creativity in school aged children. To accomplish this, participants completed measurements of creativity (i.e., Alternative Uses) and EF (i.e., the Backwards Digit Span to test working memory, the Delay of Gratification task to test inhibition). I also examined whether a creative manipulation (i.e., free coloring or coloring task-relevant materials) would impact EF performance in the Dimensional Card Change Sort (DCCS) focused on cognitive flexibility. While I did not find evidence for a relationship between my measures of EF and creativity, I …

Making It Make Sense: Black Undergraduate's Negotiation Of Spiritual And Lgbtq+ Christian Identities Within The Black Church, Leah Davis

Honors Theses

For Black LGBTQ+ individuals, spirituality and sexuality can often conflict as the Black community tends to be more spiritual than other demographics and historically exhibited exclusivity towards the LGBTQ+ community. This research examines how Black LGBTQ+ youth at the University of Mississippi handle the intersectionality of race, spirituality, and sexuality and makes recommendations about ways to improve the lived experiences of Black LGBQT+ Christians and to promote LGBQT+ positive attitudes within the Black church. This research study was conducted using qualitative methods with purposeful sampling. The data yielded results that discovered Black youth identify with Christianity, engage in oppositional identity …

Unplanned Pregnancy In The Mississippi Delta: Causes And Implications, Julia Grant

Honors Theses

This study seeks to understand the causes and implications of the abundance of adolescent pregnancy in the region known as the Mississippi Delta, where teenage childbearing is among the highest in the nation. To do so, this study reports and analyzes twelve interviews with young, African American, single mothers conducted by the author in the summer of 2019. This study relies on a narrative approach to research and analysis and employs the theoretical framework of Afrocentrism. As a result of the interviews, the author concludes that a blatant lack of sex education in the region is a powerful influence on …

An Assessment Of Acne, Stress, And Psychological Symptoms In College Students: A Daily Diary Study, Sarah Berry

Honors Theses

Acne is one of the most common and burdensome skin diseases in the United States. Many factors, such as stress and psychological symptoms are believed to contribute to the development and exacerbation of this skin disease, and prior research suggests a cyclic relationship between these factors and acne. College students are known to experience heightened levels of stress and psychological morbidities; yet, most of the previous research on acne and these factors have been limited to adolescents. As such, the current study aimed to assess the relationships between acne, stress, depression, and anxiety in college students over a longitudinal period …

Heel Down And Toe-Off Time Measured With Ultrasonic Doppler System And Force Plate Sensor, Sabin Timsina

Honors Theses

Collie Box is a medical device that measures the gait parameters of the person walk- ing in front of it. This device uses the Ultrasonic Doppler system to extract the heel-contact and toe-off times of a person walking within the range of 2-10 meters. These times are used to determine the leg’s swing phase and double stance times. The ultrasonic transducer of 10mm diameter is driven at 40kHz. At the time of the heel-contact and toe-off, foot velocity is zero while the torso part of the human body is still in motion. The wide directivity of 10mm diameter ultrasonic transducer …

The Effect Of Story Processing On Memory Performance, Anna Miller

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine how recall performance following story processing compared to both survival processing and pleasantness processing. Participants were provided with a set of instructions depending on the condition they were in, narrative, survival, or pleasantness. Following this, participants rated the words one at a time, completed a brief distractor task, and then attempted to remember as many items as they could. The primary results demonstrated that narrative processing may provide a recall advantage similar to survival processing. These results suggest that similar underlying mechanisms may enhance recall in both sets of instructional conditions.

Examination Of Sleep Disturbance, Anxiety Sensitivity, And Depression In An Undergraduate Sample, Dasha Grace

Honors Theses

Sleep contributes to overall well-being, mental health, and daily functioning. Sleep disturbances negatively affect psychological, physiological, and biological processing, and the quality of sleep is similarly affected by these processes. The effects of sleep disturbance call for a greater understanding of depression and anxiety sensitivity among college students. Studies have found that sleep disturbance affects nearly 90% of the college student population. The aims of the current study were to examine: 1) types and rates of sleep disturbance among a sample of college students, 2) associations between sleep disturbance, AS, and depression symptoms, and 3) AS and depression symptoms by …

The Relationship Between Glucocorticoids And The Humoral Immune Response To Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Challenges In Eastern Bluebirds, Joshua Smith

Honors Theses

Numerous studies have examined relationships between adrenal glucocorticoids and the immune system’s ability to fight disease. The relationship can vary, with glucocorticoids having either stimulatory or inhibitory effects. The pathogenic bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) elicits an adaptive immune response in birds, in which B cells produce MG-specific antibodies to fight the infection and prevent reoccurrence. Previous research found that Eastern Bluebirds that produce the most antibodies in response to MG infection also have the highest glucocorticoid levels. This finding led to the current study investigating whether corticosterone, the primary glucocorticoid in birds, stimulates production of antibodies in response to immune …

Investigation Of The History Of Fingerprinting, Advancements In The Field, And Development Of Potential Methods That Could Improve The Detection Of Endogenous And Exogenous Drugs In Latent Prints, Kristen Malloy

Honors Theses

When someone thinks of fingerprinting, they are most likely going to picture how a latent print is matched to the fingerprint of a suspect based on ridge pattern analysis. However, there is much more information that can be obtained from a latent print. The work performed in this thesis focuses the detection of exogenous and endogenous drugs in latent prints. The experiments performed analyzed fingerprints from volunteers that were contaminated with one of three common painkillers: acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), and ibuprofen. Three different instruments were tested for this purpose: MALDI-MS, ATR-FTIR, and LC-MS. Based on the results gathered, it …

From Zero To One Hundred: Assessing Discomfort In Different Cuff Widths Following Use Of Blood Flow Restriction, Raksha Chatakondi

Honors Theses

Purpose: To examine the impact of cuff width, pressure, and sex on the perceptual response to blood flow restriction through a series of six experiments. Methods: Experiment One (n=50), Experiment Two (n=105), and Experiment Three (n=105) took place in the upper body, and Experiment Four (n=100), Experiment Five (n=100), and Experiment Six (n=100) took place in the lower body. Perceptual discomfort was measured following each condition. Results: Results are expressed as mean (+ SD). In Experiment One, there were no differences in discomfort. In Experiment Two, the wide cuff resulted in more discomfort [43 (20) AU] compared to the narrow …

A Study Of The Social Credit Score System And The Implications It May Have In Chinese Society, Glennis Mcwilliams

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the social credit score (SCS) system of China and the implications that it may have in Chinese society. The SCS is a revolutionary accountability system that is touted to ascertain a person’s trustworthiness of a person. An individualized score is produced by a complex algorithm which takes into account both social and financial behaviors. My research, comprised primarily from secondary qualitative data, discusses the SCS system and analyzes the political, social, and economic implications that the SCS may have on Chinese society. Conflict theory is utilized to help contextualize my findings and explain the increase in authoritative …

An Investigation Of The Practical Challenges To Using Molecular Genetic Techniques To Identify The Parasite Burdens Of Vertebrate Animals From Non-Invasive Sampling, Keely Ann Cox

Honors Theses

Molecular genetic techniques have become popular methods in ecology and wildlife conservation research. Advances in molecular genetic methods, particularly PCR (polymerase chain reaction), make it possible to amplify the numbers of specific DNA sequences from a sample with only a few original copies. Theoretically, the specificity of this approach should make it possible for wildlife biologists to identify and quantify the parasite and disease burden of endangered animals without being limited by the rarity of collaborators with expertise in the taxonomy of obscure parasite taxa. Because PCR requires just a small amount of DNA, the added benefit of a molecular …

Healthcare Workers' Perceptions Of Different Types Of Interpreters In The Gulf South, Meg Hayslip

Honors Theses

Medical interpreters are important in the healthcare community. Many studies have focused on the consequences of not having an interpreter. A variety of problems can be caused by "language brokering" when no interpreter is available. These studies will be discussed in the literature review. Many states have requirements to become certified as an interpreter, and the selection criteria is what makes a person a “good” interpreter. Previous research, such as that by Chan et al., has shown how different styles of interpreting can affect the quality of health care. This study focuses on how healthcare personnel and their patients view …

Teacher Evaluation Of An Integrated Nutrition Curriculum For Mississippi Schools, Janiya A. Davis

Honors Theses

The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled over the last four decades from 5 percent in 1978 to 18.5 percent in 2016, and according to the Mississippi Obesity Action Plan, 40.4% of Mississippi elementary school children (grades K-5) were either overweight or obese. Some reports have suggested that Mississippi’s overall obesity rate could reach 66.7% by 2030. Although the literature on best practices for the prevention of this condition is limited, some success has been achieved through the use of school-based nutrition interventions, in which children are taught how to make healthy food choices. …

The Future’S So Bright: A Business Plan And Market Research Analysis Of Fraze, Elizabeth Lanford

Honors Theses

This thesis is an overview of the creation and operation of Lindy and Liz, LLC dba Fraze. Fraze is an online boutique specializing in custom, beaded sunglasses. This thesis contains details of the founding, operation, and future of the business. The following business plan will give insights to marketing strategies, target audience demographics, and sourcing procedures.

Accompanying this business plan is market research relevant to the target market of Fraze. Part I details secondary research about the effects of social media on this target market and their consumption habits. It also contains insights about the products and marketing techniques most …

The Embark® Protocol: Dog Genomics In Genetics Laboratories, Alexandra Kissel

Honors Theses

In a world of ever-advancing technology, it is imperative that young pre-health professionals are educated according to the most relevant research. One of the most fundamental, foundational concepts of health is genetics. This field is rapidly expanding, and quickly engraining itself into the realm of healthcare. Genetic testing and gene therapies, once subjects of science fiction, have become commonplace. It is more important than ever that health professionals have a concrete knowledge of genetics, and this begins with the proper education of pre-health students.

With this idea in mind, a laboratory protocol was designed for students of the Bisc 336 …

Regulating Neuronal Growth With Structurally Defined Glycans, Gabriella D. Hartman

Honors Theses

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) and keratan sulfate proteoglycans (KSPGs) play an important role in neural development. Aggrecan, a CSPG, operates in the neural extracellular matrix where it negatively regulates neurite outgrowth to prevent aberrant process formation. Unfortunately, this aggrecan or CSPG-rich/KSPG-rich barrier can also prevent neuronal regeneration, which contributes to the inability to repair brain and spinal cord injuries. Removal of CSPGs and KSPGs has been shown to increase neurite outgrowth. We extend these findings by testing the ability of structurally-defined glycans to outcompete aggrecan and allow neurite outgrowth. Our overall goal is to determine if there is a particular …

Preparing And Performing A Trumpet Recital, Jesse Gibens

Honors Theses

The pieces are examined based on historical context and explained based on the practice notes that I journaled and reflected upon by comparing and contrasting standard recordings of each work. This thesis is divided into nine sections that explore the pieces that are performed, as well as the instruments used to perform them. The thesis also explores my repertoire choices based on instrumentation, style, composer, and genre, as well as how to deal with the challenges of approaching a diverse program. Historical information has been taken from articles, books, and other scholarly writings produced by experts within their fields of …

Beat The Church Crowd, Evelyn Alston Tyer

Honors Theses

Beat the Church Crowd is a collection of poems that explores a variety of topics and themes, from personal family legacy and natural disasters to bestiary, ekphrastic, and southern locale poems. It is divided into four sections: “Blue Danube,” “Anecdotes,” “Urban Legends,” and “Something Worth Protecting.” While the subject matter and forms of the poems vary, the common thread weaving each poem to the next is the slight touch of the macabre.

Little Girl In The Country: A Children's Book, Holly Mcginnis

Honors Theses

A Work of Children’s Literature to Address Realities of Childhood in the Southern United States

This thesis investigated the intersection of life’s realities and children’s literature. Representation is an oft-talked-about area of children’s literature. It is coming to light that many groups are underrepresented in writings for children, and recent works are attempting to broaden the types and backgrounds of characters to represent the diversity of readers and authors. This thesis is the author’s attempt to accurately represent the types of students she encountered in student teaching experiences in the Oxford-area. Using inspiration from her own childhood and knowledge of …

The Effects Of Written Stuttering Disclosure On Young Adult's Perceptions Of Children Who Stutter, Ashlee Manahan

Honors Theses

Abstract:

Purpose: This study measured between-group differences in perceived speech skills and personality characters of a 12-year-old male child who stutters (CWS) as a function of a written factual stuttering disclosure statement, delivered by a male CWS, his “mother”, and his “teacher”.

Methods: Four-hundred twenty-four college aged adults were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The groups included three experimental groups (i.e. written self-disclosure, written mother-disclosure, written teacher disclosure) and a control group (no written disclosure). Participants in the control condition viewed a brief video of a 12-year-old male who stutters. In the experimental conditions, participants viewed a brief …

Silver-Catalyzed Synthesis Of Disubstituted Fluorinated Isoxazoles, Micah Stewart

Honors Theses

The presence of fluorine can provide organic compounds with useful biological properties, such as increased metabolic stability and drug uptake. Because of these advantages, fluorinated compounds make up about 30% of the drug industry. However, fluorination of complex molecules is difficult due to fluorine’s high electronegativity.

Fluorinated isoxazoles are of particular interest in the pharmaceutical industry. Isoxazoles are five-membered heterocycles with oxygen and nitrogen in the 1, 2 positions that are able to engage in interactions unavailable to other ring structures, conferring advantageous biological properties upon compounds containing them. However, there are limited synthetic routes for fluorinated isoxazoles, and those …

Intrinsic Buffer Hydroxyl Radical Dosimetry For Hydroxyl Radical Protein Footprinting, Addison Roush

Honors Theses

Hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) coupled to mass spectrometry is a powerful technique for the analysis of protein topography as it generates covalent mass labels that can survive downstream sample handling, and it is sensitive to the solvent accessibility of amino acid sidechains. Of the multiple platforms for HRPF, fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (FPOP) utilizes a pulsed 248 nm KrF excimer laser to label proteins by photolyzing hydrogen peroxide. FPOP is the most widely used HRPF platform because it labels proteins faster than unfolding can occur. Variations in FPOP sample conditions make it difficult to compare results between experiments …

Lead In Drinking Water And The Effectiveness Of Point-Of-Use Filtration, Donald Hopper

Honors Theses

Lead in drinking water has been proven harmful to human health and is an ongoing problem in the state of Mississippi. The goal of this thesis is to analyze lead contamination data in Mississippi, its implications, and possible short-term solutions for remediation. This was done through community outreach events and voluntary sampling in the Jackson, MS area, analyzing published data from the Mississippi State Department of Health, and conducting controlled sampling and testing in Lafayette County, MS.

Community engagement events were executed in which researchers informed citizens in the Jackson, MS area about the impacts of lead in drinking water …