Digital Commons Network^™

Becoming Your Brand, Blake Kuzma

Honors Theses

As many young professionals now, starting a career is a very important and scary time. We are taught more and more how important it is that you present yourself in a way that is marketable to employers not only in person, but online as well. As a survey done by Jobvite in 2015, “75% of HR departments are required to search job applicants online” and also that “75% of HR professionals have rejected candidates based on information they have found online.” (Jobvite, 2015).

But beyond the advice we receive from our parents and mentors, there is very little that is …

Music Evoked Nostalgia And Mood States, Bailey Schulte

Honors Theses

This study was in collaboration with the study titled “The determinants of affect, emotional arousal, and autobiographical memories” by principle investigator, Edward Roth, and student investigator Alycia Sterenberg. It addresses two questions examining the impact that music evoked nostalgia has on mood states and if this difference varies between musicians and non-musicians. The study included 19 participants ranging in age from 18-28 and used a multilevel model design. Participants completed a Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) pre and post listening to nostalgia evoking music. Results revealed a decrease in negative affect pre to post-test, also showing a difference between …

Discovery From Failure: Understanding Developing Countries' Battles With Poverty And Culturally Appropriate Answers To Them, Daniel Tennant

Honors Theses

This paper is an examination of a failed research attempt, followed by examination of successful research literature on the subject of the informal economy and poverty. The research is centered on peripheral regions of the world, namely in Sub-Saharan countries such as Senegal. The informal economy continues to grow without thorough understanding or measurement of it creating greater problems in the future. The examination highlights the need for culturally appropriate questions, methodologies, and answers to issues of poverty in developing countries. Western World bias needs to be considered when creating and executing research in developing countries if the results are …

Mirror Therapy, A Pain Management Therapy, Gabriella Andrews

Honors Theses

This project was undertaken to explore the use of mirror therapy (MT) as a palliative for stroke patients and amputees experiencing phantom limb pain. MT is a relatively new treatment and while it has limited research, it is starting to be used more within the rehabilitation setting. Research suggests MT has beneficial effects occur with phantom limb pain as well as post-stroke patients. This study will explain the history, uses, and research behind MT not only as a form of therapy but also a non-medicinal pain reliever.

Included are interviews from physical therapists (PT) and occupational therapists (OT) along with …

Psychophysiology In Relation To Music And Behavior, Chloe Heintz

Honors Theses

This thesis was based off of my experience as a research assistant in a study conducted by principle investigator Edward Roth and student investigator Alycia Sterenberg entitled “The determinants of affect, emotional arousal, and autobiographical memories on music-evoked nostalgia.” Roth and Sterenberg investigated the relationship between nostalgic music, autobiographical memories, and the physiological response of electrodermal activity (EDA). This was done by recruiting 30 college students between the ages of 18-28 to listen to music based off of five songs they listed as being nostalgic to them. They would then rate how familiar, nostalgic, and enjoyable each song was, in …

Sexual Harassment Of Biology And Biomedical Sciences Undergraduates: A Study On The Effects Of Larry Nassar And William Strampel, Kathleen Ryan

Honors Theses

Sexual harassment amongst undergraduate women of science is a prominent issue, gaining much media attention. The goal of this study is to determine if, and how, major sexual harassment cases impact women pursuing science-related careers, and what the sexual harassment climate is like for these individuals. The study will examine prevalence of harassment, common types of sexual misconduct, perpetrators, and severity through an anonymous survey. Additionally, this study will look into the effects of the Nassar and Strampel cases regarding desire to report harassment, and students’ fear of experiencing harassment in their future educations and careers. It is hypothesized that …

The Use Of Neurologic Music Therapy And Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation As Treatment For Parkinson’S Disease, Shaima Shebrain

Honors Theses

Parkinson’s Disease (PD), a progressive, neurodegenerative disease, is common in people who are 50 years of age or older. It is characterized by the loss of function of the substantia nigra in producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that allows for smooth and coordinated movement. Due to the lack of dopamine, an individual with PD experiences involuntary and stiff movements such as tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, postural instability, and abnormal gait patterns along with other motor symptoms. Over the years, the motor symptoms that are associated with PD progressively worsen; thus, limiting the individual’s independency and ability to perform daily tasks. Those with …

Nostalgia And Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories: Salience And Content In Musicians Vs. Non-Musicians, Taylorlyn Mehnert

Honors Theses

This paper examines a subsection of data from a larger study conducted by Alycia Sterenberg titled, “The determinants of affect, emotional arousal, and autobiographical memories on music-evoked nostalgia”. The question being examined was: when examining musicians and non-musicians, what difference is there in the intensity of nostalgic memories between the two groups; what elements of a memory are either group more likely to be nostalgic about when listening to music they have labeled as nostalgic for themselves? The data was acquired from questionnaires participants filled out after listening to music generated to be similar to that which they had labeled …

Rotating Mount For Complex Fluid Flow Research, Kirsten Murphy

Honors Theses

Fluid flow around rotating objects is mathematically complex and there is currently limited experimental data on the subject. To make Western Michigan University capable of this research, a rotating wind tunnel mount was developed. The mount design was integrated into the existing setup at the Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory (AAL) to allow seamless transitions between different research projects. Non-rotating and rotating disk prototypes were created from 3D-printed materials to test the mount’s capabilities. Experimental data gathered from utilizing this rotating mount was analyzed to understand the aerodynamic effects on rotating disks in a fluid stream. From testing the rotating disk prototype …

Rotating Mount For Complex Fluid Flow Research, Kirsten Murphy

Honors Theses

Fluid flow around rotating objects is mathematically complex and there is currently limited experimental data on the subject. To make Western Michigan University capable of this research, a rotating wind tunnel mount was developed. The mount design was integrated into the existing setup at the Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory (AAL) to allow seamless transitions between different research projects. Non-rotating and rotating disk prototypes were created from 3D-printed materials to test the mount’s capabilities. Experimental data gathered from utilizing this rotating mount was analyzed to understand the aerodynamic effects on rotating disks in a fluid stream. From testing the rotating disk prototype …

An Overpayment And Improved Reconciliation Process, Logan Wright

Honors Theses

Managerial errors in the form of late entry separations result in operating inefficiencies and excess costs to a company, as reconciliations will need to occur between paychecks issued and active employees versus separated employees. This is an issue that is currently plaguing Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool) in their U.S. operations. After the implementation of a plan to restructure their Human Resources (HR) Department and payroll unit to achieve HR Excellence, Whirlpool experienced problems with their payroll process resulting in inaccurate payments to separated employees. This senior project designed a two-phase process, first phase being prevention and second phase being a lean …

Applications Of Passive Solar Energy And Reclaimed Heat From Livestock Manure Decomposition, Naomi Elizabeth Schalle

Honors Theses

One energy intensive part of raising livestock in colder climates is keeping water warm and easily accessible to the animals in the winter. The objective of this project is to increase the sustainability of livestock farms by developing and implementing an energy conservation measure to decrease electric energy usage on the heating of water for livestock in the winter. One thing farmers have in excess is manure, an abundant and renewable resource for the farmers. This project will capitalize on that excess to encourage a creative use of resources often seen as waste, through implementing aspects of sustainability and conservation …

Structure-Activity Relationship Of Novel Rgd-Containing Cyclic Peptides Against Αvβ3 Integrin, Aaron Silva

Honors Theses

The αvβ3 integrin, a receptor for many extracellular matrix proteins with the RGD sequence motif, is involved in multiple physiological processes. The integrin is highly expressed on tumor cells, therefore making it a target for cancer therapy and imaging. Efforts have been made to develop an RGD-containing ligand against the αvβ3 integrin.

A series of RGD-containing cyclic octapeptides (LXW analogs) were previously synthesized, tested in vitro, and screened as integrin antagonists with a different binding affinity (Xiao et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2015), but the structure-activity relationship remains to be elucidated. In the current study, the structures of three …

Vertical Transmission Of Zika Virus In Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus, Stephanie Cantu

Honors Theses

Arboviruses such as Zika (ZIKV), dengue, chikungunya are responsible causing over 4 million people to live with debilitating conditions and may produce long-term health consequences. Zika virus, a newly emerging arbovirus, has potentially severe neurological complications and a potential to cause severe birth defects. There are no current vaccines for Zika virus, and the primary method for control the spread of this disease is through early detection and vector control. Assessing and quantifying viral transmission patterns is critical for successful control efforts. Zika virus shows some unique (among arboviruses) transmission patterns, notably the ability to be sexually transmitted. One aspect …

Cigarette Litter Leachates: A Statistical Study Of Elements In Freshwater And Saltwater, Cintly Guzman Hernandez

Honors Theses

Cigarette butts are the most common item found in coastal litter cleanups as approximately 4.5 trillion smoked cigarette butts are discarded into the environment every year. Cigarette butts can leach toxic heavy metals and nicotine along with other compounds from tobacco combustion. Past research in our lab has analyzed elements leached from cigarette butts into freshwater. The cigarette butts consisted of smoked and unsmoked butts that were soaked varying periods of time, and at different pH levels to identify the relationship of these variables to the amount of metal leached. The elements analyzed were Al, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, …

An Implementation Of Packet-Switched Communication For Pilot Protection At Tennessee Valley Authority, Ha Le Vo

Honors Theses

The utility network has long relied on Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) such as T1 and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) as the main channel to transmit and receive data in a communication system. However, TDM technology is aging and its equipment becoming obsolete as vendors transition to Packet-Switched Networks (PSN) to make way for Ethernet-based network communications. Teleprotection is a critical element for a reliable power system as it provides high-speed tripping for faults on the protected line and is applied in various pilot protection schemes. Protection schemes cannot perform at their best without a fast and reliable communication system. The …

Developing A Python-Based Workflow To Modernize User Interaction With Legacy Programs, Robert H. Hunter

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the process of refactoring legacy scientific software to improve overall usability and the ease with which a researcher can modify the software. The legacy code is Fortran code used to run different mechanical loading scenarios on a user-defined material subroutine. Each material is represented by a Fortran subroutine, and a separate Fortran program was used to call the material. To upgrade this program without sacrificing too much performance and functionality, the material subroutine is compiled into a Python library using f2py, and the driver code is translated into Python. This paper covers this upgrade process, the impact …

Evaluation Of A Natural Challenge Model Of Zebrafish With Influenza A Virus, Kelvin Blade

Honors Theses

Influenza A virus (IAV) presents as a global public health concern, resulting in an extensive burden on morbidity and mortality rates in humans. IAV has high mutation rates, influencing emergence of new virus strains, which could lead to increased antiviral resistivity and altered virulence. Although prevention and treatment of influenza infections have been improved, animal models still play a major role in understanding of host responses and the pathogenesis of IAV infection. Zebrafish are useful host models for evaluating infectious diseases processes, especially with the ability to manipulate the genome of zebrafish. Research by others have shown that parenteral applied …

Money And Happiness For College Students, Robin Leonard

Honors Theses

This study was designed to expand the field of positive psychology and to investigate the relationship between money and happiness in college students. “Money” was further defined as financial satisfaction, and “happiness” was further defined as overall satisfaction with life for the purposes of the study. Existing psychological research demonstrates that many factors influence overall satisfaction with life, including face consciousness, perceived material wealth, goal setting, motivation orientation, cultural value, and the wealth of one’s home nation. However, less research has been conducted on the effects of finances on happiness. The research that does exist focuses on a specific range …

Effect Of Reinforcement Selection On Mate Selection Rates Of Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki, Molly Stephens

Honors Theses

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effects that reinforcement selection has on non-hybridized and hybridized populations of two separate species of Gambusia (G. affinis and G. holbrooki). In order to examine if organisms from a population that had been previously exposed to hybridization would choose mates so as to not produce species hybrid offspring, 29 trials consisting of 9 different mate preference combinations and 87 individuals were recorded and analyzed. Once mate preference was determined for each female used in each trial, the effect that reproductive isolation had on reinforcement in hybrid zones was analyzed. The results …

Neoliberalism In Contemporary Literature: The Nuclear Family’S Decimation In Jonathan Franzen’S The Corrections, Jillianne Larson

Honors Theses

Within any text, there is often evidence of the author’s own life along with cultural reflections. A specific example of this occurrence is Jonathan Franzen’s novel The Corrections (2001). Since the novel was written in the early twenty-first century, it is an immediate reflection of post-millennial society, specifically the rise of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism was introduced to America as an economic venture; however, the policy’s impact can be frequently seen in relation to the nuclear family. As the idea gained popularity during the 1980s, neoliberalism began seeping into family units by way of one’s career and one’s home. This invasion has …

Autonomous Collision Avoidance In Small Scale Vehicles, Justin T. Sharpe

Honors Theses

The undergraduate research performed in this study focused on autonomous collision avoidance in small scale vehicles. The goal of this study was to find equipment to build a fully autonomous small scale vehicle for use in different applications. Radio frequency communication, ultrasonic sensors, and single board computers were used to create an autonomous vehicle for multiple applications. Different communication protocols and sensors were investigated, and an explanation was specified concerning the hardware choice. The main communication protocol tested was Long Range Wide Area Network, and the main electronics tested and used were ultrasonic sensors, First Person View cameras, and the …

A Look Into Electronic Word-Of-Mouth: The Willingness Of Consumers To Write Online Reviews, Michelle Le

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the willingness of a consumer to write an online review in relation to their love for a brand, their attachment to a brand and their satisfaction with shopping online for that brand. There are limited empirical studies that investigate the impact of Brand Love, Brand Attachment, and Electronic Shopping Experience Satisfaction on online reviews. Brand Love is the extent of emotional attachment that a content consumer feels for a certain brand or trade name whereas Brand Attachment measures the degree or strength to which consumers connects themselves with a brand. Lastly, a …

The Intersection Of Literacy And Digital Literacy: Incorporating Writing Standards With Computer Technology Standards, Grace Mcpherson

Honors Theses

This project aims to increase access to computer science/computer technology education by providing teachers resources to enable them to teach computer science/computer technology. A survey was taken to discover the interests and needs of teachers in Hamilton County, Tennessee. The project resulted in the creation of several lesson plans that integrate English and computer science through hands-on web development exercises, computational thinking opportunities, and critical thinking.

Personal Ethnography As Applied Learning: A Qualitative Explorative Ethnographic Observational Study Of Social Comparison, Tridereka Hall

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to discuss and evaluate the experience of studying abroad for college students as a participant observer as well as their perceptions of the experience. In Spring 2018, as a part of my studies and as an observational ethnography, I participated in the study abroad program through AIFS at Veritas University. In the study, I will provide my own transformative experience of studying abroad in San Jose, Costa Rica, as well as perspectives of other students who have studied abroad in different locations throughout Costa Rica, and an advisor with experience of assisting study abroad …

Use Of Stereolithographic 3d Printing For Fabrication Of Micro And Millifluidic Devices For Undergraduate Engineering Studies, Cooper Thome

Honors Theses

Undergraduate STEM student performance is greatly benefited by supplementary, hands-on laboratory experience. Micro and millifluidic devices provide a multitude of opportunities for interactive study of concepts and phenomena encountered in nearly every field of engineering, as well as in chemistry, biology, and other disciplines. Unfortunately, due to the cost and difficulty of standard micro and millifluidic device fabrication methods, many undergraduate students do not have access to these versatile educational tools. Luckily, 3D printing offers an inexpensive and simple solution to this issue. This work aims to demonstrate the capability of stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing for the fabrication of micro …

The Grotesque Self: Finding Identity Through The Grotesque In The Works Of Carson Mccullers, Colton Greganti

Honors Theses

Historically speaking, the South has maintained rigid, male dominated constructions of gender, which have manifested themselves in almost every aspect of the southern individual’s actions, sense of self, and appearance. While much of southern culture has been centered on this rigid identity, the southern gothic literary tradition strays from this stark binary, especially in its depiction of female characters. Through the use of grotesque representations, these characters are able to form a unique identity and deviate from the phallocentric social norms, though it often comes at the cost of social alienation. However, even when tragedies strike these gothic heroines, their …

Scheduling Problems, Aamir Kudai

Honors Theses

Manufacturing industry is growing exponentially. The need of using algorithms and computational techniques to enhance processes is increasing every day. Algorithms help us solve almost all kind of computational problems. Not only choosing the right algorithm for a problem is important but also optimizing its time and space efficiency is crucial. BorgWarner Transmission Systems located in Water Valley, Mississippi is one among the leading manufacturing companies. This paper will demonstrate a real-world audit scheduling problem happened at BorgWarner and the techniques used to solve it. A gentle introduction to some of the heuristic algorithms such as Genetic algorithm, Randomized algorithm, …

Community-Based Research Methods To Inform Public Health Practice And Policy: The Case Of Lead In The Mississippi Delta, Mary Alexandra Fratesi

Honors Theses

Environmental health issues are complex and require interdisciplinary and community engagement approaches to better understand them and inform policy. As one example, lead exposure has a number of dangerous neurological effects, including developmental delays and learning deficits. Potential lead exposure through drinking water and paint are areas of concern. In a 2018 document, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that up to 20% of lead exposure comes from drinking water alone. By using a type of engagement research called community-based research (CBR), this project began to address this major public health issue. CBR can be used to connect residents, their …

A Past Never Past: An Analysis Of Slavery And Reparation At The University Of Mississippi, Allen Coon

Honors Theses

The University of Mississippi was built using slaves, but the enslaved and their descendants were willfully denied admission to the university until forced desegregation in 1962. This interdisciplinary study employs a qualitative content analysis of antebellum university board of trustees and faculty minutes to investigate the benefits that slavery conferred to the university and the harms that slavery inflicted upon the campus enslaved. Analysis finds that slavery was a standard operation, that extrajudicial violence against slaves was a campus tradition, and that white supremacy was an institutional ideology at the University of Mississippi. This thesis integrates African American reparations literature …