Digital Commons Network^™

Bon Appѐtit: Faunal Subsistence At Fort Tombecbe (1su7)​, Sarah Coffey

Master's Theses

The frontier fort known as Tombecbe is situated on the Tombigbee River in present day Epes, Alabama. Tombecbe was constructed in 1736 as a staging point for Bienville’s campaign against the Chickasaw and to block encroachments by the British military. Following the Treaty of Paris, the fort was occupied successively by the British and then Spanish in the eighteenth century. Fortunately, historic documents and physical modifications to the fort suggest that it is possible to isolate and examine the French, British, and Spanish separately, however the breadth of the faunal analysis leaves this for future research. The soldiers at Tombecbe …

Analysis Of Fossil Pollen From A Pleistocene Cypress Forest Preserved On The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Continental Shelf, Kathryn Joyce Garretson

Master's Theses

This study presents the findings of fossil pollen analysis performed on terrestrial sediments preserved on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf (site hereafter known as the Underwater Forest or DF). This research aims to establish vegetation composition on a continental shelf glacial refuge and provide a better understanding of vegetation response to sea-level rise. Two cores (15DF1 and 15DF3B) located at different locations within the forest were recovered and analyzed. Pollen results from both cores were similar, with high percentages of Taxodium and Nyssa pollen in the lowermost sections reflecting an assemblage typical of contemporary baldcypress swamps. Pollen assemblages …

Investigation Of Dna Variability And Phylogenetic Relationships Of Perlesta (Plecoptera: Perlidae) In Mississippi, James C. Valentine, Mac H. Alford

Master's Theses

The genus Perlesta Banks, 1906 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) consists of 35 species, 33 native to the United States and Canada and two native to China. For over a century these small, brown stonefly adults and freckled yellow nymphs have gone by the name of the type species of the genus, Perlesta placida, but taxonomic work in the genus since 1989 has resulted in the recognition of additional species. These species were mostly recognized and described using morphological characteristics, but two areas that are lacking include (1) linking nymphs to adults and (2) phylogenetic analysis of all species occurring in Mississippi …

Trusting Your Bearings: Outdoor Navigation And The Link Between Perceived Competence, Actual Skill, And Flow State In The Adirondack Region Of New York, Daria Stacy

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived competence and flow theory in the activity of outdoor navigation. This relationship was examined at beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert skill levels of navigation, targeting a population in the Adirondack Region due to its challenging, thickly forested terrain. The study used a multi-method approach encompassing both quantitative and qualitative data. Surveys were administered to examine beginner, intermediate, and advanced navigators following a formal navigation course at SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Practicum at Raquette Lake or an Advanced Map and Compass Bushwhack Course or Map and Compass Fundamentals Course …

The Mythos Of Lilith: A Collection Of Madwomen, Megan Mau

Master's Theses

For too long, women’s stories have been mitigated, translated, truncated, and censored, if they were even recorded at all before the world could hear them. What could women be writing that would be so threatening to incite such censorship? To a male-dominated world, anything that could disrupt their illusions of power is a threat. If a woman penned a narrative of her experiences in this world, or if she were to begin speaking on a new way of thinking that called for change, that must be stopped. The ultimate goal is to prevent women from writing or stepping out of …

Fate Of Listeria Monocytogenes On Two Salad Blends At Ideal And Abusive Temperatures, Taran Virdi

Master's Theses

The consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods has increased with popular RTE salad blends including non-traditional ingredients such as shredded Brussels sprouts, kale, red and green cabbage, chicory, and broccoli stalk. Concurrently, there has been an increase in the number of foodborne illnesses and outbreaks associated with leafy greens. The potential risk associated with these ingredients must be addressed as they have not typically been consumed raw, especially since L. monocytogenes continues to be a leading cause of foodborne illnesses and outbreaks. This study evaluated the survival of L. monocytogenes on two RTE salad blends at refrigeration, mildly abusive, and abusive …

A Pandemic Of Greed And A Disease Of Poverty In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque Of The Red Death", Benjamin Herrick

Master's Theses

The breakers tripped. Again. The breakers, a mandatory halt to trading on the floor of the stock exchange in response to the S&P falling more than 7% from the previous close. This was instituted after the Crash of 1987 to calm the markets before trading is allowed to resume. They are supposed to mitigate a drastic crash. They have only ever triggered once before, in 1997. Not for the tech bubble. Not even in the crash of 2008. All trading stops for fifteen minutes when the Level One breaker trips. If it drops further in the same day, the Level …

F. Scott Fitzgerald’S Homme Épuisé: Usurping The “Madwoman” In Tender Is The Night (1934) [2022], Emma Hill

Master's Theses

Nineteenth-century women writers commonly use themes of entrapment and madness in what are now classified as gothic novels. In texts such as Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, and The Yellow Wallpaper, confinement and madness are synchronous in developing the figure of “the madwoman.” These texts were written during a time when it was uncommon for female writers to seek publication, and many used pseudonyms to get their works published or to be taken seriously by critics. The “madwoman” emerged as a powerful trope to articulate what writing under a patriarchal system feels like. That is to say, confinement scenarios resulting from female …

How The Notch Signaling Pathway And Mediator Work Together To Regulate Hasc Self-Renewal, Taylor Teach

Master's Theses

Obesity is a serious medical condition resulting from excess body fat that triggers changes in both quantity and quality of various cells that reside in adipose tissue, including adipose stem cells. Adipose derived stem cells are multipotent, self-renewing cells that have the ability to differentiate. This process can be controlled by environmental stimuli, transcription factors, and signal cascades that lead to gene transcription and protein expression specific to the cell’s fate. The Mediator complex and the Notch signaling pathway are two complexes that allow this to occur. There is still much unknown about the Mediator complex, the Notch signaling pathways, …

Effects Of Dietary Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation On Doxorubicin-Induced Hydrogen Peroxide-Mediated Global Cysteine Sulfenylation Of Rat Cardiac Tissue, Rachel Flowers

Master's Theses

Creatine monohydrate is prolifically used as an ergogenic aid but is less commonly used for its antioxidant properties. The use of creatine, as an antioxidant, has been studied in multiple disease domains as an intervention to improve skeletal muscle quality for Duchenne muscular dystrophy by impacting calcium ion sensitivity in myocytes, Huntington’s disease by facilitating regulation of succinate dehydrogenase in the citric acid cycle and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by positively impacting muscular atrophy. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) impact both physiological and pathophysiological roles in aerobic life such that an imbalance to the redox environment of the cell can cause intracellular …

Musical Narrative And Cultural Context In The Animated Miniseries Over The Garden Wall, Chloe Resler

Master's Theses

Over the Garden Wall, a television miniseries that aired in 2014 on Cartoon Network, is a distinctly American fantasy in the young adult genre. It is comprised of ten episodes, each set in a different historical period. The music of the series was written and performed by The Blasting Company and drew from a variety of historical influences, including Sacred Harp singing, ragtime, early jazz, Stephen Foster, Balkan folk music, and classic cartoons. The music serves several purposes throughout the miniseries: it helps set each episode in its respective historical period, aids in character development, and moves the narrative forward. …

The Effects Of Contraction On Skeletal Muscle Expression Of Interleukin-6, Drew Huber

Master's Theses

Interleukin-6 (IL6) is a pleiotropic cytokine secreted by a wide array of cells in response to different stimuli. The immune and inflammatory functions of IL6 have been widely studied, and it is well documented that IL6 plays a critical role in immune function and the inflammatory response to pathogens and damage to the organism. Interleukin-6 has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide array of diseases and high circulating levels of IL6 are used as a clinical marker for many. However, recent work has found IL6 to function as a myokine in response to exercise involving muscular contractions. …

Genetic Analysis Of The Rare, Colorado Endemic Rocky Mountain Monkeyflower, Mimulus Gemmiparus, Branson Wetzstein

Master's Theses

Mimulus gemmiparus is a rare, Colorado endemic plant which possesses a limited range, strict habitat requirement, and unique life history. Most peculiarly, Mimulus gemmiparus seemingly relies entirely on clonal spread using vegetative propagules known as brood bulbils to persist year to year. This inconspicuous annual is only found within a narrow range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, possessing a total known range of about 2500 km2. There are currently 11 known natural populations of Mimulus gemmiparus spread across three general regions: North (Larimer, Boulder, and Grand Counties), Central (Clear Creek and Jefferson Counties), and South (Jefferson County). Lack of sexual reproduction, …

Assessing Dietary Nutrient Adequacy And The Effects Of Season-Long Training On Body Composition And Metabolic Rates Of Men's Division I Collegiate Basketball Player, Morgan M. Nishisaka

Master's Theses

The success of performance in basketball may rely on both optimal body composition and nutrient intake. To our knowledge this is the first study to examine dietary intake adequacy and season-long effects on body composition and metabolism. The purpose of this study was to examine seasonal changes in body composition (BC), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and respiratory quotient (RQ), while also examining the dietary intake adequacy of NCAA DI male basketball players. BC, RMR and RQ were assessed during pre-season, in-season, and post-season (September, December, and March), while dietary assessment was collected in September and February. Results of this study …

The Role Of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation On Immunoglobulin A-Secreting B Cell Gut Homing, Linda Ortiz

Master's Theses

Within the United States, foodborne diseases are estimated to result in more than 100,000 hospitalizations each year with 3,000 fatalities. Acute gastroenteritis impacts more than 1.5 million children each year in the United States. Worldwide, childhood morbidity and mortality are largely attributed to infectious diarrheal diseases. To combat infection at mucosal surfaces, immunoglobulin (Ig) A is produced by antibody-secreting B cells to inhibit and neutralize pathogens and their toxins. B cells are influenced by various extrinsic signals through activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The AhR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that links diet and environmental factors to intestinal …

Teaching Old Calipers New Tricks: Using Craniometrics For Ancestry Admixture Estimation Via Fuzzy Math, Kristi Carnahan

Master's Theses

Cranial measurements have been a cornerstone of physical anthropology since its formation as a discipline in the early 1900s. However, most other ancestry determination methods come with a significant epistemological issue: they differentiate individuals into discrete categories without accounting for the issue of admixture. Advances in data mining and analysis techniques can now be used to help resolve this issue through soft computing, also known as “fuzzy math”. This type of advanced computational math requires specialized knowledge in computer programming, statistics, and data analysis techniques unless one is using computer programs specially designed to run these analyses.

This project compiled …

A Research Framework And Initial Study Of Browser Security For The Visually Impaired, Elaine Lau, Zachary Peterson

Master's Theses

The growth of web-based malware and phishing attacks has catalyzed significant advances in the research and use of interstitial warning pages and modals by a browser prior to loading the content of a suspect site. These warnings commonly use visual cues to attract users' attention, including specialized iconography, color, and an absence of buttons to communicate the importance of the scenario. While the efficacy of visual techniques has improved safety for sighted users, these techniques are unsuitable for blind and visually impaired users. This is likely not due to a lack of interest or technical capability by browser manufactures, where …

Influences Of Youtube Advertising On Young Adults: A Social Identity Perspective, Nathakorn Srithong

Master's Theses

Social media sites, such as YouTube, have provided a platform for many individuals to have online communities and form their own audiences through their shared interests and a sense of belonging. YouTube exemplifies a social environment in which everyone has the potential to be both the consumer and the producer of content and suggests the speed at which social networking innovations can transform the way we interact with other users. Corporations began to deviate new strategies to engage this new online market and have created a salient area to study the potential problems that may arise when ads present cultural …

Value-Added Opportunities For Tomato And Peach Seeds, Valerie Michelle Lavenburg

Master's Theses

The food industry is increasingly concerned with operational sustainability and food waste reduction. In the United States, the tomato industry was worth $1 billion in 2020, and tomatoes are currently ranked second as the most consumed vegetable after potatoes. Tomato processors have striven to valorize pomace by-products, which contain seeds with valuable compounds such as 45% fiber, 30% oil, and 26% protein. The U.S. peach industry, which was worth $599 million in 2017, is also looking for alternative ways to utilize their seeds, made up of 52% oil. Both tomato and peach seeds are rich in bioactive compounds such as …

Sensitivity Of A Lamp Assay For Detection Of The Dinoflagellate Amyloodinium Ocellatum In Simulated Field Conditions And Freeze Tolerance Of The Parasite, Robert Gonzales

Master's Theses

The obligate parasitic dinoflagellate Amyloodinium ocellatum causes amyloodiniosis in warm water marine fishes. The prolific parasite, which has a direct, three-stage life cycle, is highly infectious and can cause heavy losses in aquaculture. Prevention, biosecurity, and early detection are vital for control. In this work, microscopy and a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay were compared for early diagnosis of A. ocellatum in cultured stocks, and the freeze tolerance of tomonts was assessed to determine if frozen wild fish used as fish food can serve as a potential vector for the parasite.

The lowest dinospore concentration that could be detected by …

Using Deep Learning And Uav Imagery To Detect Elkhorn Coral In St. Croix’S East End Marine Park, Samuel Wyatt

Master's Theses

Elkhorn coral, or Acropora palmata, is an important reef building species that promotes species abundance and other ecological services to the communities in the US Virgin Islands. We captured high resolution imagery of a reef in St. Croix’s East End Marine Park using a Wingtra One UAV. We then used deep learning techniques to detect individual coral colonies. We compared two deep learning models, FasterRCNN and MaskRCNN, and found that the models achieved accuracy shores up to 0.78. These scores improved when examining only larger corals in shallow waters. The model was able to both detect Elkhorn coral and …

Emotions In Work And War: Comparisons Of Emotional-Cultures Of New Deal Ccc Enrollees And Wwii U.S. Army Enlistees, 1933-1945, Maeve Losen

Master's Theses

Though the Great Depression and Second World War were consecutive eras and overlapped in numerous aspects, scholarship often overlooks the commonalities between these periods. To demonstrate these eras’ shared qualities, this thesis examines the relationship in emotional-cultures—the cultural norms that dictated how individuals felt and demonstrated their emotions—among Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees and U.S. Army enlistees during WWII.

The broad intent of this undertaking is to place the cultural history of the Great Depression and WWII in conversation and to show the advantage of inter- and multidisciplinary work by applying anthropological and historical theories of emotion. Though the historical …

Spatial And Temporal Variation In Growth Rate Of Blue Rockfish (Sebastes Mystinus) In Nearshore Central California Determined Using A Physiological Biomarker, Ellie M. Brauer

Master's Theses

Identifying areas of high fish population productivity is crucial for protecting habitats essential to fish growth and reproduction and, ultimately, for achieving sustainable fisheries. Historically, evaluations of habitat quality have relied heavily on linking spatial variation in fish abundance to environmental parameters such as substrate category, depth, or bathymetry. That approach, however, assumes that areas of high fish abundance best support growth and reproduction of a species and thus may fail to detect spatial or temporal variation in population attributes, such as somatic growth rate, which can be central to recruitment success and survival. In this study, we employed a …

Optimization Of A Novel Nipam-Based Thermoresponsive Copolymer For Intramuscular Injection As A Myoblast Delivery Vehicle To Combat Peripheral Artery Occlusive Disease, Quentin R. Klueter

Master's Theses

There is a need for a minimally invasive delivery method to enable cell therapies to combat peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) in end stage patients. Myoblasts show promise as a cell mediated therapy but warrant an improved delivery method to increase cell retention in the region of interest because of their adherent nature, relative to previously used BM-MNC’s that are non-adherent. Contemporary issues with achieving successful cell therapies of vasculature can be mainly characterized by the lack of clinical translation from promising animal studies and absence of cell delivery scaffolding. Naturally, polymers have been widely experimented with as grafts to …

Impact Of Primary Myoblasts On Macrophage Polarization In-Vitro, Olivia Welch

Master's Theses

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is characterized by the development of atherosclerotic plaques on arterial walls, leading to the narrowing of blood vessels, resulting in ischemia in the downstream tissue. In the United States, 12% of the adult population is affected by PAD and its related symptoms. Current surgical revascularization techniques can be effective in part of the patient population, but there is a need for other options. Alternatively, collateral blood vessels, or natural bypass arteries, enlarge to increase blood flow to the ischemic tissue in a process called arteriogenesis, which has been studied as a therapeutic option. Cell-based therapies, such …

Assessing The Impact Of Bicycle Infrastructure And Modal Shift On Traffic Operations And Safety Using Microsimulation, Katherine E. Lee

Master's Theses

A transportation system designed to prioritize the mobility of automobiles cannot accommodate the growing number of road users. The Complete Streets policy plays a crucial part in transforming streets to accommodate multiple modes of transportation, especially active modes like biking and walking. Complete streets are referred to as streets designed for everyone and enable safety and mobility to all users. A strategy of complete streets transformation is to connect isolated complete street segments to form a complete network that improves active mobility and public transit ridership.

This research assessed the impact of efficiently and equitably connecting and expanding the biking …

Lytic Bacteriophages And Lactic Acid As Processing Aids Against Salmonella Spp. And Escherichia Coli O157:H7 On Marinated And Tenderized Pork Loins, Sherita Li

Master's Theses

Within the last decade, pork consumption has steadily increased and continues to be the most consumed meat globally. However, pathogenic bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics have also been increasingly found in pig farms, animals, and the environment. Bacterial food poisoning cases due to Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 appear to be linked with a variety of pork products. The meat industry has recognized that research is needed to combat the multi-drug resistance in foodborne pathogens with alternative methods of control. This study evaluated the effects of both E. coli- and Salmonella-specific lytic bacteriophages and …

Fire Effects In Montane Meadows, Rosie Deak

Master's Theses

The impact of forest fires on downstream meadow communities across California is of great ecological interest, as meadows are an important source of biodiversity in this region. Over a century of fire suppression has led to increased forest stand densities, which in turn has resulted in less water availability due to increased transpiration of densely growing trees. This potentially has left less available water for downstream plant communities in meadows. If true, then high mortality wildfires in surrounding forest are predicted to lead to an increase in available downstream moisture where obligate and facultative-wetland taxa increase and dry-adapted upland taxa …

Use Of Magnetic Iron-Coated Halloysite Nanotubes In Cell Growth, Differentiation, And Combating Cancerous Growth, Christopher Daniel Candler

Master's Theses

Magnetic Halloysite Nanotubes can be used in multiple ways in combating growth of osteosarcoma. The adsorption ability of the inner and outer surfaces of halloysite nanotubes allows for attachment of different molecules, including anti-cancer drugs, polymer layering for controlled drug release, and magnetic coating. This magnetic coating would allow for cell membrane disruption, hyperthermia, and for targeting of specific tissue. In this project, the goal was to create these magnetic nanotubes and test their cytotoxicity against stem cells and osteosarcoma cells.

To create these magnetic nanotubes, we used electrodeposition to adsorb ferrous oxide nanoparticles (FeNPs) onto halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) to …

Transient Thermal Response Of Tissues Surrounding An Implanted Medical Device During Inductive Charging, Peter C. Leboeuf

Master's Theses

Inductive charging as a means of power delivery to implanted device is becoming more commonplace as increasingly sophisticated implants with higher power requirements enter clinical use. When such devices undergo inductive charging, losses within the system result in dissipated heat that must be absorbed by the surrounding tissue. The skin-mounted primary antenna and components within the implanted device such as the metal casing, battery, and secondary antenna are all susceptible to temperature increase during a charging cycle. Heating of this kind must be considered when designing modern implants utilizing this mode of power transfer in order to safeguard surrounding tissues …