Digital Commons Network^™

Periodontal Disease In A Classic Maya Population From Ambergris Caye, Belize: A Cej-Ac Analysis, Avery R. Mcneil

Honors Theses

Dental remains provide a durable and information-rich record of biological, dietary, and health-related processes in past populations. This study examines periodontal disease, dental wear, and morphometric variation in a Classic period Maya population from coastal Belize (ca. A.D. 700-900) using cementoenamel junction-alveolar crest (CEJ-AC) distance as one measure of periodontal health. Dental remains were assessed using standardized bioarchaeological methods, including tooth identification, crown measurements, and periodontal scoring based on mean CEJ-AC distances recorded at preserved surfaces. The results indicate widespread mild to moderate periodontal disease across the sample, with posterior teeth exhibiting greater alveolar bone loss than anterior dentition. These …

Teaching Sex Education In Mississippi: A Qualitative Study Of School Practices And Perspectives, Kathryn E. Wildman

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the implementation of sex education policy in Mississippi, a state with persistently high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Although House Bill 999 (2011) mandates sex education in public schools, limited research has explored how this policy is enacted in practice. Drawing on qualitative interviews with high school educators, school nurses, and representatives from community-based organizations, this study investigates how sex education is delivered, how educators are prepared, and how social and institutional factors shape classroom instruction.

The findings identify four central themes: substantial variation in implementation across school districts, inconsistent and often insufficient teacher …

The End Of Amateurism: Title Ix Challenges In The New Ere Of College Athletics, Georgia G. Kemmett

Honors Theses

This thesis examines whether emerging revenue-sharing models in intercollegiate athletics following the House v. NCAA settlement can be reconciled with Title IX’s mandate of sex-based equity. While antitrust law has accelerated the collapse of NCAA amateurism by dismantling restrictions on athlete compensation, the resulting revenue-sharing framework risks concentrating financial benefits in male-dominated sports, particularly football and men’s basketball, thereby raising significant legal and policy concerns under federal civil rights law.

Through analysis of Title IX doctrine, antitrust jurisprudence, OCR guidance, NIL regulation, congressional reform proposals, and emerging litigation involving gender identity and athlete eligibility, this thesis argues that commercialization and …

Quantifying Black Carbon Concentrations In Georgia And Analyzing Associated Public Health Risks, Khloe R. Osborne

Honors Theses

Quantifying Black Carbon Concentrations in Georgia and Analyzing Associated Public Health Risks

One of the most daunting challenges of the industrial world is air pollution. Within this broad spectrum, there is an inhalable particle group named PM2.5, which contains black carbon. Black carbon has evidence that supports the generation and worsening of adverse health impacts, which may include birth complications, cognitive deficits in children, pulmonary aggravation, asthma, cardiovascular issues, neurological degenerative patterns, and cancer risk. This is especially seen in vulnerable populations, like children, elderly, and those who already suffer from weakened health, many of which reside in the southern …

Exploring The Stress Coping Strategies Of Indonesian Elementary School Teachers: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Anak Agung Gede Agung, I Ketut Gading, Basilius Redan Werang, Ni Luh Putu Agetania

The Qualitative Report

Teachers play a pivotal role in delivering quality education and shaping students’ future lives. The growing demands and responsibilities on teachers can lead to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, which threatens their well-being—a condition commonly referred to as work stress. Our study aimed to explore the strategies used by elementary school teachers in Bali Province to cope with work-related stress. This study adopts a qualitative research approach with elementary schools in Bali Province, Indonesia, serving as the research setting. A phenomenological research design was employed, involving 25 purposively selected teachers as participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed …

A Compilation Of Accounting Studies And Analyses, Annalee Hill

Honors Theses

This thesis includes a study of the food company, General Mills, from the perspective of auditors who view General Mills as a client. Specifically, it is an investigation of General Mills’ extensive efforts to comply with a new political agenda, which may result in subsequent applicable regulation. To develop this analysis, my classmates and I used various sources, including General Mills’s real, current financial statements, over the course of several weeks to produce a three-part compilation on the company itself, its move toward healthier products, and how we could assist them in doing so as their auditors. We performed analyzed …

Identifying And Coping With Failure In Human Anatomy & Physiology I And Ii Students, Annie R. Mueller

Honors Theses

Human Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is a two-semester course that focuses on the structure and function of the human body systems. For many students, A&P could be their first challenging undergraduate course and their first experience with academic difficulty. Students must learn to adapt their study habits and respond productively to academic failure. The purpose of this study was to examine how students in the A&P courses at the University of Mississippi perceive and cope with academic failure, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention method. Students enrolled in BISC 206 and BISC 207 participated in three …

Ecological And Social Determinants Of Nestling Sex Ratio In A Cooperatively Breeding Species, Makayla M. Veld

Honors Thesis

Understanding the ecological conditions under which parents, particularly mothers, adjust offspring sex ratios is important for predicting how environmental variation shapes population dynamics, sexual selection, and long-term evolutionary trajectories. Cooperative breeding is a social system where non-breeding individuals, called helpers, assist in raising another individual’s offspring. In birds, helpers tend to be males. As such, the fitness returns of male and female offspring in cooperative species depend on local social structure and future helping needs. Differences in sex can arise through either pre- or post-hatching variation. Pre-hatching variation is the result of physiological or genetic manipulation of offspring sex, whereas …

Oral Desensitization Therapy For Poison Ivy Urushiol Contact Allergy: A Systematic Review, Natasha Barton, John Meisenheimer, Dakota Hitchcock, Parks Juels, Olivia Ueltschi, Emily Woolhiser, Elizabeth Lamberty, Robert Dellavalle, Cory A. Dunnick

Student Publications

Oral desensitization is a promising approach to reduce the frequency and severity of allergic contact dermatitis reactions to poison ivy. Rhus dermatitis, characterized by itching, redness, and blistering, can appear up to three weeks post-exposure in first-time sufferers and after 1-2 days in those previously exposed. Bentoquatam cream can serve as a barrier to protect the skin from contact with urushiol resin, but it must be applied before exposure to the plant. Current treatments focus on relieving symptoms and managing inflammatory reactions with topical therapies such as calamine lotion and corticosteroids. Oral desensitization involves administering small amounts of urushiol orally …

Fragments, Editors Of Fragments

Fragments

No abstract provided.

Fragments, Editors Of Fragments

Fragments

No abstract provided.

Fragments, Editors Of Fragments

Fragments

No abstract provided.

Role Of Superoxide Dismutase 1 (Sod1) In Yeast Lifespan And Model For Als, Devin J. R. Harrison

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

Superoxide is a reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by premature electron leakage from complexes of the electron transport chain directly to oxygen. A primary defense of ROS damage as a respiratory byproduct is the neutralization of the superoxide anion by the enzyme Superoxide dismutase 1 (Sod1) to the less harmful hydrogen peroxide molecule. ROS are harmful species that cause degradation of proteins and membranes like the cell well, as well as mutations to DNA. The Sod1 protein requires copper and zinc as cofactors in the conversion of superoxide to less harmful hydrogen peroxide. Copper plays an important role in yeast …

The Role Of Mterf-3 In Mitochondrial Transcription, Reese C. Jones

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

The Mitochondrial Termination Factor (MTERF) family is a protein group of mitochondrial termination factors that are classified as regulators. Each MTERF protein has their own specialized role with respect to mitochondrial transcription, and not all are terminator factors. The protein group is based on sequence similarly, and the MTERF-3 protein is the most conserved of the family showing a crucial role across species. This is supported by the knockout mice exhibiting embryonic lethality when the gene is removed. Understanding the regulatory role of MTERF-3 and its interactions with the mitochondrial transcription machinery is the major aim of this project. To …

What Is Screen Apnea And How Does It Affect You?, Kristi M. Soileau

New Orleans Dental Association News

Screen apnea is a modern epidemic of significant proportions. Research suggests that nearly 80% of people unconsciously alter their breathing, often holding their breath or breathing shallowly, while working on digital devices. This subtle shift in respiration, sometimes called “email apnea,” can place the body into a low-grade stress response without being noticed by the individual at the screen. When breathing becomes restricted from poor posting or content anxiety, the nervous system enters into a sympathetic response, much as it interprets signs of threats to that person. The resultant physiological response may be exhibited by muscle tension, mental fog, increased …

Trauma-Informed Care (Tic) In Dental Settings, Kristi M. Soileau, Angeline Lee

New Orleans Dental Association News

Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is an approach that recognizes the impact of trauma on patients, considering trauma to better utilize methods for more effective patient care. This approach contains the following ten implementation domains that serve as a guide in organizational change:

1. Governance and Leadership
2. Policy
3. Physical Environment
4. Engagement and Involvement
5. Cross-sector Collaboration
6. Screening, Assessment, and Treatment Services
7. Training and Workforce Development
8. Progress Monitoring and Quality Assurance
9. Financing
10. Evaluation

Implementing TIC will ensure that patients feel safe and autonomous in dental clinics, which results in increased trust between patient and provider, reduced patient anxiety during office visits, and therefore better oral …

Noda News April 2026

New Orleans Dental Association News

New Orleans Dental Association (NODA) News includes regular columns with regional news impacting the New Orleans membership including: columns from the President and Executive Director, feature articles relating to the field of dentistry, association events and upcoming activities, component news, continuing education opportunities, and classifieds.

Producing Oral Medicines In Lettuce To Fight Chronic Diseases, Carlos E. Balmaceda, Megha Goyal, Anubhav Pal

Create@State

Chronic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel diseases, require patients’ commitment to their treatment, which can be challenging over time. Edible plants could help address this challenge by acting as living factories that produce a range of drugs, including medicinal proteins. Patients could eat the plants because their cells have a sturdy outer layer that protects and helps deliver the medicine. Lettuce is an example of a common vegetable that can serve this purpose. The main goal of this project is to develop a medicinal protein production and oral delivery system using lettuce plants. We will build a small version of …

Virginia Board Of Dentistry Emergency Regulations- Why, What And Where? Why Do We Need Regulations? What Are The New Regulations? Where Do We Go From Here?, A. Omar Abubaker Dmd, Phd

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Scorpions In Brazilian Caves And Other Subterranean Habitats, Jonas E. Gallão, Bruno D, Lenhare, Misael Oliveira-Neto, Maria E. Bichuette

Euscorpius

Arachnids have successfully colonized subterranean environments. Compared to spiders, harvestmen, and pseudoscorpions, scorpions have a moderate number of subterranean species, including troglophiles and troglobites. Among the four families and 184 species and three subspecies of scorpions found in Brazil, three families and at least 33 species and one subspecies have been documented in subterranean habitats. This study presents a faunistic list of scorpion occurrences in caves and other types of subterranean habitats in Brazil, along with distribution maps and an attempt to classify species based on their use of and dependence on subterranean environments.

Synthesis And Preliminary Bioactivity Of Small-Molecule Inhibitors Of Arp2/3 Complex, Georgia White-House, Jorie Wogmon

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

Results of summer 2025 research project on developing small-molecule inhibitors of Arp2/3 complex.

Hunting, Craftsmanship, And Migration: The Ethnobiology Of The Raute Nomads Of Nepal, Ramesh Prasad Adhikary

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study explores the ethnobiology of the Raute nomads in Nepal, a dwindling hunter-gatherer group facing threats from modernisation, deforestation, and sedentarisation policies. Despite growing ethnobiological research on indigenous knowledge, there remains a scholarly gap in integrated analyses of how nomadic practices like hunting, craftsmanship, and migration interlink to promote sustainability, particularly in South Asian contexts. Drawing on six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork with a single Raute community (n=15 key informants via purposive sampling for interviews; 3 focus groups of 6-8 participants via convenience sampling), this research employs participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions to address this gap. …

The Tortoise, Alexa Gail Colinco

Quill & Scope

For my grandfather, Dr. Joel R. Colinco (1928-2017). The first physician in his family. A man who provided free medical care to all and who continues to do so through the Colinco Medical Mission Outreach. The 2009 Senior Poet Laureate of South Carolina. A deacon and choir director in the Philippines. A painter, tennis player, fisherman, crossword addict, gardener, and so much more. Eternally honored to be guided by his legacy and ethics. (Pang, we'll play Scrabble again in heaven, and I promise I'll spell neighbor correctly this time.)

2026 Program (Pdf), Dept Of Obsttrics And Gynecology

Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology Resident Research Day

Program with abstracts for the 38th Annual Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology Residents Research Day held May 8, 2026.

Gci-300: Low-Shear Inertial-Magnetophoretic Blood Conditioning Envelope For Extracorporeal Therapy (Cern-Ohl-P), Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

Abstract: Disclosed is a bioadaptive extracorporeal hemofluidic envelope (GCI-300 platform) that conditions blood via low-shear, multi-pass flow using staged inertial enrichment, geometry-enforced rheological self-limiting, and near-wall magnetophoretic biasing. The device unifies three subsystems—inertial rheology envelope, enrichment corridor, and magnetophoretic guidance zone—within a compliant, pulsatile loop that maintains shear rates below 150 s⁻¹, bounded residence times, and hemocompatibility targets (e.g., plasma free Hb <20 mg/dL rise, βᵢ ≥0.85 bioinvisibility metric). Blood enters via impedance-matched inlet, undergoes Dean-flow near-wall enrichment in curved microchannels (50 µm height, 250–500 µm width, 1.5–4 mm radius), experiences distributed low-field magnetic bias without bulk trapping, and recirculates a fraction for cumulative gentle conditioning before reintegration. Gas-equilibrium membranes ensure pO₂/pCO₂ stability. Prototype geometry and bench protocol enable lab validation of enrichment vs. hemolysis, platelet activation, and complement effects per ISO 10993-4. Platform derivatives target cytokine bias, CTC/exosome handling, sepsis, and trauma support by swapping biasing matrices (magnetic, acoustic, affinity). All designs released under CERN-OHL-P for open development.

A bioadaptive extracorporeal hemofluidic envelope that conditions blood via low‑shear, multi‑pass flow using staged inertial enrichment,

The Influence Of Fermentation Duration And Secondary Fermentation Conditions On The Bioactive Compound Profile Of Kombucha, Jordan Vereen

Honors Theses

Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea produced using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) and has gained widespread popularity due to its proposed health benefits. Kombucha has been studied to understand these advantages in cardiovascular support, improved metabolism, increased antioxidant effects, enhanced antimicrobial properties, and even potentially slowing the progression of certain diseases. Despite its increasing popularity, the way in which the specific bioactive compounds responsible for these effects and the fermentation conditions that influence their production remain unclear. The present study, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Budner, focuses on quantifying bioactive compounds in kombucha to better understand …

The Decision Of The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights In The Case Of Angulo Losada V. Bolivia: A Catalyst For The Rights Of Girls And Victims Of Sexual Violence, Brisa De Angulo, Rosa Celorio, Bárbara Jiménez-Santiago, Rosemarie Hidalgo, Carolina Perez

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of Angulo Losada v. Boliviaon November 18, 2022, finding that the country of Bolivia violated the human rights of a victim of sexual violence by failing to thoroughly and promptly investigate, prosecute, and sanction a case of incestuous sexual violence against an adolescent girl by an older male relative. The Court advanced an enhanced due diligence standard, establishing that an intersectional gender and child-rights perspective needs to guide the judicial processing of cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents. The Court set critical legal standards for …

Tools Of Genocide: Forced Assimilation In Canada, Dr. Pamela Palmater, Zoë Craig-Sparrow

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

Since colonization, the core objective of Canada’s Indian policy was to “get rid of the Indian problem”. To accomplish this, Canada has engaged in the forced assimilation of Indians (First Nations), with targeted and disproportionate impacts on First Nations women and girls resulting in grave human rights violations. Drawing on international human rights laws and standards (such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples); numerous inquiries and commissions (Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and …

Ecuador Medical Immersion Trip Exposes Students To Cross-Cultural Health Care, Elisabeth Watson

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

A week in Ecuador pushed students to look past biological symptoms and see how culture defines healing.

Role Of Kif4a In The Fxa-Induced Phenotypic Modulation Of Pleural Mesothelial Cells, Sudishna Khanal

Biotechnology Theses

Pleural injuries can disrupt the organization of the pleural surface, leading to pleural remodeling and fibrosis (PF), characterized by the proliferation of myofibroblasts expressing alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, primarily due to the mesenchymal transition of pleural mesothelial cells (PMCs) (MesoMT). It is well established that various external stimuli, such as TGF-β, thrombin, and factor Xa (FXa), induce MesoMT. Our laboratory found that myocardin, a transcriptional co-activator, was dramatically up-regulated during MesoMT, and that gene silencing of myocardin (MyoCD) diminished MesoMT. RNA sequencing data showed that FXa activated a set of genes not upregulated …