Digital Commons Network^™

Plague And Devastation In Ancient Greece: Why Mourning Matters, Hannah Kallin

Honors Scholar Theses

In 430 BC, The Plague of Athens swept through the city and left tens of thousands dead. Ancient historian Thucydides gives his account of the plague, detailing the consequent breakdown of order in the capital. Bodies could not be buried or mourned in the ideal traditional ceremonies, leaving surviving citizens unmoored and terrified. This paper explores the impact of interrupted mourning on ancient Greek society. These interruptions range from war and changing laws to periods of plague and widespread devastation. The emotional wellbeing of individual citizens depends on their ability to process death and associated grief with freedom and support …

Triggering Thermal Runaway In Lithium-Ion Batteries, Chris John

Honors Scholar Theses

The proliferation of lithium-ion batteries enables electric devices such as cell phones to electric vehicles to become a reality. A latent danger, however, exists in these batteries. Mechanical, thermal, or electrical damage can initiate a phenomenon known as thermal runaway (TR). This damage causes internal short circuits within the battery, releasing heat and triggering exothermic decomposition reactions. The battery will catch fire if rapid cooling is not present. While experimental designs exist for evaluating TR, significant safety hazards and impracticality may impede testing efforts. Finite element analysis, therefore, becomes a vital tool in modeling TR and mitigation techniques. However, there …

Plant-Based Diets And Metabolic Syndrome: Evaluating The Influence Of Diet Quality, Lydia Mcgrath

Honors Scholar Theses

Background: Diet plays a critical role in the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Plant-based diets (PBDs) have demonstrated a broad range of health benefits, including a protective effect against MetS. Most research on this topic has focused on PBDs as a whole, without considering the influence of diet quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between plant-based diet quality and biomarkers of MetS.

Methods: Data were obtained from a clinical nutrition study at the University of Connecticut. 29 participants with MetS were included. PBD quality was assessed using 2 measures: healthful PBD index (hPDI) …

Study Of Porosity Of Gelatin-Alginate Hydrogels To Model Brain Matter For Studying Traumatic Brain Injuries, Apolline Vincent

Honors Scholar Theses

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) affect brain tissue and neuronal signaling, leading to many side effects including death. Research on TBIs is limited by the lack of accurate brain matter models to study the physiological and cellular reaction. Alginate-gelatin hydrogels have been designed and modified to mimic the mechanical properties of the brain to act as an accurate in vitro model. This Honors thesis aims to verify the porous microstructure of gelatin-alginate hydrogels through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to understand how gelatin and alginate affect the microstructure. I measured the pore sizes of each hydrogel using ImageJ, compared the average pore …

Content Analysis Of Public Instagram Posts About Pelvic Floor Disorders And Pelvic Floor Muscle Training In Pregnancy, Lauren R. Rudin, Molly E. Waring

Honors Scholar Theses

Objective: To analyze the content of public Instagram posts and describe the discussion of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT)/pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT) in pregnancy. Methods: Public Instagram accounts based in the U.S. with posts within the past 7 days focused on pregnancy were included. We analyzed English posts related to pelvic floor health, PFDs or PFMT. We categorized accounts by user type, health-related expertise, business endorsement, and influencer status. We categorized posts by content (informative, recommendation, sharing experience, meme, advertisement), context (informative, preventive, interventive), and terminology (scientific, lay). We used chi-squared tests to compare …

Asian American Discrimination Through United States History, Disease Outbreaks, And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth He

Honors Scholar Theses

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes have increased sharply. Although this is one of the first instances where a larger portion of the population is actively participating in discussion on this topic, Asian discrimination has woven itself throughout American history. Concepts like the model minority myth, racial triangulation, and panethnic fate have been common tales within the Asian American diaspora. Ostracism in tandem with valorization applies from the mid-1800’s California Gold Rush to Reagan era affirmative action cases. In some aspects, Asian people are tokenized, while in other instances, they are labeled as foreign and alien. …

Effects Of Noise On Speech Perception In Children Using Cochlear Implants: A Systematic Review, Priya Gupta

Honors Scholar Theses

Deaf children often use cochlear implants in settings where background noise is present. This study was designed to review the literature on speech perception in noise abilities of children with cochlear implants. A systematic search of the database Academic Search Premier was used to identify papers. A total of 13 articles were included in this review from an original 144. Results were found to be consistent with other studies. From this review, multiple factors were found to improve speech perception in noise, including using bilateral implants and increased experience with the implants. However, more studies are needed to determine if …

Alterations Of The Gut Mycobiome In Patients With Ms - A Bioinformatic Approach, Saumya Shah

Honors Scholar Theses

The mycobiome is the fungal component of the gut microbiome and is implicated in several autoimmune diseases. However, its role in multiple sclerosis (MS) has not been studied. We performed descriptive and formal statistical tests using the R language to characterize the gut mycobiome in people with MS (pwMS) and healthy controls. We found that the microbiome composition of multiple sclerosis patients is different from healthy people. The mycobiome had significantly higher alpha diversity and inter-subject variation in pwMS than controls. Additionally, Saccharomyces and Aspergillus were over-represented in pwMS. Different mycobiome profiles, defined as mycotypes, were associated with different bacterial …

The Potential Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins As Drug Targets, Matt Staid

Honors Scholar Theses

Tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 3-interacting protein 1 (TNIP1) is a negative regulator of inflammatory signaling in several diseases. TNIP1 is also an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), which makes it difficult for current drugs to affect it. More research on IDPs could lead to novel drugs targeting TNIP1, leading to improved therapies for patients with acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. The main difference between IDPs and the more common ordered proteins is that IDPs are flexible, a characteristic of TNIP1 which was demonstrated in this study via protease sensitivity. Ordered proteins are rigid, which means that they only have one …

The Importance Of Health Anxiety And Emotional Reasoning To Understand Vaccine Hesitancy And Safety Behaviors: Implications For Public Health Campaigns In A Covid_19 Era, Samantha Ballas, Kimberli Treadwell

Honors Scholar Theses

This study examined the impact of health anxiety and emotional reasoning on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and preventative behaviors, hypothesizing that high anxiety and emotional reasoning would predict lower vaccine hesitancy and higher COVID-19 preventative health behavior after controlling for demographic variables. A large international non-probability convenience sample of 532 individuals consented to an online survey in a cross-sectional period from March through August 2021 (one month following availability of vaccinations in the USA). Participants completed questionnaires online. Health anxiety and general anxiety were significantly correlated with COVID-19 preventative behaviors, including mask wearing and social distancing, and emotional reasoning. General anxiety …

The Effects Of Poor Maternal Nutrition During Gestation In Sheep On The Reproductive Efficiency Of The Offspring, Morgan Dougherty

Honors Scholar Theses

Poor maternal nutrition during gestation negatively impacts fetal programming and the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis in the offspring. Reproductive health of ewes can be characterized by concentrations of reproductive hormones including follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone, particularly during the estrous cycle. We hypothesized that ewes born to dams that experienced poor maternal nutrition during gestation would have reduced reproductive capability and efficiency. This means that they would take longer to become pregnant and have reduced concentrations of reproductive hormones compared with those born to mothers fed the control diet. Pregnant dams (F0) were fed one …

Outside And In: Social Support's Relationship With Support While Incarcerated, Phillip Michael Galli

Dissertations

Positive social support acts as a barrier against life events. Related to crime, positive social support may improve prison institutional behavior, reentry outcomes, and reduce recidivism. Conversely, negative support may create deleterious effects for individuals as they navigate life’s challenges. This dissertation explores the relationships between indicators of positive pre-prison social support (living as a family unit, marriage, financial help) and pre-cursors to negative social support pre-prison (caregiver substance use, family criminal history, growing up in foster care, receiving welfare, living in public housing and physical/sexual abuse) and three forms of carceral social support (visitation, making/receiving phone calls, and religious …

Patent Prophylaxis: Expanding Access To Prep Through 28 U.S.C. § 1498, Jonathan A. Bell

William & Mary Law Review

Part I of this Note details the discovery of Truvada for PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis] and the ongoing patent infringement litigation brought by HHS [United States Department of Health and Human Services], discusses the patents currently held by CDC and Gilead, and examines the shortcomings of infringement litigation as a means to expand access to the drug. Part II analyzes the mechanism of march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act and discusses two previously attempted applications for the HIV-management drug ritonavir to demonstrate why march-in rights will always fail to expand access to life-saving medications or reduce costs to consumers. Part III …

Cannabis, Consumers, And The Trademark Laundering Trap, Viva R. Moffat, Sam Kamin, Tim Maffett

William & Mary Law Review

At the moment, cannabis companies cannot acquire federal trademark protection for their marijuana products because the ''lawful use" doctrine limits trademark registration to goods lawfully sold in commerce. Given that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, this may not sound like much of a problem, but it has serious consequences for consumers. Without trademark rights, one cannabis company can simply use the brand name of another, more prominent, company on its marijuana products, and consumers will assume that they are getting the products they have come to rely on, with potentially dangerous results. The current approach of the United States …

Atomistic Antitrust, Robin C. Feldman, Mark A. Lemley

William & Mary Law Review

Antitrust is atomistic: deliberately focused on trees, not forests. It pays attention to the consequences of individual acts alleged to be anticompetitive.

That focus is misplaced. Companies and markets don't focus on one particular act to the exclusion of all else. Business strategy emphasizes holistic, integrated planning. And market outcomes aren't determined by a single act, but by the result of multiple acts by multiple parties in the overall context of the structure and characteristics of the market.

The atomistic nature of modern antitrust law causes it to miss two important classes of potential competitive harms. First, the focus on …

Larval Assessment And Infection Etiology Of Cultivated And Wild Eastern Oysters, Crassostrea Virginica, Of Great Bay Estuary, Nh, Alyssa Stasse

Master's Theses and Capstones

Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, populations have been declining steadily over the past several decades across the North American east coast. Great Bay Estuary (GBE), located in New Hampshire, is experiencing this loss and restoration efforts have been put into effect. This work addresses restoration needs by characterizing abundances of settled spat and two early stages of C. virginica, D-hinge and veliger, in GBE from June 2020 through November 2020. Abundances are compared based on the collection site and the physicochemical data recorded on each sampling date. It was found that there were no differences in larval abundance at different sites …

Identification Of Ciprofloxacin Resistance Factors Via In Vivo Evolution Of Aeromonas Veronii In The Medicinal Leech, Lauren Daddi

Honors Scholar Theses

Infections from ciprofloxacin (Cp) resistant (Cp^R) Aeromonas veronii have been reported in increasing numbers among patients receiving leech therapy in recent years. Mutations in DNA gyrase, gyrA S83I, and DNA topoisomerase IV, parC E91K, along with acquisition of the qnrS2 gene located on the pAv42 plasmid, have been identified as genetic factors contributing to Cp^R in A. veronii. A strain of A. veronii harboring all known resistance factors was previously constructed and has a Cp minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 3 µg/ml, which remains below the resistance threshold of 4 µg/ml and well below the high …

Food Deserts, Crime, And Neighborhood Context: An Examination Of The Impact Of Food Insecurity On Violent Crime In Little Rock, Sarah Dean

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis seeks to explore the indirect and direct relationships between food insecurity, concentrated disadvantage, and distribution of violent offenders through the lens of social disorganization. Data gathered by the Little Rock Police Department, American Community Survey, and city business license records are used to test neighborhood-level relationships across Little Rock, Arkansas’ 155 Census block groups. Pearson’s Correlation is used at the bivariate level and negative binomial regression tests multivariate relationships. The results suggest a null relationship between food insecurity and distribution of violent offenders across Little Rock block groups. However, several findings are consistent with prior research and theory– …

Analysis Of The Factors Influencing Multiple Uses Of Crime Guns: An Exploratory Study, Samantha Scott

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A broad body of literature has been built around the topic of gun violence in the United States. The characteristics of communities, victims, and offenders have each been used to explain variation in the likelihood and frequency of gun crime. Less attention has been given to the factors associated with multiple uses of crime guns. The current study applies binary logistic regression to crime logs maintained by the police department of a mid-size city in the Southeastern U.S. to examine how neighborhood and initial incident characteristics influence the likelihood that a crime gun will be used in multiple incidents. Gang …

Modeling Of Spiral Waves Arising In Atrial Fibrillation, James Cummins

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this study is to model spirals arising in atrial fibrillation. Spiral wave fronts, known to cardiologists as cardiac rotors, are responsible for heart arrhythmias. The modeling of the path of the spiral will ultimately assist in understanding why arrhythmias occur and how to treat them. This study involved first developing a linear ray model to provide basic understanding of a rotating wave front, then generalizing to spiral models. Both the Archimedean spiral and a spiral derived from the diffusion equation are used as possible candidates to resemble cardiac rotors found in the heart. We conclude by comparing …

Progressive Christianity: The Postmodern Mutation Of Theological Liberalism, Lisa Dundov

Masters Theses

The intention of this thesis is to historically track Liberal Christianity, distinguishing its different shapes, dissecting its current form of Progressive Christianity, and then refute its tenets by holding them to the standard of orthodox Christianity. This project is organized into a chronological, historical approach to Liberal Christianity followed by a comparative approach to Progressive Christianity and orthodox Christianity. The historical research aims to identify and connect common, theologically liberal elements, a distinct man-centered theology, across different historical horizons, including the delineation of modernity, postmodernism, secularism, and humanism, which are influenced and shaped by theological liberalism. Focusing on the current …

The Progress Of Power: A Narrative Review Of The Practical Progression Of Running Power Assessment And Application, Andrew David Fields

Masters Theses

Power has revolutionized endurance athletics. Power is a function of the amount of force produced in a certain amount of time. Utilized correctly, it can be an effective metric of effort during endurance activities. Cycling saw the first fruits of this metric in the 1980s and 1990s with Tour de France athletes and has continued to provide immense benefits to cyclists. Power when applied to running, however, has seen a much slower progression toward effective use. Various attempts in the 1970s and 80s to use calculations to express running power as a function of multiple different kinematic variables proved futile. …

Experiences Of Employees With Chronic Health Conditions During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Stephanie Penpek

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Although workers with chronic health conditions have received little attention in past Industrial-Organizational Psychology research, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new concerns for the workplace safety of these employees. I applied the JD-R model to a sample of 143 workers with chronic conditions, looking at how prevalent demands and resources impacted levels of burnout and emotional well-being. Quantitative analyses supported that job demands (i.e., devaluation and job insecurity) were generally related to negative health outcomes, while job resources (i.e., support and flexibility) were related to better health outcomes. Results also indicated that the impact of demands and resources on health …

Total Rewards Or Totally Not What The People Want? Examining The Preferred Total Rewards Of Those At Home Vs. In The Workplace, Luke Ronchetti

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

With the rapid change to remote work, the present study explored whether differing life circumstances (e.g., an at-home parent vs. an older male) changed reward preferences. The present study adds to the scarce total reward preference research by examining the moderating effect age, gender, and parental status have on the relationship between physical work location and total reward preference. Results indicated age to be a moderator of the relationship between work location and reward preference (benefits, work-life effectiveness, performance management, talent development), but gender and parental status were not significant moderators. Exploratory analyses were performed and found correlations between work …

When The Goal Is To Be Less Stressed: A Naturalistic Investigation Of Academic And Self-Care Goal Completion, Stephanie Wells

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The demands of college are synonymous with stress for many students, with stress generally being related to academic success and posing a challenge for academic goals and self-care behaviors. Individual difference factors such as resilience and need for cognition may impact this stress experience as well as academic and self-care behaviors. Prior to the current study, self-care had yet to be studied in the same context as academic goal completion. The results of the present research revealed that students were significantly better at completing academic goals versus self-care goals and that self-care goal completion predicted completion of academic goals. Further, …

When Helping Hurts: Understanding Resource Recovery In Nonprofit Workplaces, Anna Laura Waldron

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The present study examined the relationship between recovery experiences and strain within the nonprofit context, and identified the role that work calling, boundary permeability, and relaxation remorse had on recovery and the relationship between recovery and strain. Participants (n = 124 nonprofit workers and volunteers) completed a web-based survey that included questions related to their work-nonwork roles, personal recovery activities, and dimensions of strain. Regression-based analyses indicated effects of recovery on some strain outcomes and the effects of calling, boundary permeability, and relaxation remorse on recovery. Psychological detachment was most frequently related to strain in these models. Results failed to …

Preventing Privacy Attacks In Iot Devices, Justin K. Joshuva

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Today, people use many connected devices to make people’s lives easier in a connected environment. Devices like fitness trackers, smartwatches, smart home appliances, and other devices make people’s lives easier. People can use their smartphones to control the thermostat, television, vacuum cleaner, and other connected devices. While IoT devices make their lives easier, they also concern security threats like privacy. Organizations like the U.S. DoD forbid having fitness trackers on some of their buildings, while other organizations discourage patrons from using them in their spaces. The question of how to use IoT devices and simultaneously safeguard users' privacy is a …

Whole‐Room Ultraviolet Sanitization As A Method For The Site‐Level Treatment Of Pseudogymnoascus Destructans, Robert Kwait, Kathleen Kerwin, Carl Herzog, Joan Bennett, Sally Padhi, Isabelle Zoccolo, Brooke Maslo

KIP Articles

White‐nose syndrome (WNS), a catastrophic fungal disease of hibernating bats, is perpetuated by environmental reservoirs of the fungal pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans . Surviving bats clear infection each summer but are re‐infected upon return to the hibernaculum. Therefore, addressing environmental reservoirs is critical for managing WNS. Ultraviolet (UV) light is known to kill P. destructans in the lab, and whole‐room UV sanitization is a common practice in many commercial settings. However, effective UV treatment at the hibernaculum scale has yet to be confirmed. Importantly, existing standard practices likely require modification for implementation in hibernation sites. Prior to field testing, confirming the …

The Ethics And Economics Of Social Equity In The Cannabis Industry: Making A "Compelling" Case For Constitutional, Impactful, And Sustainable Inclusivity Programs In Ohio And Beyond, Lauren Devine

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

2022 Commencement Program, Columbia College Chicago

Commencement Programs

The commencement program of the 2022 Columbia College Chicago graduation ceremonies.