Digital Commons Network^™

House Of Ill-Fame: A Historical, Cartographic, And Archaeological Study On The Spatial Evolution Of Commercial Sex Work In New Orleans, 1875 – 1925, Austin Roebuck

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the historic spatiality of commercial sex‑work in New Orleans by analyzing targeted addresses associated with the trade across three census years. Using the establishment and closure of Storyville (1897–1917) as a temporal frame, it compares demographic patterns in dwellings labeled as “houses of ill fame” in 1880, 1900, and 1920 to trace changes in household composition and social identity. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, newspapers, and city directories contextualize these patterns within three ten‑year intervals (1875–1885, 1895–1905, 1915–1925), revealing how sex‑work spaces were regulated, represented, and embedded in the urban landscape. The study also incorporates an archaeological assemblage …

A Novel Method Of Protein Purification Using Hedgehog Proteins As An Inducible, Self-Cleaving Tag, Antonia Kladias

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Because removing extraneous purification tag sequences from native proteins can be challenging and costly, there is demand for simple all-in-one techniques that directly furnish a tagless, functional protein-of-interest (POI). Current tagless purification systems are based on intein biochemistry; however, intein-based purification requires expensive, specialized resins and the POI often must be fused to the intein’s C-terminus. In this thesis, I present a novel approach for tagless POI purification in which the Drosophila melanogaster hedgehog protein catalytic domain (HhC) is repurposed as a small-molecule inducible, self-cleaving element dubbed Gtag. With Gtag, the POI is fused to the N-terminus of HhC/Gtag with …

Addressing Nonignorable Missing Data And Heterogeneity In Prognostic Biomarker Assessment, Xinran Huang, Ruosha Li, Jing Ning, For The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Covariate-specific and time-dependent area-under-curve (AUC) is often used to evaluate the discriminative performance of biomarkers with time-to-event outcomes, particularly when certain covariates influence biomarkers' accuracy. In biomarker research, despite extensive efforts, missing data remain unavoidable, with nonignorable missingness posing significant challenges. This article focuses on estimating the impact of covariates on time-dependent AUC in the presence of nonignorable missing biomarkers. Assuming a parametric model on the missing probability, we leverage instrumental variables to address the identifiable issue and estimate the unknown parameters. We integrate the inverse probability weighting approach into the score equation of a pseudo partial likelihood for estimation …

Cross-Facility Reliable Deep Learning Based Beef Marbling Assessment Via Unsupervised Domain Adaptation Regression, Samuel Vinson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Inconsistent quality grading in beef production leads to inefficiencies, economic disparity, and consumer mistrust. While USDA meat grading traditionally relies on skilled visual inspectors, these human evaluations suffer from cross-facility variability and subjectivity. This paper introduces the first known application of unsupervised domain adaptation regression for cross-facility beef marbling score prediction—an innovation that improves generalization across diverse environments in the beef supply chain. Utilizing numerical scores ranging from 100-900, the research employed convolutional neural networks (CNNs), including ResNet, VGG, and AlexNet architectures. The study specifically introduced and validated a unified unsupervised domain adaptation regression method using the ResNet-50 architecture to …

Retrospective Analysis Of Implemented Project Management Within A Small-Scale Student Engineering Project: Beng Fountain Wars Team Case Study, Holli E. Jenkins

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This honors thesis provides a retrospective analysis of how the 2025 inaugural University of Arkansas’s ASABE Fountain Wars Student Team could be improved through project management. Project commitment, early stakeholder influence, rich communication, and a detailed project plan are all attributes of successful projects, and the team’s strengths and weaknesses within these categories were determined through a team poll. After the poll was conducted, three methodologies, Agile, Hybrid, and Waterfall, were assessed to determine how they would effectively address the team’s weaknesses. A weighted objectives table was created to compare each methodology’s effectiveness across the management categories. The analysis revealed …

Developing Transparent Sustainability Data Systems In A Poultry And Pet Food Company: An Internship Case Study, Catherine L. Warren

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

My honors thesis examined my internship experiences and its implications on sustainability data gathering and reporting in poultry and pet food companies. It highlighted my internship projects, the skills I developed, and the connections to sustainability data transparency and reliability in a corporate environment.

In my thesis, I shared details about my internship. I described what projects I worked on, the places I visited, the hands-on experience I gained, and the different teams I worked with throughout the internship duration. I discussed the analytic and professional skills I developed through conducting a waste audit, developing Tableau dashboards, and helping to …

Monitoring Streambank Morphology Using Iphone Lidar Technology, Lily C. Stitt

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Monitoring stream morphology is crucial for maintaining the health and safety of fluvial environments, particularly as these naturally dynamic systems are shifted out of equilibrium due to climate and land-use change. Quantifying changes in stream geometry are useful for infrastructure design, water quality assessment, water resource management, and stream restoration, among other applications. Traditional stream surveying methods contain numerous cost limitations that inhibit affordable and accessible stream surveying needed for evaluating stream geometry with high accuracy and larger spatial scales (>100s of ). In recent years, several advancements have been made in the use of Light Detection and Ranging …

Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In Cave And Withrow Springs, Arkansas, Luke A. Ahlemeier

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The class of chemicals known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are believed to be widespread in the natural environment, but the full extent of PFAS prevalence is not well understood, particularly in karst springs. The objectives of this study were to (1) collect water samples from Cave Springs and Withrow Springs, Northwest Arkansas, (2) measure for concentrations of 40 PFAS compounds using EPA Method 1633, and (3) compare differences in PFAS concentrations and discuss potential sources of PFAS for each spring. Each spring was sampled on September 29, 2025, October 13, 2025, and November 10, 2025, and water samples …

Dried Water Treatment Residuals Might Be An Option To Reduce Soluble Reactive Phosphorus Release From Soils, Katie B. Mckay

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nonpoint source pollution from agricultural landscapes contributes to freshwater eutrophication, with legacy phosphorus (P) in soils potentially driving soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) losses to surface waters. The objectives of this study were to evaluate SRP adsorption by dried water treatment residuals (WTRs) produced by Beaver Water District, quantify reductions in soil SRP release across increasing WTR application rates, and compare dried WTR performance to prior WTR studies.

Dried WTRs (~98% solids) were assessed using batch sorption experiments and soil core incubations. Phosphorus sorption was measured by mixing WTRs with CaCl₂ solutions containing increasing SRP concentrations and fitting results to …

Enhancing Food Security In Stann Creek, Belize Using Meat Rabbits: Engineering Perspective, Lindsey Garretson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the engineering perspective within the overall project of using meat rabbits to enhance food security and nutrition within Stann Creek, Belize. From the engineering perspective, the overarching goals were like the overarching project goals including the construction and materials required guide within the manual, designing potential upgrades to the design including a solar and battery system and an automatic watering system, and to design the system to be “practically sustainable” where possible. The constraints for this project included cost, the size of land dedicated for the rabbitry, and the operational and environmental …

A Systems Approach To Nitrogen Fertilizer Management: Modeling Emissions And Runoff Pathways In Arkansas Agriculture, Avonelle Lindon

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nitrogen fertilizer management is a critical challenge in modern agriculture. This thesis develops a system dynamics model of nitrogen in Arkansas rice and corn systems to explore barriers to translating agricultural research into practical farmer guidance.  The modeling process revealed key challenges: (1) scarcity of Arkansas-specific factors and best management practice (BMP) effectiveness data; (2) tension between model comprehensiveness and accessibility; (3) misalignments in conservation incentive structures; and (4) difficulty in validating models without field measurements. The resulting model demonstrates basic nitrogen cycle processes and BMP integration, but validation against published literature revealed significant issues with predictive accuracy. These findings …

Uav-Based Sensor Integration For In-Situ Lake Water Quality Monitoring, Alec R. Campbell

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Surface water monitoring is often constrained by limited spatial and temporal coverage due to the labor-intensive nature of traditional sampling methods, particularly in environments that are difficult to access or pose safety risks. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer a promising solution by enabling more frequent, spatially distributed, and cost-effective data collection. This study presented the design, development, and field evaluation of a UAV-based system for real-time, in-situ water quality monitoring. The system integrated multiple sensors, including oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), RGB spectrometry, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), and a multispectral spectrometer within a UAV platform.

Field testing was conducted …

An Analysis Of Global And Regional Human Rights Standards On Gender-Based Violence, Tamar Ezer, R. Denisse Córdova Montes

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

A Mass Disabling Event: Why California Courts Must Protect Workers’ Families From Take-Home Covid, Ellery Armstrong

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Welcome To The Dollhouse: New Ai Technology Poses Ethical Issues In Prison Systems, Bailey Mccoy

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Role Of Pioneer Transcription Factors In Hiv Transcriptional Regulation, Lyan Darboys Guerrero

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

No abstract provided.

Design And Performance Overview Of The Inaugural University Of Arkansas Beng Fountain Wars Team, Autumn Jones

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This honors thesis describes the engineering design process for the first ASABE Fountain Wars submission by a student team at the University of Arkansas in over a decade. Fountain Wars has a technical and aesthetic task, and the focus of this thesis is the design of the technical task. In 2025, this task was the “shoot out.” The objective was to get objects from a small pool into two 5-gallon buckets 10-15 feet away. The power for initiating the launch had to be provided by the pump. The objects were required to start at the surface of the water.

The …

Psychometric Properties Of The Interpersonal Style Questionnaire (Isq) And The Patterns Of Thinking Survey (Pots), Genevieve Allison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-regulation is a complex concept that includes multiple interacting factors, and it is studied across multiple fields of psychological research. Various theoretical models have been offered to explain this concept. Although models differ in their definitions of self-regulation, all consistently posit that it consists of emotional, behavioral, interpersonal, and cognitive domains. The current study examined the psychometric properties of two novel measures – 1) McVay and Stinson Interpersonal Style Questionnaire (ISQ) and 2) Stinson and McVay Patterns of Thinking Survey (POTS) – utilizing both a clinical and nonclinical sample. Results indicate that these measures are comprised of three factors across …

Understanding The Role Of Toxs As A Bile Sensing Component Of The Toxrs Virulence Regulatory System In Vibrio Spp., Minje Kim

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Pathogenic Vibrio bacteria, such as V. cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus, colonize in the human small intestine to cause severe gastrointestinal disease. During the infection, these bacteria encounter bile salts, antimicrobial cholesterol metabolites secreted into the intestine. Pathogenic Vibrio species have evolved to utilize bile salts as signals to regulate virulence. The signaling depends in part on ToxRS, a conserved co-component transmembrane transcription regulator. ToxRS consists of the transcription factor ToxR and its membrane-tethered binding partner ToxS. ToxS is required for ToxR stability and full transcriptional activity. Although bile salts are known to influence ToxRS-dependent virulence gene expression, the molecular …

Reward Representation Learning, Gregory M. Hyde

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The \emph{Markov decision process} (MDP) has long served as the canonical model for sequential decision-making. However, it assumes that the reward function is Markov with respect to a given state representation---an assumption that often does not hold in practice. Instead, agents typically only perceive streams of observations and actions and must infer the latent structure according to which reward unfolds over time. From this perspective, reward prediction is initially non-Markov, reflecting a mismatch between the agent's current representation and the underlying structure of the environment.

In this thesis, we advance the view that reward is not simply a signal to …

Comparing Awssi And Traditional Winter Metrics For Predicting Overwinter Survival Of Juvenile Walleye (Sander Vitreus), Camille N. Shifrin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Winter conditions are an important driver of recruitment variability in freshwater fishes, yet winter severity is often characterized using single climate metrics. These simplified approaches may not capture the cumulative stress experienced by fishes during winter. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) integrates multiple components of winter climate and may therefore provide a more biologically relevant indicator of overwinter survival. In this study, we compared AWSSI with traditional winter severity metrics to explain interannual variation in overwinter survival of juvenile Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Harlan County Reservoir, Nebraska. Model comparisons using Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that …

Humor And The Politics Of Belonging: Race, Gender, And Radicalization In Online Spaces, Reese Chatman

Master's Theses

This thesis argues that post-ironic and meta-ironic humor acts as an affective gateway to far-right radicalization within online masculine subcultures. Examining incel forums and Groyper spaces, it traces how humor operates as the architecture through which extremist ideology is introduced, normalized, and internalized. Drawing on a synthesis of meme studies, digital rhetoric, and theories of irony and affect, and using digital ethnography and critical discourse analysis, the study examines recurring meme figures, especially the Wojak and its NPC variant, as portable diagnostic devices that sort participants into the "awake" and the unconscious regardless of ideological content. Case studies include incel …

Construction Impacts On Nutrient Loads In An Urban Stream In The Ozark Highlands, Matthew B. Wilson

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Degradation of water quality is primarily caused by human activity, including urbanization. Urban stream syndrome can be characterized as a stream that has undergone physical, chemical, and biological changes as a result of urbanization, which can include an influx of nutrients that can drive unwanted plant and algae growth. It is known that construction can result in untreated nutrients entering a stream; however, it is not understood how construction affects downstream nutrient transport. The objective of this study was to understand the impacts of construction on urban water quality in Tanglewood Branch in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the Ozark Highlands, which …

Characterization Of Snrk1 Signaling In Rice Growth, Reproduction, And Stress Responses Using Phenotypic And Omics Analysis, Maria Clara Faria-Bates

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

SnRK1 is an evolutionarily conserved protein kinase belonging to the SNF1/AMPK family that is composed of a catalytic subunit (α) and two regulatory subunits (β and βγ), and it has a major role in adjusting growth in response to the energy status. SnRK1 phosphorylates and alters the activities of enzymes involved in metabolism and regulates gene expression by altering the activity of chromatin-remodeling enzymes or transcription factors. Rice contains three functional paralogs of SnRK1α: OsSnRK1αA (Os05g0530500), OsSnRK1αB (Os8g0484600), and OsSnRK1αC (Os03g0289100). Although SnRK1 is known to play a central role in plant growth and stress responses, the functional specialization of …

Conservation Agriculture Effects On Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cotton, Soybean, And Corn In Southeast Arkansas, Jonathan Benjamin Brye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The slow degradation of natural resources has resulted in the focus of agriculture shifting towards conservation practices, such as reduced/no-tillage, cover crops (CC), and organic amendments (i.e., biochar), that conserve and improve natural resource quality. The objectives of this thesis were to i) quantify the impacts of biochar rate (i.e., 0, 2000, and 4000 kg ha-1) and ii) the combination of CC and tillage practice on carbon dioxide (CO¬2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes, growing-season-long emissions, global warming potential (GWP), soil properties, and plant response from a minimally tilled cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)-corn (Zea mays) rotation and a soybean …

The Influence Of Additional Zinc Supplementation During Gestation On The Trace Mineral Concentrations Of Tissues, Milk, And Calf Serum At Birth, Hunter Miller

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Minerals are known to play a key role in the immune system, growth, and development of animals. An important part of a calf's life is receiving colostrum immediately after birth, which provides the calf with immunoglobulins and necessary nutrients that are required. Furthermore, the gestation period is another very important aspect of the calf's life where they can take in the necessary nutrition. This study compared how two different supplements fed during the gestation period ultimately affected the mineral concentrations of the colostrum, placenta, calf plasma, and cow liver. The supplements that were provided were a 1) control that provided …

The Effect Of Blue-Green Light On Behavioral Repertoire And Fear Responses In Broiler Chickens, Addie Walker

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The broiler chicken industry has increased the number of birds produced each year,

making the mitigation of stressors that affect broiler health and meat quality increasingly

important. New management strategies, like lighting protocols, could help combat stressors and

promote behavioral indicators of positive welfare. This study compared the effects of blue-green

and white light on broiler fear response using a tonic immobility test and behavioral repertoire in

the home pen using continuous focal sampling. Day-of-hatch male broiler chicks (N=600) were

randomly divided into 12 pens (n=50 chicks/pen). The pens had either a white LED light

(control, n=6) or a blue-green …

Qualitative Beta-2-Adrenoceptor Signaling In The Regulation Of Human Airway Epithelia Mucin And Cytokine Production, Fred Graumuller, Diana Cervantes, Tung O. Chan, Niccolette Schaunaman, Dominic R. Villalba, Burton F. Dickey, Julia K. L. Walker, Hong Wei Chu, Raymond B. Penn

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Numerous in vivo studies have demonstrated beta-2-adrenoceptor (β2AR) -agonism as permissive in the development of allergic lung inflammation, and have implicated the arrestin-dependent signaling arm of the β2AR in mediating this effect. However, the specific cell type(s) mediating β2AR regulation of allergic lung inflammation remain unestablished.

METHODS: To explore the potential contribution of airway epithelia in this phenomenon, we compared the ability of ractopamine (RP), recently identified as a Gs-biased beta-agonist, to that of the unbiased/balanced beta-agonist albuterol (ALB), on IL-13-stimulated mucin and cytokine production in human airway epithelia cultures in air-liquid interface (HAE).

RESULTS: ALB, which activates both …

Developing A Questionnaire For The Interoceptive Awareness Of Stuttering, Leslie Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stuttering is commonly measured through its overt characteristics (blocks, prolongations, and repetitions). This equates to stuttering “severity,” or the frequency of these behaviors. This method, however, does not reflect the lived experience of adults who stutter. This “measurement problem” has been the subject of numerous studies. In this graduate thesis, the measurement problem is addressed by using qualitative data previously gathered by Malcolm (2024) from adults who stutter about the internal experience of stuttering to create survey. Quotes from adults who stutter were gathered, categorized, edited for clarity, and formatted into a survey, The Multidimensional Interoceptive Awareness of Stuttering Scale …

Exploring The Spectrum Of Anxiety During Concussion Recovery: A Comprehensive Examination Of Symptom-Based Anxiety Disorders, Kori J. Durfee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Anxiety is common following a concussion, arising from both psychosocial and physiological changes, and can manifest in diverse ways. Despite its complexity and association with worse outcomes, post-concussion anxiety is often assessed as a single construct. Characterizing anxiety presentations following injury may improve the identification of clinically meaningful symptoms and help inform future targeted interventions that can improve concussion outcomes. Purpose: The primary purpose was to determine if symptom-based anxiety disorders occur in adults with concussion and identify pre- and post-injury predictors associated with these disorders. Additionally, the clinical utility and predictive abilities of symptom-based anxiety disorders and variability …