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Time Course Effects of Repetitive Social Defeat Stress on a Prefrontal Cortex-Dependent Cognitive Flexibility Task
Get PDFStress is known to change the structure and function of the brain in animals and
humans as well as their behavior. It has a high correlation with the development of psychiatric disorders as well. We looked to investigate how repetitive intermittent social defeat stress using the resident-intruder paradigm in rats affected a cognitive flexibility task. The task used was a set-shifting protocol known to be associated with the function of the prefrontal cortex. Measurements on the task were taken intermittently between social stress sessions to determine short-term effects and 10 days after the last social stress session to measure long term effects. The rats also underwent testing on an elevated plus maze following the social stress protocol to evaluate anxiety-related behavior. Stressed rats were not impaired in the cognitive flexibility task, but their behavioral performance changed in the short and long term. In the short term, we found a decreased motivation to perform the task. In the long term, we found changes in risk- taking behavior and the processing of salient stimuli. These results suggest that repeated stress alters the neurobiological substrates that regulate the function of the brain reward system
Analysis of Financial Accounting Theory and Methodologies
Get PDFThe following thesis consists of a compilation of eleven case studies pertaining to various accounting theory and methodologies. Each individual case study begins with an executive summary consisting of an introduction, analysis, and conclusion. The following cases were completed throughout the 2017-2018 school year in the course, ACCY 420, taught by Dr. Vicki Dickinson. The following cases consist of detailed analysis of financial statements, accounting methods, and the use and implementation of data analytics software. These cases were individually reviewed and graded throughout the ACCY 420 course, as well as discussed and analyzed through group discussion. This thesis has been defended through participation in the PwC & KPMG Accounting Case Competitions
Before Disaster Strikes: An Analysis of Emergency Management Planning
Get PDFI have always been inspired by the outpouring number of volunteers that arrive to the scene of a natural disaster, ready to help in any way possible. With or without adequate training, these people arrive with warm hearts and helping hands. I admire their valiant efforts, however, it has prompted me to ask the question: If our citizens can respond so quickly in times of adversity, how are city governments preparing spontaneous volunteers for emergency management planning?
The intent of this thesis is to properly evaluate the emergency management plans implemented in the cities of Baton Rouge, LA, Spokane, WA, and Oklahoma City, OK. The thesis will demonstrate that disaster policy is a complex issue and approaches to disaster response vary. Likewise, government regulations often hinder opportunities aimed at creating uniformity among emergency management operations. Despite this challenge, the utilization of spontaneous volunteers during disaster is an area of great opportunity as it is exempt from many of these regulatory constraints. To employ this important resource in a coordinated and consistent manner would add tremendous value to disaster response efforts
Measurements of the Primary Bjerknes Force in a Cavitating Ultrasonic Field
Get PDFCavitation is the result when there are rapid changes in pressure in a liquid.
These vapor-filled cavities can occur when ultrasound propagates through water at
sufficient power. The volumes of these cavities can pulsate and can even couple with
the radiation pressure from the ultrasound. The result is a translational force on the
bubbles. This translational force on the bubble is called the primary Bjerknes force.
The secondary Bjerknes force is the result of two pulsating cavities, but this force is
ignored since the buoyant force and the primary Bjerknes force are the dominant
forces. Immediately before a bubble begins to rise, the net force on the bubble is
equal to zero. Therefore, the primary Bjerknes force and the buoyant force are
equal. The primary Bjerknes force can be indirectly measured by measuring the
diameter (and thus the volume) of a bubble immediately before it rises. Diameters
of bubbles were measured using a video camcorder and an open-source program
called ImageJ. Three sets of data were taken. Each set of data includes four critical
bubbles. The primary Bjerknes force ranges from 0.15 μN to 0.41 μN. Recent
research and future work are discussed
Compositional Differences in Bacterial Communities in Fresh and Saltwater Wetlands of the Gulf Coast
Get PDFWetlands are important reservoirs for biodiversity and ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling. However, the anthropogenic stressors of sea-level rise and eutrophication threaten these habitats. In this study, I examined the bacterial communities at six locations along the US Gulf Coast between Louisiana and Florida, focusing on how these communities were affected by salinity, depth, and site location.
At each of six locations, five 30cm-deep soil cores were taken from a tidal fresh marsh and either a tidal brackish marsh or tidal saltmarsh. Bacterial DNA was extracted from both the surface layer and the root layer of each soil core. Illumina MiSeq was used to sequence the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. NMDS ordination and analysis of similarity were calculated from a Bray-Curtis dissimilarity matrix to determine sample differences and their environmental drivers.
Wetland type had a significant effect on sediment microbial composition with fresh marsh, saltmarsh, and brackish marsh all differing. Ranking wetlands by salinity in 5 ppt increments revealed that the only non-significant comparisons were between the three lowest salinity groups and two moderate salinity groups. This pattern was further refined by NMDS ordination, which showed distinct clustering of communities by salinity and, generally, tighter grouping of samples in higher salinity wetlands and wider distribution in lower salinity wetlands. Salinity, depth in sediment, and site all had
significant effects on sediment bacterial community composition. This study represents one of the largest surveys of the wetland microbiome both spatially and in number of samples. The results reflect previous data from these sites that showed that site was the most influential factor in determining enzyme activity, followed by salinity. It is reasonable to predict that in these and similar sites, sea-level rise will cause shifts in the sediment microbiome and its activities
Advanced Design and Manufacturing of Composite High-Powered Rockets
Get PDFThis thesis covers aspects related to the design and manufacturing of high-powered composite competition rockets. Research related to the project was performed over the course of three years of participation on the University of Mississippi Rocket Rebels competition team. Areas of the project covered include project definition, rocket design, and rocket manufacturing. Project definition covers how to build a team, select a competition, and establish communication, among others. The rocket design portion discusses the work that goes into meeting competition performance requirements, and includes simulations from the 2018-19 Rocket Rebels rocket. The rocket manufacturing portion includes a summary of manufacturing performed by the Rocket Rebels, as well as discussion of the methods used. Finally, a proposal to restructure the rocket is presented in chapter 5.
While there were many successful operations and achievements for the 2018-19 project, it ultimately did not lead to being able to compete in the selected competition. This is explained in the rocket proposal. Along with discussion of this throughout the thesis, successful test launches are also described, along with the various successes of the present year’s team
“Nosotras Como Mujeres”: The Environmental Activism of Indigenous Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon
Get PDFAcross Latin America, indigenous organizations have mobilized against environmental destruction inflicted upon their communities. Environmental destruction brought about by climate change and extractive industries has been especially devastating in the Western Amazon- the most biologically diverse region of the Amazon and home to a diversity of indigenous populations. The efforts of indigenous organizations in the Western Amazon, notably the Ecuadorian Amazon, have been successful in affecting progressive environmental policies as a means to protect their natural environments and standards of living. Indigenous women specifically have played a significant role in addressing the climate injustices affecting their communities and have employed rhetoric that distinguish themselves as indigenous women living in the Amazon as a means to advocate for environmental justice. Through the use of symbolic boundaries and collective consciousness raising, the subjects in question advocate for political and social change by employing the stereotypes associated with indigenous women of the Two-Thirds World. Their intersectionality plays a role in their disproportional subjection to environmental destruction in relation to dominant social groups, but is also employed as a means to assert their connection to their natural environment and authority in protecting it from exploitation
Foreign Direct Investment and Migration to the Persian Gulf
Get PDFThis thesis studies the effect of foreign investment policy in the Gulf Cooperation Council member nations on labor migration to the Persian Gulf. The study uses a difference in differences regression to estimate coefficients for financial liberalization, special economic zones, and foreign direct investment on total immigrant stocks. The regression analysis finds a weakly negative association between special economic zones and immigration, and no significant effect of foreign investment
Unexpected Outcomes during the Attempted Iodination of Biphenol
Get PDFThe goal of this research was to create a new procedure to iodinate 4,4-
biphenol using a ball miller. Iodination of 4,4-biphenol was first attempted in
solution using electrophilic aromatic substitution. Several attempts were made to
iodinate 4,4-biphenol, but the general insolubility of crude products inhibited
progress. Interestingly, NMR analysis of the aqueous ammonia product
suggested that 4,4-biphenol dimerized or polymerized with itself to make an
ether. The exact mechanism by which the ether dimer was created is unknown,
but the reaction may have occurred using a radical mechanism. Though the
original goal of the project is left unmet, a future inquiry into the ether dimer could
prove just as fascinating
The Baptist Tradition and Religious Freedom: Recent Trajectories
Get PDFFor my thesis, I have focused on the recent religious freedom bill passed in Mississippi and the arguments and influences Southern Baptists have had on the bill. I used the list of resolutions passed by the Southern Baptist Convention to trace the history and development of Southern Baptist thought on the subject of religious freedom. I consulted outside scholarly works to examine the history of the Baptist tradition and how that history has influenced modern day arguments. I compared these texts to the wording of the Mississippi bill. After conducting this research, I found that the Southern Baptist tradition and ethical thought are reflected in the wording of the Mississippi bill. I found that the large percentage of the Mississippi population comprised of Southern Baptists holds a large amount of political power in the state, and this power was used to pass a law reflecting their ethical positions. I concluded that the ethical positions of Southern Baptists could be an interesting and educating framework in which to base future discussions on these issues. By focusing on the ethical positions espoused by Southern Baptists, these conversations could become more productive through acknowledging the legitimacy of these beliefs and using them to center the argument on the most significant issues