Class of 2014

  • Kadijah Abston
    Mentor: Dr. Randy Wadkins
    Effect of Molecular Crowding Agents on I-Motif Structures Differing in Loop Length

    Amber Brown
    Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Miller

    Family Matters: Can Bilingualism and Caregiving be Protective Factors in Executive Function?

    Marcus Isaiah Brumfield
    Mentor: Dr. Dawn Wilkins

    Machine Learning in Baseball to Predict Hitting Tendencies

  • Theavis Cooper
    Mentor: Dr. Michael Dupper

    Effects of Aquatic Exercise Programs on Fitness and Quality of Life in Older Women

    Matthew Fernandez
    Mentor: Dr. Shennette Garrett-Scott

    Queering the Artist: Rereading Agency in 'To the Lighthouse' and 'The Awakening'

    Dana Herring
    Mentor: Dr. James Reid
    The Cascade Capacity of Social Networks

  • Jessica Love
    Mentor: Dr. Brad Schultz

    Investigating the Glass Ceiling: Women in Top Media Management

    Lamarco McClendon
    Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Wickham

    Trayvon Martin: A Comparison of the New York Times and The Commercial Appeal

    Dudley J. Moore
    Mentor: Dr. Nathan Murray

    The Evaluation of Potential Nonlinear effects present in the sound propagation between a spark source and airfoil

  • Denisha Parker
    Mentor: Dr. Bradley Jones

    Characterization of Missense alleles of the glial cells missing gene of Drosophila

    Kiana Pauline
    Mentor: Dr. Melinda Valliant

    Sport Nutrition Knowledge is Insufficient among Collegiate Athletes

    J’undra Pegues
    Mentor: Dr. Lainy Day

    The Effects of Beta-Adrenergic Antagonist on Spatial Memory in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

  • Takira Ross
    Mentor: Dr. Joan W. Hall

    Through the Life of Maya Angelou: In Search of Her Identity

    Courtney Welch
    Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Miller

    Executive Functional Friends: The relationship between executive function and responses to friendship transgressions

Intracellular makeup is tightly compacted with intracellular fluids, nucleic acids, and organelles that aid in the process of life. Molecular crowding agents can be included in biochemical experiments to mimic the crowding within a cell. For this study, high molecular weight polymers are used to observe the effects of molecular crowding on the structure of DNA i-Motifs. The promoter regions of many oncogenes have sequences that allow for the formation of i-Motifs, which are four-stranded DNA structures consisting of cytosine-cytosine hydrogen bonded bases as opposed to the usual cytosine to guanine bonding. The possibility of i-Motifs as targets for drugs and regulating gene expression is currently in exploration as a method for selective cancer therapy.
This research study examines the protective factors that bilingualism and parental caregiving (i.e., how much time parents engage in caregiving activities directed toward their children) may have on Executive Function (EF) in children from lower socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds. Tasks in this study examined cognitive flexibility measured using the Dimensional Changing Card Sorting Task; working memory measured using the Auditory Backward Digit Span task; inhibition measured using the Choice task; and vocabulary skills measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Findings revealed only one of the EF tasks, the Auditory Backward Digit Span, was correlated with SES. Bilingualism and caregiving were not correlated with any of the other EF tasks. Results also suggest bilingualism and caregiving were independent of SES when used as a predictor for BD span. In addition, there was no evidence of these variables as protective factors in children from lower SES backgrounds.
Many fans and managers would like to make predictions on whether or not players will be productive based on analysis of their performance. Machine learning is a useful tool for making unbiased predictions based on classifying information. This research study examines the use of machine learning with baseball statistics to make this analysis. The researchers involved in this study gathered data and selected the most important attributes to make a prediction. For this study, researchers analyzed whether or not a batter will “get a hit”. A machine learning tool was used to provide the algorithms to make the predictions based on the data that was gathered. The goal of the research was to determine if the hit instances had any patterns based on the twenty-four attributes used. The research is also based on the analysis of player production in which Major League Baseball managers try to analyze their respective teams.
The aim of this research was to determine the effects of aquatic exercise programs on fitness and quality of life in older women. This study was a mixed method cohort research design that consists of two parts. The two parts of the research include the (1) Observations and Informal Interviews, and (2) Review of Literature. Older women in the aquatic exercise program AEP at the University of Mississippi were the participants in this research. The analysis of the results from informal interviews and literature review showed a positive correlation between AEPs, fitness, and quality of life [QOL]. A discussion about flexibility, strength, sociability, and fear of falling expanded on the results of study by applying them to practical situations.
One popular argument characterizes the early feminist modern novel as a project solely interested in the “exploration” of female agency. These overly simplified critiques, instead of explicating the timbre of female identity in literature at the turn of the century, assume patriarchy as the framework by which such novels engage feminist conversations and develop the female protagonist. In analyzing The Awakening, Sharmita Lahiri writes that “[t]he Creole world limits a woman to the choice of one of the two diametrically opposite roles—her natural role of the mother-woman or the deviant one of the ascetic artist” (63). She reads duality between Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle and consigns the women to two exceedingly simplified roles. Describing the role of “artist” in To the Lighthouse, Ernest Veyu concludes that the “[a]dherence to convention is generally a difficult thing for the modem artist. He is essentially a rebel, fed up with things as they are, and wants a change at all costs” (12). Veyu’s dismissal of artistry outside of society’s gaze, as well as his assignment of “artist” as “he,” demonstrates a limited, disillusioned reading of the radical female artist of the protofeminist, protomodern novel. An intertextual study of queerness in both of these novels reveals a unique experimentation with the representation of sexuality during this early period of modernism. This strategy of analysis inserts a bias into the reading, rendering the female’s identity as less self-actualized. Instead, she emerges as a reactionary character whose agency is presupposed on how effective she can thwart (male-controlled) society. The characterization of female as artist renders any one interpretation of feminine identity impossible. Feminine artistry allows women a kind of expression that extends beyond the limitation of heteronormative art: the type of art that is sanctioned by society. Queering these novels changes the interpretation of the artist’s identity, particularly that of women, in three critical ways: (1) eliminating the reading of agency in the female protagonist only through her subversion of the “oppressive man” or, more broadly, male domination, (2) emphasizing non-normative expression, and (3) removing any dominating register of identity as the sole proprietor of the individual.
The aim of this research is to study the effect of the location of the initial adopters on a cascade of information across a social network. There were initial adopters of behavior A and a remaining set of nodes of a different behavior B. Eventually some nodes of behavior B changed to behavior A according to a threshold fraction q. A complete cascade occurs if all nodes switch behavior. Researchers conducting this study investigated complete cascades at different thresholds and how to choose the initial adopters. The computer program Mathematica was used to gather data sets from different networks.
This paper explores the experiences of two women in top media management and their success stories to better understand the glass ceiling effect. The research is based on a case study of two WABG female television managers in Greenville, MS. The study revealed that advancement opportunities, mentorship, and personal initiatives have played a significant role in the managerial careers of women in media, while gendered issues and managing family and work are still important concerns for women in top media management.
The shooting and death of the 17-year old African-American teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman on February 12, 2012, sparked an outcry in the media. Journalists and bloggers using the power of social media and various news platforms discussed the killing across America, arousing racial hostility in the African-American community. As a result, the media has been accused of being the force shaping the murder into an issue of race versus an issue of legality. In this paper, a critical comparison of The New York Times and The Commercial Appeal is undertaken to analyze the extent to which the newspaper medium framed coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting in a facet that elicited racial discourse. The review of literature conducted in this paper supports the idea of the media soliciting skewed media coverage in African-American criminal cases. Applying a content analysis of the two newspapers, the study revealed that while The New York Times reported on the story from a neutral perspective, the African-American voice present in The Commercial Appeal contributed to bias coverage of the shooting on the newspaper’s behalf.
With new designs for aircrafts steadily being designed and brought to reality, questions arise regarding the usability and safety of these designs. Future aircraft will possess highly integrated propulsion systems. However, analytical tools to address the integration problems have yet to be discovered. To address these integration issues, this research will employ a spark source as an acoustic point source along with an airfoil. By doing so, the distance between the spark source and airfoil at which non-linear acoustic effects become important is to be determined. A high frame rate schlieren video and microphone will be used to characterize the spark source and visualize the acoustic waves’ interaction with the airfoil. The data collected will be used to determine the projected performance of future designs.
The aim of the research is to cross two partially functioning alleles of the glial cells missing gene (gcm) of Drosophila, gcmG78/gcm1308, and to cross a partially functioning allele with a null mutation, gcmG78/gcm∆P1 and gcm1308/gcm∆P1 in order to determine the phenotype of each crossing. Fly stocks, immunohistochemistry and microscopy was used as a way to mate flies and stain embryos in order to count glial cells using Repo-positive antibodies, and to dissect and visually count glial cells. The analysis of the data suggested that when crossing two partially functioning alleles the phenotype has t half as many glial cells when compared to wild type. When crossing a partially functioning allele the phenotype has around 25% of glial cells when compared to wild type. These alleles bring about additional genetic resources for understanding gcm functions and structure in Drosophila (Jones publication in process). They will provide additional genetic resources for understanding Gcm functions and structure in Drosophila.
The purpose of this research is to analyze an athletes’ sport nutrition knowledge to help better develop sport nutrition education programs. A confidential, anonymous survey questionnaire was completed by student athletes at the Grille at 1810 on The University of Mississippi (UM) campus. The survey consisted of the student’s demographics, who or what they use as a guide for nutrition information and basic sport nutrition questions that were scored based on a 100% scale. The overall nutrition knowledge score for University student athletes was 39%. Volleyball players scored 85% overall (highest among student athletic teams). Basketball players scored lowest with 13.33%. When ranked by classification, Sophomores scored highest (60%) and freshman lowest (23.2%). When ranked by major, Biology (55%), nursing (85%), and exercise science majors (47%) scored highest. Pharmacy (0%) and English (5%) majors scored the lowest. Confidence level in sport nutrition knowledge, importance of a healthy diet, and quality of eating, identified how much knowledge participants believed they contained about sport nutrition and also indicated whether or not they exhibited a healthy eating lifestyle. Confidence in these three categories was above average and considering low overall scores, this indicates that participants are receiving inaccurate information from sources or the athletes are receiving minimal nutrition education. Athletes do however understand the importance of a healthy diet and quality of eating based on answers given to questions. Therefore, it is concluded that the athletes want to know more about a healthy diet and the importance of nutrition for athletic performance. This study illustrates the current population of athletes at the University of Mississippi is not knowledgeable regarding sport nutrition. This potentially affects their overall performance if accurate nutrition education is not provided and practiced. This is beneficial information as the sports nutrition program is developed.
Beta-adrenergic antagonists, such as propranolol, impair memory by reducing the emotional enhancement of memories via interactions of noradrenalin with synapses involved in long-term potentiation (LTP). In rodents, propranolol impairs spatial memory, exploratory behavior, and memory for place recognition. In chicks, propranolol impairs discriminative and passive avoidance memory. However, no studies have investigated propranolol’s ability to impair spatial memory in birds or examined long-term memory recall. Thus, researchers involved in this project tested the hypothesis that propranolol alters reconsolidation of spatial memory and results in impaired long-term recall in zebra finches.
Author and activist Maya Angelou is well known for her poetry and her memoirs. This research details how Angelou found her sense of identity early in her life through examination of her novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). The thematic analysis of key scenes will emphasize biographical and historical facts that illustrate Angelou’s struggle for empowerment in a world that was often hostile to a young black girl; one example being when her Arkansas grandmother must confront a dentist for denying his service to the suffering child; influencing Maya to have courage as well. Maya’s discovery of her identity is explored as well in the retelling of her rape at age nine. After the rape, she goes mute for five years before meeting Mrs. Bertha Flowers; who helps Maya regain her inner voice. In portraying her early triumphs over adversity, Angelou became an inspiration to many.
The relationship between Executive Function (EF) and thoughts about friendships was evaluated collectively and between genders. Second and third graders whose ages ranged from 6.95 to 10 years (M=7.95 years, SD=1.52) completed three EF tasks (i.e., the Auditory Backward Digit Span, Dimensional Change Card Sort, and Choice task) and answered questions about their strategies, goals, and interpretations in response to possible friendship transgressions. Results from this study, as obtained by Pearson’s correlation tests, suggested that in all children, EF and thoughts about friendships are related. Girls exhibited more relationships between EF ability and their strategies, goals, and interpretations in response to friendship transgressions.