Shifting Deer Hunting Strategies as a Result of Environmental Changes along the Little and Great Miami Rivers of Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana

This study analyzes white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) remains from five Fort Ancient archaeological sites along the Little and Great Miami Rivers of southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana to compare how the combination of varying ecologies alongside changing climate conditions impacted the hunting strategies of past people in this region. The focus is on the time period between about AD 1000-1650, during which significant climate change occurred. Through a framework of Human Behavioral Ecology (HBE), we find that Fort Ancient groups changed subsistence practices based on two external circumstances, climate and environment. Qualities such as lowland vs. upland environments, depression of resources, changes in corn production, and the transition to the Little Ice Age allow this study to model the decisions of Fort Ancient hunters through a framework of HBE. The results of this study contribute to a broader understanding of human subsistence change and resource depression during cultural and environmental transitions.No embargoAcademic Major: Anthropological Science

Causal and Metaphysical Necessity

Any property has two sorts of causal features: “forward‐looking” ones, having to do with what its instantiation can contribute to causing, and ldquo;backward‐looking” ones, having to do with how its instantiation can be caused. Such features of a property are essential to it, and properties sharing all of their causal features are identical. Causal necessity is thus a special case of metaphysical necessity. Appeals to imaginability have no more force against this view than they do against the Kripkean view that statements like “Gold is an element” are metaphysically necessary

Core Fatigue and Low Back Pain

The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between core fatigue and low back pain. Nine college students with low back pain (M=2, F=7, ages 18-25) participated in the study by completing 4 different core exercises. Participants completed prone bridge test, left side plank, right side plank and the Sorensen test exercises for as long as possible with no form compensation or unbearable pain. After completion of each exercise, participants ranked their low back pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Mean age, height, and weight were recorded, and low back disability of the participants were assessed. The correlation between the pain rating and hold time per exercise was calculated. The correlation between VAS rating and right side plank hold time had the greatest positive correlation at 0.094. The correlation between VAS rating and plank hold time had a negative correlation at -0.593. The researcher found no correlation between a greater VAS pain rating and a shorter hold time. The null hypothesis is accepted; no significant correlation was found at R= +/- 1. Further research should be conducted with a larger sample size

Using Preschool to Close the Socioeconomic Math Achievement Gap

Socioeconomic status (SES) heavily influences students’ academic performance, creating an achievement gap in core subjects like reading and mathematics. This thesis will describe the socioeconomic achievement gap as it relates to mathematics specifically, discuss the problem’s causes, and propose how preschool programs should be implemented more prevalently as a solution to close the gap. Children with low socioeconomic statuses enter school with lower math proficiency due to their limited math exposure in their early years and the quality of their home learning environments. This thesis will propose an expansion of preschool programs as a solution to this problem to help mediate the proficiency in foundational math concepts of low-SES students prior to school entry