bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An investigation into gravity independent oscillating heat pipes
Authors:   , Hathaway Aaron A.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] A number of oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) with unbalanced structures were investigated in an effort to develop methods enabling OHPs to be gravity independent. The unbalanced structures investigated herein include the effects of uneven turn and check valves. Two 2-D and two 3-D tubular uneven-turn OHPs, four miniature uneven-turn OHPs, and one OHP with check-valves were investigated. At the same time, the theoretical analysis of the maximum channel diameter was conducted in order to find the primary factor affecting the channel size in an OHP. A model was developed that attempts to determine the maximum channel diameter by considering the contact angle effect. It is found that the contact angle significantly affects the maximum channel diameter of an OHP. In order to verify that the uneven-turn structure can generate the oscillating motion in an OHP, a heat pipe with 3 turns in the condenser and 6 turns in the evaporator was first tested. The heat pipe with uneven turns can generate and maintain oscillating motion. When the turn number increases with 16 turns in the condenser and 20 turns in the evaporator, the heat transfer performance can be further increased. An experimental investigation of a new 3-D OHP with uneven turn design was conducted in order to further develop a gravity independent OHP. Experimental results show that the uneven turn OHP developed herein can start the oscillating motion in the negative vertical position (the evaporator being above the condenser) and demonstrate that the uneven turn OHPs can significantly reduce the effect of gravity on the heat transport capability in an OHP. Three miniature OHPs (18-turn acetone OHP, 18-turn water OHP, and 20-turn acetone OHP) were developed and tested to determine whether the uneven-turn OHPs can function in a high-g environment. Experimental results demonstrate that these miniaturized uneven turn designs are extremely capable in high gravity environments and will operate effectively in any orientation. An OHP with check valves has been successfully developed and tested to determine the check valve effect on the oscillating motion and heat transfer performance in an OHP. Experimental results show that the OHP with check valves can function well in both the inverted and vertical positions with little variation between the two positions in performance once startup occurred, while the control OHP without check valves which had the same channel layout was not able to achieve startup in the inverted position. This shows that the check valves allowed the OHP to operate in the inverted position first achieving startup and then maintain oscillating motion.
The feasibility co-firing biomass for electricity in Missouri
Authors:   , Liu Zuoming
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] With the growing concerns regarding energy security, sustainability and global warming, more and more efforts have been expended to find clean, safe and renewable energy sources. Bioenergy is considered as one of the significant potential energy resources to serve as a partial replacement for fossil fuels. Use biomass as fuels to produce electricity, i.e. biopower, is one of the most popular uses of bioenergy. The main objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility co-firing biomass for electricity at the existing coal-powered plants in Missouri. A linear programming model was built to simulate the whole process of co-firing biomass in 9 selected power plants with the objective of minimizing the total cost involved in the process. Two biomass co-firing levels (10% and 15%) with three levels (10%, 20% and 30%) of biomass availability are assumed to conduct sensitivity analysis. Moreover, this study also analyzed the impact of transportation cost, resource and harvesting cost on the model's optimization outcomes. The results of the model show that co-firing biomass in those selected power plants costs more than using coal. The additional cost from co-firing biomass will decrease as the availability of biomass increases. The results from the individual plants show that the optimal capacity of biomass co-firing is about 10-15MW based on the settings of this study.
Development of instrumentation and techniques for preclinical image guided microirradiation
Authors:   , Price Samantha G.
Published: April 2021

Radiation therapy accounts for more than half of cancer treatments in the US, and in order to provide the most effective treatment to patients, new developments are implemented each year. Before a novel radiation therapy device or technique can be used to treat patients in the clinic, it must first undergo testing. One of the most effective testing methods is preclinical small animal testing, because the testing environment provides a large sample population on which treatment variations can be tested for efficacy and possible side effects. To improve the effectiveness of preclinical testing, the devices and methods used on small animals should closely resemble those used in the clinic. These include irradiators, fractionation schedules, repeatability methods, and results characterization. Results characterization will provide a translational pathway between the preclinical and clinical environments of a small animal irradiation and human treatments to account for variation in treatment beams and subject size between preclinical and clinical irradiations. The Biomedical Physics Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, with whom I was working, developed a preclinical small animal image guided microirradiator, the microIGRT, and we characterized the device using clinical methods, such as those used for machine acceptance and quality assurance. In order to provide treatment verification and subject positioning repeatability, we designed, developed, and characterized a micro electronic portal imaging device (Î¼EPID), similar to the portal devices used on clinical linear accelerators. Using the microIGRT and the Î¼EPID, we developed treatments for small animal brain, lung, liver, and spinal tumors using clinical treatment planning methodologies translated to preclinical small animal models. We characterized the treatment results with several metrics and compared these to clinical treatments. The metrics were compared, side by side, and conclusions were drawn for the efficacy of the small animal treatment to establish the first steps for a pathway to translate preclinical results to clinical trials. Considering the difficulties of dosimetry for small fields commonly used in small animal irradiations, we also designed and developed a fiber scintillating microdosimeter. This dosimeter allowed for more accurate orthovoltage beam characterization, thus improving treatment planning and translational treatments.
Experimental and simulation analysis of the jitter response of a single-shot oil switch with a high-K particle suspension
Authors:   , Yeckel Christopher
Published: April 2021

This dissertation investigates oil switching systems to address and reduce the jitter observed in the breakdown electric field strength of a pressurized, oil dielectric. The experimental work is conducted in two phases, the first of which examines the effects of oil chemistry on breakdown statistics, and the second of which considers the effects of high-K particle additions to the best-performing fluids. A single-shot high voltage advanced dielectric test stand (HVADTS) was designed and built to test these oils. The HVADTS is capable of applying a 250 kV pulse with a â€˜1-cosâ€™ rise-time of 1.6 Î¼s to a pressurized oil dielectric. Numerous oil chemistries were evaluated, including straight-chain hydrocarbons and branched olefins, silicone and ester fluids, alkylbenzene and transformer oil. Following the oil chemistry evaluation, a high-K particle dielectric was added in concentrations up to 5 % (by weight) to the best-performing fluids. Parameters such as particle concentration, gap spacing, electrode surface conditions and ambient fluid pressure are investigated experimentally. The experimental analysis is supported by PIC electrostatic simulations and a suite of diagnostics such as SEM imagery, optical profilometry, water titration, mass-spectrometry, and particle measurements. The dissertation discusses several methods to successfully reduce the switch jitter of a self-break oil switch.
Improving the usability and utilization of cancer registry data : the need to identify a core data set
Authors:   , Zachary Iris
Published: April 2021

Cancer registries in the US and Canada have a long history of data standards and data collection that have developed from a minimal dataset to the standard dataset that is used now. Central Cancer Registries (CCRs) are good resources for cancer data, but are often underutilized. CCRs are recognized for high quality data standards by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) or the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and receive certification from the North American Association of Central Registries (NAACCR). Each year, there are many changes to the data that are collected in the cancer registry field. Standards, requirements, and medical knowledge change frequently. The changes in the data collection process cause interference and decrease in quality of data fields, but also delays in the timely collection of cancer registry data. The objective of this study is to identify what essentially needs to be collected and what can be collected optionally in a cancer registry. The goal is a robust dataset that can be used for other disease registries, cancer data surveillance, public health, and research. CCRs and Cancer Centers (CR) were surveyed to identify and describe the data items that are collected and needed to achieve a dataset that can serve cancer surveillance and research. The surveys were analyzed to identify overlaps of common and special interests, as well as barriers. The results showed that cancer registries have data available, but need to look at the timely release of a core dataset for use in cancer surveillance and research. The surveys also evaluated the barriers to data use from cancer registries and barriers for data use of collected datasets to identify the initial data request process. Data in the cancer registry are in a format that can easily be adopted by public health, surveillance, and research. The requesting process needs to be accessible, understandable, and streamlined to enable successful use of the data.
Quasi-metric geometry
Authors:   , Brigham Dan
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Every time one sees |x-y|, one is looking at a specific metric acting on x and y, whatever they may happen to be, usually numbers or vectors. The notion of the distance between two objects is one of the most fundamental and ubiquitous in many branches of mathematics. A quasi-metric is a generalization of the familiar notion of metric. This dissertation examines what happens in this new setting of quasi-metrics. In particular, in the first chapter we introduce quasi-metrics, provide examples of them, then, given an arbitrary quasi-metric, develop a procedure which allows us to construct a better quasi-metric. Then we look at topological matters, such as openness and continuity. After that, we look at functions on abstract objects called groupoids, which is yet another step toward generality, since the objects we consider here contain the class of quasi-metrics. Dealing with groupoids is useful because it provides a natural structure into which quasi-metrics and quasi-norms fit. After these preliminary chapters, we then introduce linear structure, meaning the quasi-metrics studied are defined on sets in which one can add two points together, and multiply points by numbers, as this is not possible in an abstract set. Next we quantify smoothness of quasi-metric spaces, and throw in measures. For the first six chapters, we worked within a given quasi-metric space, assigning to points the distance between them. The seventh and final chapter deals with the "distance'' between two distinct quasi-metrics.
County road 23
Authors:   , Ciesla Meagan
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation is composed of a critical introduction and a creative manuscript. The critical introduction "Deindustrial Half-life: Decayed Whiteness in Postcards and Affliction," contributes to whiteness studies scholarship by arguing that the deindustrial shift from local to global economies in the late 20th century results in the representation of poor white rural New England characters as decayed bodies. The creative manuscript is County Road 23, a novel narrated by an omniscient voice that details the lives of the disenfranchised in rural 1980s Upstate New York. The narrative follows the Savages, a family of three impoverished middle-aged brothers who manage their fourth-generation dairy farm. The brothers' livelihood is threatened by low milk prices, high loan interest rates, and the impending development of a landfill used for surplus garbage shipped westward from the New York City boroughs. The novel leaps across time to reveal the conflict between the Savages and their neighbors, the Keegans, who live in a bordering trailer town. A deal between the Keegans' son and a land developer leads to a drowning as well as the death of the eldest Savage brother. While the novel is interested in the ramifications of disappearing family farms in the face of corporate land development, primarily it questions moral culpability, family allegiance, and the social stigmas regarding work, property, and land ownership in the impoverished rural community.
Evaluation of bioelectrochemical systems for wastewater treatment and sludge digestion
Authors:   , Gajaraj Shashikanth
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Much attention has been drawn by bioelectrochemical systems (BES) in the past years for wastewater treatment, due to its potential for enhanced wastewater treatment and resource recovery with added advantages in terms of energy generation, environmental footprint, operating stability and economics. This dissertation focuses on the potential to improve treatment efficiency of different wastewater components when assisted by BES. Modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) process and membrane bioreactor (MBR) process assisted by microbial fuel cells (MFC) showed improved the nitrate-nitrogen removal efficiencies by upto 31% and 20% respectively, and reduced sludge produced by 11% and 6% respectively over the control reactors. While the unique design of the cathode significantly reduced physical membrane fouling, all other bioreactor performance was unaffected. Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) assisted Cr[VI] reduction was faster in 60 days as compared to 69 days with MFC assisted systems and 85 days with the control. The total Cr removal efficiencies in the control system and the MFC or MEC-assisted systems were 20%, 55%, and 65%, respectively, demonstrating the ability of BES in assisting wastewater remediation process. Finally, MECs incorporated into anaerobic digestion resulted in increased production of methane of 9.4 % or 8.5% with both glucose and activated sludge respectively as the substrate. The integration of MEC had no impact on acetoclastic methanogens involved in anaerobic digestion, but significantly increased the populations of hydrogenotrophic methanogens, especially Methanobacteriales. In conclusion, the integration of BES with conventional wastewater treatment and sludge digestion process enhanced the removal of organic matter, nitrate and toxic metals while supporting healthy microbial consortia.
Classlessness as Doxa: Late Modernity and Changing Perceptions of Class Division in Iceland
Authors:   , Oddsson Gudmundur Aevar
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation advances class analysis with a historical study of how the cultural and structural changes of late modernity impact class awareness. Using socialdemocratic Iceland as a case, I examine newspaper accounts, parliamentary records, and survey data to study (1) representations of classlessness from 1986 to 2007, (2) perceptions of class division from 1986 to 2012, and (1) class identity in the wake of Iceland's economic collapse in 2008. I draw primarily from Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework in my analysis. Contrary to prominent assertions that class awareness in Western societies has decreased across the board in late modernity, my analysis shows that perceptions of class division in Iceland increased over the study period. My results show how crises resulting from neoliberal globalization, the hallmark of late modernity, undermined the previously taken for granted assumption that Iceland is a relatively classless society, that is, "classlessness as doxa." These crises exposed classlessness as doxa to critical reflection, which, in turn, heightened perceptions of class division. My overall argument is that perceptions of class division increased because Icelandic society grew more culturally and economically differentiated as a result of neoliberal globalization, particularly at the "top" and "bottom" of the class structure.
Impressions and Characters: Travel Writing and Narration in the Novel from Victorian to Modern
Authors:   , Rutledge Alison
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] In this dissertation, through examination of narrative form, particularly narration and characterization, in both travel writing and fiction by several authors from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, I demonstrate how travel writing and the novel co-evolve as genres across this period. I propose that travel writing first functioned, especially in the work of Charles Dickens, as a textual space for experimentation with the form and style of narrative. The results of those narrative experiments then become integral to the shape and structure of Dickens's novels throughout the remainder of his career. After Dickens, as the prestige of travel writing rose, the authors I survey began to find in the conventional discourses of travel writing the basis for innovations in their narrative style. The two primary discourses that I examine--impressionism and the rhetoric of national character--become some of the foundations for narrative innovations involving narrative voice, perspective, and characterization from the 1880s onward. These discourses contributed significantly to developments in the form of the novel as a genre and over time resulted in narrative styles that increasingly prioritized interiority and psychological complexity, qualities that critics have since identified with literary modernism.--From public.pdf
Interventions to increase physical
activity among older adults : a meta-analysis
Authors:   , Chase Jo-Ana
   D.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.]
Few older adults engage in the nationally recommended amounts of physical activity. The
purpose of the present study was to determine the overall effectiveness of interventions
designed to increase physical activity (PA) behavior among community-dwelling older adults. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to find eligible PA intervention studies conducted among community-dwelling adults age 65 and older. Diverse characteristics from these studies were extracted, including intervention characteristics and outcome data. Mean effect sizes (ESs) of the included studies were calculated and synthesized, and differences across study characteristics were explored. ESs were calculated from 13,829 primary study subjects. The overall mean ES for two group posttest comparisons was 0.18 (95% CI 0.10-0.26, p less than .001). This represents a difference of 620 steps/day or 73 minutes of PA/week between treatment and control groups. Significant moderators included the use of theory, forms of mediated delivery, and combination cognitive plus behavioral-type intervention components. Nonsignificant moderators included the type of interventionist, delivery setting, and various measures of intervention dose. PA interventions significantly improved PA behavior among community-dwelling older adults. Effective PA interventions may be efficiently delivered using already available resources and personnel. Future PA intervention research should be theoretically based, incorporate more diverse subjects, and compare intervention delivery methods.
Alternative translation and alternative RNA processing mechanism in parvovirus RNA processing
Authors:   , Fasina Olufemi
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Viruses as obligate intracellular metabolic parasite require the capacity to orchestrate and modulate the host environment either in the nucleus or cytoplasm for their efficient reproductive life cycle. This warrants the use of diverse range of proteins expressed from the viral genome with the ability of regulating viral genome replication, transcription and translation, in addition antagonizing host factors inhibitory to the virus. Therefore, in order to achieve these goals, viruses utilizes gene expression strategies to expand their coding capacity. Gene expression mechanism such as transcription initiation, capping, splicing and 3ï¿½-end processing afford viruses the opportunities to utilize the eukaryotic metabolic machineries for generating proteome diversity. Parvoviruses and other DNA viruses effectively capitalize on their use of nuclear eukaryotic metabolic machineries to co-opt host cell factors for optimal replication and gene expression. Parvoviruses with small genome size and overlapping open reading frames utilize alternative transcription initiation, alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation to co-ordinate the expression of its non-structural and structural proteins. In this work, we have characterized how two parvoviruses; Dependovirus AAV5 and Bocavirus Minute virus of canine (MVC) utilize alternative gene expression mechanisms and strategies to optimize expression of viral proteins from their genome.
Landscapes of belonging : Cuban ethnicity, class, and community
Authors:   , Olsberg Joshua E.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation compares the life stories of Cubans in Miami, Florida and Baracoa, Cuba to explore how Cubans in different cultural spaces define their communities and sense of belonging. The study finds that collective memory and public narratives in those communities are shaped by political and historical events, and that elements of the community's broader history become part of our personal life stories.
Cocrystallization of pyrogallol[4]arenes with target molecules
Authors:   , Fowler Drew A.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Supramolecular chemistry, in its simplest and broadest description, is the chemistry of intermolecular interactions or chemistry of the noncovalent bond. Supramolecular chemistry is rooted in discoveries, such as the chlorine clathrate found in 1810 by Sir Humphry Davy, and concepts, such as coordination chemistry (1893-Werner) and the lock-and-key concept (1894-Fischer). The broad definition of supramolecular chemistry can be applied to a vast subject range including naturally occurring assemblies, such as proteins and the double helix of DNA. Today, a key interest of supramolecular chemists is the design of functional multi-component systems constructed from smaller molecular building blocks. This research focuses specifically on the supramolecular chemistry of a family of macrocycles called calixarenes, specifically the pyrogallol derivatives pyrogallol[4]arenes. Due to the bowl-like shape of the macrocycles and the presence of 12 upper-rim hydroxyls, pyrogallol[4]arenes have been found to exhibit a number of interesting supramolecular properties. The following dissertation contains the description of advances that have been made using these macrocycles. This work illustrates the expansion of a project dealing with the cocrystallization, and encapsulation of fluorescent reporter molecules with a variety of pyrogallol[4]arenes in different solvent systems. The description of a number of crystal structures that is offered will illustrate how, through thoughtful experimentation, the successful design of a new host molecular capsule was carried out and broadened to include a number of guest molecules. The target molecules have also been expanded from the fluorescent reporters to a variety of possible targets molecules. The solid-state structures discussed include multiple cocrystals of gabapentin, an active pharmaceutical ingredient, and structures containing the organometallic sandwich complex ferrocene.
The relationship between satisfaction with life as a whole and three other factors (domain satisfaction, social network ties, and perceptions of service delivery): Rural Russian village panel study 1995-2003
Authors:   , Baatar Baljmaa
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] It is found in the literature that satisfaction with life as a whole (LS) is very multi-dimensional subjective indicator. This dissertation wanted to see this multi-dimensionality of LS and examined LS from three different angles. Using rural Russian village panel data 1995-2003, the dissertation conducted three different analyses. Scholars say that LS and happiness studies are important for social, economic, and public policy development. The significant relationships between LS and all other factors including specific life domain satisfactions, social network ties, mental health, and perceptions of local service delivery, in this dissertation, implied that LS can be connected to many different areas of society. Studies in this dissertation then showed that rural Russian village residents' satisfaction with life as whole was significantly associated with many factors. For instance, specific life domain satisfactions such as family satisfaction, marital satisfaction, income satisfaction, and village satisfaction - all was significantly related to LS in the study. The dissertation tested their two-way reciprocal relationship and the relationship from domain satisfaction to LS was substantial in the panel study. All results in the studies were quite close to results in other similar studies found in the literature. This is another importance of this research.
Improved computational methods of protein sequence alignment, model selection and tertiary structure prediction
Authors:   , Deng Xin
Published: April 2021

Protein sequence and profile alignment has been used essentially in most bioinformatics tasks such as protein structure modeling, function prediction, and phylogenetic analysis. We designed a new algorithm MSACompro to incorporate predicted secondary structure, relative solvent accessibility, and residue-residue contact information into multiple protein sequence alignment. Our experiments showed that it improved multiple sequence alignment accuracy over most existing methods without using the structural information and performed comparably to the method using structural features and additional homologous sequences by slightly lower scores. We also developed HHpacom, a new profile-profile pairwise alignment by integrating secondary structure, solvent accessibility, torsion angle and inferred residue pair coupling information. The evaluation showed that the secondary structure, relative solvent accessibility and torsion angle information significantly improved the alignment accuracy in comparison with the state of the art methods HHsearch and HHsuite. The evolutionary constraint information did help in some cases, especially the alignments of the proteins which are of short lengths, typically 100 to 500 residues. Protein Model selection is also a key step in protein tertiary structure prediction. We developed two SVM model quality assessment methods taking query-template alignment as input. The assessment results illustrated that this could help improve the model selection, protein structure prediction and many other bioinformatics problems. Moreover, we also developed a protein tertiary structure prediction pipeline, of which many components were built in our groupâ€™s MULTICOM system. The MULTICOM performed well in the CASP10 (Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction) competition.
Early predictors of child depression in at-risk families : latent profile analysis of risk factors occurring in ecological systems of young children
Authors:   , Bi Yu
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] In this study, we identified patterns of risk factors across developmental contexts during the third year of life using latent profile analysis (LPA). We then examined whether these risk patterns differentially predicted child depression during middle childhood as well as the socioeconomic characters of each identified class. Participants included 688 families. The mean age for the mother participants was 23.4 (SD= 5.8). Over 60% of the sample had household incomes below the poverty line. The racial/ethnic characteristics were 33.5% Pacific Islander, 28% Asian, 12% Caucasian, and 26.5% unknown. The data was collected by the Hawaii's Healthy Start Program (HSP; Duggan et al., 2004). The following variables are included to describe the early environment: infant temperament, child externalizing problems, home educational resources, parent-child attachment, exposure to spouse violence, maternal depression, parenting stress, and insufficient community resources. Research results supported a five-class (i.e. adverse home environment class, low risk class, distressed parents and adverse community class, struggling children and violent spouse class and high risk class) solution. Children's depression scores varied significantly across classes. Results also indicated distinguished demographic factors associated with each class. The results offer important findings to establish a sophisticated model for capturing risk factors across the various ecological systems targeting specific developmental periods. Such findings could guide future prevention efforts by identifying children most at risk for adverse outcomes.
Numerical solutions of Reeks-Hall equation for particulate concentration in recirculating turbulent fluid flow
Authors:   , Nguyen Giang N.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Source term is an important issue in safety assessment of nuclear power plants. Therefore, modeling of particulate concentration in reactor coolant systems during normal operation and hypothesized or real accidents is of continuing interest. We report here on exploration of a numerical solution of the Reeks and Hall equation with the use of fractional resuspension rate in its original integral form. The numerical results for particulate concentration are compared with those obtained from the exact expression given by Williams and experimental data provided by Wells et al. The numerical results agree very well with exact results and also agree well with the data of Wells et al. Applications of numerical method to problems with time dependent resuspension rate (for which exact solutions are not available), are explored and some typical results are reported. Research is carried out for three related resuspension models: Reeks, Reed, and Hall (1988), Vainshtein et al (1997), and Rock 'n Roll (2001). Results from Rock 'n Roll model show some advantages over the other two models. Since the advanced numerical technique we used may not be entirely suitable for use in large integrated computed codes, we have also explored use of a first order finite difference scheme for solving the Reeks-Hall equation. This first order scheme is sensitive to time-step size, but can work in some cases.
Evaluation of the Kansas City Public Schools' student-centered learning program Harry Truman Elementary
Authors:   , Scraggs Steven
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Student-Centered Learning is a foundational curriculum and instructional framework developed in the Kansas City Public Schools District and implemented between 2010 and 2012. The program was designed by incorporating many elements from the standards-based schools movement as well as components of the facilitative instructional movement. The result of this process was a two-year commitment to implementing Student-Centered Learning. The philosophy adopted during this period of time in Kansas City Public Schools focused on transformation from theory to practice using the concepts of routine, search and selection environment. By examining the pattern of current practice, acquiring new information and alternative practices, and creating an environment where innovation can be adopted and sustained, organizations can use an structured selection process where unexpected positive benefits that result in productivity are kept and ineffective ideas discarded. While this philosophy is most closely aligned to economic theories, Nelson and Winter's 1982 work on natural selection, although decades old, still resonates in Kansas City today. Kansas City Public Schools had determined that routines would be replaced with trial and error, innovation and change. Student-Centered Learning involved reinventing the district's curriculum into a discrete set of content-based Learning Targets. These targets were divided into what were referred to as grade-level expectations. Students were given an entrance exam to determine their academic level and were subsequently placed in non-age-based, ability-based classrooms. Teachers utilized a facilitative approach to classroom instruction and were directed to reduce direct content delivery time and increase student cooperative and independent practice. Project-based learning and inquiry-based approaches to learning were pushed as the way students could learn best. Administrators and Instructional Coaches used a walk-through classroom observation tool called Observation 360 to determine if the process was being implemented correctly and to provide on-going professional development. The program was in place until it was suspended in the spring of 2012 after a large district-level administrative change and the loss of state accreditation by the district following multiple years of poor standardized testing results. Composite and observational data collected between 2010-2012 illustrates that while teaching practices did appear to follow the design of Student-Centered Learning, the subsequent results on student measurable academic achievement on the Missouri Assessment Program appeared to follow the same inconsistent pattern that has impacted Harry Truman Elementary and the district since the onset of No Child Left Behind and led to the district's loss of state accreditation in 2012.
Development of algal membrane bioreactor technology for wastewater treatment and polishing
Authors:   , Xu Meng
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The discharge of secondary wastewater effluent from wastewater treatment plants can lead to eutrophication of receiving water bodies due to the presence of nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent. Although nitrogenous compounds are commonly removed in domestic wastewater, removal of phosphorus is far less efficient. Thus this Ph.D thesis research is aimed to develop an algae-based MBR system to treat secondary wastewater.
Does difference make a difference? women foreign policy leaders and state conflict behavior
Authors:   , Burns Courtney
Published: April 2021

Often we hear that women are more peaceful than men; however, no one has done a study to see whether or not this observation holds for female chief executives, defense ministers, and foreign policy ministers. Thus, I ask the question: does difference make a difference? I theorize that due to stereotypes about commonly held beliefs that women are peaceful and not capable in the realm of war, women leaders must overcompensate and act more hawkish. In order to show legitimacy and capability, I hypothesize that female chief executives will be more likely to be involved in starting conflict, escalating conflict, be involved in long conflicts, and finally see longer peace. I posit that they will self-fulfill stereotypes during peaceful situations if they were elected for being a woman. I find that women chief executives do initiate conflict more than their male counterparts, regardless of which political party they belong to. I have no results for female defense and foreign policy ministers. This research has important implications for two avenues of research: conflict studies and gender studies. Our biases about women leaders can influence foreign policy behavior of women leaders, which affects the country at large, but also the amount of conflict that country may engage in.
From Stonewall to millennium : Lesbian representation in three representative Late 20th-century plays by American women.
Authors:   , Campagna Vanessa Marie
Published: April 2021

From Stonewall to Millennium: Lesbian Representation in Three Late 20th-Century Plays by American Women explores the relationship between the lived experiences of LGBT people (especially lesbians and bisexual women) and staged depictions thereof. In the dissertation's three analytical chapters, I offer close, critical readings of three representative plays by American women, one from each of the final three decades of the 20th century: Last 07 at Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers, And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel, and Stop Kiss by Diana Son. Motivated by the New Historicist perspective that that the significance of literary texts "can be fully grasped only in relation to the other expressive possibilities with which it interacts," I illuminate deeper meanings within the plays by investigating the social/political climates in which they were written and debuted. Exploring past modes of living and staging LGBT identities and experiences is valuable because it helps contextualize the current historical moment, which is marked by aggressive social/political campaigns aimed at LGBT empowerment and enfranchisement. This project will be of interest to artists and scholars in the varied, but often intersecting, fields of Theatre, Performance Studies, Communication, Women's and Gender Studies, and Queer Theory, as well as those outside of the academy who take interest in LGBT history, American history, and the arts.
Model evaluation and variable selection for interval-censored data
Authors:   , Cook Tyler
Published: April 2021

Survival analysis is a popular area of statistics dealing with time-to-event data. A special characteristic of survival data is the presence of censoring. Censoring occurs when the survival time is only partially known. In medical studies, censoring can be caused by patients dropping out of the study before their disease event occurs. This dissertation focuses on the analysis of interval-censored data, where the failure time is only known to belong to some interval of observation times. One problem researchers face when analyzing survival data is how to handle the censoring distribution. This is an important consideration because sometimes a patient's survival time is related to the time they drop out of the study. It is often assumed that these two times are unrelated, so special methods need to be developed when they are dependent. Part of this dissertation investigates the effectiveness of methods developed for interval-censored data with dependent censoring when the censoring is actually independent. The results of these simulation studies can provide guidelines for deciding between models when facing a practical problem where one is unsure about the dependence of the censoring distribution. Another important problem seen in survival analysis is variable selection. For example, doctors might want to identify a set of diagnostic tests or measurements that can predict patient survival. We propose an imputation approach for variable selection of interval-censored data that utilizes penalized likelihood procedures. This work is significant because researchers currently do not have many tools to select important variables related to the survival time for interval-censored data.
The relationship between the high school principal's use of power and the teachers' self-perception of professionalism
Authors:   , Graham Travis William
Published: April 2021

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the high shool principal's use of power and teachers' self-perception of professionalism. Seven bases of power were explored during this study: (a)Reward Power, (b) Coercive Power, (c) Legitimate Power, (d) Referent Power, (e) Expert Power, (f) Information Power, and (g) Connection Power. Four dimensions of professionalism were identified as subscales and were: (a) Personal Characteristics, (b) Commitment to Change and Continuous Improvement, (c) Subject and Pedagogical Knowledge, and (d) Activities Beyond the Classroom. The quantitative study combined two data collection tools, the Power Perception Profile - Perception of Other and the Teacher Professionalism Inventory - Self, to provide opportunity for teachers to describe their current perceptions of their principals' use of power and their self-perception of professionalism. While no relationships were identified as being statistically significant, findings did suggest that teachers' selfperception of professionalism was both directly and inversely related to the principal's use of power. Principals who understand how their use of power grows or hinders their teachers' sense of professionalism equips them with the necessary tools to foster professional development that is both positive and beneficial to the teachers.
Understanding the process of organizational change : a student affairs case study
Authors:   , Hayes Joseph M.
Published: April 2021

The purpose of this case study is to describe the process of organizational restructuring and redesign within the division of student affairs at an institution of higher education. The study featured the process that occurred when the new Chief Student Affairs Officer (CSAO) arrived in the 07 of 2011 at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and the subsequent redesign of the student affairs division. This study is important to the practice of student affairs because it provides insight into the redesign process that can typically only be obtained through experiencing it. The literature review I conducted includes a review of structural organizational theory, a breakdown of the various types of organizational structures, and an outline of the strengths and weaknesses of the current organizational forms currently used in higher education. This dissertation augments the existing literature through a case study approach to examine the process of organizational redesign. I used a qualitative within-site case study approach of the organizational change that occurred in the 07 of 2011 with the arrival of a new Vice Chancellor for Student Life at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. I interviewed nine student affairs administrators present at the time of the change and reviewed documents concerning the change to come to my conclusions. This includes a detailed description of the chronology of the change process and a thematic analysis of the change that occurred. The primary implication garnered from this case study is that student demographics and needs should determine how a student affairs organization is designed. As an institution, IUPUI's student demographic has transitioned over the years to be younger and more traditionally aged, thus, the division of student life needed to be restructured to best support its changing students demographics. It is imperative that the design of student affairs organization match the needs of a campus student population. The secondary implication is the balance between input and decision-making when it comes to organizational change. Dr. Davenport used his limited time and influence between his hire and start date to build trust and gather input from numerous stakeholders. His actions were deliberate and sincere, but upon collection and analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data, a decision was made to make a change in structure. That decision occurred nine days into Dr. Davenport's tenure and set the tone for the upcoming year in the reconfigured division. CSAOs should be cognizant of the division and campus culture before taking the executive decision approach.
Modality shift in design process : understanding the rationale behind modality shift and its effect on architectural design
Authors:   , Islam A. K. M. Zahidul
Published: April 2021

Architectural design is a deliberate act of creativity without any definite starting point. Critical analysis of any design process reveals its basic stages. Designers use a number of design and drafting tools as well as their media (modality) to perform these processes. In search of an effective solution, designers often tend to switch between modalities. The purpose of this study is to understand how design students rationalize their modality selection and factors causing modality shifts as well as the impact of these shifts on the design outcome. This study examined different externalization forms of design ideas; identified any deviation from initial design ideas that occurred due to modality shift; analyzed final design outcomes by comparing initial ideas and its follow-through on the basis of their visualization and representation; and finally, looked into correlations between the modality shift and the design outcome. Observation and analysis revealed that students tend to shift between modalities not necessarily for facilitating problem solving only. Individual styles, instructions, requirements, context, culture, competency, ambiguity and cognitive aspects also play a significant role. It was also evident that the amplitude of shift has a positive correlation with designers' experience and accordingly impact on the final design outcome. The result of this study would help to identify reasons and effects of modality shift in design process and thus benefit design pedagogy and practice. By developing effective design methods and processes through meaningful incorporation of traditional and technologically advanced tools, students of the digital age would benefit and enhance their design perception and decision-making.