bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The brown glass ceiling? A qualitative study of Hispanic women/Latinas leaders in higher education
Authors:   , Barron Collins Daisy Indira
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The percentage of Hispanics in the state of Missouri, and its universities, continues to grow. However, few Hispanic women/Latinas advance into leadership positions; instead, many are constrained by an invisible glass ceiling. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research study was to examine Hispanic women/Latinas' experiences and perceptions about their journey to leadership in higher education, the barriers they encountered, and their access to and acquisition of resources needed for their success. The overarching research question was: How do Latinas in higher education make meaning of their journeys and quests to reach leadership positions? Data collection included semi-structured, open-ended interviews, field notes, biographical questionnaires, and a researcher's reflective journal. Data analysis followed a comparative approach influenced by grounded theory, to illuminate the similarities and differences among women's pathways. In addition, as an "organic intellectual" -- a "thinker who emerges from an oppressed group and reflects its concerns and interest" (Collins, 1998, p. 279) -- the researcher employed standpoint theory as a means to include her own story. The findings of this study described the barriers, resources, and the journey to leadership of twenty-four participants, plus the researcher's own experiences. The barriers revealed by participants center on two central themes. Specifically those related to identity (interactions between racial/ethnic self-identification, social perceptions, and gender) and systemic themes (regarding institutional level efforts and lack of recruitment, retention, and promotion processes). Resources were found to have included personal (family and spirituality) and structural (mentoring and scholarships) supports. While one purpose of this study was to disseminate information that will empower Latina educators, this inquiry also informs legislators, educational officials, and higher educational administrators of the institutional support needed to recruit, retain, and promote Hispanic women in their organizations.
Hao
Authors:   , Ye Chun
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] My dissertation "Hao" examines the relationship between maternal subjectivity and language. The pictogram in the title, a linguistic sign from the 12th century BCE Oracle Bone Script, depicts a kneeling woman holding a child. As the image of "kneeling woman" suggests, the mother figures portrayed in the book are often from marginalized groups ignored in dominant discourses, and therefore, cannot use such discourses to effectively define their experiences. These maternal figures include mothers who lost their children when shoddy school buildings collapsed during the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, an immigrant struggling with her debilitating anxiety of English deficiency, and an illiterate teen in mid-20th century China trying to invent a language for herself through drawing. While many literary texts addressing maternity focus on mother-child relationships or the dichotomy of empowerment and oppressiveness of motherhood, I complicate the conversation by looking at maternity in relation to language. My work investigates the various forms of silencing that mothers are subject to and the ways in which they attempt to find their own language to cope with, resist, and/or challenge the politics of domination.
The missional ground : Indians, missionaries, and the forging of the antebellum frontiers
Authors:   , Rice Joshua M.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] When historians search for Native agency, they often look in places where indigenous and colonial forces were evenly matched, as in Richard White's "middle ground." Implicitly, Indian agency mostly disappeared after colonial power triumphed. Critically, this model omits one faction from the antebellum frontier story: missionaries. In building their stations on the frontier, missionaries opened new zones for indigenous action, and often resisted or tempered the colonial forces bearing down on their Indian charges. This space that missionaries created was under American hegemony, but preceded the arrival of white settlement or US forces en masse. Hence, missionaries made a place that was not quite as open as the middle ground, but nonetheless hosted a wide range of social, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and religious diversity. I call this zone the missional ground because the fluidity and Native agency in this space was squelched once the missionaries left, and troops and settlers arrived. The missional ground was consequently fragile, and required a precise balancing of missionaries, settlers, agents, diverse Indian groups, and all their interrelations. This means that the missional ground was also deeply contextual: the personality, theology, assumptions about gender and race, denomination, and class background of a missionary could make or break his mission. Hence, the missional ground not only supported Indian agency, but served as a crucible where American culture, religion, politics, and internal conflicts all boiled over.
The Ambrysus Stal (Heteroptera : Naucoridae) of Mexico : revision of Ambrysus (Syncollus) La Rivers and species groups of Ambrysus (Ambrysus)
Authors:   , Reynoso Velasco Daniel
Published: April 2021

Aquatic insects in the family Naucoridae are commonly known as creeping water bugs or saucer bugs. The New World genus Ambrysus (Heteroptera: Naucoridae) includes two subgenera in Mexico: Ambrysus (Syncollus) La Rivers and Ambrysus (Ambrysus) Stal. Syncollus includes nine species with mostly Neotropical distributions. The subgenus Syncollus was reviewed and the status of the Mexican fauna was evaluated. Six species of this group are present in Mexico; three of them were described as new in this study. In the subgenus Ambrysus, the A. hybridus Montandon species complex was revised and includes nine species distributed in North America. One of the Mexican species was resurrected as a valid species and two other were considered the same as a third species that was not well known prior to this work. The Ambrysus guttatipennis Stal species complex also was revised and includes eleven species distributed in North America. Six species of this group from Mexico were described as new.
Restoration at the roots : mycorrhizal interactions and habitat restoration in glades and prairies
Authors:   , Tipton Alice Grace
Published: April 2021

In a fragmented landscape, species diversity, richness, and abundance are largely determined by habitat characteristics such as patch size, successional age, isolation, and edge effects. Habitat patch characteristics may indirectly alter the distribution of organisms through impacts on their symbiotic partners, especially when the relationship is obligate. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate symbionts, relying completely on host plants for carbon resources while providing plants with nutrients and water in return. AMF-plant interactions can play a crucial role in plant community restoration success. I examined how AMF-plant interactions were influenced by patch size, isolation, restoration stage, and edge effect in fragmented glade habitat of the Missouri Ozarks. AMF colonization in plant roots of the plant community as a whole increased with the time since restoration began. In these rhizosphere samples and in roots from two plant species (Rudbeckia missouriensis and Schizachyrium scoparium), AMF colonization decreased from core to edge within glades. Soil exhibited substantial shifts in available nutrients across restoration age and from core to edge habitat, but surprisingly these changes were not correlated with AMF root colonization. This finding suggests that in Ozark glades, plant-AMF interactions are influenced by other habitat patch factors such as plant community composition, microbial community composition, and/or canopy cover. I then explored whether addition of R. missouriensis and S. scoparium along with soil inocula collected from well restored sites can catalyze the spread of native microbial communities (including AMF) to surrounding vegetation, thus impacting plant establishment and growth in newly restored glade sites. Results suggest that impact of soil inoculum on nurse effects vary in magnitude and direction among host species. Thus a mosaic of habitat modification regimes could promote plant species diversity in glade restoration. Finally, I examined how AMF community composition in roots of S. scoparium, Ruellia humilis, and the plant community at large change across glades and prairies that vary in restoration history and soil substrate. AMF communities on roots of both plant species and in the plant community at large differed between glades and prairies. Plants collected from glades had distinct AMF communities in calcareous versus acidic sites, which correlated with differences in soil pH. For plants collected in prairies, restoration stage was the biggest predictor of AMF community composition. AMF communities of remnant unplowed prairies differed from those of disturbed prairies regardless of soil substrate. Within disturbed prairies, sites that experienced industrial agriculture contained AMF communities with a greater abundance of Claroideoglomus sp. compared to grazed or remnant prairies. This suggests that human disturbance, such as grazing and plowing, differentially impact soil community composition in these grassland ecosystems.
Archival evidence on bias in auditors' assessment of client risk and the consequences for audit fees and auditor changes
Authors:   , Hallman Nicholas
Published: April 2021

As part of planning and performing financial statement audits, auditors are required to make judgments regarding client risk. These judgments permeate the audit process, driving decisions regarding client acceptance, audit pricing, the extent of audit testing, and the nature of auditors' written opinions. Although auditors may aim to assess each client's risk independently, prior research suggests individuals' draw on their idiosyncratic experiences and environments for benchmarks against which to contrast the case at hand. These "contrast effects" can result in judgments that deviate from those that would be reached using normative principles and may cause bias in auditors' assessment of client risk. Consistent with this theory, the archival evidence presented in this paper shows that, after controlling for clients' actual risk levels, auditors perform more (less) conservative audits and charge higher (lower) audit fees when clients appear riskier (less risky) in the context of other clients audited by the same practice office. Moreover, clients subject to increased (decreased) conservatism and higher (lower) audit fees due to auditors' biases are more (less) likely to switch auditors during the following period.
Studies on contagious abortion
Authors:   , Newman Harold Gould
Published: April 2021

Text from Introduction: "This thesis includes a review of the more important literature relating to contagious abortion or infectious abortion that was available, and particularly that dealing with experimental researches on the subject. In addition to this, a somewhat detailed report and discussion is given of certain phases of the experimental work on contagious abortion which has been carried out for the past three years or more by the Department of Veterinary Science of the Experiment Station, in cooperation with the Department of Dairy Husbandry; and in which work the writer has assisted in carrying out the experimental details. This research was instituted to develop more definite knowledge regarding the nature of contagious abortion; and particularly in regard to how the disease may be prevented and eradicated by handling the herd more intelligently."
Bureaucratic organization and innovation : a mixed-methods study of U.S. State Department of Transportation website adoption
Authors:   , Million A. J.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study explores bureaucratic organization and innovation in U.S. state department of transportation (DOT) websites. To determine if working with third parties fosters change in state DOT websites, it employs a two-part, explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In phase one, an online survey was disseminated to IT managers and communications officers in all 50 states to collect data regarding agency demographics, bureaucratic models, and Web infrastructure. In total, 45 valid responses (or 90 percent) were received from DOTs indicating that most built, hosted, and managed their websites in-house, but that state-level IT consolidations required many to pool resources with third parties. In research phase two, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted of a maximum variation sample of survey respondents. These interviews were conducted to explain why DOTs built and operated their websites with the support of third parties. Employing a grounded theoretical approach, analysis revealed 6 themes explaining website adoption and showed that working with third parties can foster innovation; however, not all change is positive. Therefore, a need exists for governments to selectively work with others, ascertain future barriers to change, and ensure that adopted innovations meet desired ends. Finally, five best practices informed by study findings are presented that may help decision-makers and civil servants provide e-government services in a flexible manner.
Development and characterization of a novel meniscal extracellular matrix-derived scaffold
Authors:   , Monibi Farrah Ann
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Musculoskeletal injuries are a common and significant problem in orthopaedic practice. Despite advances in orthopaedic surgery, effective treatments for injuries to the knee meniscus remain a common and significant clinical challenge. Tissue engineering is a developing field that aims to regenerate injured tissues with a combination of cells, scaffolds, and signals. Many natural and synthetic scaffold materials have been developed and tested for the repair and restoration of a number of musculoskeletal tissues. Among these, biological scaffolds derived from extracellular matrix (ECM) have been developed and tested given the critical role of the ECM for maintaining the biological and biomechanical properties, structure, and function of native tissues. Decellularized scaffolds composed of ECM hold promise for repair and regeneration of the meniscus given the potential for ECM-based biomaterials to aid in cell recruitment, infiltration, and differentiation. The objectives of this research were to decellularize canine menisci in order to fabricate a micronized, ECM-derived scaffold, and to determine the cytocompatibility and repair potential of the scaffold ex vivo by developing an in vitro model for meniscal repair. In the first series of experiments, menisci were decellularized with a combination of physical agitation and chemical treatments. For scaffold fabrication, decellularized menisci were cryoground into a powder and the size and morphology of the ECM particles were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy. Histologic and biochemical analyses of the scaffold confirmed effective decellularization with loss of proteoglycan from the tissue but no significant reduction in collagen content. When washed effectively, the decellularized scaffold was cytocompatible to meniscal fibrochondrocytes, synoviocytes, and whole meniscal tissue based on the resazurin reduction assay, fluorescent live/dead staining, and histologic evaluation. Further, the scaffold supported cellular attachment and proliferation when combined with platelet rich plasma, and promoted an upregulation of genes associated with meniscal ECM synthesis and tissue repair. In an ex vivo model for meniscal repair, radial tears repaired and augmented with the scaffold demonstrated increased cellular proliferation and tissue repair compared to non-augmented repairs. Therefore, a micronized scaffold derived from decellularized meniscus may be a viable biomaterial for promoting avascular meniscal healing. However, further studies are necessary to determine an optimal carrier for delivery of the scaffold, and to examine the potential for the scaffold to induce cellular differentiation and functional meniscal fibrochondrogenesis.
Neural systems modeling -- three case studies
Authors:   , Franklin Charlie
Published: April 2021

Computational neuroscience attempts to reverse engineer brain circuits at the cellular and system levels to better understand the function and behavior of neurons and networks in the brain and body. Mathematical models represent neurons as equivalent circuits to study their electrical properties. These neuron models can be combined into larger networks to study network behavior of biological structures. Computational models allow neuroscientists to test hypotheses much faster than physical experiments on biological cells, and can be used to make predictions to assist neuroscientists. While single cell neuron models attempt to replicate the membrane potential and ionic current behavior of individual neurons, network models connect many individual cell models with synaptic connections to study the interaction and communication between cells in a biological system. This dissertation involves three studies of computational models at both the individual neuronal level and the network level. 1. Generation and preservation of the slow underlying membrane potential in a model bursting neuron. A model of a class of slow-wave bursting cells was developed to investigate and generalize correlations among maximal current conductances that might generate and preserve its underlying oscillation. The underlying oscillation of the membrane potential was divided into three phases: generation, maintenance, and termination. The contributions of this study include suggestions that different current modules can coregulate to preserve the characteristics of each phase 2. Cellular and synaptic correlates of pattern formulation in a hippocampal model. We adapted a computational network model of the hippocampus to include biologically realistic conductance-based cells in CA3 and dentate gyrus (DG) regions. The contributions of this study include findings that inhibition was the dominant factor influencing the recruitment of a CA3 cell into a pattern, and differential connectivity and inhibitory dynamics between BCs and OLM cells enabled the former to control the recruitment of specific pyramidal cells into the CA3 pattern, and the latter to regulate pattern size. 3. Genesis of Hippocampal Theta Rhythm in a Computational Model. The mechanisms involved in the generation of hippocampal theta remain poorly understood. We have outlined the procedure to study the genesis of theta by adapting a computational network model of the rodent hippocampus.
Reasoning and memory : multiple simple response strategies are used in visual working memory for color-orientation binding
Authors:   , Hardman Kyle O.
Published: April 2021

Recent research has examined the how effectively people use the information in working memory (WM) when reasoning about that information is required in a recognition memory task (Chen and Cowan, 2013; Hardman and Cowan, 2016). In the featurematching task, a WM task, deductive reasoning (Deduction) can be used to determine that knowledge of one binding between colors and orientations (blue/left) precludes a different binding (blue/up), given that each color can only be paired with one other orientation. Hardman and Cowan (2016) found that the use of Deduction with the contents of WM is attempted about half of the time. In the reasoning-only task, which is very similar to the feature-matching task but lacks the requirement that items be stored in WM, however, Deduction was used accuracy and often, even by young children (Hardman and Cowan, in prep). Thus, there is a discrepancy in how people use Deduction depending on the task constraints. In this study, we sought the cause of this Deduction Discrepancy. We hypothesized that the Deduction Discrepancy may be due to (a) the requirement of WM maintenance in the feature-matching task, but not the reasoning-only task; (b) incorrect psychometric modeling results; or (c) limits the ability to use Deduction due to WM load. We examined these possibilities with novel tasks and psychometric models. Our results provided partial support for the first and third hypotheses, but not to an extent that we can fully explain the Deduction Discrepancy. New hypotheses and future directions are discussed.
Design, fabrication and testing of diamond radiation detectors for charged particle and neutron detection
Authors:   , Kasiwattanawut Haruetai
Published: April 2021

In this work, the single crystal Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond detectors were designed and fabricated to investigate and detect any possible charged particle and neutron emissions from gas-phase Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) experiments at room temperature. The diamond detectors were used in two experimental gas loading systems, palladium-deuterium, and nickel hydrogen. Palladium and nickel were used as host materials. Thin film layers of Ti/Pd and Ti/Pt/Au/Ni were deposited on the CVD diamond plates by evaporation techniques to create an Ohmic contact. Electronic characterizations of the detectors were completed by current-voltage measurements and energy calibration with alpha particles. The simulation and experimental run of the diamond detector with alpha and beta radiations exposures were done to determine the response of the detector to charged particles. The experimental results show that the diamond detectors observed and detected significant signal bursts from the gas loading experiments. The results from this work demonstrate that diamond detectors are suitable for alpha and beta radiation detection.
Soil health for improved food securities : an extension professional perspective
Authors:   , Lorenz Todd Elmer
Published: April 2021

This trial study examines barriers to the diffusion and adoption of an agricultural concept surrounding soil health as an improved management tool which has most recently been introduced into production agriculture. For this study, a small sample set of perceived early adopters of soil health management practices were interviewed for their perspective on the subject of diffusion of innovation in soil health. Rogers' (1995) diffusion of innovation serves as the theoretical underpinning for this study. Where "an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption". H. F. Lionberger from the Department of Rural Sociology at University of Missouri was one of the contributing authors and had previous publications (Lionberger, 1957, 1960; Lionberger and Gwin, 1991). While diffusion of innovation has provided an overview of how information is diffused and adopted for Extension professionals, academia, and students, its use in discerning the adoption of soil health management practices has not been examined previously. There were both differences and similarities in what experiences, attitudes, and beliefs shaped the early adoption of Soil Health practices and how each interviewee perceived the most limiting factor 38 of adoption from other producers. Similarities included 1) family farm lived in diffusion of innovations. 2) economic concerns and 3) education is key while differences included perception of older folks as slow adopters. Even though the number sampled was small, N=2 for this study, the differences between the young and older age groups were characterized as "Blinding Energy" and "Earned Wisdom" respectively.
Relationship status, social networks, and wellbeing among older adults
Authors:   , Ermer Ashley
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The present studies examined the relationship between social relationships and wellbeing for adults aged 50+ among different marital status groups. Study one examined whether and how relationship status is associated with social network ties (i.e., social network characteristics, family and friend emotional support, and neighborhood social ties) and wellbeing (i.e., emotional wellbeing and self-rated health). Study two examined, within partnered older adults, whether social network ties are associated with one's own and/or one's partner's emotional wellbeing and self-rated health and also examined the moderating role of social network ties in the relationship between relationship strain and wellbeing. Analyses were conducted using the National Social, Health, and Aging Project dataset. Study one included 2,361 adults aged 57 and over with 52.7 percent identifying as female and 65.8 percent identifying as non-Hispanic White. Study two included 865 dyads with an average age of 70.91 with 50 percent identifying as female and 69.7 percent identifying as nonHispanic White. Study one found that marrieds consistently reported lower levels of social ties in comparison to widows and divorcees and men reported lower levels of social ties in comparison to women. Those who were partnered (i.e., cohabiting or married) reported lesser associations between social network ties and wellbeing as compared to those who were unpartnered. In study two, results suggested one's own and one's partner's social relationships outside of a marriage/partnership were associated with both partner's wellbeing. Men experienced more partner effects, with wives' relationship strain and social ties associated with men's wellbeing. Combined, these two studies demonstrate that social relationships, even those outside of a marriage, are salient to the wellbeing of older adults. They also lend support for the importance of cultivating social relationships, including social relationships outside of a marriage/partnership, throughout the life course.
Gender congruence and philanthropic behavior : a critical quantitative approach to charitable giving practices
Authors:   , Adams Catherine Comley
Published: April 2021

A critical quantitative approach, this study connected the relationship between women professional fundraisers and women major gift prospects to assess whether their gender congruence related to an increased likelihood of particular philanthropic behaviors. Quantitative data made up of 27 years of completed gift proposal data reported by the University of Missouri--Columbia were evaluated through the lens of relationship management theory informed by distinctiveness theory. The inquiry assessed three philanthropic behaviors including proposal acceptance rate, repeated giving, and donation amount. The findings indicated: 1) women major gift prospects were more likely to accept funding proposals when cultivated by women professional fundraisers, 2) women major gift donors contributed more average dollars when solicited by women professional fundraisers, and 3) women major gift donors were more likely to make subsequent gifts following their correspondence with women professional fundraisers. These findings suggest that critical fundraising outcomes such as proposal acceptance, donation amounts, and donor retention may all be improved among the growing woman donor population by coordination of their cultivation through women professional fundraisers. The study also found that women fundraisers raised less money overall than their men counterparts, interpreted as a symptom of women's underrepresentation in charitable organizational leadership, but women fundraisers raise more money than men from women donors.
Outer products and frame coefficients
Authors:   , Pinkham Eric
Published: April 2021

In this dissertation, we will examine two distinct areas of frame theory. The first will be the area of outer products. In particular, we will examine the spanning and independence properties of the collection [see abstract for equation] for a given set [see abstract for equation]. In the case that our collection of outer products is a Riesz sequence, we will examine the relation between the Riesz bounds of the outer products to those of the generating vectors. It is perhaps not surprising that an independent collection of vectors will produce an independent collection of outer products. What is surprising though, is that the outer products have the same or better Riesz bounds. However, linearly independent collections of vectors are by no means the only collections that produce independent outer products. We will see that almost all vector sequences produce independent outer product sequences, dimension and cardinality permitting. Next we will examine the distribution of frame coefficients. We will start this investigation by examining the number of indices for which the frame coefficient is non-zero. Then we will generalize and bound these coefficients away from zero. We will study products of frame coefficients and find that in cases of particular classes of frames, we can bound a particular sum away from zero. Finally, we will look at the distance from an arbitrary vector to the frame vectors for a given frame and find some surprising results for certain classes of frames.
Understanding the impact of family routines and rituals in relative in kinship families
Authors:   , Traylor-Adolph Karen B.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Fiese and colleagues (2002) describe routines and rituals as naturally occurring behaviors creating a sense of predictability and stability via the underpinnings of communication, commitment, and continuity in a family unit. Although traditionally studied in intact families, these simple but profound parenting strategies are malleable and impact all family types. In this study, 65 relative and kinship legal guardians and 33 teachers were surveyed, extending the scope of routine and ritual research to "grandfamilies." Measures of routines and rituals, family cohesion and adaptability, youth behaviors at home and school, as well as open-ended descriptions of unique routines and rituals were employed. Findings reveal grandfamilies incorporate unique routines and rituals while navigating obstacles such as incarceration, scattered family members, and biological parent instability. On formal measures, routines and rituals were associated with more prosocial behaviors and less problem behaviors at home and school, as well as significantly correlated with cohesion and adaptability. Rituals were correlated with less teacher-rated emotional symptoms. Additionally, regarding cohesion and adaptability in grandfamilies, caregivers reported having strict, yet enmeshed family types. Lastly, results unexpectedly suggest that relationships of routines and rituals to youth and family outcomes become less strong when demographics and conditions of placement are factored. Small sample size prohibited evaluation of mediation effects. Further research to operationalize unique routines and rituals for examination with a broader canvas of community outcomes and including informal grandfamilies is recommended.
Secondary mathematics teachers' informal inferential reasoning : the role of knowledge structures for measures of center, spread and shape
Authors:   , Engledowl Christopher
Published: April 2021

This study examined middle and secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge structures, informal inferential reasoning (IIR), and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for statistics. Using task-based clinical interviews (Goldin, 1997) and cross-case analysis (Creswell, 2013), a stratified purposeful sample (Patton, 2002) of nine teachers responded to the Goals and Outcomes Associated with Learning Statistics (GOALS-2) instrument (Sabbag and Zieffler, 2015), released items from the Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics (LOCUS) assessment (Jacobbe, 2016) and supplemental questions to assess PCK (Watson et al., 2008). Responses were used to construct maps of teachers' knowledge structures for measures of center, spread, and shape (Groth and Bergner, 2013) and knowledge structures were analyzed for common characteristics. Teachers' IIR was coded for the appropriateness of responses (Means and Voss, 1996) and key components of IIR (Makar and Rubin, 2009) were identified. To distinguish teachers' PCK level, descriptions of four hierarchical levels were used (Callingham and Watson, 2011) and knowledge structures were classified as desirable-connected, undesirable-connected, and undesirable-disconnected. Although teachers largely engaged in the inference and data components of IIR, they rarely referenced the uncertainty component. In general, teachers with more connected knowledge structures and fewer undesirable knowledge elements exhibited more acceptable forms of IIR and higher PCK levels. Within IIR contexts, teachers struggled to exhibit acceptable forms of IIR and demonstrated the lowest levels of PCK, but within non-IIR contexts, they exhibited acceptable reasoning more often as well as higher PCK levels. Implications for teacher education are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.
Transformational leadership in urban educational settings
Authors:   , Granger Chauncey
Published: April 2021

Urban education has both internal and external challenges that place inner city students at an extreme disadvantage. They are at risk of educational equity and access to knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a constantly evolving global society (Oakes, Franke, Quartz, Rogers, 2002). Jean Anyon (2005), identifies failed, short-term educational policies such as urban family dynamics, and underprepared teachers and principals as secondary contributors of the ills of urban education. This challenge is compounded by the majority of students living in poverty not having their basic needs met before they begin school each day. One of the major challenges in urban education lies within school leadership. In many schools teachers feel isolated from colleagues, school leadership and the community. The role of the principal over time has drastically evolved from a managerial role to an instructional leader role (Dhuey and Smith, 2014). This requires principals to become change agents that will challenge teachers to explore new and innovative ways of approaching teaching. The purpose of this study is to examine leaders and faculty of secondary urban schools that provide a culture of commitment to high levels of collegiality, high expectations, and professional learning. This research will illustrate how leaders in urban, secondary schools transform the cultures of schools and raise the commitment levels of teachers while sustaining academic gains for students. This research will search for evidence of a school environment conducive to the real world challenges of the twenty first century urban education. The specific form of qualitative research that will be used is a collective case study. In this case study, maximum-variation sampling was chosen to enable the researcher to identify secondary schools with sustained cultures of high academic performance, located in urban areas as a means to study schools. Teacher leaders will be selected by implementing a maximum variation of sampling technique, identifying a group of teachers that have expertise in diversity to create a heterogeneous sampling group. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Appendix 1) will be used to evaluate the leadership styles of Principals. The tool will allow individuals to measure their perceptions of their leadership behaviors by utilizing a self-leadership form (Avolio and Bass, 2004). For the purpose of this research, focus groups will be grouped with teachers from improved secondary, urban schools, which are under corrective action status by the state department of education and Principals from similar schools, which utilize transformational leadership methods in their practice.
Positive and negative influences perceived by minority students toward a career in athletic training.
Authors:   , Nickell Stephen M.
Published: April 2021

Objective: The lack of diversity in the profession of athletic training is a concern as other healthcare professions increase. This research explores the influences and barriers that students perceive exist for choosing this profession and how race or ethnicity plays a role. Design and Setting: The study is a mixed methods research which is using a survey and interviews to provide data. The study is specifically looking at professional athletic training programs in the state of Missouri. Subjects: Undergraduate students currently enrolled in an accredited athletic training program in the State of Missouri. Measurements: Surveys were distributed and collected via Qualtrics and results were analyzed through a Kruskall-Wallis test and a MannWhitney U test. Interviews were transcribed and coded to determine common themes. Results: Significant differences were found between the responses of White and minority students on survey items related to college advisors, desire to help diverse patient populations, and a lack of role models in the profession. Conclusions: Policies related to the advising of potential athletic training students must be assessed to look at possible racial bias, and efforts to recruit diverse student populations should be a priority for athletic training education programs. Key Words: Athletic Training Education, Professional Socialization, Critical Race Theory
Investigating the potential of visual news narratives to reduce mental illness stigma
Authors:   , Subramanian Roma
Published: April 2021

Nearly 50 percent of individuals in the United States will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime (Reeves et al., 2011). Although mental illness can be treated, most people with mental illness do not seek treatment (Phelan, Link, Stueve, and Pescosolido, 2000). Stigma against mental illness is considered to be a major obstacle to treatment and recovery (USDHHS, 1999). Narratives have the potential to reduce mental illness stigma (for example, Oliver et al., 2012; Chang, 2008). This study extends work on the persuasive potential of narratives by investigating the effects of a particular type of visual narrative on reducing mental illness stigma: Comics. Comics are commonly used in health communication messaging and are believed to offer cognitive and emotional benefits. Drawing on the stigma communication model, multimedia learning theory, attribution theory, risk perception, and visual persuasion as well as the concept of social determinants of health, a 3 (image type: cartoon, photo, text) x 2 (disease type: depression, bipolar disorder) between-subjects online experiment was conducted to determine whether narrative news stories about mental illness illustrated with abstract/interpretational images (specifically, cartoons, which are a key characteristic of comics) are more effective at reducing mental illness stigma than those illustrated with realistic/representational images, specifically, photographs. Results indicated that for the depression narratives, photographs elicited significantly more anti-stigma behavioral intentions, such as support for mental health policy, likelihood to share the message, and decrease in social distancing behavior, than text alone; further, these effects were mediated by identification and/or connectedness with the story's protagonist. Also, for the depression condition, mean values for the cartoon condition were not significantly lower than those for the photograph condition. For the narratives on bipolar disorder, there were no significant differences between the conditions for any of the outcome variables; however, when it came to empathic response -- identification, pity, connectedness -- the mean values for the cartoon condition were the highest. The study contributes theoretically to work on the use of narratives in stigma communication as well as provides practical implications for the use of comics in health communication messages.
A mixed methods study of perceived social support based on the medical outcomes study social support survey in adults with repeated challenges with HIV medication adherence
Authors:   , Mercier Deborah A.
Published: April 2021

Numerous research studies in the HIV literature have documented social support as a key factor influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). This is one of only a few studies to examine perceived social support among adults living with HIV who have had repeated challenges with medication adherence. A secondary analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from two intervention studies was conducted using a mixed methods design. Two overarching themes were associated with the lack of social support: extreme isolation and constant turmoil. Subthemes, included loneliness, structural vulnerability, and emotional distress. Overall social support was low in this vulnerable group, especially when compared to the general population and to adults living with other chronic health conditions. Strong correlations existed between all social support subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS). The strongest positive correlation was found between affectionate support and positive social interaction (r = .870, p = less than .0001). These data suggest that participants who frequently self-reported a lack of persons to spend time with socially often lacked positive, supportive relationships in their lives. No significant variation was found between self-reported overall social support or subscale scores based on age or health variables. Convergent qualitative data excerpts corresponded with low quantitative social support scores in every dimension, confirming that adults living with HIV who repeatedly struggle with taking life-long HIV medications lack social support in many areas of their lives.
Multi-cloud performance and security driven federated workflow management
Authors:   , Dickinson Matthew
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] In recent years, most scientific research in both academia and industry has become increasingly data-driven. According to market estimates, spending related to supporting scientific data-intensive research is expected to increase to $5.8 billion by 2018. Particularly for data-intensive scientific fields such as bioscience, or particle physics within academic environments, data storage/processing facilities, expert collaborators and specialized computing resources do not always reside within campus boundaries. With the growing trend of large collaborative partnerships involving researchers, expensive scientific instruments and high performance computing centers, experiments and simulations produce peta-bytes of data viz., Big Data, that is likely to be shared and analyzed by scientists in multi-disciplinary areas. Federated multi-cloud resource allocation for data-intensive application workflows is generally performed based on performance or quality of service (i.e., QSpecs) considerations. At the same time, end-to-end security requirements of these workflows across multiple domains are considered as an afterthought due to lack of standardized formalization methods. Consequently, diverse/heterogenous domain resource and security policies cause inter-conflicts between application's security and performance requirements that lead to sub-optimal resource allocations, especially when multiple such applications contend for limited resources. In this thesis, a joint performance and security-driven federated resource allocation scheme for data-intensive scientific applications is presented. In order to aid joint resource brokering among multi-cloud domains with diverse/heterogenous security postures, the definition and characterization of a data-intensive application's security specifications (i.e., SSpecs) is required. Next, an alignment technique inspired by Portunes Algebra to homogenize the various domain resource policies (i.e., RSpecs) along an application's workflow lifecycle stages is presented. Using such formalization and alignment, a near optimal cost-aware joint QSpecs-SSpecs-driven, RSpecs-compliant resource allocation algorithm for multi-cloud computing resource domain/location selection as well as network path selection, is proposed. We implement our security formalization, alignment, and allocation scheme as a framework, viz., "OnTimeURB" and validate it in a multi-cloud environment with exemplar data-intensive application workflows involving distributed computing and remote instrumentation use cases with different performance and security requirements.
Investigation of mechanical behavior of closed-cell aluminum foam reinforced with carbon nanotubes under dynamic loadings
Authors:   , Aldoshan Abdelhakim Ahmed
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Aluminum foams represent a unique class of solid cellular light metals that can undergo large deformations at a nearly constant stress known as Plateau Stress. With relatively greater energy absorption and better weight saving as compared to polymeric foams, closed cell Al-foams still suffer from low strength. Thus, it is important to enhance the strength of closed cell aluminum foam by using nanomaterials without compromising the energy absorption capability. Closed cell aluminum foam reinforced with carbon nanotubes (refer to CNT hereinafter) was fabricated using the liquid metallurgy route with different CNT concentrations: 0, 1, 2 and 3 wt percent. Quasistatic and dynamic compression tests have been conducted to study the mechanical properties of Al-foams. Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) apparatus has been used for high strain rate compression with a proper specimen aspect ratio and a perforated pulse shaper to achieve constant strain rate and stress equilibrium in the specimens. It was observed that closed cell aluminum foam composites are strain rate sensitive. The mechanical properties of CNT reinforced Al-foams such as compressive stresses (peak stress and plateau stress) and energy absorption capacity are significantly higher than that of monolithic Al-foam under both low and high strain rates. It was determined that 2 wt percent concentration produces the highest peak stress, plateau stress and energy absorption among 1-3 wt percent CNT reinforced Al-foams. Also, dynamic high temperature compression behavior has been studied over varying strain rates and temperatures (298 K to 623 K). Peak stress and plateau stress of CNT reinforced Alfoam increase as the strain rate increases under increasing temperatures. Compared to unreinforced Al-foam, the CNT reinforced foam shows an increase in peak and plateau stress depending on the CNT concentration and temperature. Among the different CNT concentrations investigated under different strain rates, the 2 wt percent CNT Al-foam shows the highest peak stress, plateau stress and energy absorption over the temperature range studied. Furthermore, the effect of relative density (0.16 to 0.30) of 2 wt percent CNT reinforced Al-foam has been studied under quasi-static and dynamic loading. Compressive stresses and energy absorption increase as the relative density increases. It is noted that relative density 0.30 exhibited the highest peak stress, plateau stress and energy absorption. Additionally, deformation mechanisms and failure modes of cell walls and cell membranes of closed-cell CNT reinforced Al-foams have been experimentally studied under quasi-static compression loading. Crush bands were observed and fully developed at less than 10-20 percent strain. Two types of crush band were found: V-shaped and inclined crush bands and the crush band angles varies in the range 14- 31 degrees.