bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Elucidation of the genetic control of carbohydrate partitioning in Zea mays
Authors:   , Julius Benjamin Thomas
Published: April 2021

Carbohydrate partitioning, the process of transporting carbohydrates from sites of synthesis in hotosynthetic tissue to developing sink tissues, is crucial for the growth, development, and yield in plants and crops. Anatomical, physiological, and biochemical studies have shed light on this process; however, there is not much known in regards to the genetic control of carbohydrate partitioning. The work described here uses forward and reverse genetic methods to further elucidate the genetic control of carbohydrate partitioning in Zea mays (maize). Chapter 1 reviews what is currently known regarding the function of sugar transporters in the phloem loading and unloading pathways. Additionally, the importance and role of carbohydrate partitioning during abiotic and biotic stress responses is discussed. Chapters 2-4 describe the characterization and cloning of the allelic recessive mutants carbohydrate partitioning defective28 (cpd28) and carbohydrate partitioning defective47 (cpd47) (Chapter 2) and the semi-dominant gain-of-function mutant Carbohydrate partitioning defective1 (Cpd1) (Chapters 3 and 4). All three mutant's hyper-accumulate carbohydrates in their mature leaves due to decreased sucrose export. The cpd28 and cpd47 mutations decrease the amount of crystalline cellulose and likely impair primary cell wall development. The Cpd1 mutation results in the unregulated deposition of the callose in the phloem of leaf and root tissue. Chapter 5 summarizes the Sugars Will Eventually Exit Tissue (SWEET) transporter family and their function across a number of plant species. In this review I was responsible for the generation of a 15 angiosperm protein phylogenetic analysis describing the relationship and structure found in the transporter family. Chapter 6 builds upon the phylogentic study performed in Chapter 5 and identifies and characterizes the function of the SWEET13a, SWEET13b, and WEET13c transporters in the phloem loading pathway in maize utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis. Chapter 7 summarizes the discoveries made in the previous chapters, their contribution to the field, and discusses future research directions. Appendix A describes a protocol I optimized for the fixation, embedding, sectioning, Laser Capture Microdissection, and RNA-sequencing of desired cell groups in mature maize leaf tissue. Appendix B describes the characterization and cloning of the recessive mutant carbohydrate partitioning defective33 (cpd33) and its role in plasmodesmatal function. I contributed to the cloning of cpd33. Appendix C analyzes the expression levels and potential roles of SWEET and TST transporters in sweet and grain sorghum. I was responsible for the expression analysis of the SWEET genes discussed in this publication.
Three essays on economics of higher education
Authors:   , Li Diyi
Published: April 2021

This dissertation consists of three chapters. In Chapter 1, we use data from the 2015-16 academic year to document faculty representation and wage gaps by race/ethnicity and gender in six fields at 40 selective, public universities. Consistent with widely available information, black, Hispanic, and female professors are underrepresented and white and Asian professors are overrepresented in our data. We show that disadvantaged-minority and female underrepresentation is driven predominantly by underrepresentation in STEM fields. A comparison of senior and junior faculty suggests a trend toward greater diversity in academia along racial/ethnic and gender lines, especially in STEM fields, because younger faculty are more diverse. However, black faculty are an exception; there is little indication that their representation is improving among young faculty. We decompose racial/ethnic and gender wage gaps and show that three observed factors account for most or all of the gaps: academic field, experience, and research productivity. We find no evidence of wage premiums for individuals who improve racial/ethnic and gender diversity, although for black faculty we cannot rule out a modest premium. In Chapter 2, I use student-level administrative data from a state flagship university to study the effect of changes in non-resident enrollment on in-state student outcomes. I leverage within-major and cross-time variation in non-resident enrollment using a differences-in-differences framework. I find no evidence of negative effects of non-resident enrollment growth on third-year persistence or performance outcomes for in-state students. Moreover, there is no effect heterogeneity by in-state student gender or race. There is some evidence of effect heterogeneity when I split total non-resident enrollment into (a) out-of-state domestic enrollment and (b) foreign enrollment. Specifically, the results reveal no adverse effects of out-of-state domestic enrollment growth on in-state students for any outcome measure. However, although it is modest in magnitude, there is some evidence that increasing foreign enrollment has negative effects on the postsecondary persistence of in-state students. In Chapter 3, I construct an 11-year data panel of academic departments at a state flagship university to study the relationship between changes in student demand for majors and investment in faculty resources. Larger numbers of freshmen declaring a major, and large numbers of bachelor's degrees conferred, are both associated with more faculty and more salary expenditures on faculty. However, using various specifications of growth, I find no evidence that growth in student demand for majors is associated with growth in faculty, or faculty salary expenditures.
More than beer : the complex career of Adolphus Busch
Authors:   , Barnett Todd
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Adolphus Busch was cofounder of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association. During Busch's lifetime, Anheuser-Busch became the largest brewing company in the United States It survived Prohibition, and still survives today in the form of its successor, AB-InBev, the largest brewing company in the world. Busch is mostly remembered as the president of Anheuser-Busch, but his career was more complex. Adolphus Busch immigrated to the United States in 1857 as part of a chain of other Busch family members. There Busch utilized ethnic and family connections, such as Eberhard Anheuser, his father-in-law and eventual partner at Anheuser-Busch. Busch made innovations, such as pasteurized bottled beer, a fleet of refrigerator cars, and a network of ice depots, which transformed the brewing industry from the local to national and international in scope. He then used his brewing industry profits to fund a number of other ventures. Busch introduced the diesel engine to North America, and once held a monopoly on its manufacture. He made plans to build "the greatest industrial company in the worldâ€ through a highly orchestrated conglomeration of investments in oil, natural gas, coal, engine, machine, utility, and transportation companies. At every step, Busch depended on a network of friends and family to provide leadership and synergy between his companies. Thus, while he is mostly remembered as a brewer, Busch's career was always about more than beer.
A silent children's rights movement : an exploration of resilience in former foster children
Authors:   , Bish Alyssa L.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Foster care is becoming a more prevalent diverse family form and serves a critical role in our society. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners need to know more about how communication facilitates resilient behaviors in former foster youth. Guided by the Theory of Resilience and Relational Load (TRRL) (Afifi, Merrill, and Davis, 2016), the current study utilized structural equation modeling to illuminate the role of communication in cultivating resilience for children who have entered the foster care system. Survey results revealed former foster children (N = 120) developed communal orientation through continuous relational maintenance behaviors with their foster parents. Former foster children also felt safer in the foster family when they had been in the home for an extended period of time. Results also showcased how trauma effects relationship development within the foster family unit. Children who have adverse childhood experiences need communication strategies to help foster resilience. To that end, I provided theoretical contributions and extension, specifically an expansion of TRRL to include a trauma lens as well as a greater understanding of how foster children and foster parents used their relationship to foster resilience. I also offer future directions for studying resilience as it relates to the current literature and Public Policy with suggestions for practical implications and an agenda for future research.
Custodial grandparents : an analysis of parenting and its impact on health
Authors:   , Clark Karen C.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Grandparents assuming the role of caregiver to their grandchildren continues to increase in the United States. Caring for grandchildren can present challenges and stressors to custodial grandparents as they find themselves adjusting to this unanticipated role. Parenting one's grandchildren may increase the risk for health problems and psychological distress if one has low parenting self-efficacy. Despite the growing number of custodial grandparents, there has been limited research into the relationship between parenting self-efficacy and psychological well-being. This study was guided by the Parenting Self-Efficacy Theory derived from Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The purpose was to examine the relationship between parenting self-efficacy and psychological well-being (anxiety and depression) among custodial grandmothers. Additionally, self-reported general health was examined to determine if it moderated the relationship between parenting self-efficacy and psychological well-being. Custodial grandmothers (N=68) were recruited using several methods to respond to psychometrically sound instruments measuring anxiety, depression, general health and parenting self-efficacy scores. Findings indicated parenting self-efficacy scores were not significantly associated with anxiety scores (r = .029; p = .816) or depression scores (r= -.207; p = .090) among custodial grandmothers. Furthermore, general health did not moderate a relationship between parenting self-efficacy, anxiety (R[superscript 2=] .030; p= .5753) or depression (R[superscript 2=] .051; p= .3376). Based on the original power analysis, the study was underpowered. Therefore, the hypotheses cannot be rejected or accepted. Further research is needed to determine whether prior parenting experiences are actually protective for grandparents having to parent.
Woke : internet news and social media on recent attitudes towards police use of force
Authors:   , Towne Katelynn Patricia
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] News media has long featured high-profile incidents of police use of force; however, exposure to these incidents may be increasing because of the accessibility of smartphones, social media, and Internet news. Police are concerned about the impact this potential increase in negative publicity may be having on the relationship between police legitimacy and crime prevention. However, scant research has examined the role Internet news and social media consumption have on attitudes toward police use of force. This dissertation study employed mixed methods to explore the role social media and Internet news have on such attitudes at the macro, meso, and micro levels in the United States across racial and ethnic groups. At the macro level, nationally representative data were used to examine the relationships between Internet news consumption, neoliberal and racial resentment ideologies, and demographics on attitudes of approval toward police use of force. The results indicated that Black/African American Internet news consumers are more supportive of police use of force than non-Internet news consumers. Furthermore, education increased the odds of approving of police use of force among the Hispanic/Latinx subsample, whereas Internet news consumption did not. Significant predictors for Whites included income, conservativism, individualism, and gender. However, these results changed when the analysis accounted for variation at the meso level. Lastly, personal experiences with police and retrospective experiences online when consuming use-of-force incidents provided a greater understanding of the findings. The variation observed between the racial and ethnic subsamples built upon theories of social location and media.
Traditional postpartum care : alloparenting from an evolutionary perspective
Authors:   , Woo Sangkwon
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This dissertation focuses on traditional postpartum care and its variation across different human populations using an evolutionary framework. Whereas traditional healthcare may have been geared towards ensuring mother and infant recovery by keeping them from contact with outsiders, postpartum care in modern societies is often relatively neglected. In a discursive review article, I consider whether hot-cold theory in traditional medicine is, in effect, the practice of temperature management and suggest further explorations of traditional practice. The first body of the dissertation addresses further evolutionary theories, which are related to broader knowledge of human reproduction and alloparenting. In a cross-cultural comparison of traditional postpartum care, this dissertation utilized quantified codes from the Standard Cross Cultural Samples. It investigates variation in cultural practices using previously accumulated ethnographic records, finding cross-cultural variation across different regions. It also examines the cultural phylogeny of the variables related to traditional care practices, demonstrating regional overrepresentation of temperature management during postpartum care. In order to enhance our understanding of the current practice of traditional postpartum care in modern settings, this dissertation conducted a set of surveys based on a questionnaire and follow-up interview, and found how much the participants adhere to traditional postpartum care, which traditional practices are still valued, what benefits traditional practices might produce, and how the future of such practices are perceived. In a comparative review, the results were compared with other regional practices of Asian hot-cold theory practices including those found in Thai, Taiwan and rural China. Further synthetic studies of cross-cultural comparison are suggested as an area for future work.
Engineering novel biomolecular materials for therapeutic peptide payload delivery
Authors:   , Smith Josiah Daniel
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Hematological cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma, are estimated to cause the death of 58,000 people in the United States in 2018 and account for 9.5% of all cancer-related deaths. The currently available clinical treatments, including chemotherapy and antibody therapy, are inadequate due to the high mortality rate and deleterious side effects of treatment. New peptide drug candidates in development are poised to address this need for new therapeutics. However, the delivery of a peptide to cells in the blood stream poses unique challenges due to low bioavailability, rapid clearance, and enzymatic degradation. By conjugating a lipid to a peptide, peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are produced. PAs can self-assemble into micelles (PAMs), producing a modular nanoparticle. PAMs have been shown to address the issues of peptide stability and clearance in the blood stream. I have designed a modular PAM that is easily produced and displays a cell-targeting aptamer, and utilized a recently discovered cell-targeting DNA aptamer capable of selectively associating with leukemia and lymphoma over healthy lymphocytes and found it to retain cell-targeting potential even when displayed on the surface of micelles. Additionally, through the development of a novel disulfide-linked peptide amphiphile, aptamer-displaying micelles capable of aptamer-specific association to deliver a therapeutically effective peptide are described and evaluated. A second technology in hematological drug delivery described here is that of lipidated, highly hydrophobic poly(amino acid)s. These lipidated poly(amino acid)s self-assemble similarly to peptide amphiphiles and are able to entrap therapeutics when nanoprecipitated through a dump-and-stir method. A method is described to display aptamer on the surface of these poly(amino acid) nanoprecipitates for delivery of therapeutic levels of the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin to lymphoma cells.
"Sin mujeres no hay revoluciÃ³n" : transversal feminist politics in the digital mediated activism of the Argentine collective Ni una menos
Authors:   , Cabas-Mijares Ayleen A.
Published: April 2021

While the advent of the Internet and digital social networks has opened opportunities for global connectivity, participation, and broadcasting to agents outside the media, corporations and the state, inequities structuring societies and transnational relations still organize the flows of power in digital environments. Media scholars who resist trends of technological determinism, have argued that, in the context of social movements, mediated activism is first propelled by the politics and positionalities of activists and second by the structural features of the media platforms they employ. Political praxis, then, informs the uses of media, guiding activists' narratives and strategies in mediated spaces. This dissertation examines such intersections of media and politics by conducting a case study about the Argentine feminist collective Ni Una Menos. The study shows that Ni Una Menos employed digital media discourses to focus activism on the single yet multifaceted issue of violencia machista whose many manifestations -- from femicide to gender discrimination in the workplace -- called for the articulation of transversal coalitions. The application of such politics to mediated activism, however, posed its own challenges. The findings suggest that inequities structuring power differentials among members of different chapters of the collective -- i.e., class and professional status -- shaped their mediated practices in a way that ensured the political and symbolic dominance of the Buenos Aires chapter of Ni Una Menos. The hypervisibility of NUM Buenos Aires nationally and internationally, despite contributing to global efforts against violencia machista, has also the potential to further marginalize the struggles of women outside the capitol who dwell more vulnerable nodes of intersectional oppression. These complicated entanglements call for critical examinations of the conditions under which mediated activism and transversal politics render emancipatory outcomes for some while undermining others. The case of Ni Una Menos offers an opportunity to engage in such reflections.
An exploration of the experience of fear and its impact on performance in NCAA divers
Authors:   , Foss Joanna
Published: April 2021

Fear is a basic human emotion that can have numerous impacts on athletes seeking to achieve performance excellence. The level of physical risk within sport can also influence athletes' experiences of fear. Within springboard and platform diving, divers can commonly face fear of injury and performance anxiety (Highlen and Bennet, 1983; McGregor and Abrahamson, 2000; Post, Simpson, Young, and Parker, 2014), which can be either detrimental or beneficial to performance (Buckley, 2016; Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, and Calvo, 2007; Post et al., 2014). Understanding the experience of fear in its full context is important to successfully manage fear within sport. Utilizing Consensual Qualitative Research methodology (Hill, 2012), the current study examined the experience of fear in 10 collegiate divers through semi-structured interviews at two time points. Findings indicated that fear was an inherent part of the sport of diving, and an underlying cause of fear was consistent uncertainty over the dive's outcome. Experience of fear varied across time points based on factors including divers' social influences, dive-specific factors, and setting. Divers viewed fear as predominantly negatively impacting performance; however, benefits were also addressed. Generally, strategies for coping with fear were seen as unique to the individual, though participants highlighted the importance of accepting fear as part of the sport and committing to executing dives. This study offers practical implications to sport psychology practitioners, coaches, and divers seeking to successfully work with fear in diving.
Defining recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in a mouse model for regenerative therapeutic investigations
Authors:   , Haney Megan M.
Published: April 2021

Injury of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), a branch of the vagus nerve, results in ipsilateral vocal fold (VF) paralysis that contributes to dysphagia, dysphonia, and dyspnea (i.e., swallow, vocal, and respiratory dysfunction, respectively). Unfortunately, there is no clinical intervention that will reliably restore physiologic movement to the VF after an RLN injury. Throughout this work, the effects of RLN injury on murine VF motion, swallowing behavior, vocalization production, and respiratory function are examined. Furthermore, methods for refining the functional assays used to assess these behaviors are developed, allowing for the production of more reliable and translatable results. Therefore, in Chapter 2, the effects of RLN injury are explored to confirm the fidelity of the laryngeal innervation pattern and functional outcomes (for vocal fold motion and swallowing) between mice and humans. In Chapter 3, an automated VF tracking and quantification software is developed to objectively measure dynamic VF motion, which is further refined in Chapter 4. Also in Chapter 4, we expand our translational mouse model to characterize swallow, vocal, and respiratory function in mice with unilateral VF paralysis following RLN injury. Lastly, VNS and its role as a therapeutic intervention for RLN injury is studied (Chapter 2), as well as the potential off-target effects this therapy may have on the many other organ systems provided innervation by the vagus nerve (Chapter 5). In conclusion, this work aims to provide a refined and reproducible animal model for researchers to use to investigate RLN pathophysiology and treatment options.
Motivational interviewing with at-risk youth (MARS) mentoring program: a targeted behavioral intervention for students in alternative settings
Authors:   , Henry Lauren
Published: April 2021

The purpose this study was to examine the treatment effects of a research-based intervention for students in alternative education: The Motivational Interviewing with At-Risk Students (MARS) Mentoring Program. Specifically, treatment effects were expected to in social, emotional, behavioral, and academic performances. MARS Mentoring is a unique program founded in self efficacy strategies, specifically Motivational Interviewing paired with behavioral modification practices. The 10-week intervention was delivered school-wide to 48 students (grades K-12). Two behavioral alternative schools also participated in data collection, serving as non-intervention schools for comparison. Outcome measures included school disciplinary actions for students (out of school suspension, office discipline referrals, and minor classroom referrals), academic performance (Math and English grade means), student self-efficacy, and targeted protective factors for students in alternative settings (using the Alternative Education Tier-3 Assessment). Two sets of analyses are presented. First, unmanipulated data from one school receiving intervention and two non-intervention schools were evaluated using simple means comparisons. In addition, to control for potential sample bias, propensity score matching methods were employed using a nearest neighbor matching algorithm. Students receiving the MARS intervention demonstrated significant improvements in social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes by establishing consistent improvements across all data analytic methods. Preliminary results indicated significant academic improvements for students enrolled in MARS Mentoring, however the model did not support significance after propensity score matching. Further implication for practice and direction for future research based on the findings are discussed.
Genetic and microbiota-mediated phenotype variability in the min mouse model of human colorectal cancer
Authors:   , Moskowitz Jacob E.
Published: April 2021

Complex diseases develop as a result of genetic predisposition and environmental factors that determine individual risk. Environmental factors such as geographical location, diet, and lifestyle choices shape the gut microbiota (GM), a dynamic community of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and archaea that normally coexist symbiotically with mammalian hosts. Both genetic heterogeneity and the GM modulate various systems and influence the development of a wide range of diseases including intestinal pathologies, emphasizing the importance of the effects of genetic variants and perturbations of GM communities. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related mortality for men and women combined in the United States, and exemplifies the multifactorial etiologies that define complex diseases. In this body of work, we leveraged quantitative phenotypic variation in the Apc-mutant Min mouse model of CRC to interrogate genetic and microbial factors that influence adenoma susceptibility. We used embryo rederivation to determine how genetic variation acquired through colony divergence, and distinct complex GMs representing two common mouse producers (GMJAX and GMHSD), each contribute to Min adenoma multiplicity. We found that genetic lineage and complex GM additively conferred overall adenoma multiplicity, and followed up with whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize genetic divergence and GM differences, respectively. We integrated liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LCMS) with WGS data to identify a candidate modifier variant associated with the Fabp6 gene, a regulator of bile acid reabsorption. In parallel, we identified bacteria of interest Bilophila wadsworthia and Akkermansia muciniphila associated with the adenoma-enhancing GMHSD, and tested the individual effects of these species on the Min phenotype. While A. muciniphila had no effect on adenoma burden, B. wadsworthia treatment resulted in modulation of the broader GM and host metabolism, and reduced adenoma multiplicity and overall burden. Finally, we asked whether the background genetics of related inbred mouse substrains C57BL/6J (B6/J) and C57BL/6NHsd (B6/N) have differential modifier effects with respect to the Min phenotype. Using F1 mice generated from B6/J or B6/N crosses to Min/D mice in combination with an embryo rederivation approach, we found that B6/N elicits stronger Min adenoma suppression than B6/J, and that the complex GM further modulates phenotype suppression. Together, this work begins to unravel the complex interactions between host and environment that drive cancer susceptibility. As such, we provide a framework for further mechanistic studies, identification of novel biomarkers, and targeted preventative and therapeutic strategies in CRC.
Theoretical and computational modeling of peptide-lipid bilayer interaction studied by dynamic force spectroscopy
Authors:   , Utjesanovic Milica
Published: April 2021

This thesis consists of three interrelated theoretical and computational modeling projects that investigate different aspects of peptide-lipid membrane interactions. (1) A general theoretical approach is formulated for the quantitative description of the detachment force distribution, P(F), and the corresponding force dependent detachment rate, k(F), of a peptide from a lipid bilayer, by assuming that peptide detachment from lipid membranes occurs stochastically along a few dominant diffusive pathways. Besides providing a consistent interpretation of the experimental data, the new method also predicts that k(F) exhibits catch-bond behavior (when, counter intuitively, the detachment rate decreases with increasing force). (2) The proposed multiple detachment pathways method is tested and validated for a particular peptide (SecA2-11) interacting with both zwitterionic POPC lipid and polar E. Coli membranes. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to explored the conformational dynamics of SecA2-11 during its interaction with both POPC and anionic POPG lipid bilayers. (3) Finally, MD simulations are used to explore the conformational dynamics and energetics of the peptide melittin (MWT) and its diastereomer (MD4) interacting with POPC and POPG lipid bilayers. The obtained results provide further insight into the role of secondary structure in peptide-lipid bilayer interactions.
3D polymeric scaffolds towards biomedical applications
Authors:   , Zhang Cheng
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI--COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] How can research on mechanical engineering and materials science contribute to human health? The fabrication of biomedical scaffolds could be a good entry point. Scaffolds are broadly applied in biomedical fields with multiple functions, such as repair, replacement, and stimulation and monitoring when they are integrated with electronic/optoelectronic devices. Besides biocompatible, the scaffolds should be soft and in form of three-dimensional (3D) structures in order to mechanically and geometrically match the natural tissues and organs. Polymers are the most promising candidate materials for the scaffold fabrication. Compared to metals and ceramics, substantial polymers have biocompatibility and all of them have low Young's modulus and high processability. Benefiting from the high processability, a variety of approaches can be used to shape polymeric scaffolds with 3D architectures. The major three approaches are flexibility, stress induced assembly, and printing. However, none of them is flawless: (1) For flexibility, the scaffolds that integrated with electronic devices have large thickness which exponentially lower the flexibility. (2) For stress-induced assembly, the assembly operation requires complicated actuation equipment and the assembled scaffolds are usually tethered on cumbersome elastomeric substrates. (3) For printing, few of scaffolds fabricated by emerging 4D printing technologies are responsive to biocompatible stimuli. This dissertation aims at addressing these three problems. First, a new device structure, i.e., lateral electrode, is proposed to reduce the thickness and then improve the flexibility of the scaffolds with electronics, which is validated by fabricating flexible photodetectors on polyimide substrates. The photodetectors have excellent flexibility and can be bent to 3D structures. Second, a new stress-induced assembly strategy, i.e., responsive buckling, is developed in which the elastomeric substrates are replaced with deft responsive polymeric substrates. Various 3D polymeric scaffolds either with or without electronic devices are assembled when the substrates are exposed to external stimuli without manual intervention. This strategy is first verified by an acetone responsive organogel and then developed toward biomedical applications by using a body temperature responsive hydrogel. Third, a new shape memory polymer, i.e., poly (glycerol dodecanoate) acrylate (PGDA), whose transition temperature is in the range of 20-37 [degrees]C, is exploited for 4D printing of scaffolds. Because of the propriate transition temperature, the shape memory process of the scaffolds can be completed by using room temperature and body temperature as stimuli, which are harmless for human body. Moreover, a variety of delicate 3D structures including an artery-like tube are printed.
Transnational spaces, transitional places : Muslimness in contemporary literary imaginations
Authors:   , Kuyucu Neriman
Published: April 2021

This dissertation focuses on contemporary literature in English produced by writers of Muslim origin. My study analyzes Laila Lalami's The Moor's Account (2014), Leila Abuela's The Kindness of Enemies (2015), Diana Abu-Jaber's Crescent (2003), Elif Shafak's The Saint of Incipient Sanities (2004) and Randa Jarrar's A Map of Home (2007), and Leila Aboulela's Minaret (2005), Shelina Janmohamed's Love in a Headscarf (2009), and Tanwi Nandini Islam's Bright Lines (2015) to explore and illuminate the ways in which Muslim diasporic subjectivity is being reconfigured in contemporary literary imaginations. Guided by developments in Muslim literary studies, postcolonial and diaspora theories, this dissertation examines, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the particular conjunctures of literature, Muslimness, displacement, and belonging within the new analytic framework of Muslim diaspora space. This project seeks to move beyond the set of discourses -- radicalization vs. secularization; Islamism vs. liberalism-- that have defined Muslimness to highlight alternative positionalities in between. My analyses of the chosen texts through the lens of Muslim diaspora space, I argue, shift the focus from the preconceived notions about the authors' positionality as Muslim to the ways in which they create complex characters that represent the variety of Muslim discourses and practices. Rather than focusing on such over-asked questions as "Is the text Islamic or secular?" and "Western or Muslim?," Muslim diaspora space as a mode of analysis highlights how the writers negotiate the concepts of Islamic vs. secular and Muslim vs. citizen by redefining "Muslimness" as well as "western-ness."
Sleep, exercise, and insulin sensitivity
Authors:   , Porter Jay W.
Published: April 2021

Accumulating evidence supports short sleep duration as a novel risk factor for obesity and diabetes, but little work has been done outside of healthy men or with consideration to changes in physical activity. Thirteen overweight and obese adults were sleep restricted for five nights with a six-hour sleep opportunity each night, followed by a two-day recovery period. Sleep restriction had no impact on glucose tolerance in response to a mixed meal test despite an increased peak glucose response (+7.3 mg/dL) and elevated non-esterified free fatty acid concentration (NEFA, +0.1 mmol/L). Sleep restriction did not modify step counts or physical activity intensities. Recovery period restored glucose responses, NEFA concentrations, and improved homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), despite increased sedentary time and reduced step counts. Daily exercise increased step counts (+4,700 steps/day, p[lessthan]0.001), decreased sedentary time (-2.6%, p=0.02), and increased moderate-vigorous physical activity (+3.7%, p[less than]0.001). Exercise reduced the insulin response to a meal but was not effective at preventing the increased peak glucose response or elevated NEFA. Adipose tissue samples, obtained after baseline, sleep restriction, and exercise (N=8), showed no increase in lipolytic capacity following sleep restriction. Protein content of fatty acid synthase tended to increase following sleep restriction (p=0.07), but not following exercise. Sleep restriction did not adversely affect glucose tolerance, but increased circulating NEFA are seen with no changes in adipose tissue lipolytic capacity. Recovery sleep showed a powerful effect of sleep on glucose metabolism.
Transformative technology : examining the capacity of virtual reality induced awe to change self-transcendent values and improve hedonic and eudaimonic well-being
Authors:   , Pratscher Steven D.
Published: April 2021

Awe is an emotion that tends to shift focus away from individual concerns of the self towards collective interests that transcend the self. The primary purpose of the current study was to examine whether an experimentally induced experience of awe, compared to amusement, had the potential to change participant's self-transcendent values of universalism (e.g., preserving nature and a world at peace) and benevolence (e.g., honesty and concern for the welfare of others). The secondary purpose was to examine whether awe influenced same and next day hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Feelings of a small self and connectedness (to self, others, and nature) were hypothesized to mediate any effects of awe on changes in values and well-being. Participants were 240 University students who, after completing a baseline survey to assess values, were randomly assigned to either a 5-minute virtual reality (VR) experience of awe or amusement. Then, participants completed a post-test survey assessing values, emotions, connectedness and small self. Between conditions and within-individuals analyses showed that neither manipulation significantly increased participants prioritization of self-transcendent values. Participants from both conditions reported high levels of awe, however, which was correlated with higher hedonic (i.e., positive and negative affect, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (i.e., meaning, purpose, vitality, basic psychological needs satisfaction) well-being. Feelings of connectedness mediated this relationship between awe and both types of well-being. Although there was little support for the primary hypotheses regarding the effects of awe, compared to amusement, on self-transcendent values, this study uncovered interesting findings about associations between awe, connectedness, and well-being.
The use of an application screening assessment as a predictor of teaching retention at a midwestern, K-12, public school district
Authors:   , Scarbrough Shelby B.
Published: April 2021

This quantitative study examined the retention of new hires at a Midwestern, K-12, public school district using the scores of an application screening assessment as a predictor. New teacher hires' overall performance results on a screening assessment were compared to the retention of those hires after 1 year of employment. In addition to the overall scores, the impact of subscale results in the areas of cognitive ability, teaching skills, and attitudinal disposition were also compared to the retention of new hires. The study results indicate that differences exist in the application screening assessment scores of new hires and their retention after 1 year of employment. The study concludes with recommendations designed to aid school leaders in objective hiring practices that yield retention of teachers with a strong fit to the organization.
Epsilon multiplicity for graded algebras
Authors:   , Das Suprajo
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The notion of epsilon multiplicity was originally defined by Ulrich and Validashti as a limsup and they used it to detect integral dependence of modules. It is important to know if it can be realized as a limit. The purpose of our thesis is to show that the relative epsilon multiplicity of reduced standard graded algebras over an excellent local ring exists as a limit. We also obtain some important special cases of Cutkosky's results concerning epsilon multiplicity, as corollaries of our main theorem.
A mediation analysis of spirituality, wellbeing, and academic performance in first-generation and low-income college students
Authors:   , Beggs Christopher
Published: April 2021

Mental health and attainment gaps comprise dual crises on today's college and university campuses, especially for first-generation and low-income students. Despite the common history and heritage of spirituality and religious foundations of America's colleges and universities, current norms and preferences have rendered candid discussions of spirituality to be, at best, passe, and, at worst, regressive. Despite extensive literature linking spirituality with psychological wellbeing, little is known as to what relationship, if any, spirituality has with psychological wellbeing and academic performance, particularly among first-generation and low-income students. This study uses a cross-sectional survey design. This study was conducted at a public, regional, Midwestern institution within an hour's driving radius of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Data were collected through a survey, rendering 135 participants. Quantitative analysis found that there was no statistical difference between first-generation or low-income students and their peers in spirituality or wellbeing, that spirituality that is or once was salient to the student was correlated with and predicts psychological wellbeing, that there was a relationship between psychological wellbeing and academic performance in specific circumstances, and that there was an indirect effect between spirituality and academic performance in the presence of psychological wellbeing. These data provide insight into the nature of the relationship between spirituality, wellbeing, and academic performance among college students and present implications for practitioners and researchers alike. [NEEDS DIACRITICS]
Biological responses of ligament and tendon graft-derived fibroblasts to clinical levels of cyclic strain
Authors:   , Cardona-Remirez Sebastian
Published: April 2021

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the major ligaments in the knee. ACL injury is the partial or complete tear of the ACL usually as a consequence of a traumatic sports related injury. ACL injury commonly affects athletes in the late adolescence and are usually more common in females than males. Factors such as metabolic response, cellular crosstalk among tissues and sex differences are not fully understood. Therefore, an increased comprehension of the biology of ACL injury and healing is required. Management of ACL injuries is typically achieved by surgical stabilization of the knee. For this, arthroscopic ACL reconstruction with different tendon autografts is the gold standard technique. Additionally, ligament repair by suturing the torn ends of the ACL is an alternative procedure. Although current surgical treatment, is generally successful, ACL graft and repair healing biology needs to be further explored to decrease failure rates. Moreover, whether a specific activity level would in turn affect the healing process is still not known. Several in vitro and in vivo preclinical models have been developed to explore current ACL injury and healing biology. Among these, large animals offer the advantage to be similar to the human. The preferred model is the spontaneous onset of ACL injury, commonly found in dogs. In both species, extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling driven by cellular responses to load can influence disease, as well as response to treatment. However, most in vitro models do not include the multiple cell types in the joint or the mechanical environment that modulates their responses. Consequently, we aimed to evaluate the metabolic responses of fibroblasts obtained from canine intraarticular tissues potentially involved in ACL injury as well as tendon grafts commonly used for ACL reconstruction subjected to varying levels of mechanical stress in a monolayer culture. We hypothesized that fibroblasts from these tissues would produce significantly different levels of inflammatory and remodeling biomarkers in response to a spectrum of cyclic strains in vitro. We were able to demonstrate that ACL surrounding tissues are an important source of inflammatory and degradative biomarkers, and that metabolic responses of tendon graft fibroblasts are strain and tissue dependent. Moreover, male canine tendon fibroblasts seem to increase degradative responses while females tend to increase inflammatory responses when stimulated with different strain magnitudes. Also, synoviocytes are an important source of inflammation and human intraarticular tissue fibroblasts and tendon graft-derived fibroblasts have variable responses to stress but is not differentially affected by sex. Consequently, further studies are required to elucidate complex regulation mechanisms in both canines and humans.
The employment value of an undergraduate degree in theatre arts in the U.S.
Authors:   , Dreyer-Lude Melanie
Published: April 2021

During lean times, administrators must make hard decisions about which programs stay and which must go. Arts departments are particularly vulnerable when traditionally derived enrollment and employability factors are used to determine where to implement cuts. While only a minority of Theatre Arts graduates will find work as artists, most do find employment in a variety of fields. Because current labor statistics fail to capture the complexity of the employment patterns of these graduates, Theatre Arts departments are vulnerable to downsizing. This study investigated the employment patterns of theatre graduates in the United States, the skills applied to current employment, and their perceptions of the value of their theatre arts degree. Findings from a survey of 487 participants provided a new map of the employment patterns of Theatre Arts graduates, identifying how and where graduates found employment and whether the skills acquired with a Theatre Arts degree contributed to a perception of value for dollars spent.
Semiparametric analysis of complex longitudinal data
Authors:   , Sun Dayu
Published: April 2021

Event history data consist of the longitudinal records of event occurrence times. Recurrent event data and panel count data are two common types of event history data that occur in many areas, such as medical studies and social sciences. A great deal of literature has been established for their analyses. Nevertheless, only limited research exists on the variable selection for recurrent event data and panel count data. The existing methods can be seen as direct generalizations of the available penalized procedures for linear models, but may not perform as well as expected due to the complex structure of event history data. The first and second parts of this dissertation then discuss simultaneous parameter estimation and variable selection for event history data. We present a new variable selection method with a new penalty function, which will be referred to as the broken adaptive ridge regression approach. In addition to the establishment of the oracle property, we also show that the proposed variable selection method has the clustering or grouping effect when covariates are highly correlated. Furthermore, the numerical studies are performed and indicate that the method works well for practical situations and can outperform the existing methods. Applications to real data are provided. Most of the existing studies of longitudinal data assume that covariates can be observed at the same observation times for the response variable, and the observation process is independent of the response variable completely or given covariates. In practice, the response variables and covariates are sometimes observed intermittently at different time points, leading to sparse asynchronous longitudinal data. The observation process may also be related to the response variable even given covariates and sometimes both issues can even occur at the same time. Although each of the two issues has been developed to address in literature, it does not seem to exist an established approach that can deal with both together. To address both issues simultaneously, the third part of this dissertation proposes a flexible semiparametric transformation conditional model and a kernel-weighted estimating equation based approach. The proposed estimators of regression parameters are shown to be consistent and asymptotically follow the normal distribution. For the assessment of the finite sample performance of the proposed method, an extensive simulation study is carried out and suggests that it performs well for practical situations. The approach is applied to a prospective HIV study that motivated this investigation.