bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of rangeland degradation and its causes in the Peruvian Altiplano dry puna
Authors:   , Turin Cecilia
Published: April 2021

This qualitative case study investigated rangeland degradation in Peru by better understanding the social component of the Altiplano dry puna rangeland systems. Participants' perceptions of rangeland degradation and its causes were collected from Aymara pastoralists in the Southern altiplano communities of Apopata, Chocorasi and Lacoutyo, and stakeholders consisting of scientists, government officers and NGO's representatives, using structured and semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Findings included that while stakeholders believed that rangeland degradation is severe and widespread, pastoralists believed that degradation is moderate and localized. Likewise, while stakeholders believed that rangeland condition is mostly poor and very poor, pastoralists believed that it is mostly fair. Different participants' perceptions were related to the use of different indicators. While stakeholders focused more on vegetation changes, pastoralists focused more on animal production. Perceptions of the causes of rangeland degradation were also different. While stakeholders believed that the major cause of degradation was overgrazing through overstocking and inappropriate management, pastoralists believed that the major cause was climate change. Although land fragmentation was a secondary cause for both groups, it was found that was an important driver of degradation. The different participants' perceptions responded to different actors' lifeworlds. Pastoralists' lifeworlds are constructed through their daily experience, while stakeholders' lifeworlds are influenced by the traditional range condition and trend model. The main implication of the research findings is that stakeholders' perceptions lead to inaccurate livestock development and rangeland conservation policies and programs.
Place names of five west central counties of Missouri
Authors:   , Atchison Anne
Published: April 2021

Counties: Platte, Clay, Ray, Jackson, and Lafayette||"This is a record of the origins of the place-names of five counties of Missouri -- Platte, Clay, Ray, Jackson, and Lafayette -- as revealed by documentary and personal investigation; and a classification of these origins under what seems to be the most logical and illuminating divisions"--Preface.
Late cretaceous ocean circulation in the south Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Authors:   , Haynes Shannon
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Cooling during the last 15 million years of the Cretaceous is widely believed to have resulted in a reorganization of ocean circulation, with cooler periods being associated with deep ocean convection in high latitude regions (e.g., Robinson et al., 2010; MacLeod et al., 2011; Robinson and Vance, 2012; Jung et al., 2013). Understanding the relationship between climate change and sub-surface ocean circulation patterns, and gaining further insight into how circulation dynamics were influenced by the unique Cretaceous paleobathymetry is crucial to furthering our understanding of global climate dynamics during the Late Cretaceous. To provide further insight into Late Cretaceous ocean circulation we used neodymium isotopes as a tool to infer past ocean circulation patterns. Neodymium was extracted from fossilized fish teeth and bone fragments from bulk rock samples at 26 different sites (4 Pacific, 12 South Atlantic, 3 North Atlantic, 3 proto-Indian Ocean). We present two regional studies that focus on Campanian (84-72 Ma) and Maastrichtian (72-66 Ma) circulation patterns in the Pacific (Chapter 2) and South Atlantic (Chapter 3) Oceans. These chapters argue that, by the end of the Cretaceous, climate had cooled enough to support high latitude convection but also that circulation patterns were tightly controlled by bathymetry. To investigate the global implications of these two regional studies we also present preliminary neodymium isotopic data from several sites in the North Atlantic and proto-Indian Ocean (Chapter 4). Further, neodymium isotopic trends were compared to climate model simulations as well as to previously published neodymium, carbon, and oxygen isotopic records.
Principal sensemaking and special education discipline : a multiple case study of secondary building-level administrators
Authors:   , Browning Laura Gavornik
Published: April 2021

This multiple case study -- utilizing an application of educational sensemaking theory -- aimed to examine how building-level administrators made sense of disciplining students with disabilities. This study collected data from seven building-level administrators over four secondary schools within one school district. A three-part, in-depth interview protocol was undertaken with each administrator in addition to document collection and analysis. The findings suggested that the building-level administrators were constrained more heavily by certain aspects of sensemaking. Specifically, they (1) did not have the background knowledge/training in special education to draw from, (2) had previous experiences that reminded them of worst-case occurrences, (3) were given high amounts of autonomy in decision making with very few opportunities to increase knowledge outside of own initiative, and (4) relied on relationships with teachers to help shape their actions. These findings uncovered gaps in how administrators ultimately perceived their roles as leaders of special education and how that impacted their sensemaking when disciplining a student with disabilities. Finally, these findings suggest that districts create practices that identify and fill administrator knowledge gaps, that principal leadership preparation programs concentrate on more special education content, and that awareness be raised that building-level leaders are leaders of special education.
Dynamic agent safety logic : theory and applications
Authors:   , Ahrenbach Seth
Published: April 2021

Modal logic is a family of logics for reasoning about relational structures, broadly construed. It sits at the nexus of philosophy, mathematics, software engineering, and economics. By modeling a target domain as a relational structure, one can define a modal logic for reasoning about its properties. Common examples include modal logics for knowledge, belief, time, program execution, mathematical provability, and ethics. This thesis presents a modal logic that combines several modalities in order to reason about realistic human-like agents. We combine knowledge, belief, action, and safe action, which we call Dynamic Agent Safety Logic, or DASL. We distinguish DASL from other modal logics treating similar topics by arguing that the standard models of human agency are not adequate. We present some criteria a logic of agency should strive to achieve, and then compare how related logics fare. We use the Coq interactive theorem prover to mechanically prove soundness and completeness results for the logic, as well as apply it to case studies in the domain of aviation safety, demonstrating its ability to model realistic, minimally rational agents. Finally, we examine the consequences of modeling agents capable of a certain sort of self-reflection. Such agents face a formal difficulty due to Lob's Theorem, called Lob's Obstacle in the literature. We show how DASL can be relaxed to avoid Lob's Obstacle, while the other modal logics of agency cannot easily do so.
Competency-based professional development : a case study of how recruiters perceive undergraduate business students
Authors:   , Albright Joyce Gay
Published: April 2021

D. McClelland claimed that employment recruiters should hire professionals based upon characteristics and skills and that these competencies could predict how employees would perform on the job. This approach to assessing employees led to the creation of company-specific competency models. My dissertation is a case study of how recruiters perceive undergraduate business students who complete educational requirements at a university college of business that has included a competency model in its curriculum. Based upon the literature review, I learned that few studies have been conducted on the use of competency models in undergraduate business programs. On this basis, it is recommended that additional studies be conducted. Using fifteen professional competencies identified by the college as a conceptual framework, I interviewed recruiters who evaluate these business students. My primary focus was determining how the recruiters perceive the students, and my secondary focus was identifying what competencies are valued by the recruiters. Analysis of the responses indicated that the majority of the recruiters perceived the students as behaving professionally and demonstrating many of the competencies embedded in the college's professional development curriculum. The recruiters value competencies that are not included in the curriculum, and I recommend the college review these additional competencies.
Conflict-affected women's discourses about access to higher education
Authors:   , MacCleoud Heather J.
Published: April 2021

This dissertation examined the discourses of 10 underserved women working to access higher education, in relation to the discourses of formal efforts to provide education access via international organizations (IOs) such as the United Nations. The purpose of this dissertation was to better understand whether and how the discourses of these women were aligned with those of these international organizations, with a focus on the purposes of higher education, and the roles of these women in relation to these purposes. The primary source of data for this analysis were essays these women had written as part of an application to an international scholarship program. The study was shaped by a review of literature on access to higher education for nontraditional students including refugees, women, and those in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) provided both the theoretical framework and the method of analysis. The analysis highlighted the complex nature of these 10 women's relationships with higher education. Findings suggested that efforts by IOs to improve access to underserved populations should consider that students may be simultaneously victimized and victorious, and that education plays both transactional and transformational roles in their experiences. The use of their scholarship essays provided a means through which their voices could be heard, as they have not traditionally been involved in shaping the educational research and policies that impact their experiences. Their experiences fall outside of most research on nontraditional students, refugees, and students from lower income countries. The complexity of their experiences as outlined through this research may help shape additional research about how underserved populations at the intersection of multiple underserved groups.
The design of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy for single molecule techniques
Authors:   , Norman Zenia
Published: April 2021

The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis--a critical process in creating essential proteins for cell survival. Though bulk techniques yield valuable results about the structure of the ribosome, bulk techniques are not ideal in examining ribosomal dynamics and understanding kinetics involved in protein synthesis. On the contrary, the single molecule spectroscopy techniques are ideal in investigating the mechanisms of ribosome dynamics in real-time under equilibrium conditions. The latest advances in single molecule biophysics have opened numerous opportunities in the biological world to study the dynamics of molecules in real-time. Single molecule techniques such as Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) have opened opportunities to study the ribosome as well as other ribosomal proteins. FCS is used to investigate diffusion coefficients, concentration, and kinetics of biological samples. In this thesis, we address the process of assembling an FCS system, as well as the design of a high-speed correlator. The high-speed correlator allows the software to handle the high data counts that can occur in single molecule experiments. A field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) dual correlator and a multi-tau correlator are designed to handle the noise and high count rates that can dominate the signal. Also addressed in this thesis are ideal experimental conditions for successfully obtaining and troubleshooting results received from FCS curves.
Paper electrophoresis of rat serum and muscle proteins during hypothermia and cold acclimatization
Authors:   , Shields Jimmie L.
Published: April 2021

"The present study is designed to follow the course of the electrophoretic pattern of the serum proteins and water extractable muscle proteins during cold acclimatization. Body weight changes and body temperatures were determined also. Since the liver is considered the prodominant source of the serum proteins, it may be interesting to note any changes that occur in these indices of liver function. Attention was given also to difference in the electrophretic patterns of serum proteins after short term exposure to acute cold stress, and to sex differences during the acclimatization period. The importance of the thyroid in acclimatization has prompted the used of thyroid extract as a supplement in the diet of some of the experimental animals. This was done in an attempt to simulate a more severe stress during the course of experiment."-Page 2
Soil polysaccharides synthesized by microorganisms in soil
Authors:   , Wang De-Shin
Published: April 2021

"The carbohydrate fraction of soil organic matter consists mainly of a mixture or heteropolysaccharides of high molecular weight. The major monosaccharide components are several sugars, uronic acids, amino sugars, and amino acids... "-Introduction
The role of the vasculature in iron allocation and sensing in plants
Authors:   , Nguyen Nga Thu
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Most of the human population rely on plant-based products as the major dietary source for nutrients including iron (Fe). In terms of food security, and besides struggling to solve the problem of producing enough food for the rapidly growing population, we are also in need of finding solutions to fight the so-called "hidden hunger" or micronutrient deficiencies. Among the different micronutrient deficiencies, Fe is the most studied one in both plants and humans (1). This is because Fe serves as a cofactor in many critical biological processes and cellular redox reactions. Plants also require Fe for the synthesis of chlorophyll. Thus, Fe deficiency can lead to plant chlorosis and reduction in yield as a result of a decreased photosynthetic capacity. In crop plants like soybean, Fe deficiency chlorosis can cause up to 30% reduction in yield (2-4). In humans, Fe is required for hemoglobin molecules to transport oxygen. Lack of Fe in humans leads to anemia and it is a major cause for birth defects and many physical and mental illnesses. This is true not only in developing countries, where people mostly rely on plant-based food. In developed countries, Fe-deficiency anemia can also affect people whose diets heavily rely on highly processed foods, which are energy dense and micronutrient-poor. By number, moderate to severe anemia in the U.S. population increased from 1.0% to 1.9%, comparing data of 2003-2004 to 2011-2012 census (5). Because Fe is essential for both plants and humans and importantly, humans rely on dietary Fe from crop plants, understanding the mechanisms controlling Fe uptake, accumulation and Fe-deficiency response in plants may have a positive impact on both plants and human health. For this long-term goal, it is necessary to develop and establish different approaches to unravel the mechanisms that plants use to control iron uptake and allocation. By filling the gap in our knowledge of plant responses to Fe-deficiency, we will be one step closer to enhance the Fe concentration in crop plants and perhaps, we will make them more resilient to Fe-limiting conditions.
Worried notes : poems
Authors:   , Smith Joseph D. (Jay Smith)
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The creative portion of this dissertation, Worried Notes: Poems, is a collection that engages the American vernacular-song tradition and specifically the strategy of worrying, inherent to blues music, in which one troubles the materials of expression. Through sonic effects, variated popular music and poetry allusions, and extensive wordplay, the poems develop a vocabulary for the poem as a literal and metaphorical "worried note": a message that challenges textual knowledge with the bodily way of knowing inherent to poetry's orality and aurality. The collection thematically explores how song shapes experience and worries our reaction to personal suffering and historical atrocity.
TRPV4 contributes to stretch-induced hypercontractility and time-dependent dysfunction in the aged heart
Authors:   , Veteto Adam Bruce
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Aims: Cardiovascular disease remains the greatest cause of mortality in Americans over 65. The stretch-activated Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-4 (TRPV4) ion channel is expressed in cardiomyocytes of the aged heart. This investigation tests the hypothesis that TRPV4 alters calcium handling and cardiac function in response to increased ventricular preload and cardiomyocyte stretch.
Variable selection for interval-censored failure time data
Authors:   , Wu Qiwei
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Variable selection is a commonly asked question and various traditional variable selec- tion methods have been developed, including forward, backward and stepwise selec- tion, as well as best subset selection. Among these conventional selection techniques, the best subset selection is recommended by most researchers. However, this method requires fitting all sub-models, which can be very time-consuming when the number of covariates p is large.
Bottle fly : poems
Authors:   , Allendorf Gregory Ryan
Published: April 2021

The critical introduction: "Improbable Florida" : Imperialism, Surrealist Tradition, and Gay and Lesbian Identity in Rimbaud's "Drunken Boat" and Bishop's "The Riverman" is a close-reading of those two poems through a combined lens of queer theory and post-colonialism and globalism. It is also a meditation on the concepts of identity and identification as they relate to poetry and the selves we find therein. Rimbaud and Bishop are poets who greatly influenced the style and spirit of the poems contained in Bottle Fly. The poems in Bottle Fly are largely autobiographical and chronicle in various ways the poet's struggles with addiction, mental illness, love, and death. The poems attempt to explore and express the mind and heart of the poet and flirt with becoming empty armor. They are very interested in approaching and turning away from the questions what am I? and what is this? They recognize that when we approach the edge of a cliff or an event and see ourselves below, having fallen, nothing has happened yet.
An examination of organizational learning and data driven decision making within two university enrollment management programs
Authors:   , Gragg J. D.
Published: April 2021

As the number of United States high school graduates continue to decline, research into the most effective ways to recruit and retain college students becomes increasingly valuable. According to the United States Department of Education (Hussar and Bailey, 2016), students graduating between now and 2028 will decrease by approximately 4.5 %. Historically, when focusing on enrollment numbers, college admission offices have recruited students in the door and then let other departments at the university worry about retaining them. In today's competitive market, this is no longer a feasible option. The focus of this research was to address the declining number of students, and the effective strategies universities can use to recruit students who will progress and graduate. Researchers Kretchmar and Memory (2010) and Seeman and O'Hara, (2006) concurred that to retain students is to attempt to understand students beyond the numbers, looking at students as more than a GPA or test score, and understand what the students are desiring in a college and be prepared to sell the student on that experience. From this research, it appeared that data-driven decision-making can be an effective means to create a successful enrollment management office. Through a practice of data-driven decision-making, organizational learning can happen, which will allow an organization to maintain success and build a culture that sustains that success. Three key themes emerged from the research that will help to inform best practices for other colleges and universities to implement ideas from this research. The three themes are: an organization must have good, usable data and the resources needed to analyze that data; an organization should strive to create a culture of openness, caring, communication, and teamwork to sustain success, and enrollment management is a mix of art and science; an organization needs a successful enrollment manager that is a person who can blend the use of data with creating a well-rounded, meaningful, and impactful student recruitment experience.
Prediction of knee loading in native knee and total knee arthroplasty : a forward dynamics computational study
Authors:   , Razu Swithin Samuel
Published: April 2021

"The goal of this dissertation is to develop a musculoskeletal model and corroborate model predictions to experimentally measured in vivo knee contact forces, in order to study the biomechanical consequences of two different total knee arthroplasty designs. The two main contributions of this dissertation are: (1) Corroboration to experimental data: The development of an EMG-driven, full-body, musculoskeletal model with subject-specific leg geometries including deformable contacts, ligaments, 6DOF knee joint, and a shoe-floor model that can concurrently predict muscle forces, ligament forces, and joint contact forces. Model predictions of tibiofemoral joint contact forces were evaluated against the subject-specific in vivo measurements from the instrumented TKR for three distinctly different styles of over ground gait. (2) Virtual surgery in TKA: The musculoskeletal modeling methodology was then used to develop a model for one healthy participant with a native knee and then virtually replacing the native knee with fixed-bearing and mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty designs performing gait and step-up tasks. This approach minimized the biomechanical impact of variations in sex, geometry, implant size, design and positioning, ligament location and tension, and muscle forces found across patients. The differences in biomechanics were compared for the two designs. 1.2 Significance of this Research The world health organization ranks musculoskeletal disorders as the second largest contributor to disability worldwide. Conservative estimates put the national cost of direct care for musculoskeletal disease at $212.7 billion a year [1]. Many people who suffer from neuromuscular or musculoskeletal diseases may benefit from the insights gained from surgery simulations, since musculoskeletal reconstructions are commonly performed on these individuals. Improved surgical outcomes will benefit these individuals not only in the short-term, but also in the long-term, since their future rehabilitation needs may be reduced. For example, although total knee arthroplasty is a common surgical procedure for the treatment of osteoarthritis with over 700,000 procedures performed each year [2], many patients are unhappy with the ultimate results [3]. Ten to 30% of patients report [4] pain, dissatisfaction with function, and the need for further surgery such as revision after the initial surgery resulting in costs exceeding $11 billion [5]. Potentially, simulation studies that quantify the important biomechanical variables will reduce the need for revision surgeries in patients."--Introduction.
Structural, biochemical, and inhibition studies of proline biosynthetic enzymes
Authors:   , Christensen Emily M.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (PYCR) is the final enzyme in proline biosynthesis, catalyzing the NAD(P)H-dependent reduction of [Delta]1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) to proline. Mutations in the PYCR1 gene alter mitochondrial function and cause the connective tissue disorder cutis laxa. Furthermore, PYCR1 is overexpressed in multiple cancers, and the PYCR1 knockout suppresses tumorigenic growth, suggesting PYCR1 is a potential cancer target. However, inhibitor development has been stymied by limited mechanistic details for the enzyme, particularly in light of a previous crystallographic study that placed the cofactor binding site in the C-terminal domain rather than the anticipated Rossmann fold of the N-terminal domain. To fill this gap, we report crystallographic, sedimentation velocity, and kinetics data for human PYCR1. Structures of binary complexes of PYCR1 with NADPH or proline determined at 1.9 A resolution provide insight into cofactor and substrate recognition. We see NADPH bound to the Rossmann fold, over 25 A from the previously proposed site. The 1.85 A resolution structure of a ternary complex containing NADPH and a P5C/proline analog provides a model of the Michaelis complex formed during hydride transfer. Sedimentation velocity shows that PYCR1 forms a concentration-dependent decamer in solution, consistent with the pentamer-of-dimers assembly seen crystallographically. Kinetic and mutational analysis confirmed several features seen in the crystal structure, including the importance of a hydrogen bond between Thr238 and the substrate as well as limited cofactor discrimination. We also report kinetic and structural data for PYCR1 complexed with multiple P5C/Pro analogs to probe the potential of PYCR1 as a cancer therapy target. Crystal structures of binary complexes of PYCR1 with L-tetrahydro-2-furoic acid (THFA),N-formyl L-proline (NFLP), thiazolidine-2-carboxylate (T2C), and thiazolidine-4-carboxylate (T4C) have been determined at 1.80-2.35 A resolution. We also present inhibition data for the forward reaction of P5C reduction to proline in the presence of each analog.
Omputational perspectives of memory storage and gamma oscillation within the amygdala
Authors:   , Feng Feng
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Background and motivation: Survival is a key trait seen in all animal species. To survive, it is necessary to have the ability to associate fear responses to new stimuli or circumstances, on the basis of experience, and it has been found that animals are "hard wired" for survival. The dorsal portion of amygdala (LAd) is known to play a primary role in the processing of auditory fear memory (LeDoux 2000). Repa et al. (2001) showed that ~25% of principal LA neurons (PNs) acquire conditioning-induced plasticity, and another recent study showed that only 25% of PNs store this "fear memory trace" (Han et al., 2007) although 70% receive CS and US inputs (Quirk et al., 1995; Repa et al., 2001; Rumpel et al., 2005). This dissertation describes computational modeling work that investigates the neuronal competition in the LA circuit that can shed light on understanding the mechanism behind this. Another important mechanism in the formation of fear memory requires transmission of signals between brain regions and this requires a temporal coding mechanism. Gamma oscillation are observed in numerous studies of emotional memory and processing, and such neuronal oscillations are thought to enable transmission and read-out of amplitude information more efficiently than neuronal rate integration (Fries et al., 2007). Gamma oscillation was recently detected in vivo in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BL) (Amir et al., 2018). This dissertation will also describe a second computational model that investigates the underpinnings of the gamma rhythmic activity in BL and its control using optogenetics. This dissertation focuses on the modeling and analysis of a set of biological phenomenon at a cellular and systems level. The following section details the organization of this dissertation.
Molecular mechanisms of action for CFTR potentiators
Authors:   , Yeh Han-I
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] As the culprit behind cystic fibrosis (CF) is the dysfunction of the chloride channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), pharmacological reagents targeting CFTR may hold the key to the ultimate cure of CF. In this thesis, we present the studies in the mechanisms of action for CFTR potentiators, the small molecules that enhance the functions of CFTR. Using the patch-clamp technique, we demonstrated that the permeant anion nitrate modulates CFTR gating through a mechanism similar to the FDA-approved CFTR potentiator VX-770 (ivacaftor). Via separate sites of action, VX-770 and nitrate stabilize the open channel conformation of CFTR in an energetically additive manner. Next, we investigated the action of a novel CFTR potentiator, GLPG1837, and showed that despite their different chemical structures, GLPG1837 and VX-770 share the same mechanisms of action on CFTR gating and compete for a common binding site in the transmembrane domains of CFTR. An allosteric modulation model is further proposed to explain how the affinity and efficacy of both potentiators are determined by the energetic coupling between drug binding and channel gating. Finally, we combined molecular docking and patch-clamp technique to identify the binding site(s) for GLPG1837 and VX-770.
A concurrent mixed-methods study of a leadership model for physician assistants: implications for practice and training
Authors:   , Cleveland Tracy L.
Published: April 2021

A physician shortage currently exists in the United States and is projected to continuefor at leasta decade. Physician assistants(PA)are expected to help fill this healthcare gap,often requiring not just medical competence, but leadership skills. Leadership training is not often a component of PA medical training,and literature onPA leadership is limited. This study investigated a leadership model for PAsrooted in ethical leadership. The PA, asa medical leader,further defined asa learning leader, patient advocate, engaged professional, builder of future professionals, community activist and team collaborator was explored through a concurrent mixed-methods approach thatevaluatedsurvey datacollected from practicing PAs and PA faculty. Of the 681 practicing PAs invited, 107 (16%) participated,and of the 71 PA faculty members recruited, 43 (61%) participated.Results showed alignment in responses between the twosurveys. The greatest level of alignment was noted for the patient advocate,the team collaborator,and the learningleader,followed by the builder of future professionals and the engaged professional. The greatest amount of contrast between survey findings was with the community activist. Although all areas were supported, moreresearch is needed to further support this model.
Citizenship goes to the dogs
Authors:   , Howe E. Alexander
Published: April 2021

The conclusion I defend is that "domestic animals" have a moral claim to what I refer to as "basic citizenship rights," and that they do so for the same reason that "non-autonomous humans" do. I define each of these key terms. The bulk of this dissertation is structured around the following formal argument, which I refer to as the Political AMC, on account of its strategy being borrowed from the so-called Argument from Marginal Cases, or AMC: (P1) Non-rationally autonomous humans have an undefeated moral claim to basic citizenship rights. (P2) If non-rationally autonomous humans have an undefeated moral claim to basic citizenship rights, then possessing vulnerability and no decisive defeaters is a sufficient condition for having an undefeated claim to basic citizenship rights. (C1) Possessing vulnerability and no decisive defeaters is a sufficient condition for having a claim to basic citizenship rights. (P3) Domestic animals possess vulnerability and no decisive defeaters. (C2) Domestic animals have an undefeated claim to basic citizenship rights. The defense offered for Premise 2 is abductive--an inference to the best explanation-- and treated accordingly
Animals in ancient Greek warfare : a study of the elephant, camel, and dog
Authors:   , Rice Jenna Rae
Published: April 2021

My dissertation asserts that the study of animals is integral to the thorough understanding of the ancient military landscape, and three animals in particular warrant particular attention: the elephant, camel, and dog. I place these animals into the broader context of ancient warfare through the use of human-animal studies, zoological research, archaeological studies, and careful historical analysis, proving their impact in the Greco Macedonian military. I contend that the war elephant's tactical significance is overstated by modern scholarship and requires a re-evaluation, concluding that due to a combination of physiological and behavioral reasons, elephants were not compatible with Greek military practices. They were, however, compatible with Diadoch politics, and were used by generations of Seleucids and Ptolemies as an emblem of legitimacy, martial strength, and royalty. I consider the military value of the camel within the Greek realm, arguing that it has been largely ignored and requires analysis from a fresh perspective. I use recent zoological studies to argue against scholarship that dismisses the camel's abilities to tolerate extreme environments, and I assess the its value within the army of Alexander the Great through a series of specific case studies. Subsequently, I investigate the use of dogs in the ancient military sphere through a study of literary and archaeological sources. I show how dogs participated both directly in battle (Ionia) and in a more auxiliary fashion as guards, hunters, and companions. Finally, I present a survey of scientific archaeological, and historical studies of the ancient warhorse, considering its status within the scholarly community as a goal and model for future studies of other animals that functioned in the ancient military sphere.
Border threads : ethnographic tales of escape, agency, and violence in a shelter in Pakistan
Authors:   , Rais Faiza
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI--COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study highlights the theoretical usefulness of viewing domestic violence shelters through the conceptual framework of border-crossing and borders. Utilizing feminist ethnography as a research method to explore the socio-cultural aspects of a domestic violence shelter in Pakistan, it asks the following questions: How do survivors of domestic violence (women) reach the shelter? How does the shelter enable women who have suffered domestic abuse to engage in descriptions that counter outside efforts to silence them? How does shelter as a space of protection both enable social change and reproduce structures of domination? Based on ethnographic observations and interviews with 45 shelter residents, shelter staff, and feminist scholars, this study demonstrates that survivors of domestic violence, specifically women belonging to a lower socio-economic demographic, construct and expend heroic forms of agency in formulating specific escape trajectories and are in effect border-crossers. Importantly, it found that shelter residents re-construct themselves through narratives of violence made possible through temporary pockets of articulation. Absence of supportive socio-political and economic structures that may enable shelter residents to embark on emancipatory exit trajectories converts the agency utilized to escape violent homes into forms that are excessive.
Distributing leadership to leaders
Authors:   , Gragnani Tony
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study aims to contribute to the literature on Distributed Leadership Theory by examining the way in which educational leadership is changing to a more expanded and inclusive approach. Due to the increasing demands placed on the educational systems from state and federal policy makers, researchers have advocated for a change in our understanding and practice of educational leadership. The current study focuses on one such example of this change in leadership approach by examining the collaborative efforts of three assistant principals in a district where collaboration among administrators is not the norm. The goal of the study is to use a phenomenological approach to capture the essence of this collaboration so that it can be analyzed through the lens of distributed leadership. Much of the body of research on DL focuses on the school, specifically the interaction between principal and teacher or principals and others in a formal leadership positions. The rationale for this study is there is little exploration into the role the school district plays in influencing the development of distributed leadership. Finally, by focusing on the collaborative efforts of the administrators it is the researcher's hope that schools, school districts, and states will encourage school leaders to collaborate with one another to develop solutions to complex problems facing their schools and communities.
We have a duty to eradicate HIV in the community, in the world' : successful PrEP use among black men who have sex with men
Authors:   , Remy Laura
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) have a 50% lifetime risk of HIV infection. The HIV epidemic continues to be a perplexing health issue, despite the availability of a highly effective biomedical prevention strategy. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake is suboptimal among BMSM: a priority population that accounts for over one fourth of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. Most research endeavors have focused on identifying barriers to PrEP with less emphasis on facilitators of PrEP uptake. This qualitative study was undertaken to gain a better understanding about the factors that motivate BMSM to seek PrEP and the strategies that resulted in successful uptake. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with Midwestern BMSM (n=12) who were successfully taking PrEP for over one year. The men were sophisticated, privately insured healthcare consumers and yet, the overarching theme that emerged from the data was that obtaining PrEP was a "long, hard road". Facilitators to PrEP access included having an important person, insight into the roles of stigma, sexual partner mistrust, and the desire to be a part of something bigger than oneself. Also prevalent in the data were descriptions about barriers to PrEP access. Men in this study felt strongly that HIV prevention is everyone's responsibility. Findings have important implications for research and clinical practice. Strategies that can decrease healthcare system barriers and help simplify the process to access PrEP are greatly needed.
Investment in couple relationship education as a key in the process of change : received dosage, active application, and motivation for attending
Authors:   , Stoddard Nathan
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] It is important to understand what works for whom and in which contexts in couple relationship education (CRE). This study examined investment in CRE (i.e., received dosage, active application of what they learn, and their motivation for enrolling), its outcomes, and its predictors. Using pre/post data from a sample of 768 couples who participated in CRE, a latent class analysis (LCA) was estimated to investigate within couple patterns of CRE investment. Further, auxiliary variable methods were used in conjunction with the LCA to examine outcomes and predictors of CRE investment. Four classes were found: one with both partners higher in CRE investment, one with females higher and males lower in investment, one with males higher and females lower in investment, and one with both partners lower in investment. Couples in the class with both partners higher on investment experienced greater improvement in satisfaction and friendship than the other three classes. Baseline commitment and distress interacted to predict membership in CRE investment classes. Implications for CRE research and practice are discussed.
A child sentenced to serve life without a mother : the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program and incarcerated women's mothering strategies
Authors:   , Veasman Amanada
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The purpose of this research is to understand the emotional and physical impacts a mother's incarceration has on her children and to closely examine a program designed to help alleviate such burdens. We will study familial relationships within the confines of a prison system while exploring the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program, which aims to strengthen the relationship between incarcerated mothers and their daughters. It is through this unique program that incarcerated women are afforded the rare opportunity to reclaim their mothering role. Given this, we will investigate the various mothering strategies employed by these women to successfully mother beyond bars. The primary ambition of most separated families is to reunite after incarceration. "Positive reunion is often the result of opportunities for continued contact between mothers and their children during a mother's incarceration" (Henriques, 1996). Prison visitation has also proven to be effective in reducing recidivism, decreasing prison violence, and thwarting the intergenerational cycle of imprisonment. However, 63% of women in state prisons are placed 100 miles or more from their families, making regularly visitation extremely cumbersome (Mosteller, 2019). The Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program breaks through this constraint by offering its troop members transportation to and from the correctional centers at no cost to these families.
A study of the elementary math program utilized by a mid-Missouri school district
Authors:   , Barabas Lisa J.
Published: April 2021

This qualitative study focused on one Mid-Missouri school district and was designed to collect and analyze teachers' and administrators' perceptions regarding the elementary math program for the purpose of program improvement. The district utilized ability grouping including acceleration for elementary math instruction. This study was analyzed using a constructivist framework and consideration was given to the theories of both Piaget and Vygotsky. Based on teachers' and administrators' perceptions, the accelerated math classes met the needs of the highest ability math students. Overall, according to teachers, the elementary math program did not meet the needs of the lowest students at the fourth and fifth grade levels where the accelerated math classes were being utilized.
Effects of SI administration staffing and support on SI program outcomes in higher education
Authors:   , Skoglund Kirk A.
Published: April 2021

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an internationally recognized learning assistance program used in higher education to support traditionally challenging classes by offering regularly scheduled, peer-led, group study sessions for the students enrolled in the targeted course. This study explored the administrative hours spent on specific SI program constructs (training-related, observation of sessions, planning support, and administrative tasks) and program funding and their relationships with program outcomes (attendance rate for the program, the difference in the average final grades between SI session attendees and non-attendees, and the difference in the rate of Ds, Fs, and withdraws between the SI session attendees and non-attendees). This quantitative study collected data from SI programs at institutions across North America (N=63). Multiple linear regression and correlation were used to examine the relationships between the variables. The regression models and correlation analyses were statistically insignificant, except training-related hours per SI leader was significantly related to the attendance rates for the entire SI program. This result might suggest that training-related hours assist leaders in developing high-quality sessions, thereby increasing attendance percentage. This finding indicates that SI program administrators should enhance their training-related responsibilities per SI leader to increase attendance rates for the program. These findings were limited by small sample size and focus on supervisory constructs while ignoring other factors such as institutional characteristics that may influence program outcomes. Future studies should explore each supervisory construct individually while controlling for aspects of SI programs that may affect program outcomes and collect larger sample sizes.
The exploration of challenges to inviting social emotional learning in the secondary suburban classroom
Authors:   , Walker Timothy R.
Published: April 2021

The focus to emphasize Social Emotional Learning in the classroom has increased due to both Kansas state requirements for individualized learning plans and lack of skills reported by the State Education Commissioner (KSDE, 2019). What has not kept up with these demands are viable researched curriculums for social emotional learning available to high schools and more specifically suburban high schools (Williamson, Modecki, and Guerra, 2016). Through the lens of invitational education (Purkey and Novak, 2011) and coupled with the work of Elias, Ferrito, and Moceri (2016), it was the goal of the researcher to answer the overarching question what challenges exist to inviting Social Emotional Learning into the Secondary Suburban Classroom? The location for the study was purposefully selected due to meeting the criteria of being a suburban school district with multiple high schools from which to draw data and examine commonalities or differences. The diversity of the locations allowed the researcher to utilize a mixed-methods approach to engage teachers in a survey and focus groups. Simultaneously, the researcher observed classrooms and documents for evidence of Social Emotional Learning. Finally, the researcher interviewed district and building level administrators for their understanding of supporting social emotional learning. Upon analysis of the various data points, three themes emerged from the data: The organization is unintentionally invitational, lack of dissemination and training on SEL Standards, and disparity of common routines and processes. From this research it can be concluded; challenges exist when suburban high schools invite social emotional learning into the classroom and building, and proper training, consistent communication and the invitational process should be considered when planning.