bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining the effects of an intergroup dialogue-based diversity and social justice course on students' multicultural competencies
Authors:   , Faloughi Reuben-Thomas
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Given the rapidly changing racial/ethnic demographics of the United States (U.S.), U.S. public institutions, including institutions of higher education, will have to address historical and contemporary monocultural practices that have created hostile campus climates and learning environments for students from diverse backgrounds. Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) has shown promise with addressing intergroup conflict and relationships with students in various settings; however, few studies have conducted quantitative evaluation of IGD practices in a standardized, multi-topic, dialogue-based, diversity and social justice course for undergraduate students. Thus, the current study evaluated the effectiveness of ESCP 2000: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the United States, an IGD-based Diversity and Social Justice Course offered to undergraduate students at a large, Midwestern University. Students enrolled in ESCP 2000 sections offered during Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters completed pre- and post- course evaluation surveys measures of: Critical Consciousness, Appreciation for Diversity, Grit, Preference for Inequality, and week-to-week ratings of Openness, Connectedness, and Participation in the course. Results suggest the course intervention had positive effects on students' Critical Consciousness and Appreciation of Diversity. Additionally, growth profiles indicate increased week-to-week engagement (participation, openness, and connectedness) for the majority of students in the intervention. Findings will be discussed in relationship to IGD theory and practice and implications for future research and implementation of IGD-based coursework.
Reparative dysfunction during muscle
regeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: therapeutic approaches to modulating the muscle
environment and muscle stem cells
Authors:   , Nance Michael
   Everette
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF
AUTHOR.] Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a lethal muscular dystrophy resulting from
functional loss of the dystrophin protein, a critical sub-sarcolemmal protein involved in
membrane stability. While reparative dysfunction is thought to be a critical determinant of disease progression in humans, regeneration is not significantly impaired in the murine muscular dystrophy (mdx) model. Furthermore, it is not well understood if reparative dysfunction is related to inherent defects in stem cells or chronic alterations in the muscle environment due to disease related remodeling. To address these observed discrepancies, we adapted a whole muscle transplant model to study the in vivo regeneration of intact pieces of skeletal muscle from normal and dystrophic dogs (cDMD), a physiological and clinically relevant model to humans. Regeneration in cDMD muscle grafts was significantly attenuated compared to normal and predisposed to the development of skeletal muscle tumors. We used an adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a micro-dystrophin protein to specifically rescue the muscle environment by preventing fiber damage while retaining dystrophin-null SCs. AAV.micro-dystrophin rescued the environment by improving fibrosis, stiffness, and fiber orientation, which significantly improved early muscle regeneration but not late regeneration (2 greater than and less than 4 months post-transplant) via enhancing muscle stem cells differentiation. We next developed Cre- and CRISPR-cas9 gene editing strategies to test the ability of AAV serotype 9 to transduce and treat the genetic mutation in muscle stem cells. We observed efficient SC transduction when used as a single vector expressing Cre. Dual-vector CRISPR-cas9 SC transduction was inefficient and likely related to the requirement for two vectors, promoter usage, and mechanistic differences between Cre-recombination and CRISPR genome editing.
Transborder ethnic alignments and the interplay between domestic and international violence
Authors:   , Yazici Emir
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Transborder ethnic ties constitute an alignment between an ethnic minority group and its external ethnic kin in another country. Similar to interstate alliances, in which a powerful state extends its deterrent capability to protect its protege state against another state, a powerful external kin can extend its deterrent capability to protect a minority group against the target government. I employ a theory of interstate conflict, perfect deterrence theory (Zagare and Kilgour, 2000), to analyze the triadic strategic interaction between a government, a minority, and this minority's external kin. I argue that a minority group can be protected by its external kin only when the external kin has a credible and capable threat of use of force. I test the equilibrium predictions of my model with a newly developed dataset covering 20 minority groups and 5 powerful ethnic kin. The results show that a highly credible and capable threat by an external kin decreases the likelihood of government repression significantly. This research contributes to the literature by exploring the role of transborder ethnic ties in the prevention of government repression.
Formulation development of a novel antivirulence compound for enhanced pharmocokinetic properties
Authors:   , Wang Nan
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] A novel antivirulence compound CCG-211790 (termed as C790 in this context), has demonstrated significant inhibition against several severe antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, its clinical use is restricted by formulation challenges arising from its poor aqueous solubility. In this dissertation, plate-like or tube-like C790 nanoparticles with thickness down to one hundred nanometers have been successfully produced using antisolvent precipitation- ultrasonication method. C790 nanoparticles, in the form of suspensions, have exhibited remarkably enhanced dissolution rate which obtained almost 100% release within 5 minutes under in-vitro sink environment. The concentration of surfactants in antisolvent and the ultrasonic cavitation intensity are regarded as two of the most important parameters affecting particle size and morphology. Small plate-like particles were produced with low surfactant concentration (below or close to their critical micelle concentration) and high cavitation intensity, while large curved plate-like or tube-like particles were produced with high surfactant concentration (far above their CMC) and low cavitation intensity. The cavitation intensity can be controlled by the volume of water filled in ultrasonic tank, and there is a threshold below which the particle size can be maintained in a narrow range, e.g. of 320-360 nm when 0.02% w/v Tween 80 is applied. Both the small platelike particles and the large curved-plate/tube-like particles carry high magnitude of zeta potential that provides good electrostatic stabilization for at least 6 or 12 weeks depending on particle size and morphology when storing at 4 [degrees]C and room temperature. Both the small plate-like particles and the large curved-plate/tube-like particles, in the form of suspension, have significant advantages over solution formulations (PEG/PG and PEG/Tween formulations) for intravenous administration. In addition, these two suspensions, which have different particle size and morphology, have increased oral bioavailability from 8.0% of the bulk powder formulation to 28.6% and 22.7%, respectively. The C790 nanosuspensions, in particular the one with small plate-like particles, has demonstrated promising clinical potential as oral and intravenous formulations.
(4+3)-cycloaddition chemists of oxidopyridinium ions and related study
Authors:   , Fu Chencheng
Published: April 2021

The (4+3)-cycloaddition reaction is a cycloaddition between a 4-atom species and a 3-atom species to form a seven-membered ring. This reaction results in the formation of seven-membered rings. Our research expanded the scope of (4+3)-cycloaddition reaction by using the oxidopyridinium species as the dienophile -- the 3-atom species. By adding an electron-withdrawing functional group to the starting material, we were be able to get good to excellent product yield. The process provides rapid access to bicyclic nitrogenous structures resembling natural alkaloids. [2+2]-Photocycloaddition is a cycloaddition between two olefins to form a cyclobutane ring. The intramolecular [2+2]-cycloaddition of nitrogen-substituted alkenes can be employed to make complicated alkaloids. Our previous work made the 7-azabicyclo[4.3.1]deca-3,8-diene skeleton, which is a nice substrate for the cycloaddition. Under UV radiation, the heteroatom-substituted unsaturated ester undergoes intramolecular [2+2]-cycloaddition with the cyclic alkene to make a cage-like ketone in good to excellent yield, giving rise to a rigid tropane-like alkaloid skeleton. The scope and mechanism of the photochemical reaction will be discussed.
Improving protein structure prediction by deep learning and computational optimization
Authors:   , Hou Jie
Published: April 2021

Protein structure prediction is one of the most important scientific problems in the field of bioinformatics and computational biology. The availability of protein three-dimensional (3D) structure is crucial for studying biological and cellular functions of proteins. The importance of four major sub-problems in protein structure prediction have been clearly recognized. Those include, first, protein secondary structure prediction, second, protein fold recognition, third, protein quality assessment, and fourth, multi-domain assembly. In recent years, deep learning techniques have proved to be a highly effective machine learning method, which has brought revolutionary advances in computer vision, speech recognition and bioinformatics. In this dissertation, five contributions are described. First, DNSS2, a method for protein secondary structure prediction using one-dimensional deep convolution network. Second, DeepSF, a method of applying deep convolutional network to classify protein sequence into one of thousands known folds. Third, CNNQA and DeepRank, two deep neural network approaches to systematically evaluate the quality of predicted protein structures and select the most accurate model as the final protein structure prediction. Fourth, MULTICOM, a protein structure prediction system empowered by deep learning and protein contact prediction. Finally, SAXSDOM, a data-assisted method for protein domain assembly using small-angle X-ray scattering data. All the methods are available as software tools or web servers which are freely available to the scientific community.
Phase retrieval in frame theory
Authors:   , Ghoreishi Dorsa
Published: April 2021

This dissertation is the study of phase retrieval in frame theory. The first part is concerned with the analysis of phase retrieval and the complete classification of norm retrieval. Norm retrieval is essential to transfer the properties of phase retrieval to the complement space. The first section includes the results regarding projections and also the characterization of phase retrieval and norm retrieval for subspaces. The second part is the study of weak phase retrieval which was motivated by the idea of reducing the number of vectors satisfying the properties close to phase retrieval. The last section provides the correlation between weak phase retrieval and phase retrieval properties along with the examples illustrating the relationship between weak phase retrieval and the related concepts.
Exploring editorial leadership : a qualitative study of scholastic journalism advisers teaching leadership in Missouri secondary schools
Authors:   , Lewis Julia
Published: April 2021

This qualitative study explored advisers' perspectives on teaching leadership. This study identified the significant need for the role of leadership in scholastic journalism programs. Advisers illustrated soft skills provide many opportunities for students to grow into leaders. The leadership skills provide advisers opportunities to articulate their passion and genuine convictions with their students. This current study focused on editorial leadership practices in high school journalism news labs for a clearer understanding of how advisers utilize many leadership practices. The findings will benefit high school journalism teachers to develop leadership for effective production, encourage creativity, and foster decision making. Thus, leadership skills are important in journalism education.
Selling the virtual university : a multimodal discourse analysis of marketing for online learning
Authors:   , Ludwig Eric
Published: April 2021

When marketing online degrees, institutions are simultaneously telling a story about what it means to be a student at that institution and about what it means to be an online learner. This study is an attempt to investigate and interrogate those stories, to analyze how we talk about online learning and to explore whether that linguistic framing is consistent with a broader socioeconomic critique of academic capitalism in the 21st Century. Using critical discourse and multimodal analysis, I examined the institutional websites devoted to the promotion and marketing of online programs at 18 public universities with high exclusively online enrollment (>4,000). This project describes the consistencies and contradictions embedded in the language and visual artifacts used to market and sell online learning to prospective students in the United States. I explored how these discourses reinforced and reconstituted broader social and lived realities of labor, time, and space. Placing online higher education as a phenomenon within the social context of neoliberalism, and academic capitalism, this study contributes a much-needed critical perspective to the intersection of two areas of inquiry in higher education research, online learning and institutional marketing.
Advocacy and accountability in school counseling : assessing the use of data as related to professional self-efficacy
Authors:   , Matthews Susan Evans
Published: April 2021

School counselors are uniquely trained and positioned within schools to use data for the purpose of addressing opportunity and achievement gaps present in many schools. Even with this position, the literature for school counseling remains focused on reasons to use data rather than how to use data within a school counseling program. This study examines the relationship between professional self-efficacy and levels of data use to understand an aspect of why school counselors might not use data to promote school counseling program goals and advocacy. Participants are 426 public school counselors from Missouri. Participants are mostly female (89.4%) and have 7-18 years of experience as school counselors (44.8%). Simple and multiple regression analysis is used to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and data use. Additional factors are self-efficacy in mathematical concepts and the involvement of participants in continued training on the use of data. Statistically significant variation in school counselor's data use is attributed to self-efficacy (R2 = 0.247, p less than .01). The addition of higher self-efficacy in math concepts (R2=0.370) and participation in professional development (R2=0.40) increases the strength of the model (p [less than].01). Recommendations for future research offers suggestions for additional covariates to analyze. Implications for practicing school counselors as well as those who train, support, and evaluate them are also addressed.
Three studies on psychological distress, health-risk behaviors, and health care access among Chinese, Filipino, and Asian Indian American Subgroups
Authors:   , Poudel Hari K.
Published: April 2021

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic minority population in the United States. Among this group, Chinese-, Filipino-, and Asian Indian Americans are the most three largest Asian American subgroups. Yet, health-related research on the growing Asian American population at the subgroup level remains limited. To date, studies have focused on aggregating all Asians into a single category. The current study sought to examine psychological distress, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, and health care access among the three most populous subgroups of Asian Americans. In Study 1, we focus on psychological distress. In Study 2, we focus on current cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Finally, we focus on the usual source of health care among these three subgroups in Study 3. We use the pooled National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data (2011-2015) for our statistical analyses. Participants are self-identified Asian American adults who completed the Sample Adult Component questionnaires of the survey. NHIS provides information on adults' psychological distress, current smoking and alcohol consumption, and health care access. We run a series of multivariate regression models to examine key factors associated with psychological distress, health risk behaviors, and usual source of care. The results of this dissertation highlight the importance of disaggregated data analysis when examining factors related to psychological distress, current cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, and having a usual source of care. We showed that there were significant health disparities remain in psychological distress, health-risk behaviors, and usual source of care across Asian American subgroups. Marked differences in health outcomes indicate the underlying significance of different predictors and draw the attention of policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to address the existing health disparities. Once policymakers understand the disproportionate health outcomes, they have the opportunity to formulate policies and legislation that will more accurately represent the experiences of specific Asian American subgroups so that targeted public services can be more productive.
Reducing prejudice through self-affirmation
Authors:   , Price-Blackshear Mollie A.
Published: April 2021

Research suggests that self-affirmation can reduce threat in a multitude of domains (e.g., stereotype threat). Given the capacity for self-affirmation to reduce threats to the self of various types, the current work examined the capacity for self-affirmation to reduce outgroup prejudice. Outgroup prejudice toward groups that have traditionally been stigmatized in the U.S. (i.e., Muslims, Atheists, African Americans) were explored. Mediating mechanisms (self-compassion, intergroup anxiety) and moderating mechanisms (collective self-esteem) were also examined. In Studies 1 and 2, it was predicted that as compared to a control condition, participants that engaged in a self affirmation condition would show less prejudice and more positive outgroup attitudes, on measures of outgroup attitudes and job candidate evaluation ratings. In Study 2, a candidate condition had participants review either an African or White American job candidate for a job, and the interactive effects with this candidate condition and self affirmation were examined. Under some circumstances, self-affirmation led to higher ratings of outgroup attitudes and lower levels of prejudice. Specifically, significant and marginal main and interactive effects of self-affirmation and candidate condition were found. Including covariates led to relationships that emerged as marginal or significant for self-affirmation or its interaction with candidate conditions. Covariates (i.e., political ideology, religion, motivation to control prejudice) were also marginal or significant predictors of the majority of the outcomes. Finally, significant effects of counterbalancing influenced some of the outcomes and intergroup anxiety, and interacted with candidate on some of the outcomes. Taken together, the results of the current studies suggest that self-affirmation can indeed improve attitudes among religious and racial outgroup members in the United States. However, other demographic and individual difference variables influenced this effect. Examining conditions to reduce prejudice are important, because understanding ways of reducing prejudice will help foster harmony between members of different social groups.
Core values driving sustained elite performance cultures
Authors:   , Biener Eric
Published: April 2021

Organizational culture within sport has an important influence on the performance and well-being of the group and individuals. Often, cultural descriptions are based on teams' results (e.g., winning teams have strong cultures and losing teams have poor cultures). However, these after-the-fact cultural labels ignore the myriad underlying factors that contribute to the group's culture. The preponderance of organizational culture research in sport has tended to either focus on culture at the macro level (e.g., cultures of national governing bodies or athletic departments) or focus on culture change (essentially the mechanisms and processes through which poorly performing cultures changed their fortunes). However, there has been limited research looking at the cultures of programs who have sustained high-level performance for long periods of time. Moreover, there is even less research looking into the core values of such programs, one of the three levels of Schein's (Schein, 1990; Schein and Schein, 2017) culture analysis model. Therefore, this phenomenological study aimed to understand the perceptions and experiences of head coaches in leading and developing their sustained elite-performing cultures; specifically, this study targeted the role of core values within these cultures' development, an area lacking sufficient research (Wagstaff and Burton-Wylie, 2018). Analysis of experienced championship coaches' responses (n=5) revealed that core values focused on growth and development within sport and beyond, as well as the ways in which group members treat each other. Coaches also revealed that bringing these values off the page required consistent, daily, intentional effort, with values serving as touchstones when actions deviated from them.
Exploring college food insecurity : a qualitative case study of the perspectives of the University of Central Missouri food pantry clientele
Authors:   , Verderaime Michael
Published: April 2021

Insufficient resources undermine postsecondary educational experiences and delay credit attainment for many college students (Goldrick-Rab, Baker-Smith, Coca, Looker, and Williams, 2019). To examine the efficacy of existing interventions, such as a campus food pantry, the researcher conducted a series of interviews with a cross section of volunteers, staffed leaders, and food pantry clients. The study produced 5 significant themes. 1) UCM students are balancing multiple responsibilities with a variety of stresses; 2) The Campus Cupboard clients shared an array of successful strategies for making ends meet while in college; 3) The reasons people use the Campus Cupboard vary from individual to individual; 4) Clients care about the food and services the Campus Cupboard offers as well as their experience while they are in there; 5) The volunteers and staff are the Campus Cupboard's greatest asset. They represent a variety of skills, abilities, knowledge, perspectives and resources for the cupboard and their clients. The recommendations focused on three core capacities that are critical for the Campus Cupboard. Specifically, to address the dietary struggles students face in higher education, as well as the living costs associated with schooling, this study constructs its recommendations focusing on 1) Building a culturally responsive food pantry; 2) Tailoring its outreach; and 3) Creating sustainable change.
Credit availability and voluntary disclosures : evidence from interstate branching deregulation
Authors:   , Golshan Nargess M.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI--COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study examines whether the increased availability of bank loans affects borrowers' voluntary disclosures. Exploiting the staggered deregulation of interstate bank branching across states in the U.S., I find that bank-dependent firms decrease their voluntary disclosures following bank branching deregulation. This overall effect is muted for firms with higher information asymmetry in the public capital markets and higher litigation risk. Furthermore, the decline in voluntary disclosures is more pronounced among borrowers with higher proprietary information costs and stronger lending relationships with their lenders. Further analysis reveals that bank-dependent firms that stop issuing earnings guidance after branching deregulation experience decreased liquidity in the equity market. Overall, this paper sheds light on how regulatory changes in the banking sector have externalities on borrowers' disclosure decisions.
Interactions between helicobacter-induced inflammation acute changes in the gut microbiota, and colorectal cancer in Smad3-/- mice
Authors:   , Wolfie Annie E.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI--COLUMBIA AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, accounting for 551,269 deaths in 2018 alone. One subset of CRC, colitis associated CRC (CAC), develops as a sequela to chronic inflammatory diseases of the bowel. The underlying mechanism of CAC is poorly understood, but prognosis is poor due to difficulty of detection. Surveillance strategies are invasive and expensive. Risk factors of CAC include inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diet, smoking, environment, and obesity--all of which impact or are impacted by the gut microbiota (GM), making the GM a prime target for understanding the etiology of CAC in order to develop preventative measures. Using the Smad3-/- CAC model, which requires inoculation of pathobiont Helicobacter spp., we tested the ability of the Th17-enhancing commensal Candidatus Savagella, more commonly denoted as Segmented Filamentous Bacteria (SFB), to influence the incidence and severity of CAC. To document the composition of the gut microbiota during CRC development and identify taxa associated with disease, fecal samples were collected before and throughout disease development and characterized via 16S rRNA sequencing. While there were no significant SFB-dependent effects on disease incidence or severity, SFB were found to exert a sex-dependent protective effect in male mice. Furthermore, SFB stabilized the GM against Helicobacter-induced changes post inoculation, resulting in a shift in disease association from Helicobacter spp. to Escherichia coli. These data support sex-dependent SFB-mediated effects on CRC risk, and highlight the complex community dynamics within the GM during exposure to inflammatory pathobionts. In order to artificially modulate disease severity, we repeated the above experiments using Smad3-/- mice rederived onto different GM backgrounds, using a technique called complex microbiota targeted rederivation (CMTR). Smad3-/- mice harboring distinct GM profiles termed GM1, GM2, and GM4 were similarly inoculated with Helicobacter spp. and followed longitudinally through disease development or lack thereof. We hypothesized that GM1 and 2 would develop the most severe disease, due to lack of richness and diversity. There was no difference in disease penetrance between the GM profiles, and no pre-disposing GM profile was found at pre-inoculation or early timepoints. However, GM2 developed greater disease severity than GM1 and GM4. Looking at static and dynamic differences between CRC- and CRC+ groups of each GM revealed OTUs, genera, and families which differed in disease development. Network construction analysis using overlapping timepoints from early to late, revealed that overall CRC+ bacterial communities had fewer connections than their CRC- counterparts. This was most striking in GM2 CRC+, which could account for the increased disease severity in this GM profile.
Frames with desired angle properties
Authors:   , Tran Tin Thien
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The purpose of this dissertation is to study frames with desired angle properties. More precisely, we study the subspace packing problem, harmonic biangular tight frames, and regular two-distance sets. After a brief review of finite frame theory in Chapter 1, we study the subspace packing problem with respect to the chordal distance in Chapter 2. We show that a solution to this problem is necessarily a fusion frame for the underlying space. We then continue to exploit the idea of using maximal sets of mutually unbiased bases and block designs to construct several infinite families of solutions to the problem. In Chapter 3, motivated by the characterization of harmonic equiangular tight frames in terms of difference sets, we study harmonic biangular tight frames and their connection with other combinatorial structures including divisible difference sets, partial difference sets, and Gaussian difference sets. Chapter 4 is dedicated to studying spherical two-distance sets. These are sets of unit vectors for which the inner products admit two different values. In this chapter, we investigate a special case of such sets when we require one inner product value to appear the same number of times in each row of the Gram matrix. We call this type of set a regular two-distance set. We present various properties of such sets as well as focus on the case where the sets form tight frames for the underlying space. Several connections among regular two-distance sets, equiangular lines, and quasi-symmetric designs are also discussed.
Design of global sustainable supply chains
Authors:   , Trihastuti Dian
Published: April 2021

Increasing concern about the sustainability of supply chain operations is motivating companies and organizations to pursue strategies to reduce their contribution to global environmental and social negative impacts. While most papers in the field of sustainable supply chains have focused on economic and environmental performance at the firm level, recently some studies have considered the problem at the national level. However, there still exists a gap in quantitatively modeling social impacts, together with environmental and economic impacts, at the global level. To fill this gap, this research presents a multi-objective mathematical model for the design and planning of a supply chain, integrating the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social). In this research, the economic dimension of sustainability is addressed by considering the costs of the supply chain. Then MRIO, a national input-output table that describes the interdependencies between countries and economic sectors, is integrated with national environmental and social impacts to construct a triple bottom line (3BL) approach by industrial sectors. This model supports decision making by including both direct impacts, as well as indirect impacts, associated with upstream supply chain paths. This expands the range of impact considered in sustainable performance measurement both within and beyond the supply chain boundary. The integrated model can improve a company's ability to select supply chain partners based on a wider range of criteria, rather than being based on economics alone. A case study is conducted that considers three tiers of the transportation and equipment supply chain, which consists of six industrial sectors that are part of a larger system of fourteen industrial sectors operating across seventeen of the largest manufacturing countries in the world. The model is solved using a [epsilon]-constraint method; and the resulting Pareto optimal curves show the tradeoffs between the economic, environmental and social dimensions. The results reveal that indirect economic activities dominate when contributing to the environmental and social impact of the whole system. Expanding the scope of sustainability changes supply chain configuration decisions. Therefore, the primary result from this research is that firms and industry sectors need to change their focus from solely on economic aspects and include environmental and social aspects in supply chain decision making at operational and/or strategic levels of decisions.
Building the best : a quantitative evaluation of a state-level teacher retention strategy designed to increase self-efficacy, reflective capacity, and job satisfaction through effective professional development
Authors:   , Gross Tracy L.
Published: April 2021

"There are not enough teachers (Ingersoll, 2001; Ingersoll and Smith, 2003; Sutcher, et al., 2016). Focusing on retention is crucial to combatting shortages (Darling-Hammond, 2003); it is critical to specifically target retention of the very best teachers, who leave the profession at a greater rate and impact student learning the most (Jacob et al., 2012). Supporting teacher growth is a strategy to increase retention by providing career development, which improves working conditions, ultimately leading to increases in job satisfaction for teachers. Teacher self-efficacy and reflective practice are both related to teacher retention (Yost, 2006). Teacher self-efficacy is known to be a protective factor against burnout (Aloe et al., 2014; Brown, 2012; Brouwers et al., 2001; Cherniss, 1993; Schwerdtfeger, et al., 2008; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2007; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2010; Tschannen-Moran, et al., 1998) and is positively related to teacher retention (Kelley, 2004; Yost, 2006). Engaging in reflection with reflective supervision is correlated with desire for improvement and job satisfaction (Priddis and Rogers, 2018), both of which are connected to teacher retention. Missouri Teacher Academy is a state-level initiative designed to support teacher retention. The program content focuses on instructional strategies and student engagement, which are aligned to two of the dimensions measured by the TSES (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Additionally, the program emphasizes reflective practice, which has been found to be positively related to teacher self-efficacy (Babaei and Abednia, 2016). Given the relationship between teacher retention and self-efficacy (Kelley, 2004; Yost, 2006), program impacts on these two important constructs should be evaluated. The TSES (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the RPQ (Priddis and Rogers, 2018; Rogers et al., 2019) were used to measure levels of participant self-efficacy and reflective capacity. The RPQ has not been used in an educational context, and this study may add to the body of research regarding the application of this tool across multiple disciplines. The results of this study may be used to inform future program and policy decisions regarding Missouri Teacher Academy."--from Summary
Genomics of seasonal hair shedding and ecoregion-specific growth to identify environmentally-adapted beef cattle
Authors:   , Durbin Harly Jane
Published: April 2021

Recently, interest has increased in augmenting current national scale cattle evaluations with precision genetic predictions tailored to specific environmental conditions. Some efforts to develop environmentally-aware predictions have focused on the use of novel phenotypes and others on the incorporation of genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) to existing methodologies. Cattle and other mammal species molt thick winter coats at the beginning of 07 in order to prepare for the oncoming stress of warmer weather. In warm climates, cattle that shed their winter coat earlier and more completely have an adaptive advantage over later-shedding herd-mates, and previous work has demonstrated the relationship between seasonal coat shedding and production traits. Using a novel trait (early 07 hair shedding score) we develop a genetic evaluation for heat tolerance. We find that hair shedding score is moderately heritable and controlled by genomic loci involved in light sensing and metabolism. Additionally, we explore the degree to which GxE interactions across discrete ecoregions affect pre-weaning growth in American Angus cattle. We find evidence for GxE in the maternal but not direct effect of weaning weight, particularly in heat-stressed environments. Together, these efforts will help beef cattle breeders match genetics to the environmental conditions in which they are best suited.
The nature of evidence utilized in healthcare architectural design decisions at five Midwestern critical access hospitals
Authors:   , Stankos Mary Ann
Published: April 2021

Building a replacement hospital is a once in a lifetime experience for any healthcare administrator and the design decisions made during the building process can have a lasting impact on stake holders and end users for years to come. Improving healthcare design is integral to improving healthcare itself, and it is essential that healthcare administrators make informed architectural design decisions that will ensure organizational success and improve patient outcomes. Evidence-based design (EBD) practice is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence from research and practice in making critical decisions, together with an informed client, about the design of each individual and unique project. Utilizing a multi-site case study consisting of critical access hospitals that were in the process of or had built a replacement hospital in five Midwestern states, I sought answers to two questions: (1) how do hospital administrators and architects define and use EBD during the healthcare design process, and (2) what is the nature of the evidence that is used in this design process? I learned from these case studies that the tenets of EBD were not well understood by either the hospital administrators or the architects, and that decisions on designs were heavily weighted towards experiential evidence as compared to evidence from empirical research, which may have contributed to certain design missteps in the built replacement hospitals. Use of an EBD process, as proposed and supported by the Center for Health Design, may provide for knowledge transfer of evidence and allow healthcare administrators to participate in evidence-informed decision making, provided participating architects are knowledgeable in EBD and its potential benefits.
Mainstreamed English language instruction in a low-incidence rural school district : a case study
Authors:   , Yoesel Margaret ReneÌ Watring
Published: April 2021

Classrooms in the United States are changing as the population of the United States becomes more diverse with growing numbers of English language learners (Banks, 2005; Capps, Fix, Murray, Ost, Passel and Herwantoro, 2005; Cartledge, Gardner, and Ford, 2009; DeVillar, Faltis, and Cummins, 1994; Diaz, 2001; Dilg, 2003; Hernandez, 2001; Ovando and McLaren, 2000; Sadowski, 2004; Sleeter and Grant, 1994). Immigrants and their families have traditionally settled in larger urban communities, but recent trends indicate a growing number of English language learners are enrolling in rural mid-west public schools. Many rural districts have very little experience or resources to meet the needs of this new diverse group of students. As a result teachers, especially in rural and low-incidence districts, are experiencing academic and cultural challenges of educating students whose first language is not English (Berube, 2000; Hill and Flynn, 2004). The purpose of this study was to examine elementary teacher perceptions regarding experience with instructing mainstreamed English language learners in a low-incidence district. This study also explores issues these teachers feel most influence their ability to successfully teach students from diverse cultures and who speak a first language other than English. Research examining teacher perceptions should provide important insight to teachers, administrators and policy makers regarding teacher needs and support in the education of English language learners.
An investigation of dielectric breakdown on a pressurized, flowing oil switch - WITHDRAWN
Authors:   , Norgard Peter A.
Published: April 2021

WITHDRAWN - [ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] In the not-so-distant future, a need is foreseen for a high-performance, compact switch that is capable of repetitively switching kilovolts to megavolts and several hundred joules, all while delivering a square pulse with a fast current rise time. Many industrial and military applications currently exist that could take advantage of these operating characteristics, and many more are surely to be developed in the coming years. The proposed approach to realizing the goal of producing a fast rise time, high voltage, high energy, repetitive switch technology is to employ a pressurized, flowing oil dielectric switching medium. Oil pressure and oil flow will be used to increase the rate of dielectric recovery following a high energy discharge, thus enabling a much higher operating repetition frequency; oil pressure will be utilized to control gaseous switching byproducts, and oil flow will be utilized to control solid and gaseous switching byproducts. The well-known increase in breakdown electric field strength with increasing oil pressure will be utilized to reduce the gap separation, thus reducing the inductance of the electrical arc and increasing the rise time of the current pulse produced during breakdown. An experiment was designed and undertaken to evaluate the complete statistical performance of the breakdown electric field of an emerging dielectric liquid, poly-[alpha]olefin, with respect to variations in oil pressure, oil flow rate, peak rate of rise of the voltage, and gap separation.
ASSESSMENT OF BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN DIABETIC AND NON-DIABETIC ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION PATIENTS
Authors: Jain Darshna
Published: April 2021

Background: The present study was design to assess the level of altered lipid profile, lipoprotein sub fractions, oxidative stress and antioxidants in coronary artery disease with type-2 diabetes mellitus’s patients and non diabetic patients.

Methods: This case–control study included 300 subjects; out of which, 100 subjects were with normal blood glucose level and with normal ECG (Normal, N), 100 subjects  were with normal blood glucose level and AMI (non-diabetic and AMI, N-AMI) and 100 subjects were with diabetes and AMI (Diabetic and AMI, D-AMI)

Results: D-AMI individuals had high level of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and low level of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in comparison to N-AMI individuals. The cardiac markers such as Troponin I, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly increased in patients suffering from myocardial infarction with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to patients of myocardial infarction without DM. The antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) were lower in D-AMI patients than in N-AMI. However, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and catalase (CAT) were higher in D-AMI than in N-AMI controls.

Conclusion: Our study suggested that patients with D-AMI have elevated cardiac markers and reduced antioxidants levels as compared to N-AMI patient.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Acute Myocardial Infarction, Creatine Phosphokinase, Glutathione
La expresión metafórica en "Pueblo Negro" y "Mulata-Antilla" de Luis Palés Matos
Authors: Ríos Guillermo S.
Published: April 2021

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La luna de Apolo
Authors: Escobar Tania
Published: April 2021

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Fabio y su pelota
Authors: Feliciano Génesis , Arroyo Vanessa , Ordoñez Loya Jaqueline
Published: April 2021

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Todo muerde
Authors: Ramírez Carmen
Published: April 2021

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La oruga y las redes sociales
Authors: Miranda Laura , León María Alejandra
Published: April 2021

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La venadita que quería ganar
Authors: Dávalos Alma , Ortis Víctor
Published: April 2021

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El perro que dijo Â¡miau!
Authors: Ortiz Matias
Published: April 2021

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Milestone of World Pandemics: A Review on Remedy for COVID-19 Diseases to Revitalize Human Race from Deadly Corona Virus
Authors: Olajide Ajayi Adedayo
Published: April 2021

Viruses are microscopic organisms that can only grow within living host cells. Various types of animals such as Rats, Bat, Cows, snakes, and related wild animals can serve as vehicles of transmission of this group of organisms. Novel SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Coronaviridae family that was reported to have emanated from Wuhan, China in December 2019. It alerts world response against strange viral respiratory disease. As the world reflects on pandemics historically. Epidemics like the London plague of 1665 and the Plague that emanates from Marseille, France of 1720 claimed millions of lives. Among the most dreadful world pandemics are the “Antonine Plague” which occurred in 165AD and claimed 5 million lives in Egypt, Asia, Italy, and Greece. “Plague of Justinian” was reported to have occurred between the years 541 and 542. In addition to this, “The Flu Pandemic” is also referred to as Spanish flu ravaged the world during the year 1918 to 1920, which is about a century ago.”3rd Plague of 1855” originated from China and was responsible for the death of 10 million Indians within one year.” The Black Death” which is a 7 years long pandemic devastated the world between the years 1346 to 1353. It leads to the death of half of the global population and was by far the worst pandemic. HIV-AIDS has peak record deaths between 2005-2012. In the year 2019/2020 COVID-19 broke out severely than MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV which occurred in recent years. One possible best approach for the control of COVID-19 diseases caused by SARS-CoV-2 is to improve the hosts’ immune system. Evidence shows that inflammatory conditions militate against the immune systems of COVID-19 patients. Some other control strategies will include the use of face masks, physical distancing, hand washing, or use of alcohol-based sanitizers and related personal hygiene are important to contain the diseases.
PENGARUH PARAMETER PENGELASAN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING TERHADAP SIFAT FISIK DAN MEKANIK MULTI-LAYER lOGAM TAK SEJENIS BERBEDA KETEBALAN
Authors: Haikal Haikal
Published: April 2021

Penggunaan resistance spot welding untuk menggabungkan logam tiga lapis merupakan pengembangan baru dalam perakitan automotif. Pengaruh parameter pengelasan seperti tegangan listrik dan waktu pengelasan terhadap sifat fisik dan mekanik sambungan las logam tak sejenis antara 316L, SS 400, dan J1 telah diteliti. Gaya penekanan elektroda dalam penelitian ini dibuat seragam. Parameter pengelasan yang digunakan yaitu tegangan 2,02; 2,30; 2,67 V dan waktu pengelasan 3 ; 4; 5; 7,5 s. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa tegangan 2,67 V dan waktu pengelasan 7,5 s menghasilkan kekuatan tarik geser tertinggi yaitu 11,19 kN dengan mode kerusakan berupa pull out. Peningkatan tegangan listrik dan waktu pengelasan menyebabkan diameter nugget sisi antarmuka semakin lebar. HAZ mengalami perluasan akibat meningkatnya waktu pengelasan. Kekerasan tertinggi terdapat pada daerah nugget dikarenakan butiran terbentuk kolumnar.
Cognitive Development for Preschooler 4-5 Year Olds by Using PowerPoint Audio-Visual Media on ECE Students
Authors: Suwaryaningrat Ni Dewi Eka
Published: April 2021

This study aims to determine whether using PowerPoint audio-visual media can improve children’s cognitive development in ECE (Early Childhood Education) in North Tomohon Sub-District, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The research method used was collaborative Classroom Action Research (CAR) conducted in ECE in North Tomohon Sub-District, and it was found that 1) Before using the PowerPoint audio-visual media, ECE in North Tomohon Sub-District still had difficulty doing the assigned tasks and answering teachers’ questions because the children cognitive was not stimulated well; 2) The use of PowerPoint audio-visual media can improve the child’s cognitive aspects because the learning activities were designed in an attractive, fun and not boring way. Through the use of PowerPoint audio-visual learning media, children’s cognitive can be stimulated well.