bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding the development of a 6th grade science classroom practice of argumentation : synthesizing cognitive and sociocultural perspectives
Authors:   , Cite Suleyman
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Recent science standards have underlined the importance of engaging students in scientific practices for learning science ideas as well as develop understandings about the ways in which scientific knowledge is constructed. As such, scientific argumentation, one of the central practices of science, has gained interest among science educators. Looking across the studies focusing on incorporating scientific argumentation into science classroom, two prominent approaches, cognitive and sociocultural, stand out regarding the incorporation of scientific argumentation into science classrooms. While cognitive perspective focuses on characterizing the nature of student competence in argumentation and understanding the individual student development of argumentation competence, sociocultural perspective seeks to understand the ways in which student competence can be facilitated by the contextual features of a classroom community. By bringing these two distinct but complementary perspectives together in this dissertation study, we proposed four manuscripts to understand the development of a 6th grade science classroom argumentation practice. The results of this dissertation study suggested that individual student's development of argumentation competence was mediated by the classroom norms around discourse. The implications for future research and curriculum design are discussed.
Animals in Rome
Authors:   , Janda Elizabeth
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Humans have coexisted intimately with animals for thousands of years, yet our relationship with them is still fraught with uncertainty. Animal behavior is so similar to our own, while sometimes taking such alien forms, that animals have often been used as the natural basis of comparison for defining what a human being is and what a human being is not. Yet teasing out precisely what that definition is and what it means for us can be as elusive as it is illuminating. What is an animal and what does it mean to be a human? This dissertation examines how Romans constructed the differences between humans and animals and how they viewed their similarities in four different aspects of their society: the possession of reason as the key distinction between humans and animals; human interactions with animals that depended on assumed human dominance; the emotional connections that existed between humans and animals; and the stories of metamorphosis. It may appear that in antiquity people placed a greater emphasis on the differences that existed between them and animals, but the conclusion drawn from these studies is that the connections they felt with them were ultimately stronger and more meaningful.
The effect of piano accompaniment type and harmonic context on the tuning performance of college-level choral musicians
Authors:   , Frampton Tristan
Published: April 2021

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of piano accompaniment style on the intonation performance of college-level choral musicians. It was hypothesized that using a piano accompaniment comprised solely of referential tones (RT), as opposed to having all voice parts doubled by the piano (PD), would encourage more desirable intonation performance. Participants (N = 34) sang a researcher-composed melody harmonized with traditional Western functional harmony under both accompaniment conditions. Accompaniment type was not found to have a significant effect on the tuning performance of target intervals, but harmonic context did significantly affect the singers' intonation. Most notably, intonation of major 3rds in the I and IV chords closely approximated just intonation, regardless of accompaniment type. In the context of the V chord, performances more closely approximated the high Pythagorean 3rd, which was attributed to a tendency to heighten the leading tone. When comparing intonation performance to the just intonation, equal temperament, and Pythagorean tuning systems, results indicated that performances did not conform perfectly to any one tuning system, supporting the conclusion that the singers' intonation performance was dependent on harmonic context.
The effect of Parkinson's disease on learning-related slow potentials and emotion
Authors:   , Ren Xi
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The dopaminergic reward system is the focus of intensive research because of its relevance to disorders such as addiction, obesity, Parkinson's disease (PD), schizophrenia, and depression. One purpose of the current study was to test whether learning effects on a measure of reward expectancy, the Stimulus-Preceding Negativity (SPN), are dopamine mediated. We compared changes in SPN amplitude across trials as healthy people and people whose dopamine system had been damaged by PD learned a series of probabilistic categorization tasks, in which they were required to find out which of two doors was usually followed by a pleasant picture and which by an unpleasant one. We also assessed dopamine effects in the two groups using a behavioral assay, resting spontaneous eye-blink rate. The second purpose of the study was to test the involvement of dopamine in emotions triggered by positive and negative feedback displays via measures of the late positive potential (LPP), startle blink reflex, post-auricular reflex (PAR), and self-report. Results showed that SPN learning effects seen in the control group were absent in the patient group. These effects did not vary as a function of spontaneous blink rate. Changes in SPN topography suggested that patients might have compensated for impairments in their dopamine-dependent reinforcement learning system by switching to declarative memory. Confirming prior findings, participants with Parkinson's disease were less responsive to negative feedback as indicated by LPP. Patients with low spontaneous blink rate tended to exhibit reduced affective modulation of startle blink. Dopamine plays an important role in both anticipation and receipt of task feedback.
Automated detection of amperometric spikes resulting from quantal exocytosis and estimation of spike and pre-spike foot signal parameters
Authors:   , Balaji Ramachandran Supriya
Published: April 2021

Electrochemical microelectrodes can detect single-vesicle release events as "spikes" of amperometric current. We developed a template based "matched-filter" approach that performs least squares fit of a library of templates to the data and identifies a spike when a detection criterion score given by the ratio of amplitude to the standard error exceeds a minimum threshold. This method outperformed existing approaches and detected >95% of true spikes for a mere 2% false positive rate as evidenced by receiver operating characteristic plots of sensitivity vs specificity. The next step is estimation of spike parameters like peak amplitude (Imax), half-maximal width (t50) and area under the curve (Q) which inform maximal flux, flux duration and charge respectively. Closely successive overlapping spikes are ambiguous to estimate as they may not decay back to baseline and should be rejected. Matched filter approach not only provided robust spike detection but also parameter seed values to reject overlapping spikes and also perform iterative curve fitting of spikes. The remaining well-separated spikes were iteratively fit in two phases, first by fitting rising and decaying phases separately and second by fitting the entire time course using seed values from the matched filter template parameters. Using curve-fit parameters, Imax, t50 and Q were calculated. Histograms of these parameters had bi-modal Gaussian distributions with centers and spreads within 12% and 4% of histograms created using manually analyzed data. The pre-spike baseline was estimated using a novel application of the matched-filter criterion scores and the estimation of pre-spike foot signal parameters such as charge (Qfoot) and duration (tfoot) yielded means, and medians within 10% of manually computed parameters.
The stereotypical, mythical, and peace journalism representation of blackness through news storytelling content in racial democracies : a critical discourse analysis
Authors:   , Cortes-Martinez Carlos A.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) explores how well-established news storytellers represent people of African descent in contexts where racial oppression is supposedly over. In a moment when news storytelling has gained momentum, the reconstruction of the archive of one of the most prominent magazine outlets in the Americas, from 1999 to 2017, allowed an examination of the potential of feature writing to work towards social justice. Despite the discourse of all races as equal and the current popularity of news storytelling, the findings show that feature writing in SoHo, a Colombian men's monthly publication, marginalizes and stereotypes black communities. Moreover, SoHo fosters a narrative of racial harmony that ignores the structural inequalities that black people face. Borrowing from the literature on stereotypes, myths, and peace journalism (PJ), this investigation restructures a model that explains the relationship between news and racism, describes the particularities of the discourse of racial democracies and offers practical guidance in terms of how to improve the coverage of racial minorities.
Big gorgeous jazz machine
Authors:   , Potter Nick Francis
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This manuscript considers the influence of twentieth-century avant-garde literature and painting in contemporary art comics, particularly the growing sub-genre of comics poetry. The introduction lays a historical groundwork for this specific strain of comics, including antecedent works and a consideration for how the genre fits into the comics medium's longstanding struggle for cultural legitimacy. Further, the introductory essay examines how the wide range of comics that fit under the umbrella of comics poetry remediate modernist practices in poetry and painting, foregrounding simultaneity and materiality over transparency and narrative. This introduction considers seminal works in the field, including Warren Craghead's How to be Everywhere (2007), which reworks the calligrammes of Apollinaire, and Erin Curry's Songs of the Sea (2016), directly inspired by Cy Twombly's series of paintings by the same name. In addition to analyzing these comics, the paper considers how these works have been utilized by comics critics (Baetens, Gronesteen, Bennett, Badman) in revising and expanding critical frameworks in comics studies and developing an artist-critic relationship that closely mirrors those documented between the modernist avant-garde and the semiotic theory of Saussure early in the twentieth century (Drucker). The subsequent manuscript follow exhibits a collection of comics works that maintain a formal relationship with those discussed in the introduction.
Exploring the impact of peracetic acid on bacterial regrowth and plasmid release and developing a novel whole-cell biosensor to monitor the expression of quorum sensing genes
Authors:   , Zhang Chiqian
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Peracetic acid (PAA or CH3COOOH) is a promising alternative to chlorine-based disinfectants for water and wastewater treatment due to its strong antimicrobial properties and low disinfection by-product (DBP) formation potential. Numerous studies have determined the disinfection performance of PAA; however, issues such as the thermodynamic properties of PAA, bacterial regrowth after PAA disinfection, and the impact of PAA treatment on the release of bacterial plasmid DNA from water and wastewater treatment facilities are still poorly understood. In addition, it is important to understand how environmental stress or chemical disinfection affects bacterial gene expression, especially those involved in biofilm formation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a model bacterium for studies of microbial biofilm formation and pathogenesis, and both processes are tightly regulated by quorum sensing (QS) networks. Fluorescence-based whole-cell biosensing is a powerful tool capable of assessing the expression of bacterial genes, but an approach to simultaneously determine the genetic activities of the QS systems in P. aeruginosa has not been fully explored. This study aimed to determine the physicochemical and biological behavior of aquatic environments exposed to PAA as well as construct a novel whole-cell biosensor to assess the expression of important QS genes. Specifically, we focused on 1) calculating the important thermodynamic characteristics, Gibbs energy of formation and oxidationreduction (redox) potential, of PAA; 2) monitoring the long-term regrowth of both planktonic (suspended) and biofilm bacteria after PAA disinfection; 3) determining the impact of PAA treatment on the release and functionality of bacterial plasmid DNA; and 4) constructing a novel whole-cell biosensor to monitor the genetic activities of the four QS networks in P. aeruginosa PAO1 simultaneously, namely the las, rhl, pqs, and iqs systems.
Mechanisms of photoreceptor mediated responses in photomorphogenesis and phototropism
Authors:   , Willenburg Kyle
Published: April 2021

Photoreceptor facilitated light perception provides plants with critical environmental information from which they can direct their growth. We investigated the early photomorphogenic responses in Glycine max and Glycine soja with the aim of elucidating the effect that domestication has had on early light responses. Our study indicates that G. max exhibits growth in darkness that is more characteristic of growth in light. This finding suggests that domestication has resulted in a crop species that is partially constitutively photomorphogenic. We additionally investigated the effects of blue light-induced ubiquitination sites that were ubiquitinated dependently by NON-PHOTOTROPIC HYPOCOTYL3 (NPH3) in the red light photoreceptor phytochrome A (phyA) in Arabidopsis thaliana. We discovered that transgenic lines expressing phyA with the ubiquitination sites K555 and K603 converted to non-ubiquitinatable arginine residues displayed reduced degradation in blue light and additionally reduced phototropic curvature in high intensity blue light, while functioning normally in other responses tested: very low and low intensity blue light phototropism, far-red light hypocotyl growth inhibition, and red light-induced phyA degradation. This finding suggests a mechanism for a more direct route of blue and red light-signaling crosstalk than has been previously shown.
Growth, photosynthesis, and carbohydrate dynamics of cotton during early development
Authors:   , Shengjun Liu
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Stand establishment and early growth is critical for successful cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production. Rapid early growth enhances the chances that cotton seedlings can outgrow damage by biotic stress factors, and may also improve their ability to tolerate abiotic stress conditions. However, information about the physiological mechanisms governing early vigor in cotton is limited. Therefore, three cotton genotypes differing in seedling vigor and one commercial cultivar were selected for detailed characterization of early growth in greenhouse (GH) and in field conditions. Phenotypes measured included total biomass, total leaf area, leaf area ratio, specific leaf area, net assimilation rate, absolute growth rate, relative growth rate, individual leaf biomass, leaf mass per area, SPAD readings, and photosynthetic rates. Additionally, temporal dynamics of fructose, glucose, sucrose and starch concentrations in leaf, cotyledon, stem, and root tissues were characterized in detail in the four genotypes. Significant genotypic differences were observed for most of the parameters. Genotypic differences in leaf area ratio, specific leaf area, leaf weight ratio, stem weight ratio, and root weight ration indicate that carbon allocation was strongly influenced by genotype. Genotypes also differed in cotyledon size and areas of individual true leaves, leaf biomass, leaf mass per area, SPAD readings, and photosynthetic rates at most measurement dates. Differences in carbohydrate concentrations were observed among tissue types, genotypes, and between greenhouse and field experiments. Carbon allocation to different tissues, leaf area, and photosynthetic rates appear to be important drivers underlying early vigor in cotton, and the extent to which the differences in carbohydrate concentrations and dynamics are responsible for, or a consequence of, differences in early vigor remains to be elucidated.
Social studies, denizens, and the state: A three-article dissertation
Authors:   , Wright Jennice McCafferty
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation examines education as an apparatus of state in three different research studies. The first paper, â€œCultural Bombs and Dangerous Classes: Social Studies Education as State Apparatus in the War on Terror,â€ interrogates the tactical use of education within the War on Terror. Using sixteen years of annual reports from the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, this study 1) historicizes the growth of social studies education in counterterrorism policies; 2) illustrates how nonelite youths in the Muslim world are depicted as a threat requiring mitigation through education initiatives; and 3) applies NgÅ©gÄ© wa Thiongâ€™o, Franz Fanon, and Amilcar Cabralâ€™s observations of class, culture, and imperialism as analytical tools through which we can consider these reports. The second paper, â€œIt Changes Me from Nothing to Something: Identifying Educative-Psychic Violence in a Counterterrorism Program for Nonelite Youths,â€ identifies educative-psychic violence in submissions to a U.S. public diplomacy initiativeâ€™s page on Facebook. It examines how teachers and staff interpret and communicate compliance with the programâ€™s mission for students to develop an â€œappreciation for U.S. culture and democratic values through cultural enhancement activitiesâ€ and addresses implications for education as public diplomacy. The third paper, â€œTeaching for Critically Engaged Denizenship: Lessons from Morocco on NaÃ¯ve Notions of Citizenship and an Empowered Other Civic Status,â€ argues that in social studies education we too often use citizen and citizenship as inaccurate proxies for denizen and denizenship. Using ethnographic data from Morocco, it identifies distinctions in civic status and why they matter in civic education.
Let's agree to agree : effects of self-awareness and social identity on online deliberation
Authors:   , Funk Michelle E.
Published: April 2021

This experiment assesses the effects of ingroup versus outgroup communication in an online, one-on-one, anonymous setting on perceptions of deliberation quality in a conversation task pertaining to abortion policy. Additionally, the study examines the effects of different secondary goals during converstion tasks--those of persuasion, and those of other-awareness, or understanding--in concert with trait online disinhibition tendencies in individuals. Finally, outcomes related to perceptions of one's conversation partner (civility, intelligence, rationality, hostility, and others), perceived compromise, feelings of political deliberation cynicism, and accuracy of other awareness (i.e., ability to correctly recall a partner's abortion-related attitudes gleaned through conversation) were also measured. Many similar studies have found that the majority of online hostility will be committed by, accepted by, or even expected by those with higher levels of toxic online disinhibition--but as of yet, there has been relatively little research that inquires how civility can be encouraged in those predisposed to such toxic behaviors online. Notably, this study finds that those with higher levels of toxic, but not benign, online disinhibition prior to the task are capable of engaging amicably in deindividuated, anonymous online settings if their partner demonstrates a commitment to rationality even more than civility or intelligence, and at the same time does not compromise too easily.
PopZ and FtsZ coordinate polar growth termination and cell division in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Authors:   , Howell Matthew (Matthew Lloyd)
Published: April 2021

Understanding how bacterial cells expand their cell walls is an important question with relevance to development of antibiotics. While many studies have focused on the regulation of bacterial elongation utilizing lateral cell wall biogenesis, polar growth in bacteria is less well understood. Yet, polar growth has been observed across taxonomically diverse bacteria like Actinobacteria and the alphaproteobacterial clade Rhizobiales (Howell and Brown, 2016). Interestingly, polar-growing bacteria within Rhizobiales lack canonical scaffolding proteins for spatial and temporal regulation of peptidoglycan synthesis during elongation. Here, we dissect the role of two candidate scaffolding proteins in directing cell wall synthesis in the bacterial plant pathogen, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Since cell wall (peptidoglycan) biosynthesis during elongation and cell division is vital for bacterial survival, we expected many key proteins involved in these processes to be essential for cell survival. Thus, we developed a depletion system for A. tumefaciens (Figureroa-Cuilan et al. 2016). We further optimized a suite of target-specific fluorescent labeling techniques which allow us to visualize morphological changes during essential cell processes (Howell, Daniel, and Brown, 2017). We use these techniques to dissect the contributions of PopZ and FtsZ to polar growth and cell division. Although PopZ is not required for polar growth, it is required for proper coordination of polar growth, chromosome segregation, and cell division. This PopZ-mediated coordination ensures that daughter cells are the proper size and contain a complete complement of genetic material (Howell et al 2017). Next, we find that FtsZ is required for both termination of polar growth and cell division. This finding suggests that FtsZ has at least two important functions in regulation of cell wall biogenesis. First, FtsZ enables cell wall biogenesis machinery to be released or inactivated from the growth pole. Second, FtsZ must recruit additional proteins to mid cell to assemble the divisome, enabling activation of cell wall biogenesis to promote septum formation and cell separation. While further research is needed to understand how growth is targeted to the pole during elongation, our work provides mechanistic insights about the coordination of polar growth termination, chromosome segregation, and cell division. We hypothesize that our findings will be applicable to other closely related polar growing Rhizobiales, including plant, animal, and human pathogens.
Assessment of the microbiome associated with endangered orchids
Authors:   , Ravelo Andrea Vanina
Published: April 2021

The Orchidaceae (orchid family) is perhaps the most speciose group of flowering plants with approximately 25,000 described species and many thousands of hybrids. While certain mycorrhizal fungi are required for orchids to germinate, these mycorrhizae form just part of a microbial community that interacts with the plant. In this study, we sought a broader picture of the microbiome associated with these plants. A major motivation for our work is the concern that the gaps in our understanding of orchid microbiomes might have important consequences when decisions are made in the management of species of conservation concern. Because of the complexity of their symbiotic interactions, orchids are particularly at risk when faced with habitat loss or the potential effects of climate change. We studied two species of endangered terrestrial orchids in Missouri and, using DNA collected from soil and high throughput sequencing, evaluated the bacterial microbiome associated with these two orchid species.
Preparing public school leaders for culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse communities : an exploratory multiple-case study of faculty in Thailand
Authors:   , Maitreephun Warapark
Published: April 2021

This exploratory multiple-case study "using an application of transformative learning as its conceptual framework and using cross-case synthesis and constructing grounded theory as its analytic approach" aimed at examining how Thai faculty conceive of their teaching roles. This study collected data from six Buddhist faculty who prepared prospective school leaders for culturally, linguistically, and religiously (CLR) diverse communities in Thailand's southmost region, where Malay Muslim are the majority. Two-interview series were conducted in addition to document collection and classroom observation. The findings suggested the faculty's flexible notions of Thainess, which extended a historically and culturally dominant concept and resonated with their views of culturally, linguistically, and religiously responsive school leadership (CLRRSL) practices. They described three dimensions of CLRRSL including (1) ascertain the community context, (2) build school-community relationships, and (3) collaborate with school teachers to enhance the academic success of CLR diverse students. Based on these practices, faculty perceived their teaching roles as training school leaders to comprehend CLRRSL concepts and to develop their critical and flexible mindsets. These findings uncover gaps in the way faculty members expected and taught prospective school leaders to learn the CLRRSL concept although the concept did not embrace in the professional standards for Thai school leaders. Finally, the findings of this study suggest Thai government agencies to include the CLRRSL concept in the professional standards for school leaders, to train in-service school leaders to affirm CLRRSL work, and to prepare faculty members in leadership preparation programs for CLRRSL training.
A mixed method phenomenological case study of how members of a democratic micro school experience leadership and democratic principles
Authors:   , Bonebrake Tara J
Published: April 2021

A democratic micro school is a school with fewer than 150 students that ascribes to a democratic leadership structure where all of the school community members, especially the students, have leadership in their learning. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the lived experiences of the members of a democratic micro school community, especially regarding leadership and democratic principles. The primary researcher used a mixed-method design with an embedded phenomenological case study to analyze a single democratic micro school. All primary stakeholders in the school community were subjects of this study which included the students, parents, and educators. The data collection process included a survey, focus groups, interviews, observations, and other school artifacts. Using six democratic principles and the LMX theory, this study to added to the literature by addressing the experiences of those individuals attending independent schools. Achieving democracy in school allows students and teachers to have control of their learning experiences. This study supported the importance of communication and trust and caring as the educational foundation upon which equity, curriculum and interests, vision and goals, and community relied. Future research could expand the understanding of democratic micro schools beyond the single case used in this study.
Point processes on the complex plane with applications
Authors:   , Wu Weichao
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] A point process is a random collection of points from a certain space, and point process models are widely used in areas dealing with spatial data. However, studies of point process theory in the past only focused on Euclidean spaces, and point processes on the complex plane have been rarely explored. In this thesis we introduce and study point processes on the complex plane. We present several important quantities of a complex point process (CPP) that investigate first and second order properties of the process. We further introduce the Poisson complex point process and model its intensity function using log-linear and mixture models in the corresponding 2-dimensional space. The methods are exemplified via applications to density approximation and time series analysis via the spectral density, as well as construction and estimation of covariance functions of Gaussian random fields.
Discovery of novel hepatitis B virus (HBV) antivirals and analysis of mechanisms of action of HBV-targeting agents
Authors:   , Huber Andrew Douglas
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection leads to liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Globally, an estimated 50% of all hepatocellular carcinoma cases are linked to chronic HBV infection. More than 240 million people are chronically infected, and there are 0.5-1 million deaths per year due to HBVrelated liver conditions. HBV treatment options rarely cure infections and are associated with adverse side effects that often outweigh the potential benefits of treatment. New treatments, therefore, are highly desired for HBV therapy. Towards this goal, we have developed novel compounds targeting two viral targets and assessed the mechanisms of action by which these compounds act. We have developed systems for the discovery and evaluation of compounds that inhibit 2 distinct steps in the HBV life cycle. Using these systems, we have developed potent inhibitors of HBV replication that have potential to become clinically used HBV drugs. Furthermore, we have used our methods to evaluate which properties of these compounds are likely to result in better viral inhibition. The work described in this thesis has led to at least 2 new compound groups for potential use as HBV antivirals and provides insight into mechanisms by which potent antivirals can be achieved.
Statistical analysis of clustered or multivariate interval-censored failure time data
Authors:   , Ma Chenchen
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Interval-censored failure time data are a type of the failure time data that often occur in clinical trials with periodic follow-ups among others. In this case, the failure time of interest cannot be observed exactly, but is known to be greater than the last observation time at which the failure has not occurred and less than or equal to the first observation time at which the failure has been observed to occur. Current status data are a special case of interval-censored data that we sometimes refer to it as the case I interval censored data. This type of censoring means that each subject is observed only once for the status of occurrence of the failure of interest, so the survival time is either left- or right-censored. Chapter 4 considers the same problem as that in Chapter 3. There are multivariate current status data with informative censoring. We propose to use the vine-copulas to describe the dependence among the failure times of interest and the censoring time. The proposed estimators are shown to be strongly consistent and the asymptotic normality and efficiency of the regression parameter estimator are established. To assess the finite sample performance of the presented methodology, an extensive simulation study is performed and suggests that the method works well in practical situations. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to a tumorigenicity experiment. Several directions for future research are discussed in Chapter 5.
Attitudes and beliefs about corporal punishment among inner city homeless parents : a qualitative narrative study
Authors:   , Chiocca Ellen Marie
Published: April 2021

Despite the large body of research on the harmful effects and ineffectiveness of corporal punishment (CP), it is a common and socially acceptable method of child discipline in the United States. Parents are most likely to use CP when experiencing one or more stressors or lack social supports; one group of parents that suffers from multiple stressors and lacks social support is homeless parents. A qualitative, narrative study was conducted to explore the attitudes and beliefs of homeless parents regarding the use of CP, their opinions about the No-Hit policy at the shelter where they live, and what types of help or support they believed the shelter could provide for them. Data were collected from 18 homeless parents (n = 14 mothers; n = 4 fathers), age twenty to fifty-seven years, living in a shelter in a large Midwestern urban area. Results yielded five themes: (1) substantial participant experiences of childhood physical and emotional trauma; (2) clear conceptual definitions of and reasons for hitting children; (3) participant perspectives on interventions and policies related to corporal punishment; (4) strong family, community, religious and cultural influences on participant beliefs about hitting children; and (5) financial help from the shelter and help with housing is a main priority need expressed by participants. Findings present important implications for the development of more culturally sensitive and trauma-informed educational strategies, practices and policies for families and children impacted by poverty and violence.
Climate change impacts on hydrologic components and occurrence of drought in an agricultural watershed
Authors:   , Gautam Sagar
Published: April 2021

The study on potential acceleration of future hydrologic cycle due to change in precipitation and increase in temperature are essential for managing natural resources and setting policy. The impact of future climate change on hydrologic components of Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed (GCEW) and experimental field (Field1) were assessed using climate datasets from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and Agricultural Policy Environmental Extender (APEX). SWAT and APEX models were setup and calibrated for watershed and field scale using observed hydrology data at their respective outlets. The study identified future (2016-2075) occurrence of meteorological, hydrological, agricultural droughts, and extreme events based on projections of future climate in the GCEW and SWAT simulations. Standardized Precipitation Index, Standardized Streamflow Index, and Soil Moisture Index were used to represent the three types of drought. CMIP5 data were downscaled to watershed and field scale using quantile mapping for precipitation and delta method for temperature. Historical and future ensembles of downscaled precipitation and temperature, and modeled water yield, surface runoff, and evapotranspiration were compared. At the watershed scale, ensemble SWAT simulated results indicated increased springtime precipitation, water yield, surface runoff and a shift in evapotranspiration peak one month earlier in the future. At field scale, two management system business-As-Usual (BAU) and Aspirational (ASP) management system were compared to access the environmental benefits of improved management system using APEX model. Simulated results indicated that the change in management alone from BAU to ASP during historic period resulted in 25% (162 mm to 120 mm) reduction in surface runoff. The simulated average annual runoff loss was reduced by 16.5% (192 mm to 160 mm) and 18.8% (203 mm to 165 mm) in ASP scenario compared to BAU for ensemble of RCP 8.5 for near and far future respectively. The average ensemble annual soluble nitrogen loss was 8 kg/ha for BAU compared to 3.9 kg/ha for ASP management for baseline historic period. Result indicated the inclusion of no-till and winter cover crop resulted in increased subsurface flow. The result indicates the environmental benefit of crop rotation and cover crop with reduction in runoff and nutrient losses. The ASP management provides surface cover all year round and improves soil quality resulting in lower runoff.
Optically resonant structures for the enhancement of polycrystalline PbSe photoconductors
Authors:   , Grayer Justin Stewart
Published: April 2021

The mid-wave infrared (MWIR) regime of the electromagnetic spectrum is attractive for long-range imaging systems due to the atmospheric window between 3 and 5 [mu]m. Due to ambient thermal background, it is often necessary to operate sensor systems below room temperature to achieve an adequate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This cooling requirement adds size, weight, and complexity to systems in which these parameters are at a premium. In this work I investigated two methods for optically enhancing the absorptive properties of lead selenide (PbSe) photoconductive films to increase the operating temperature up to 290 K, thereby mitigating system cooling requirements. By employing surface plasmon resonant (SPR) and embedded reflective structures, we were able to demonstrate enhanced responsivity and raise the operating temperature to room-temperature. Sensitivity was observed to increase by a factor of three for SPR enhanced detectors, and up to two-times at room temperature in detectors with an embedded Pt back reflector. Moreover, PbSe detectors with SPR discs operating at room temperature were observed to have responsivity comparable to reference detectors at 230 K. Photoconductors with the embedded Pt back reflector had a performance at room temperature that was similar to the reference detector at 250 K. Herein, I discuss my design process, as well as the fabrication of these resonant structures. Also discussed are the measurement and test results I obtained from surface plasmon and embedded reflector enhanced PbSe detectors. In this dissertation, I present results that demonstrate the viability of SPR and interference structures as mechanisms for increasing the operating temperature of PbSe MWIR photodetectors up to 290 K
Complex service offerings : a theoretical exposition and empirical investigation
Authors:   , Hampton Stephen Andrew
Published: April 2021

It is generally acknowledged that not all services are alike, still little has been done to distinguish between service offerings of different varieties. While some service offerings are simple and others complex, how they differ is not yet understood. This dissertation addresses what distinguishes complex services from simpler services, why an inquiry into complex services is needed, and how a knowledge of complex services can inform research. In order to address these questions a new organizing framework for categorizing services is developed. This framework helps to make sense of service offering heterogeneity. A description of the service offering types belonging to the framework is presented to illustrate why inquiry into complex services is needed. In order to demonstrate how complex services may be used in empirical research, a model and hypotheses is built to test complex service contexts' potential as a new domain of fruitful research. This study found that customers' perceptions of role ambiguity are potentially negatively impacted by service complexity. This research also demonstrates that customers' perceptions of role ambiguity is affected both by the breadth and depth of participation by service coordinators, a role unique to complex service contexts.
Family support and prosocial behaviors in U. S. Mexican and European American young adults : the intervening roles of respect and sociocognitive/emotive traits
Authors:   , Streit Cara
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The primary aim of this study is to consider mothers, fathers, and siblings as socialization agents of young adult's prosocial behaviors and to consider the mediating roles of cultural values and sociocognitive/emotive traits. In order to build on previous work, these relations are examined in a sample of European American and U.S. Latino young adults. The final sample included 184 U.S. Latino (N = 143, 78.6 % female; M age = 20.68, SD =2.05) and 348 European American young adults (N = 275, 79.5 % female; M age = 19.52, SD =1.11). Results from path analyses demonstrate complex and differential predictors associated with prosocial behaviors, as distinguished by the target of helping. Cultural values and young adults' sociocognitive and emotive traits largely served as underlying mechanisms in the relations between family support and prosocial behaviors, although these relations were differentiated by the target of helping. There was also evidence for the moderating role of young adults' gender in the model assessing prosocial behaviors toward family members, such that for men, there were several indirect and direct effects of paternal support (but not maternal or sibling support) in fostering prosocial behaviors toward family members. Discussion will focus on the integration of socialization, cognitive developmental, and cultural theories in predicting prosocial behaviors towards different helping targets.
Boron quantitative analysis and imaging analysis in plants
Authors:   , Wang Xingyao
Published: April 2021

Boron is a very important nutrient element in plants, and thus it plays a key role in the world's food supply. Both boron deficiency and boron toxicity will cause plants to decrease their crop yield or even cause plants to die. To understand boron's role in plants, it is indispensable to investigate boron quantitatively and to study boron distribution so that we can know the amount of boron in each area of plants and the extent boron is transported in plants under various conditions. Some analytical methods have already been used to quantify boron in plants, such as UV-vis spectroscopy with the Azomethine-H method and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Also recently, some techniques are being developed by investigators to investigate boron distribution in plants such as Laser Ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) and Quantitative Neutron Capture Radiography (QNCR). The hypothesis of this dissertation is whether LA-ICPMS and QNCR can provide accurate and precise information on boron distribution analysis in plants. This information can be used to play a central role in analyzing boron distribution and to provide a better understanding of boron's role in plants. This dissertation has confirmed UV-vis spectroscopy with the Azomethine-H method and ICP-MS can analyze [B] in plants accurately and precisely as the destructive techniques. Their advantages and disadvantages are also discussed based on the experimental procedures and results. The dissertation also demonstrates that QNCR can be used to study boron imaging analysis in plants.
The development of clinical reasoning in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students
Authors:   , Sindt Jeri A.
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Clinical reasoning (CR) is a critical skill that nursing students must acquire in order to provide safe, effective patient care and to function optimally in their future role as registered nurses. Because this complex, high-level thinking process is a relatively recent focus in nursing education, there are few specific studies in the literature that describe CR formation and measurement during the process of CR attainment. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the thinking processes and behaviors associated with the development of clinical reasoning in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students. Data were collected during individual and small group interviews with 14 participants (n = 6 students; n = 8 faculty members) from public and private education institutions in the Midwest. Results yielded four themes: (1) Behaviors; (2) Thinking Patterns; (3) Feelings (both faculty and students); and (4) Thoughts About Self, a theme unique to the student participants. The themes were manifested in four stages of CR development (Pre CR, Developing CR, Post CR, and Delayed CR) throughout the nursing education program levels (Entry, Junior, and Senior). Findings present important implications for nursing education by providing evidence linking stages of CR development to specific observable behaviors, thus allowing for assessment of effective teaching and learning strategies and development of an assessment tool specific for CR development in both classroom and clinical settings.
Behavioral responses of drosophila suzukii (diptera: drosophilidae) to olfactory and visual cues
Authors:   , Bolton L. Grant
Published: April 2021

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Selected fruit and leaf volatiles were assessed to determine their attractiveness to Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Two- and four-choice assays were conducted in laboratory cages to observe responses of D. suzukii to several doses of compounds individually and in combination. The addition of [beta]-cyclocitral to ethyl hexanoate resulted in a synergistic response from D. suzukii. Additionally, a simple, high concentration blend of isoamyl acetate + [beta]-cyclocitral + methyl butyrate (in equal proportions) is attractive to both sexes of D. suzukii, not attractive to the non-target species Drosophila melanogaster, and is more attractive to females than blueberry fruit. Moreover, methyl isovalerate, methyl butyrate, and ethyl acetate in various combinations with isoamyl acetate + [beta]-cyclocitral were attractive to D. suzukii and not attractive to D. melanogaster. These compounds should be further investigated to determine optimal ratios and blends to develop a more species-specific lure for D. suzukii. Additional behavior assays investigated interactions between visual and olfactory stimuli. Color cues added to blueberry odors resulted in synergistic interactions for red, black, yellow, green and purple. Yeast had an interaction with red and ï¿½_-cyclocitral had an interaction with yellow. Overall, the odor source influences the behavioral response towards color.
Vaccine-induced protective immunity against coxiella burnetii
Authors:   , Ledbetter Lindsey Elizabeth
Published: April 2021

Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of human Q fever. This disease presents acutely as a flu-like illness, although it can escalate to a chronic and often fatal disease when left untreated. Considering no FDA-approved vaccine exists, the creation of a safe and effective vaccine remains an important public health goal. A formalin-inactivated C. burnetii Nine Mile strain phase I whole-cell vaccine generates protective immunity in a mouse model of experimental Q fever, although the mechanisms of protection remain unclear. Chapter 3 details my work establishing an early vaccine protection model and elucidating the cellular immune response which elicits early protection. The early time point at which PIV protects has implications for its use as a therapeutic vaccine. Furthermore, the innate-driven mechanisms by which it protects can be exploited for an improved Q fever vaccine. The importance of T cells in vaccine immunity against C. burnetii is well supported, however, multiple questions remain. It is unclear how CD4+ or CD8+ T cells contribute to vaccine protection, and the role of specific CD4+ T cell subsets is unknown. IFN-[theta] is critical for primary defense against C. burnetii, though its importance in vaccine immunity is undetermined. Chapter 4 describes my work aimed at filling these knowledge gaps. Vaccine development efforts have largely focused on the generation of antibodies as a correlate of protection. It has become clear that targeting T cells is more critical to vaccine protection and a better understanding of the mechanisms of cell-mediated immunity will inform future Q fever vaccine development.