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University of Missouri, St. Louis

Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2007

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Natal Dispersal And New Group Formation In Capybaras (Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris) In A Seasonally Flooded Savanna Of Venezuela, Elizabeth Rae Congdon Dec 2007

Natal Dispersal And New Group Formation In Capybaras (Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris) In A Seasonally Flooded Savanna Of Venezuela, Elizabeth Rae Congdon

Dissertations

This study examines natal dispersal and new group formation in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a seasonally flooded savanna in Venezuela. The first section describes a novel approach to the study of dispersal that could be applied to many taxa. Dispersal is considered in three stages (emigration, transience, and immigration) and its proximate and ultimate mechanisms are clearly differentiated. The second chapter describes dispersal behavior in capybaras, including which individuals disperse, when, and to where. In the third chapter, I evaluate dispersal in capybaras with respect to social subordination and social cohesion hypotheses. In this population, some support was …


A Comparison Of An Individually Tailored And A Standardized Asthma Self-Management Education Program, Judy Ann Shackelford Dec 2007

A Comparison Of An Individually Tailored And A Standardized Asthma Self-Management Education Program, Judy Ann Shackelford

Dissertations

Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the United States (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2003). According to the CDC (2003), prevalence of asthma continues to rise in epidemic proportions and is very costly. While asthma cannot be prevented or cured, it can be controlled to improve quality of life. Self-management is key to controlling asthma (CDC, 2003; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI], 2002). State of the science for asthma self-management establishes that health care costs decrease for self-management intervention groups (Lindberg et al, 2002; Thoonen et al, 2003). Education is essential to support asthma …


Electron Beam Characterization Of Carbon Nanostructures, Eric Samuel Mandell Dec 2007

Electron Beam Characterization Of Carbon Nanostructures, Eric Samuel Mandell

Dissertations

Atom-thick carbon nanostructures represent a class of novel materials that are of interest to those studying carbon's role in fossil fuel, hydrogen storage, scaled-down electronics, and other nanotechnology. Electron microscope images of "edge-on" graphene sheets show linear image features due to the projected potential of the sheets. Here, intensity profiles along these linear features can measure the curvature of the sheet, as well as the shape of the sheet (i.e. hexagonal, triangular). Also, electron diffraction powder profiles calculated for triangular graphene sheet shapes show a broadening of the low-frequency edge of diffraction rings, in comparison to those calculated for hexagonal …


Missouri Ozark Women's Experiences Of Living With Postpartum Depression Symptoms, Nathalie B. Williams Dec 2007

Missouri Ozark Women's Experiences Of Living With Postpartum Depression Symptoms, Nathalie B. Williams

Dissertations

Depression is a serious complication of the postpartum period that affects not only women but their children and families as well. Rural women are of particular concern because of the significant barriers to health care that they experience as a result of isolation, poverty, traditional beliefs, and a lack of accessible and adequate health related services. A review of the literature to identify evidence based nursing interventions that focused on primary and secondary prevention of postpartum depression revealed few interventions and there were no studies identified that targeted or even included women living in rural areas of the United States. …


Perceptions Of Dyspnea, Physical Activity, And Functional Status In Obese Women, Donna Althea Jewell Dec 2007

Perceptions Of Dyspnea, Physical Activity, And Functional Status In Obese Women, Donna Althea Jewell

Dissertations

PURPOSE: King's Theory of Goal Attainment guided this study exploring the physical sensation of dyspnea that obese women feel and how it affects their functioning. BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: Obesity prevalence has doubled since 1980. Current research is investigating how to reduce prevalence and examining obesity's impact on the respiratory system. Little research was found that investigated the impact obesity has on routine activities because of dyspena and function and whether physical activity has a mitigating effect. METHODS: A comparative descriptive research design was used. A survey of dyspnea felt during routine activities was created; IRB approval to survey community-dwelling women …


The Experience Of Technology Integration By Teacher Educators In Higher Education, Patricia Ann Suess Dec 2007

The Experience Of Technology Integration By Teacher Educators In Higher Education, Patricia Ann Suess

Dissertations

With the advancing use of technology globally, it is becoming essential for K-12 educators to have knowledge of educational technology and its appropriate classroom use. Thus, it is important for higher education faculty involved in the preparation of those K-12 teachers to achieve technology integration in their teacher education programs. It is not sufficient to simply provide computers and peripheral devices to future teachers. The critical issue is the way in which those tools are used to promote student learning. Therefore, it is necessary for faculty in higher education to model the use of technology as a teaching and learning …


Structural Changes And Neighborhood Homicide Trends In St. Louis, Missouri, 1980 - 2000: A Multi-Level And Spatial Analysis, Robert Jason Fornango Dec 2007

Structural Changes And Neighborhood Homicide Trends In St. Louis, Missouri, 1980 - 2000: A Multi-Level And Spatial Analysis, Robert Jason Fornango

Dissertations

Social scientists have long observed strong correlations between social structure and violent crime rates at the neighborhood level. Yet little is known about the relationship between changes in social structure and violent crime trends. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of crime trends has received little attention in the literature. The dissertation explores the trajectories and spatial dynamics of neighborhood homicide rates and social structure in St. Louis, Missouri between 1980 and 2000. Multilevel growth curve models are used to describe the nature of, and variation in, census tract homicide trajectories as functions of structural characteristics and changes in those features. Exploratory …


The Instructional Perspectives Of Community College Mathematics Faculty, Laurie K. Mcmanus Dec 2007

The Instructional Perspectives Of Community College Mathematics Faculty, Laurie K. Mcmanus

Dissertations

This study investigated the beliefs, feelings, and behaviors of full-time mathematics faculty at community colleges in a Midwestern state. The online questionnaire for this study included the modified Instructional Perspectives Inventory [IPI] (Henschke, 1989; Stanton, 2005). The subscales of the IPI are: (1) Teacher empathy with learners; (2) Teacher trust of learners; (3) Planning and delivery of instruction; (4) Accommodating learner uniqueness; (5) Teacher insensitivity toward learners; (6) Experience-based learning techniques; and, (7) Teacher-centered learning processes. Approximately 23.4% of invited participants responded to the survey, yielding a sample size of 34. Statistical analyses included calculations of mean, standard deviation, and …


Fiscal Impact Of American Indian Gaming On Non-Indian Local Governments, Courtney A. Andrews Dec 2007

Fiscal Impact Of American Indian Gaming On Non-Indian Local Governments, Courtney A. Andrews

Dissertations

Intense growth in American Indian gaming over the past two and a half decades has resulted in suggestions of impact on non-Indian communities with a resulting growth in tribal-local government interaction. Although there is mounting evidence of both positive and negative socio-economic impacts on non-Indian communities as a result of Indian gaming operations, to date, there has been very little exploration of the actual fiscal impact on non-Indian governments as a result of these operations. This thesis serves to examine this impact. This study uses a combination of an extensive literature review, tribal-local government survey, GIS techniques and a quantitative …


Developing Literacy Practices Through Digital Storytelling, Therese Marie Kulla-Abbott Oct 2007

Developing Literacy Practices Through Digital Storytelling, Therese Marie Kulla-Abbott

Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the use of multimedia and traditional literacy to answer the question: ?How does creating a ?digital story? impact children?s literacy skills?? Forty-three seventh-grade students from a Midwestern school created a series of three digital stories over the course of several months implementing creative, narrative and persuasive writing. These digital stories utilized the grade level curriculum, integrating communication arts, social studies, science, and technology. The purpose of this study was to better understand how literacy skills were impacted through the use of digital storytelling. This understanding will be used to inform improvements in instruction of writing, story …


St. Louis Charter School History, 1996-2005: A Case Study, Tara Kay Little Oct 2007

St. Louis Charter School History, 1996-2005: A Case Study, Tara Kay Little

Dissertations

This particularistic case study of St. Louis, Missouri charter schools examines the history of the charter school movement in St. Louis from the perspectives of those most closely involved in policy-making and school development, covering the period from the local movement?s inception in 1996 through the first sponsor review year in 2005. Transcribed interviews of ten key participants in the policy development and start-up process, as well as archival data, were thematically coded, deconstructed, triangulated, and reconstructed to form the basis of the history as it is presented in this study. This qualitative study reveals the rich narrative of charter …


Phylogeny And Trichome Evolution In The Plant Family Brassicaceae, Mark Alan Beilstein Sep 2007

Phylogeny And Trichome Evolution In The Plant Family Brassicaceae, Mark Alan Beilstein

Dissertations

The plant family Brassicaceae is economically important and contains the model genetic system Arabidopsis thaliana. Previous phylogenetic studies indicated that the historic classification system of the family was highly artificial, with several tribes likely to be para- or polyphyletic. However, these studies sampled fewer than 30 of the 338 genera of the family. We expanded the sampling of genera by four-fold and inferred phylogeny from both the chloroplast gene ndhF and the nuclear gene phytochrome A (PHYA) to determine which of the previously delimited 19 tribes of the family were monophyletic. Results from both ndhF and PHYA …


Principals And Library Media Specialists Working Together: A Case Study Of One Elementary School, Diane Elaine Gregg Sep 2007

Principals And Library Media Specialists Working Together: A Case Study Of One Elementary School, Diane Elaine Gregg

Dissertations

Elementary school principals are busy people. They are torn away from instructional duties by daily emergencies and are challenged to track student achievement and plan for improvements. Library media specialists are in a position to help principals improve teaching and learning. Gaining a better understanding of a positive and productive working relationship between a principal and a library media specialist will give the field valuable insight into how present-day schools can meet the needs of instructional and administrative leadership. This qualitative study examined the working relationship of an elementary school principal and library media specialist in a public school setting. …


Wireless Lan 802.11x In U.S. Educational Institutions: Technology Adoption And Digital Divide Perspective, Sang-Baek (Chris) Kang Sep 2007

Wireless Lan 802.11x In U.S. Educational Institutions: Technology Adoption And Digital Divide Perspective, Sang-Baek (Chris) Kang

Dissertations

The current study of wireless local area networks (WLAN) adoption in educational institutions is motivated by three reasons. First, most students are exposed to information technology when they are at K-12 schools. Indeed, educational institutions represent the largest segment in the WLAN market in the United States in terms of the number of adopters. Second, WLAN requires a substantial financial investment before it can enable an "anytime, anywhere" learning environment, and may thereby aggravate the digital divide between rich and poor schools. Third, although WLAN is infrastructure technology, it has different characteristics compared to other infrastructure information technologies; traditional infrastructure …


Structural Models Of Comorbid Anxiety And Depression In A Primary-Care Older Adult Sample: Effect Of Medical Illness Severity, Threat, Chronicity, And Progressiveness On Model Fit, William Michael Palmer Sep 2007

Structural Models Of Comorbid Anxiety And Depression In A Primary-Care Older Adult Sample: Effect Of Medical Illness Severity, Threat, Chronicity, And Progressiveness On Model Fit, William Michael Palmer

Dissertations

Recent research suggests that anxiety disorders may be more common in later life than previously thought. Among other factors, the presence of comorbid mood disorders and medical illness confounds accurate assessment and diagnosis of these conditions in the elderly. There have been few studies, however, examining the structural relationships between anxiety and depression with older-adult samples, and even fewer have considered the effect of medical illness on these relationships. This study examined three established structural models of anxiety and depression, using a clinical sample of older adults seeking treatment in a primary-care setting (N = 2,163). It was hypothesized that …


The Role Of Communication Channel, Feedback Valence And Cultural Differences In Performance Appraisal Outcomes, James C. Matchen Sep 2007

The Role Of Communication Channel, Feedback Valence And Cultural Differences In Performance Appraisal Outcomes, James C. Matchen

Dissertations

The effects of feedback valence (positive or negative) across culture (Individualistic or Collectivistic) for both the verbal and nonverbal communication channels on performance appraisal outcomes were investigated. It was hypothesized that participants would react differently to the performance appraisal they received based on (1) their own cultural values and on (2) the valence of the verbal feedback and nonverbal feedback provided by the manager. Main effects of both verbal feedback valence and nonverbal feedback valence were predicted and found. Participants reported more positive reactions to both the performance appraisal process and to the manager after receiving positive feedback than after …


Nurturing Peace: United Nations Peacebuilding Operations In The Aftermath Of Intrastate Conflicts, 1945-2002, Duk Hyang Kim Sep 2007

Nurturing Peace: United Nations Peacebuilding Operations In The Aftermath Of Intrastate Conflicts, 1945-2002, Duk Hyang Kim

Dissertations

After World War II, intrastate conflicts rapidly replaced interstate conflicts as the dominant threat to international peace and security, a trend that has become all the more evident in the post-Cold War era. Given the prevalence of civil wars, there is increasing awareness of the need for post-conflict settlement procedures, development of local capacity for conflict resolution, and long-term peacebuilding efforts. In his 1992 An Agenda for Peace, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali encouraged the international community to take responsibility for the full range of post-conflict management roles by introducing ?post-conflict peace-building.? Even though the term ?peacebuilding? did not …


Genetic And Demographic Consequences Of Human-Driven Landscape Changes On Bird Populations: The Case Of Aphrastura Spinicauda (Furnariidae) In The Temperate Rainforest Of South America, Cintia Cornelius Jul 2007

Genetic And Demographic Consequences Of Human-Driven Landscape Changes On Bird Populations: The Case Of Aphrastura Spinicauda (Furnariidae) In The Temperate Rainforest Of South America, Cintia Cornelius

Dissertations

Human activities, such as agriculture and forest exploitation, have modified landscapes worldwide. Despite a large accumulation of empirical and theoretical knowledge on habitat loss and fragmentation, some aspects remain poorly understood, especially those related to interactions between different forms of habitat degradation. The overall goal of this research was to study the effects of forest fragmentation and changes in forest structure on bird populations in a human-modified landscape in the temperate rainforest of South America using Aphrastura spinicauda (Furnariidae) as a model species. I evaluated i) if replacement of forest by open habitat leads to reduced dispersal influencing the genetic …


Pagamea Aubl. (Rubiaceae), From Species To Processes, Building The Bridge, Alberto Vicentini Jul 2007

Pagamea Aubl. (Rubiaceae), From Species To Processes, Building The Bridge, Alberto Vicentini

Dissertations

Species delimitation have a great impact in scientific, environmental and other human activities, and is fundamental for understanding evolution. Plant species are usually delimited based on morphology and rarely species concepts are stated and analysis of variation made explicit. Botanists do see species as ?segments of evolutionary lineages?, but reproductive isolation is rarely addressed. Yet, reproductive isolation is necessary for understanding species, because speciation is the process of acquiring reproductive barriers. Almost any lineage will have species at different stages of isolation, and a single type of data will be insufficient for species delimitation. In plants, other biological processes such …


Mechanism Of Splicing Regulation By The Meiosis Enhancer Factor Mer1p In Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Javier Armisen Garrido Jul 2007

Mechanism Of Splicing Regulation By The Meiosis Enhancer Factor Mer1p In Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Javier Armisen Garrido

Dissertations

In eukaryotes, genes are presented in a series of coding and non-coding DNA regions (exons/introns) that are transcribed into a premature RNA (pre-mRNA). Introns can be removed from the mature premRNA, before its translation into proteins, in a process called splicing. The splicing reaction occurs in two highly regulated transesterification reactions inside of the cell nucleus, and it is catalyzed by the Spliceosome, involving the binding and release of five small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs). While some introns are constitutively spliced, others can be alternatively spliced, giving different exon combinations and therefore different proteins, increasing the protein diversity of the …


Using Structured Employment Interviews To Predict Task And Contextual Performance, Brian M. Bonness Jul 2007

Using Structured Employment Interviews To Predict Task And Contextual Performance, Brian M. Bonness

Dissertations

This study investigated the extent to which structured interviews predict task and contextual performance dimensions. Participants recruited from undergraduate business courses at a mid-sized, Midwestern university participated in a structured interview and received performance assessments from three separate rating sources (self-assessment, performance assessment exercise, peer/supervisor assessors). Study results showed that the contextual performance dimensions of the interview significantly predicted contextual performance ratings provided in peer/supervisor assessor questionnaires and predicted these ratings above and beyond the prediction of the task dimension of the interview. Conversely, the task dimension of the interview did not predict task performance in any of the performance …


The Effect Of Influence Tactics And Contingency Factors On The Adoption And Diffusion Of Is/It Innovations In Social Networks, Anand Jeyaraj Jul 2007

The Effect Of Influence Tactics And Contingency Factors On The Adoption And Diffusion Of Is/It Innovations In Social Networks, Anand Jeyaraj

Dissertations

Despite considerable research on the adoption and diffusion of information systems (IS)/ information technology (IT) innovations by individuals in organizations, very little is known about the processes underlying the adoption of innovations, and how those processes contribute to the diffusion and assimilation of innovations within organizations. Viewing processes as sequences of actions, this research conducted two studies to: a) uncover the adoption and influence processes employed by individuals, and b) identify the factors that influence diffusion and assimilation within social networks. The first study, situated at the individual level, involved field interviews with 27 individuals from ten organizations in a …


Creating Culturally Relevant Techonological Operas In An Urban School, Dianna Isaac-Johnson Jul 2007

Creating Culturally Relevant Techonological Operas In An Urban School, Dianna Isaac-Johnson

Dissertations

The project described in this study developed due to the gap in achievement between African-American and white students. As music teacher I noticed my urban students could rap all the words of popular songs. Therefore I incorporated the use of technology with an authentic need to learn reading, writing, and lyric development for science and history content within a "hip-hop opera". This study details the instructional sequence, in which students watched musical performances, learned songs with a karaoke machine, and wrote new lyrics for the songs based on history and science material. I combined the students' lyrics into new versions …


Seed Dispersal Limitation In A Neotropical Nutmeg, Virola Flexuosa (Myristicaceae): An Ecological And Genetic Approach, Kimberly Mae Holbrook Jun 2007

Seed Dispersal Limitation In A Neotropical Nutmeg, Virola Flexuosa (Myristicaceae): An Ecological And Genetic Approach, Kimberly Mae Holbrook

Dissertations

Seed dispersal contributes significantly to tropical forest maintenance, influencing processes, such as metapopulation dynamics and population persistence. Although several hypotheses have been debated regarding the contribution of seed dispersal to tropical forest diversity, recent work suggests that dispersal limitation is a major component in determining plant population patterns. This dissertation research broadly addresses hypotheses that seed dispersal behaviour of frugivores influences dispersal limitation of a Neotropical tree, Virola flexuosa (Myristicaceae). To test these hypotheses, I studied how different frugivores influenced seed dispersal of V. flexuosa at two sites in Amazonia Ecuador. General research objectives were to estimate fruit removal by …


Comparative Immune Function In Wild Birds, Kevin David Matson May 2007

Comparative Immune Function In Wild Birds, Kevin David Matson

Dissertations

Over the last several decades, interest in quantifying immune function in comparative studies of wild animals has grown appreciably. Now, the field of ecological immunology is undergoing a transition, and ¿second generation¿ studies are being designed and carried out. With a greater appreciation of the complexity of immune systems, these second generation studies are commonly distinguished from their antecedents by making comparisons using multiple assays and including multiple species. I worked to advance this transition by developing novel approaches to comparative immunology, exploring the interrelationships among indices of immune function, and applying multiple indices to a question of comparative avian …


The Role Of Local And Regional Factors In The Foraging Ecology Of Birds Associated With Polylepis Woodlands, Grace Patricia Servat-Valenzuela May 2007

The Role Of Local And Regional Factors In The Foraging Ecology Of Birds Associated With Polylepis Woodlands, Grace Patricia Servat-Valenzuela

Dissertations

Understanding the extent to which patterns of functional structure are repeated in space and the scale at which different factors (local and regional) operate to explain community patterns are of important in community ecology. I studied the extent of spatial variation in foraging ecology of birds in the Polylepis community, a vegetation system of the Andes, in regard to variation in local (vegetation structure, floristic composition, food resources) and regional factors (biogeography). Specifically, I studied foraging ecology of nine insectivorous bird species (and the assemblage they conform) across twelve disjunct woodlands embedded in three biogeographic regions of the Peruvian Andes. …


Challenges Of Administering A Sino-U.S. Joint Venture Campus In China, Osman Ozturgut May 2007

Challenges Of Administering A Sino-U.S. Joint Venture Campus In China, Osman Ozturgut

Dissertations

Abstract With the recent globalization movement and decline in foreign student enrollment in universities in developed countries like the U.S., universities are looking for ways to bring education to the student rather than waiting for students to come for education. Therefore, opening a branch campus abroad and bringing education to the student became an alternative for U.S. universities to bringing students to their campuses. This qualitative study explored the political, economic, socio-cultural, and educational challenges of administering a Sino-U.S. joint-venture campus in the People¿s Republic of China. China American University (CAU) is an educational joint venture between China Investment Company …


E-Portfolios: Their Impact On Preservice Teachers' Self-Directed Learning And Computer Technology Skills, Yufang Carole Huang May 2007

E-Portfolios: Their Impact On Preservice Teachers' Self-Directed Learning And Computer Technology Skills, Yufang Carole Huang

Dissertations

Students in the Teacher Education Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis have to complete their professional E-portfolios to be certified for the program. An E-portfolio demonstrates a future teacher¿s knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired through teaching and learning. Five qualitative case studies were investigated to understand how E-portfolios impact preservice teachers¿ self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) and computer technology skills (CTS). Data were gathered from the preservice teachers¿ pre- and post-questionnaires, interviews, observations, and their completed E-portfolios. Two internship students and three student teachers were observed creating their E-portfolios during a 16-week semester. During the period, some sought assistance from …


Isolating Student, School, And Community Effects On School Weapon Carrying, Adam Michael Watkins Jan 2007

Isolating Student, School, And Community Effects On School Weapon Carrying, Adam Michael Watkins

Dissertations

Much prior research has alluded to the importance of community conditions in shaping levels of violence in around and schools. It is interesting to find, therefore, that few studies have systematically examined the effects of broader contextual characteristics (e.g., economic disadvantage) on levels of student misbehavior in schools. This research filled a part of this void in the school violence literature by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify whether social conditions in schools¿ attendance areas were statistically related to levels of student weapon carrying across a national sample of 55 high schools. Multilevel models …