Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Pseudomonas Produced Hydrogen Cyanide In Biological Control Of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes, Haytham Aly

Dissertations

Plant-parasitic nematodes are among the most devastating pests world-wide, causing extensive damage to important agriculture crops. The management of nematodes is challenging. Current methods used for nematode control rely mostly on using chemical nematicides and naturally resistant plants. Because of serious health and environmental problems associated with chemical control and over use of resistant plants resulting in resistant breaking strains of nematodes, alternative nematode-control methods are needed. Several potential nematode-biocontrol agents, including bacteria and fungi, have been studied for their antagonistic effect toward plant-parasitic nematodes. However, a concise picture about the biological agent’s mechanisms used to antagonize nematodes remains elusive. …

Effects Of The Exotic Shrub Lonicera Maackii On The Plant Animal Interactions In The Invaded Habitat, Humberto De Paula Dutra

Dissertations

Invasive plants are an economical, political, social, and ecological problem. Some invasive species are a serious concern for society because some of them are diseases, some are agricultural pests, and some become major threats to the ecosystems. Most studies with invasive species are limited because they measure only the impact of the invasion via direct pathways. Unfortunately, the potential for non-native plant species to alter ecosystem functions via indirect pathways mediated by interactions with animals just recently became broadly recognized. This research investigates the interactions of Amur honeysuckle with native fauna and how these interactions indirectly affect other trophic levels …

Campus Influence On International Students' Perceptions Of The United States

Dissertations

International students not only have an economic impact on the United States in the billions of dollars, they culturally enrich college campuses and play a critical role in fostering U.S. foreign relations (NAFSA, 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine international students’ perceptions of the United States as a result of participating in a short-term ESL program at three campuses of a community college district in the Midwest, and to explore the influence of campus cultural attributes (diversity of the student body, breadth of support for international students, and setting) on these perceptions. This was a mixed-method study. …

Study Of The Vaporization Enthalpies By Correlation-Gas Chromatography, Dmitry Lipkind

Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is on the measurement and collection of thermodynamic and physical property data, including vaporization, fusion, and sublimation enthalpies and vapor pressures of large n-alkanes, nitrogen heterocycles and related compounds by a technique developed in our laboratory referred to as correlation-gas chromatography (C-GC). These thermodynamic data are of importance to several disciplines that include chemical engineering, as well as the pharmaceutical and the petrochemical industries. Vapor pressures of large hydrocarbons are fundamental data required in the petroleum industry to develop thermodynamic models for dealing with crude oil. Environmental chemists and engineers use vapor pressures and vaporization …

Elucidating Matrix Protein Import And Beta-Oxidation Pathways In Plant Peroxisomes, Bibi Rafeiza Khan

Dissertations

Plant peroxisomes function in fatty acid β-oxidation, jasmonic acid (JA) synthesis, and conversion of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Peroxisomes lack genetic material; proteins required for peroxisomal processes are imported posttranslationally. The PEX5 and PEX7 receptors import proteins containing one of two peroxisomal targeting signals (PTS1 or PTS2). I took a genetic approach to better understand protein import and to elucidate the role of Acyl-CoA Oxidase (ACX) enzymes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. ACX enzymes catalyze the first step in β-oxidation. There are six ACX genes in Arabidopsis and each ACX enzyme acts on specific chain-length targets, …

Impact Of Multiple Children On Parental Supervision Practices, Parental Developmental Competence, And Unintentional Injury Risk, Jennifer L. Taylor

Dissertations

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of childhood mortality and morbidity in the United States. The effects of injury on children, families and society encompass physical, mental, emotional, and financial consequences. The highest injury rates are among preschool age children, especially preschool children who have siblings. Child injury prevention strategies can reduce the rates of childhood unintentional injuries and minimize the burdens to children, families, and society created by these injuries. To design and implement effective child injury prevention strategies, further investigation is needed to understand the relationship between the variables influencing the occurrence of child injuries. The specific aim …

Chest Tube Dressings: A Comparison Of Different Methods, Susan Kathleen Blackburn Jones

Dissertations

This study is an experimental design with randomization comparing the use of standard gauze dressings (SGD) to transparent adhesive dressings (TAD) to cover chest tube insertion sites in post-operative patients who have undergone cardio-thoracic surgery. The study was conducted in a 400 bed, tertiary non-academic teaching hospital in the Midwestern United States. Seventy-nine patients were enrolled in the study; 39 received TAD and 40 received SGD. The non-inferiority margin was set at 15% in keeping with current recommendations (Kaul & Diamond, 2006). The TAD was found to be not inferior to the SGD with regards to the proportional differences in …

Five Year Follow-Up Evaluation Of A Faculty Development Program: A Qualitative Study, Marcia Tennill

Dissertations

This qualitative follow-up evaluation explored the long-term impact of a faculty development program on participants who were five years post program. This study focused on 12 faculty members who participated in the University of Missouri’s New Faculty Teaching Scholars program. The nine month program focused on creating a culture of teaching within the university and enhancing peer networking among participants. Data was collected through the review of existing program documents, interviews with program participants, classroom observations, and the review of participants’ syllabi and curriculum vitae. The primary purpose of this study was to learn how a faculty development program affected …

Understanding Turnover Intentions And Behavior Of Indian Information Systems Professionals: A Study Of Organizational Justice, Job Satisfaction And Social Norms, Vidya V. Iyer

Dissertations

Despite the phenomenal growth projected for the Indian information technology (IT) industry, one of the biggest challenges it faces is the high rate of turnover in offshore Indian-based supplier firms (Everest Research Group 2011). In this dissertation, we explored the following determinants of turnover intentions—social norms job attributes, job satisfaction, organizational alternatives, first order supervisory justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice) and second-order organizational justice measured by the first order justice dimensions. The research design was longitudinal to assess turnover behavior and its relationship with turnover intentions. Telephonic interviews were conducted with 75 Indian IS professionals based in …

Leadership Styles Of Female Senior Student Affairs Officers, Montague Theresa Orinthia

Dissertations

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the self-reported leadership styles of female Senior Student Affairs Officers at public and private 4-year institutions. This study sought to determine if (a) there is a dominant leadership frame usage among female SSAO’s, (b) determine if leadership style varies significantly among females with less than 5 years of experience in the profession as compared to those with 5 or more years of experience in the profession and (c) identify whether multi-frame leadership style usage differs between female SSAOs at public and private 4-year institutions. This study employed a cross-sectional research design …

Elementary Teachers’ Mental Models Of Engineering Design Processes: A Comparison Of Two Communities Of Practice, Ann Piening Mcmahon

Dissertations

Educating K-12 students in the processes of design engineering is gaining popularity in public schools. Several states have adopted standards for engineering design despite the fact that no common agreement exists on what should be included in the K-12 engineering design process. Furthermore, little pre-service and in-service professional development exists that will prepare teachers to teach a design process that is fundamentally different from the science teaching process found in typical public schools. This study provides a glimpse into what teachers think happens in engineering design compared to articulated best practices in engineering design.

Wenger’s communities of practice work and …

Explaining Investment Policies In Microstates: The Case Of The Fiji Islands, Sudarsan Kant

Dissertations

Prevailing theories have failed to take into account the development of policy and institutions in microstates that are engineered to attract investments in areas of comparative advantage as these small islands confront the challenges of globalization and instead have emphasized migration, remittances and foreign aid (MIRAB) as an explanation for the survival of microstates in the global economy. This dissertation challenges the MIRAB model as an adequate explanation of investment strategy in microstates and argues that comparative advantage is a better theory to explain policy behavior of microstates. These small economies can take advantage of their exotic locations and natural …

Students With Mental Health Issues In Higher Education: A Survey Of Prevalence And Fall-To-Spring Persistence Rates In A Community College Environment, Pendy J. Pecka

Dissertations

Among the multitude of challenges and adversities students face during their first year of higher education, many experience deterioration of their emotional or mental health. Current research focuses on the perceived rise in the breadth and complexity of student mental health concerns at four-year colleges and universities. Even though community college students encompass the majority of individuals enrolled in the United States higher education system, no research specifically examines the mental health prevalence of these students and whether these difficulties negatively impact persistence. This study explored the relationship between evidence of mental health problems and fall-to-spring persistence for first-year students …

Understanding The Environmental Elements In Religious Student Organizations Through Sharon Park’S Mentoring Community Theory, David Christopher Gill

Dissertations

Students are coming to colleges and universities for spiritual fulfillment and have turned to religious student organizations (i.e. Campus Crusade for Christ, Newman Centers, Muslim Student Association, Hillel, etc.) to attain guidance and support. To better understand the spiritual environment religious student organizations have in place, many researchers have used the spiritual development theories of Sharon Parks. Parks theorized that “mentoring communities” need seven environmental elements in order to offer students the greatest chance for spiritual development. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of Parks’ environmental elements adopted by religious student organizations to help support …

The Effect Of Problem-Solving Video Games On The Science Reasoning Skills Of College Students, Tina Marie Fanetti

Dissertations

As the world continues to rapidly change, students are faced with the need to develop flexible skills, such as science reasoning that will help them thrive in the new knowledge economy. Prensky (2001), Gee (2003), and Van Eck (2007) have all suggested that the way to engage learners and teach them the necessary skills is through digital games, but empirical studies focusing on popular games are scant. One way digital games, especially video games, could potentially be useful if there were a flexible and inexpensive method a student could use at their convenience to improve selected science reasoning skills. Problem-solving …

The Influence Of Context On African American Political Participation And Partisanship, Andre L. Smith

Dissertations

What explains the intensity of African American partisan attraction to the Democratic Party? This dissertation investigates how environmental or contextually based theory informs our understanding of partisan affiliation and political mobilization in general and specifically for African Americans. The dissertation research focuses on the extent to which geographic context at the neighborhood level influences the strength of black partisan attachment. I hypothesize that interactions at the neighborhood level affect African American partisanship; specifically, the racial composition of neighborhoods affects the strength of Democratic affiliation. The data used in this study is based on survey data of individuals residing in concentrated …

Exploring The Relationship Between Planning And Training, And Response To Campus Safety Incidents, Kimberly Michele Harvey

Dissertations

Over the past 50 years, campus violence has significantly impacted our institutions of higher education. As a result, campus safety has become an increasingly important topic for all colleges and universities. The Virginia Tech tragedy in 2007 highlighted the necessity of emergency management planning and training as well as employee understanding of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Emergency management plans for 27 institutions in Missouri were collected and evaluated to determine how they instructed employees to respond to various campus safety scenarios and how training factored into the campus plans. Two-hundred, fifty-one employees were then surveyed to …

Lived Experiences Of Medical Laboratory Science Clinical Instructors As Adult Learners, Linda Jean Mccown

Dissertations

Physicians and patients trust the medical laboratory science (MLS) professionals performing laboratory tests, assuming that they are competent. The education of these professionals includes time spent in clinical rotations; weeks that students spend alongside their clinical instructors who are practicing professionals. When they first have students to teach, these clinical instructors have little or no experience or training in how to conduct clinical instruction. This research examined how medical laboratory science clinical instructors learn to conduct clinical instruction. In order to describe the phenomenon of clinical instructors learning to conduct clinical instruction, a mixed methods approach was used. In the …

Partial Connectivity In Wireless Sensor Networks, Robert Andre Murphy

Dissertations

Given a bounded region of the 2-dimensional plane, a discrete set of nodes is distributed throughout according to a Poisson point process. Given some fixed, finite, real number, two nodes are said to connect and form an edge if their mutual distance is less than this number. Let G be the graph of all such edges over the set of generated nodes and let C be any set of mutually connected nodes. It is shown that there is a critical mutual distance such that at least half of all generated nodes are mutually connected to form a connected cluster. Now, …

An Action Research Inquiry Into The Relationship Among Aerobic Activities, Memory, And Stress With Students Identified As Gifted, Denise Marie Ford

Dissertations

Students identified as gifted come from varying socio-economic strata and nationalities with a range of talents and temperaments comprising a diverse community. They may experience stress for a variety of reasons. Although a certain amount of stress can enhance the learning process, too much stress can impede learning, especially memory. Strategies have been offered for relieving stress, yet the benefits of physical activities as stress reducers for the gifted have frequently been overlooked. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among aerobic activity, stress, and memory ability in students in an elementary school gifted program. An exceptional …

The Life That Chose Us: Educators With Tourette Syndrome, Jennifer Kristen Stenger

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how having Tourette syndrome has shaped educators’ relationships in their personal and professional experiences. I completed a series of three in-depth interviews with seven educators in K-12 public schools who self-identify as an educator with Tourette syndrome. I began with a background of the participants’ experiences related to having Tourette syndrome. From there, I discussed participants’ experiences in regard to attaining and retaining employment. My guiding research questions were how having Tourette syndrome shapes relationships with administrators, colleagues, and students and their parents. Also, I asked how Tourette syndrome has shaped …

The Effects Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports (Pbis) On Middle Level Students, Michael Raymond Havener

Dissertations

Many theories regarding school discipline have been developed and implemented. In this study, various discipline models are discussed and analyzed. One particular model that claims to significantly reduce discipline referrals is Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The primary purpose of this study was to determine if PBIS is effective in reducing discipline referrals in a particular Midwest suburban 6-8 middle school. In addition, the referrals were analyzed to determine if there was a significant change in the academic achievement in the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) math and communication arts test scores after implementation of PBIS in 2008-2009. The population …

Evolution, Terror Management Theory, And Humans’ Relationship With Nature, Joshua Warren Vinocour

Dissertations

This study investigated the savannah hypothesis, an evolutionary explanation for human environmental preference. It aimed to address some of the methodological shortcomings of prior research while simultaneously investigating the role of non-evolutionary influences, such as existential anxiety and individual differences. Ninety-eight undergraduate participants were shown photos of Natural, Mixed, and Built settings and rated the visual attractiveness of each photo. Results showed that Built scenes were preferred over Natural and Mixed scenes, in contradiction to the savannah hypothesis. Existential anxiety, however, did not appear to influence photo ratings. Individual differences, such as ethnicity and the quality participants’ previous outdoor experiences …

Geometric Structures On Matrix-Valued Subdivision Schemes, James J. Smith

Dissertations

Surface subdivision schemes are used in computer graphics to generate visually smooth surfaces of arbitrary topology. Applications in computer graphics utilize surface normals and curvature. In this paper, formulas are obtained for the first and second partial derivatives of limit surfaces formed using 1-ring subdivision schemes that have 2 by 2 matrix-valued masks. Consequently, surface normals, and Gaussian and mean curvatures can be derived. Both quadrilateral and triangular schemes are considered and for each scheme both interpolatory and approximating schemes are examined. In each case, we look at both extraordinary and regular vertices. Every 3-D vertex of the refinement polyhedrons …

Feminist Advocacy In Community Based Responses To Domestic Violence: Gendered Identity, Ideology And Practices, Andrea J. Nichols

Dissertations

The anti-domestic violence movement began as a feminist grassroots effort. Early feminist advocates relied on survivor-defined and social change practices rooted in feminist identity and ideology. Advocacy has evolved over time, moving from grassroots efforts into professionalized organizations, and now includes collaboration with the justice system in community based responses to domestic violence (CBR). Through inductive analysis of interviews with 26 domestic violence victim advocates and drawing from a gendered organizations framework, I examine how advocates’ feminist identity and ideology shape their practices in CBR. Findings indicate that advocates both resist and reproduce various gendered practices within traditionally feminist anti-domestic …

Rational Ligand Design For Potential Applications In Transition Metal Catalysis, Sergey L. Sedinkin

Dissertations

Strategies to influence the steric and electronic properties of three classes of ligands were investigated. First, a compound class known as amino-dithiaphospholanes was studied. It is structurally related to phosphoramidites, which have been successfully applied in catalysis. The synthesis of amino-dithiaphospholanes was envisaged as an approach to electronically tuned phosphoramidites. General access to a variety of structurally modified amino-dithiaphospholanes from commercially available starting materials was developed. The electron donating properties of the new ligands were characterized by NMR. They were found to be more electron-donating than the corresponding phosphoramidites. The coordination chemistry of amino-dithiaphospholanes was investigated by synthesis of a …

Functional Characterization Of Putative Non-Specific Phospholipase C (Npc) In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Carlotta Antonetta Peters

Dissertations

Abstract Phospholipases are enzymes that hydrolyze phospholipids. In terms of the position of bond hydrolysis, phospholipases are classified into four major types: phospholipase C (PLC), phospholipase D (PLD), phospholipase A1 (PLA1) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). PLC hydrolyzes phospholipids at the first phosphodiester bond, producing diacylglycerol (DAG) and a phosphorylated head group. Based on substrate specificity, PLC is divided into two distinctively different groups: phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) and non-specific phospholipase C (NPC). There are six members of the NPC family in Arabidopsis, designated NPC1 through 6 that bears sequence homology to bacterial phosphatidylcholine hydrolyzing PLC (PC-PLC). However, their function remains …

Maslach's Burnout In Part-Time Faculty At A Four-Year Postsecondary Institution, Christiane Rene` Hubbard-Valentine

Dissertations

Previous researchers have suggested that many part-time faculty are over-worked, underpaid, frustrated with their faculty status, and experience stress and burnout (Antony & Valadez, 2002; Brown, 2009). Burnout may be attributed to the demands of pieced together work or other factors, but it is uncertain. Accordingly, the purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine burnout and demographic factors (age and gender) that contributed to burnout among part-time faculty (moonlighters, freeway flyers, and auxiliary) at a four-year postsecondary institution in the Midwest. Participants completed an online survey consisting of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey, demographic questions, and open-ended questions. …

Understanding The Origin And Rapid Diversification Of The Genus Anthurium Schott (Araceae), Integrating Molecular Phylogenetics, Morphology And Fossils, Monica Maria Carlsen

Dissertations

Anthurium is a strictly neotropical genus of Araceae ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, including ca. 900 species and displaying an enormous variation in leaf morphology, growth habit, leaf venation pattern and inflorescence and fruit colors. Despite its immense diversity, its ecological importance in Neotropical forests, and a very long history of botanical collection, cultivation, and taxonomical research, Anthurium had been almost neglected in molecular phylogenies. This study combines chloroplast (trnG intron, trnH-psbA and trnC-ycf6 intergenic spacers) and nuclear (CHS first intron) DNA sequence data for 102 Anthurium species and uses maximum parsimony, likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis to …

Economic Returns Of The Occupational Education Experience Based On Two Missouri Community Colleges, Dianna Parker

Dissertations

A commonly held belief is that formal education has a strong positive association with earnings (Sanchez, 1998). The motivation for individuals to pursue and complete an education beyond high school is likely founded in the hopes of higher paying jobs or a higher position. The “economic benefits” of a community college education can be defined as the gain in personal earnings over time because of the skills and knowledge acquired, as reflected in credit hours completed, at the community college. The purpose of this study was to determine how the skills, knowledge, and credentials obtained in community college occupational courses …