Welcome to MOspace
The MOspace Institutional Repository is an online repository for creative and scholarly works and other resources created by faculty, students, and staff at the University of Missouri--Columbia and the University of Missouri--Kansas City. MOspace makes these resources freely available on the web and assures their preservation for the future.
Recent Submissions
Item The associations between drinking motives and alcohol use : the moderation effects of context(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2025)Introduction: Previous theories and studies have suggested that specific motives for drinking are uniquely predictive of alcohol consumption among young adults, and these effects of motives may vary depending on the characteristics of the immediate drinking environment. Although most previous studies examined these patterns at the person and day levels, the current study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine whether drinking to enhance pleasure and drinking to cope with distress are associated with greater momentary drinking. The potential moderating effect of the immediate drinking context (location, the presence of others, and the perceptions of alcohol-related cues) was also examined. Methods: three hundred and twenty young adults (Mage = 24.05; 65.63% female) provided 2583 responses over a 14-day period that assessed drinking experiences multiple times per day. Results: Multilevel analyses suggest that momentary drinking to enhance scores were significantly associated with more drinks consumed since the previous prompt (bstandardized = 0.06, p < .01). Moreover, drinking to enhance scores interacted with being at home to predict drink numbers, such that when there was a higher likelihood of being at home, the association between drinking to enhance and alcohol consumption was weaker (bstandardized = -0.04, p = .033). Drinking to cope was not significantly related to drinks consumed in this sample. Additionally, being at a bar/restaurant, the presence of companions, and alcohol-related cues did not interact with either motive to predict drink numbers. Conclusion: Our results are consistent with previous studies that reported increased drinking as a pleasure-seeking behavior among young adults and highlight certain contexts that may strengthen or weaken the effects of drinking to enhance pleasure on consumption in the moment.Item Response gene to complement32 in inflammatory smooth muscle transformation(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2025)Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is characterized by chronic inflammation, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypic switching, yet no effective pharmacological therapies exist to prevent disease progression. The regulatory mechanisms governing VSMC phenotypic plasticity during vascular inflammation remain insufficiently defined. Here, we studied if Response Gene to Complement 32 (RGC32) regulates VSMC phenotype under inflammatory conditions. In human smooth muscle cells (HSMCs), treatment with IL-1β and TNF-α led to a rapid and sustained downregulation of RGC32 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, coinciding with the transition from a contractile to an inflammatory/synthetic state. Overexpression of RGC32 counteracted cytokine-induced loss of contractile markers, restoring α-SMA, 22α, and CNN1 expression. Notably, RGC32 overexpression suppressed MMP2 expression under inflammatory stimulation, suggesting a protective role against ECM breakdown and aortic wall weakening. RNA sequencing further revealed that RGC32 reshapes global gene expression programs, enhancing ECM-related gene signatures (e.g., COL1A1, ELN, C1Q) while modulating chromatin remodeling, RNA processing, and protein turnover pathways. These findings indicate that RGC32 functions may serve as a molecular brake that stabilizes VSMC identity and regulates ECM homeostasis during vascular inflammation.Item Long-term dynamics of forest phenology across the central hardwoods(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2025)Many forest communities across the central hardwoods region of the United States are experiencing shifts from oak dominance to later successional species after anthropogenic alterations to historical disturbance regimes. This transition, amidst unprecedented climatic variability, casts uncertainty about the future of wildlife depending on these forests for access to high-quality habitat. Land surface phenology, the timing of annual growth cycles measured from remote sensing platforms, offers a potential proxy for forest ecosystem response to changing bioclimatic conditions that can be used for landscape-based wildlife conservation planning. However, many prior assessments are restricted to recent satellite sensors and cannot reliably distinguish forested areas from mixed land cover due to their spatial resolution, limiting their ecological applicability. In this project, I used 40 years of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) values from Landsat multispectral imagery to model spatially explicit estimates of phenological transition dates under a Bayesian hierarchical framework. From these estimates, I additionally measured long-term trends and used machine learning models to understand how these metrics were changing over time and what factors might be driving those responses. My analysis revealed spatially heterogeneous trends in phenology across the central hardwoods. Spring green-up has advanced and accelerated in many areas, especially in the eastern portion of the region. Patterns of autumn senescence were more variable, but most samples in the western portion of the region exhibited longer transitions from late spring until dormancy. Strong associations were found between phenological shifts and cumulative growing degree days, April temperatures, and topographic variability. Phenology in the central hardwoods is changing in complex, spatially distinct ways in response to climate variability and local landscape context. Altered phenological timing may disrupt ecological synchrony, particularly for migratory bird species whose breeding cycles are linked to vegetation development. These findings provide critical insight into where and how phenological mismatches may emerge, offering a foundation for proactive, climate-informed conservation planning.Item No cameras needed : examining documentary filmmaking as the collision site of art and reality in the age of generative artificial intelligence(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2025)As generative AI video challenges fundamental notions of artistic expression and representations of reality, the perspectives of documentary filmmakers are a pressing area of exploration. This study aimed to uncover areas of the technology's implementation and the related significance for the documentary form. Using theoretical frameworks that centered tensions between truth telling and artistry, properties from cinema's unique relationship with time, and the meaning of machine collaboration in reality interpretation, the researcher conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with cutting-edge documentary filmmakers, considering them as active agents in shaping the future of the form. A qualitative analysis revealed three overarching areas of uses and implications: tool-like deployment; expanding the range of expressed perspectives, human and algorithmic; and radical reinterpretations of the nonfiction cinematic form, from narrative modularity to new ways of visualizing reality. The results highlight the breadth of contextual considerations and personal priorities in truth telling that mediate nonfiction filmmakers' attitudes and artistic-journalistic perspectives. Further research should address evolving legal and economic particularities, stigmas in adopting or resisting using the technology, and specific marginalized communities' deployment of alternative epistemologies through generative AI.
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