The epistemology of group agents

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keith (Keith Raymond) Harris
Keyword(s):  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Group Agent ◽  
Group Belief ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Group Agents

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] "The ultimate foci of this dissertation are group belief and justified group belief. As we will see, many models of both concepts have been proposed, and it is clear in many cases that these models are not intended to capture the same phenomena. Pluralism about group belief and justified group belief, understood generally, may thus be appropriate. My aim in this dissertation is to develop accounts of the beliefs and justified beliefs of group agents, rather than diffuse collections of individuals. Ultimately, we will find that no existing models of group belief or justified group belief correctly model the attitudes held by group agents. There is much work to be done before arguing for these points. Understanding what it is for a group agent to hold a belief requires a greater understanding of group agents and their relations to their members. In this chapter, I review a series of proposals for understanding this relation. I argue that existing accounts of the relationship between group agents and their members are either incorrect or incomplete. Insights from existing approaches point toward a fuller account of the relationship between group agents and their members."--Introduction

Friends in high places : two essays on the importance of corporate political connections

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Reza Houston
Keyword(s):  
Initial Public Offering ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Target Firm ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Accounting Performance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Offering ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study is an examination of the relationship between political connections and the undertaking of major firm events. In our first essay, presented in Chapter 3, we examine the impact politically connected appointments have on firm acquisition behavior. Using proxy statements, we create a unique database of politically connected bidders and merger targets. We find that bidders who hire connected individuals to the board or management team are more likely to avoid merger litigation. Connected bidders make more bids after the appointment. These firms also bid on larger targets. We determine there is a positive relation between the control premium and the relative of the target's connections. Connected acquirers have superior post-merger accounting performance, particularly when they acquire a connected target firm. In the second essay, presented in Chapter 4, we examine the relationship between political connections of private firms and the initial public offering process. Using registration statement information, we create a unique database of politically connected IPO firms. We find that political connections are substitutes to high-quality underwriters and big four auditors. Politically connected firms manage earnings more highly upward than non-connected firms prior to the public offering. Politically connected firms also exhibit less underpricing than non-connected firms. Politically connected IPO firms also have superior post-IPO returns relative to non-connected IPO firms.

scholarly journals Whole genome comparisons of Staphylococcus agnetis isolates from cattle and chickens

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulkarim Shwani ◽  
Pamela R. F. Adkins ◽  
Nnamdi S. Ekesi ◽  
Adnan Alrubaye ◽  
Michael J. Calcutt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Commercial Broiler ◽  
Chicken Isolate ◽  
Broiler Farm ◽  
Molecular Relationships ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Genome Comparisons

AbstractS. agnetis has been previously associated with subclinical or clinically mild cases of mastitis in dairy cattle and is one of several Staphylococcal species that have been isolated from the bone and blood of lame broilers. We were the first to report that S. agnetis could be obtained frequently from bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lesions of lame broilers. Further, we showed that a particular isolate of S. agnetis, chicken isolate 908, can induce lameness in over 50% of exposed chickens, far exceeding normal BCO incidences in broiler operations. We have previously reported the assembly and annotation of the genome of isolate 908. To better understand the relationship between dairy cattle and broiler isolates, we assembled 11 additional genomes for S. agnetis isolates, including an additional chicken BCO strain, and ten isolates from milk, mammary gland secretions or udder skin, from the collection at the University of Missouri. To trace phylogenetic relationships, we constructed phylogenetic trees based on multi-locus sequence typing, and Genome-to-Genome Distance Comparisons. Chicken isolate 908 clustered with two of the cattle isolates along with three isolates from chickens in Denmark and an isolate of S. agnetis we isolated from a BCO lesion on a commercial broiler farm in Arkansas. We used a number of BLAST tools to compare the chicken isolates to those from cattle and identified 98 coding sequences distinguishing isolate 908 from the cattle isolates. None of the identified genes explain the differences in host or tissue tropism. These analyses are critical to understanding how Staphylococci colonize and infect different hosts and potentially how they can transition to alternative niches (bone vs dermis).ImportanceStaphylococcus agnetis has been recently recognized as associated with disease in dairy cattle and meat type chickens. The infections appear to be limited in cattle and systemic in broilers. This report details the molecular relationships between cattle and chicken isolates in order to understand how this recently recognized species infects different hosts with different disease manifestations. The data show the chicken and cattle isolates are very closely related but the chicken isolates all cluster together suggesting a single jump from cattle to chickens.

Role of copper in defending against bacterial infection

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Erik Ladomersky
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Infection ◽  
Host Defense ◽  
Immune Defense ◽  
Copper Proteins ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Susceptibility To Infection ◽  
Essential Nutrient ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Copper is an essential nutrient. It plays an important role in development, pigmentation, neurological function, and immune defense. Copper deficiency is known to make host's more susceptible to infection. In this work we show that two copper proteins, ATP7A and ceruloplasmin, are important for host defense against bacterial infection. Studies have shown ATP7A is responsible for increasing copper concentrations inside the phagosome. Our study sheds light on the role of Atp7a and copper in adaptive immunity, and provide a biochemical model for understanding the relationship between copper malnutrition and susceptibility to infection. Iron, another essential nutrient, is linked with copper through the actions of copper-dependent proteins which play a role in maintaining normal iron levels in the blood. One of these proteins is ceruloplasmin, a protein that is also upregulated during infection. Our study sheds light onto why this protein is necessary for host defense against Salmonella infection.

Skepticism, reason, and decision

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tung-Ying Wu
Keyword(s):  
Decision Theory ◽  
Decision Problem ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Ideal Observer ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Ideal

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] "This dissertation is a combination of three different projects. The first project investigates the history of philosophy: Kant's refutation of idealism. In this project I propose a more plausible interpretation of Kant's argument against idealism. Next, the second project investigates ethical theory: the ideal observer view. There, I criticize an argument for ideal observer view as untenable. Finally, the third project investigates decision theory: the decision problem: Psycho Buttons. I argue that causal decision theory supplemented with Full Information does not lead to intransitivity in Psycho Buttons. In this chapter I present an introduction to each project." --Introduction

Toward a virtue account of science

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jacob Warren Wright
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Knowledge Model ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Scientific Goal ◽  
Zero Force Evolutionary Law ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation argues for a virtue account of science in which foundational scientific goals are achieved by scientists' employment of virtuous tools and practices. Chapter 1 discusses contemporary literature on the nature and success of biology, especially the realism/antirealism debate within biology. This chapter also provides background into the debate surrounding explanation and understanding. Chapter 2 challenges the idea that successful biology requires appeals to laws of nature by arguing that some foundational scientific goals best realized by unlawful tools and practices. This result provides a criterion for determining whether a discipline is more scientific than another another; disciplines are more or less scientific to the extent that they are able to achieve foundational scientific goals. Chapter 3 examines a test case for the result in Chapter 2 by analyzing McShea and Brandon's [2010] Zero Force Evolutionary Law (ZFEL). I show that the ZFEL's failure as a law does not impact its usefulness to scientists, who are able to use the ZFEL to achieve a number of important, foundational goals. Chapter 4 provides a strategy for determining foundational scientific goals by examining the debate surrounding the relationship between understanding and explanation. By analyzing Khalifa's [2013a] Explanatory Knowledge Model of Understanding, I demonstrate that understanding is not a species of explanation and is thus a foundational scientific goal. It is a goal that scientists aim at, has intrinsic benefit, and is not reducible to other scientific goals. Finally, Chapter 5 presents an outline of the virtue account. On this account, science is successful to the extent it regularly achieves foundational scientific goals. Science does so by employing virtuous tools and practices--those tools and practices that regularly allow for the achievement of foundational goals. The chapter concludes by examining several benefits of this view and considering future avenues for research.

Capital requirement and financial stability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Xingpeng Wei
Keyword(s):  
Financial Stability ◽  
Total Effect ◽  
Capital Requirement ◽  
Bank Competition ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Bank Run ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The University ◽  
Intensity Of Competition

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation consists of two chapters. In the first chapter, I examine the tradeoff between bank competition and financial stability resulting from the capital requirement when an unexpected bank run may happen. Built on the framework of Diamond-Dybvig, the model shows that a higher capital requirement tightens banks' capacity for taking deposits, thus reducing the intensity of competition between banks and at the same time improving financial stability. However, the total effect of capital requirement on welfare is not monotone. The second chapter extends the work of the first chapter and shows that in an environment where run is expected ex ante, sufficient capital and optimally set capital requirement can still achieve first-best allocation, thus run probability will not matter if the capital requirement is optimally chosen. A bank's contracts in economies with different run probabilities are also examined.

POTTERY TRADE AND THE FORMATION OF EARLY AND MIDDLE FORMATIVE STYLE HORIZONS AS SEEN FROM CENTRAL MEXICO

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley D. Stoner ◽  
Deborah L. Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Petrographic Analysis ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Distance Interaction ◽  
Early Formative

AbstractWe explore the relationship between long-distance pottery trade and the formation of Early and Middle Formative style horizons in Mesoamerica. A sample of 1,154 ceramics mostly from Early and Middle Formative contexts in the central Mexican highlands was irradiated at the University of Missouri Research Reactor with a subsample (n = 313) for petrographic analysis. We conclude that: (1) most sites and regions display more than one process for making pottery; (2) there is a small amount of intraregional exchange among central Mexican sites, with the southeastern Basin of Mexico making the largest portion of pottery intended for trade within the region; and (3) interregional imports found at several sites likely come from the metamorphic region of southwestern Puebla with smaller numbers imported from the southern Gulf Coast, Morelos, and possibly Oaxaca. The trend over time from Early Formative to the end of the Middle Formative is one of decreasing intensity of long-distance interaction and decreasing geographic range of trade. These two trends contribute to the regional divergence of ceramic styles that peaks by the Late Formative in Mesoamerica.

Brand believers : reconciling journalistic and organizational identity at a city magazine

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joy M. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Representational Practices ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Civic Capital ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation uses an ethnographic case study to examine the perspectives and representational practices of local journalists through a case study of an award-winning city magazine, D Magazine in Dallas, Texas. The study assessed how staff members discursively constructed their journalistic identity within a geographically focused media organization. The study also considered the relationship between journalistic identity and organizational identity by addressing how the staff members described their surrounding community and their organization's function within it as well as how those understandings shaped D and its members. Lastly, the study used field theory to address how external and internal influences on newswork informed staff members' ideologies, routines, and perceptions of D's local function. The findings suggest that staff members operated within a networked hierarchy through which they collaborated both within individual publications and across departments while also fulfilling corporate needs for entrepreneurship and innovation. Within this environment, staff members balanced journalistic- and audience-oriented editorial emphases through reinforcing a city-magazine mentality that dictated and legitimized topic selection and content approaches. Lastly, the study recognized how D attracted and engaged various forms of capital while also shifting its focus to amassing civic capital as a means of manifesting its local agenda in tangible ways.

Latina/o immigrant well-being in the heartland : a path analysis of acculturation, enculturation, and perceived discrimination

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sarah F. May
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Immigrant Settlement ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] A growing body of literature documents recent trends in Latina/o immigrant settlement in non-traditional communities throughout the South and Midwest. These areas present unique strengths and barriers for immigrant settlement. Drawing on Berry's (1974; 1997; 2001; 2003; 2013) model of acculturation and research on well-being outcomes associated with discrimination, the current study tested a model of immigrant well-being with a sample of 122 Latina/o immigrant participants living in the rural Midwest. Specifically, this study explored hypotheses that (1) the relationship between acculturation/enculturation and well-being (i.e. life satisfaction and psychological distress) may be mediated by discrimination experienced in settlement communities, and (2) discrimination experiences may lead to increased psychological distress, which will, in turn, result in decreased life satisfaction. Results indicated good model fit, but only partial support of hypotheses. Specifically, the model supports the hypothesized pathway between discrimination experiences and global judgments about life satisfaction, mediated by increased psychological distress. However, associations between acculturation/enculturation and perceived discrimination were non-significant. These findings echo existing research which establishes that experiences of discrimination have deleterious effects on the physical and mental health of members of oppressed groups (APA, 2006; Pascoe and Richman, 2009). Results further suggest current measures of acculturation may be insufficient to explain immigrants' complex settlement experiences. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Culturally speaking : media, intimacy, and the vocal dimension of race and gender

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amanda Nell Edgar
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
Saturday Night Live ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This project examines the racial and gendered meanings of vocal sound, focusing specifically on the ways voices and their cultural associations are circulated through media. I employ methods and theoretical assumptions drawn from cultural studies, rhetoric, and feminist and critical race theory to examine mediated voices. The traditional textual analysis methods and more innovative approaches specific to vocal communication studies I outline here are designed to map the relationship between two tenets of vocal ideology: vocal identity and vocal intimacy. Through this project, then, I extend previous literature on vocal sound's ability to construct and communicate aspects of racial and gendered identities. Additionally, this study theorizes the way these identities work with media's structures and the broader cultural context to encourage a sense of intimacy for consumers. The theoretical tenets of what I call "critical cultural vocalics" are concretized through analyses of Morgan Freeman's acting career, political impersonations on Saturday Night Live, and Whitevoice impressions by stand-up comedians of color. By examining these two intersecting and co-constitutive processes in the context of three case studies, I propose and demonstrate a critical cultural vocalics designed to foreground the ways vocal identity and vocal intimacy work together to idealize particular performances of race and gender through media's voices.

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