Niche construction and the role of environment : towards a new logic of natural selection explanations

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lynn (Chien-Hui Chiu) Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
The University ◽  
Population And Environment ◽  
Selection Of

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] I argue that natural selection explanations are not necessarily externalist, i.e. they don't always cite features of the environment as explanans. In the first chapter, I argue against the Propensity Interpretation of Fitness, which attributes fitness to internal abilities of individuals in a common environment, the latter dictating the selection of the population. However, for some populations, individuals construct different internal/external boundaries, preventing an explanatory boundary between internal and external at the level of the population. In the second chapter, I argue that niche construction, the ability of organisms to construct their experienced environments, can be either constitutive of or alternative to natural selection. Both reject explanatory externalism, a core feature of Adaptationism. An example of the latter is Niche Construction Theory, which decomposes population and environment into distinct evolutionary causes: Niche construction is from population to environment, while natural selection is from environment to population. An example of the former is Dialectical Biology and Situated Adaptationism, which show that population and environment resist decomposition into internal and environmental evolutionary causes. In the last chapter, I demonstrate that general Darwinism in organization theory explicitly assumes externalism. When organizations actively construct their conditions, the debates assume that natural selection do not occur or is ineffective. My previous analyses can show that selection occurs even when the organizations are constructing their external conditions.

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

Challenge stressors, hindrance stressors, and psychological strain : the role of appraisals and goal orientations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Timothy R. Moake
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Goal Orientations ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Psychological Strain ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Transactional Theory ◽  
Learning Goal Orientation ◽  
The University

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The challenge-hindrance stressor framework suggests that most workers experience challenge stressors positively and hindrance stressors negatively. However, research has shown that both types of stressors are positively related to psychological strain, a negative outcome. Using the transactional theory of stress, I examined whether and how individuals' appraisals of challenge and hindrance stressors and their goal orientations influence the positive relationships between both types of stressors and psychological strain. I surveyed 278 full-time employees from various occupations twice over a two-week span. My findings revealed that despite challenge stressors' positive conceptualization, individuals appraise them negatively as constraints. Additionally, I found that constraint appraisals are one mechanism that influences the positive relationship between challenge stressors and psychological strain. Lastly, my results also indicated that individuals with a stronger learning goal orientation are more likely to appraise both types of stressors as opportunities and individuals with a stronger performance-avoid goal orientation are more likely to appraise both types of stressors as constraints.

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.

A Place at the Table: Organization Theory and Public Management

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Andrew B Whitford ◽  
H Brinton Milward ◽  
Joseph Galaskiewicz ◽  
Anne M Khademian
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Public Management ◽  
International Workshop ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Recent Emergence ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The University

Abstract In November 2018, the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy hosted an international workshop on the role of organization theory in public management. The intention was to renew interest in organization theory in public management research. Scholars such as Herbert Simon, Herbert Kaufman, and Richard Selznick made seminal contributions to organization theory through the study of public organizations from the 1940s through the 1960s. In our estimation, organization theory is underrepresented in public administration scholarship for the last several decades. There are natural reasons for this trend, including the discipline’s turn towards organizational behavior and the ascendancy of techniques that advance the study of large datasets and those that allow for experimental control. The recent emergence of “behavioral public administration” is a prominent example of this evolution. This symposium is an attempt to make a place at the table of public management for organization theory. The articles in this symposium contain articles from scholars who operate in the tradition of classic organization theory in new and innovative ways to lend intellectual purchase to studies of public organizations and public organizational networks.

scholarly journals Analysis of embryonic mortality frequency in Drosophila melanogaster stocks with radius incompletus mutation under inbreeding conditions

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Embryonic Mortality ◽  
Total Frequency ◽  
Lethal Mutations ◽  
Dominant Lethal ◽  
Dominant Lethal Mutations ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Selection Of

It is known that inbreeding leads to homozygotization of alleles of the most genes. The rate of this process is determined by the degree of kinship between crossed individuals. In addition, inbred breeding is accompanied by a change in the structure and functioning of the genome of cells of females’ generative system: mutational level increases and oogenetic segregation may be violated. This leads to a decrease in the number of laid eggs and an increase in the level of embryonic mortality. This process, described as "the effect of resistance to selection," is aimed at adapting to external conditions and associated with the selection of viable offspring. The character of manifestations of mutational variability is determined to a large extent by the direction of selection. However, up to now our knowledge of the role of the genotype in controlling the level of embryonic mortality in Drosophila melanogaster stocks in conditions of inbred breeding is not deep enough. The purpose of our work was to analyze the frequency of dominant lethal mutations in Drosophila stocks from radiation-contaminated regions of Ukraine (Polesskoe and Ozero), carrying radius incompletus mutation, depending on the degree of inbreeding. It is shown that under conditions of severe inbreeding (without selection) changes in the total frequency of dominant lethal mutations have a cyclic character, which depends on the genotype of the stocks. So, in radius incompletus stock, the indicator studied increases after 10 generations of selection and remains at enough high level for 20 generations. For the stocks from radiation-contaminated territories of Ukraine with radius incompletus mutation, which are contrasting in the level of embryonic mortality, two decrease peaks are shown (for the stock ri(Oz) – after 5 and 65 generations of inbreeding) and an increase (for the line ri(Pol) – after 5 and 32 generations of inbreeding) of the total frequency of dominant lethal mutations. The main factor influencing the change in the mortality level at the stage of early embryogenesis in Drosophila carrying radius incompletus mutation is the genotype of the stocks that are used in the work. It’s contribution increases after 10 (h2gen=44.78), 15 (h2gen=45.86) and 100 (h2gen=46.36) generations of inbreeding. The effect of inbred breeding was observed after 32 (h2inbr=22.61) and 65 (h2inbr=11.89) generations. The combined effect of both factors on the total frequency of dominant lethal mutations is shown for each of the generations studied. The highest values were shown after the 5th (h2comb=53.86) and the 65th (h2comb =40.63) generations of inbred breeding.

scholarly journals First person – Victor Palacios

2021 ◽  
Vol 134 (7) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
Germ Cells ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Early Career ◽  
First Person ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Victor Palacios is first author on ‘Importin-9 regulates chromosome segregation and packaging in Drosophila germ cells’, published in JCS. Victor conducted his PhD research in the lab of Michael Buszczak at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, where he investigated the essential role of Importin-9 in Drosophila fertility.

Determinants and consequences of private environmental regimes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Krisztina A. Pusok
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Environmental Regimes ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The University

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] While the role of firms has been acknowledged in existent research in political economy, it has played a rather peripheral role in the study of environmental politics, specifically in understanding environmental governance. In this dissertation, I seek to identify what the role of the private sector is in pushing the global environmental agenda. Specifically, I seek to offer alternative explanations for why firms choose to form these regimes, by drawing on existent comparative and international relations literatures focusing on political economy, governance, and the role of non-state actors. Additionally, I discuss the conditions determining firms to form private environmental regimes, as well as the economic and political consequences of this growing dynamic. Lastly, I investigate the mechanisms tying together different actors in terms of their environmental governance interactions.

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