Oklahoma City University

About: Oklahoma City University is a education organization based out in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Supreme court & Comparative law. The organization has 240 authors who have published 421 publications receiving 6923 citations.

The Relationships of Coping, Negative Thinking, Life Satisfaction, Social Support, and Selected Demographics With Anxiety of Young Adult College Students

Abstract: Problem Understanding young adults' anxiety requires applying a multidimensional approach to assess the psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of this phenomenon. Methods A hypothesized model of the relationships among coping style, thinking style, life satisfaction, social support, and selected demographics and anxiety among college students was tested using path analysis. A total of 257 undergraduate students aged 18–24 years completed an online survey. The independent variables were measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Brief Students' Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale, the Brief COPE Inventory, the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, and the Cognition Checklist-Anxiety. The outcome, anxiety, was measured using the Anxiety subscale of the 21-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. Findings Only negative thinking and maladaptive coping had a direct relationship with anxiety. Negative thinking was the strongest predictor of both maladaptive coping and anxiety. Conclusion These findings suggest that helping undergraduates manage their anxiety by reducing their negative thinking is critical. Designing and testing interventions to decrease negative thinking in college students is recommended for future research.

Systematic phenomics analysis of autism-associated genes reveals parallel networks underlying reversible impairments in habituation

Abstract: A major challenge facing the genetics of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is the large and growing number of candidate risk genes and gene variants of unknown functional significance. Here, we used Caenorhabditis elegans to systematically functionally characterize ASD-associated genes in vivo. Using our custom machine vision system, we quantified 26 phenotypes spanning morphology, locomotion, tactile sensitivity, and habituation learning in 135 strains each carrying a mutation in an ortholog of an ASD-associated gene. We identified hundreds of genotype–phenotype relationships ranging from severe developmental delays and uncoordinated movement to subtle deficits in sensory and learning behaviors. We clustered genes by similarity in phenomic profiles and used epistasis analysis to discover parallel networks centered on CHD8•chd-7 and NLGN3•nlg-1 that underlie mechanosensory hyperresponsivity and impaired habituation learning. We then leveraged our data for in vivo functional assays to gauge missense variant effect. Expression of wild-type NLG-1 in nlg-1 mutant C. elegans rescued their sensory and learning impairments. Testing the rescuing ability of conserved ASD-associated neuroligin variants revealed varied partial loss of function despite proper subcellular localization. Finally, we used CRISPR-Cas9 auxin-inducible degradation to determine that phenotypic abnormalities caused by developmental loss of NLG-1 can be reversed by adult expression. This work charts the phenotypic landscape of ASD-associated genes, offers in vivo variant functional assays, and potential therapeutic targets for ASD.

On Sweep Coverage with Minimum Mobile Sensors

Abstract: For some sensor network applications, the problem of sweep coverage, which periodically covers POIs (Points of Interest) to sense events, is of importance. How to schedule minimum number of mobile sensors to achieve the sweep coverage within specified sweep period is a challenging problem, especially when the POIs to be scanned exceeds certain scale and the speed of mobile sensor is limited. Therefore, multiple mobile sensors are required to collaboratively complete the scanning task. When the mobile sensor is restricted to follow the same trajectory in different sweep periods, we design a centralized algorithm, MinExpand, to schedule the scan path. When the scan path of the existing mobile sensors has been exceeds the length constraint, MinExpand gradually deploys more mobile sensors and eventually achieves sweep coverage to all POIs. When the mobile sensors are not restricted to follow the same trajectory in different sweep periods, we design OSweep algorithm, where all the mobile sensors are scheduled to move along a TSP (Traveling Salesman Problem) ring consists of POIs. We conduct comprehensive simulations to study the performance of the proposed algorithms. The simulation results show that MinExpand and OSweep outperform CSWEEP in both effectiveness and efficiency.

The Minority Mentorship Project: Changing Attitudes of Preservice Teachers for Diverse Classrooms

Abstract: (1990). The Minority Mentorship Project: Changing Attitudes of Preservice Teachers for Diverse Classrooms. Action in Teacher Education: Vol. 12, Diversity in Today's Classroom: Teacher Education's Challenge, pp. 5-12.

Comparing the Academic Performance of Students in Traditional and Second-Degree Baccalaureate Programs

Abstract: Programs offering accelerated baccalaureate (BSN) curricula to students with bachelor's degrees in other fields are growing in popularity. Such students' academic ability may differ from that of students pursuing the BSN as their first degree, due to academic maturity, greater confidence, and polished study skills. This study directly compared accelerated second-degree BSN and traditional BSN students under controlled conditions matched for identical instruction and performance measures. Outcomes analyzed included class test scores, nationally standardized examination scores, skills laboratory performance, and final course grades. Age, as a possible factor of any such differences, was also analyzed. The accelerated students performed significantly higher on every measure than did the students in the traditional program. Age was not found to be predictive of success in either group. Recommendations include modification of teaching strategies to accommodate accelerated students capable of higher performance.