Southern Illinois University Carbondale

About: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a education organization based out in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 13570 authors who have published 24819 publications receiving 667385 citations. The organization is also known as: SIU Carbondale & SIUC.

Sustaining Optimal Motivation: A Longitudinal Analysis of Interventions to Broaden Participation of Underrepresented Students in STEM.

Abstract: The underrepresentation of racial minorities and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is a national concern. Goal theory provides a useful framework from which to understand issues of underrepresentation. We followed a large sample of high-achieving African American and Latino undergraduates in STEM disciplines attending 38 institutions of higher education in the United States over 3 academic years. We report on the science-related environmental factors and person factors that influence the longitudinal regulation of goal orientations. Further, we examine how goal orientations in turn influence distal academic outcomes such as performance and persistence in STEM. Using SEM-based parallel process latent growth curve modeling, we found that (a) engagement in undergraduate research was the only factor that buffered underrepresented students against an increase in performance-avoidance goals over time; (b) growth in scientific self-identity exhibited a strong positive effect on growth in task and performance-approach goals over time; (c) only task goals positively influenced students' cumulative grade point average, over and above baseline grade point average; and (d) performance-avoidance goals predicted student attrition from the STEM pipeline. We discuss the implications of these findings for underrepresented students in STEM disciplines.

Combination Therapies for Traumatic Brain Injury: Prospective Considerations

Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) initiates a cascade of numerous pathophysiological events that evolve over time. Despite the complexity of TBI, research aimed at therapy development has almost exclusively focused on single therapies, all of which have failed in multicenter clinical trials. Therefore, in February 2008 the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, with support from the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, convened a workshop to discuss the opportunities and challenges of testing combination therapies for TBI. Workshop participants included clinicians and scientists from a variety of disciplines, institutions, and agencies. The objectives of the workshop were to: (1) identify the most promising combinations of therapies for TBI; (2) identify challenges of testing combination therapies in clinical and pre-clinical studies; and (3) propose research methodologies and study designs to overcome these challenges. Several promising combination therapies were discussed, but no one combination was identified as being the most promising. Rather, the general recommendation was to combine agents with complementary targets and effects (e.g., mechanisms and time-points), rather than focusing on a single target with multiple agents. In addition, it was recommended that clinical management guidelines be carefully considered when designing pre-clinical studies for therapeutic development. To overcome the challenges of testing combination therapies it was recommended that statisticians and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration be included in early discussions of experimental design. Furthermore, it was agreed that an efficient and validated screening platform for candidate therapeutics, sensitive and clinically relevant biomarkers and outcome measures, and standardization and data sharing across centers would greatly facilitate the development of successful combination therapies for TBI. Overall there was great enthusiasm for working collaboratively to act on these recommendations.

Strategic groups and competitive enactment: a study of dynamic relationships between mental models and performance

Abstract: This study used computer-assisted content analysis of more than four hundred presidents' letters to shareholders to examine empirical linkages between cognitive strategic groups clustered by themes in the reports and strategic groups clustered by performance. We found these groups converged as predicted by the literature, and that mental models and performance are involved in a recursive process of competitive enactment which contributes to strategic group stability. Our research used inductively derived themes from the letters to structure a mental model widely shared in the pharmaceutical industry, and then employed thematic variations to find stable clusters of companies. These thematic clusters were triangulated with the strategic groups from a published study of the same industry, in the same period, and were shown to converge. Additionally, longitudinal linkages between earlier mental models of strategic goals and later reports of performance were found. The findings of our large-scale empirical study support strategic group theory, demonstrate a novel approach to data mining, and pose questions for future research. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessing How Fish Predation and Interspecific Prey Competition Influence a Crayfish Assemblage

Abstract: Allstract. In northern Wisconsin lakes, the introduced crayfish Orconectes rusticus is replacing 0. propinqaus, a previous invader, and 0. virilis, a native crayfish. Herein, we explore how fish predation and competition interact to drive this change in crayfish species composition. In outside pools, we conducted selective predation experiments exposing crayfish to largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, to quantify patterns of crayfish vulnerability. To determine how interactions among crayfish influence susceptibility, we quantified shelter use and behavioral interactions among crayfish in aquaria and outside pools. At equal size, 0. virilis was more susceptible to fish predation than either of the invaders, 0. ruslticus and 0. propinquus; the two invaders were equally susceptible to predation. However, sizes oft these crayfish in the field are 0. virilis > 0. rusticus > 0. propinquus. Because fish predators prefer small crayfish, at unequal size, small 0. propinquus were more vulnerable to predation than large 0. rusticus. Thus, 0. rusticus can replace 0. pr()pinquiis due to natural size differences. Although 0. virilis grows larger than the invaders, it was more susceptible even when 3 mm larger. We hypothesized that 0. 'irilis, although large, participated in behaviors that increased its risk to predation. When provided with unlimited shelters, all three species increased refuge use under predatory risk. When shelters were limiting and fish present, 0. virilis was excluded from shelters by invaders. 0. vir/is also participated in risky behaviors, such as increased activity and swimming. Both agonistic interactions with congeners and approaches by largemouth bass increased risky behaviors in O. tiri/is. In addition, 0. virilis was innately less aggressive than invaders. Given these behaviors, 0. vin/is was consumed at high rates and would be eventually replaced in lakes. In northern Wisconsin lakes, fish predation and crayfish-crayfish competition interact to influence crayfish replacements. Based on our results, largemouth bass predation modifies the outcome of interference competition among the three crayfishes and, in turn, competitive interactions among the crayfishes influence susceptibility to fish predation. We predict that 0. yin/is should suffer high mortality to fish predation in the presence, rather than in the absence, of the two invading species. Our results support the hypothesis that, in areas of sympatry where predators are selective and prey species compete, predation and competition interact to determine community structure.