Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Electrical and Computer Engineering

With the rapid development of time-critical applications in wireless networks like video streaming and augmented reality, there have been significant efforts been made to deliver time-efficient services in terms of different time-related metrics, i.e., delay and the age. However, the problems become increasingly challenging in the wireless environment because of the inherent unreliability of the wireless channel. In this dissertation, we investigate optimal transmission scheduling policies in terms of either delay or the age in variety of unreliable wireless systems. We take into account heterogenous transmission choices in terms of transmission delay and error probability, and transmission with energy constraints. We show that making optimal transmission decisions can greatly improve latency in terms of delay and age. We develop an integrated mmWave-sub-6 GHz architecture, where packets can be delivered via either mmWave or sub-6 GHz interface. Our goal is to combat the intermittency of the mmWave and thus reduce the resultant delay with aid of scheduling design and usage of the sub-6 GHz. To this end, we show that the delay- optimal policy for the system is of threshold-type, i.e., packets should always be routed to the mmWave interface as long as the number of packets in the system is smaller than the state-dependent threshold. Moreover, numerical results demonstrate that under heavy traffic, integrating sub-6 GHz with mmWave can reduce the average delay by over 70%. We also study age minimization with heterogenous transmission choices. In particular, we consider a status update system, in which update packets are sent to the destination via a wireless medium that allows for multiple rates, where a higher rate also naturally corresponds to a higher error probability. We design a low-complexity optimal scheduler that selects between two different transmission rate and error prob- ability pairs to be used at each transmission epoch. To this end, we show that (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2015, Industrial and Systems Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

The workforce is becoming more age diverse. Approximately seven in ten older adults say they will continue to work full or part time instead of retire (Khan, Rutledge, & Wu, 2014). Therefore, people of different age groups working together will be common across many industries. In this experiment, age diverse teams participated in three different lean simulations. The purpose of this research was to determine if lean simulations could improve team performance in age diverse teams. Assessments were used to determine if the experiment improved perceptions of age diversity and which activity reduced age salience and improved team interactions the most. Results indicated that appreciation of age diversity and team interpersonal processes were not statistically significant. Salience of age diversity was statistically significant between age groups and over time for the younger age group. Additionally, type of task was significantly related to how well participants perceived team interaction.

Master of Gerontological Studies, Miami University, 2013, Gerontology

As Baby Boomers grow older in the innovative and youth-focused megachurches they largely helped build, questions arise regarding their futures and roles within megachurches. Using the sensitizing framework of age integration, this exploratory study sought to uncover the status of age integration in one megachurch and the implications thereof on the future of Boomers and the church. It is a first step toward addressing the lack of empirical research detailing the state of age integration or the success of age integration initiatives in various organizations. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with nine participants were augmented by limited participant observation and analysis of documents, media, and quantitative secondary survey data. Analysis utilized a grounded theory approach to transforming data that yielded two approaches to community building: categorically and values based communities/environments. Values based approaches were shown to offer greater opportunity for age integration than categorical approaches, which tend to lead to age segregation.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Anthropology

In the estimation of age of the human skeleton, it is possible to form a reasonably accurate estimate for individuals younger than twenty years. The older the individual, the more difficult it becomes to determine age. Current methods of age estimation are biased toward data collected from considerable numbers of younger adults and small numbers of older adults. Additionally, adult age indicators are often limited in range and application. The result is consistent underestimation of adult age and uncomfortably large age ranges for adult materials. This study consists of two interconnected analyses: (1) examination of three-dimensional patterns of age-related skeletal deterioration of the pubic symphysis to identify proportional shifts in physical topography corresponding to age-at-death estimates, and (2) application of a Bayesian approach to formulation of a multifactorial standard aimed at increasing accuracy of estimating adult age from the skeleton. This study included skeletal remains of 135 white males and 70 white females of known age. The principal focus within this sample was on individuals between 45-70 years, subdivided into five-year intervals. The author scored individual remains based on fusion of the medial clavicle and sternum. The author also scored remains on key aspects of the physical appearance of the pubic symphysis and assigned each to an appropriate Suchey-Brooks phase. The first, fourth, and seventh ribs were examined and assigned to phases corresponding to comparison casts and methods developed by Yþcan and colleagues. The results of this study indicate that while general population trends in aging are found among individual skeletal characteristics, reducing the aging process to its principal components in five-year intervals does not generally result in more accurate estimation of age. Instead, the limited time intervals and key traits observed tend to reflect the enormous variability of the aging process at the level of the individual. W (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Though this work is a fuel and energy history of Kansas City from 1820 to 1920, it also provides a tool to describe and analyze fuel and energy transitions. The four parts follow the rise and fall of wood, coal and oil as their use grows to a peak and, in the case of wood, declines. The founding and growth of Kansas City as an “instant city” that grew from zero population to over three hundred twenty thousand in a hundred years embodies the increased use of fuels and energy in an urban setting and serves as a case study. This work differentiates between these two elements throughout the one-hundred-year-history to offer a clarification in terminology and theory. The narrative begins in the Wood age, continues to the peak of the Coal Age and introduces the Oil Age as it was to 1920.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1962, Graduate School

MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

This paper offers a comparison of early Christian and Roman accounts of paradise, decline, and restoration, focusing on writings of the first centuries B.C.E. and C.E. As Christianity arose as a sect within Judaism, my analysis will also include Jewish texts, many of which were written before the first century B.C.E., but which continued to be very influential during the period on which I am focusing. My comparison will be focused on the cultural values that are reflected in such discourses as utopian and eschatological accounts have a lot to tell us about the ideals of their authors. In particular, I will be analyzing the values presented in Christian texts in light of the Roman virtues of virtus, self-restraint, and pietas, as well as Roman views of social hierarchy. In doing so, I hope to highlight not only the similarities between Judeo-Christian and Roman accounts, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the differences. While the Roman writings that I will discuss almost invariably present a view from the “center” of imperial power, the Jewish and Christian writings, at least to a large extent, originate at the “periphery.” This difference, as we will see, has a significant effect on the values of each group, despite superficial similarities.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Sociology

While the field of criminology has focused on turning points that could shift individuals away from crime, little research has examined how criminal offending shapes sexual behaviors, adult relationships, and achieved fertility. Those involved in criminal activity arguably could face worse outcomes in these behaviors, largely due to considerations of labeling theory, where stigma could result in difficulty finding relationship partners. Certain types of crime may also be more stigmatizing than others, making one less desirable as a partner. This effect may be gendered in nature, such that certain types of crime may be more damaging for women as opposed to men. My project draws on criminology literature on labeling theory, the age-graded theory of social control, and social homogamy to predict numerous sexual, relationship, and fertility outcomes. Using Waves I, III, and IV of the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the following studies examine the impact of criminal activity on a variety of risky sexual behaviors, relationship type, and fertility outcomes. I find that both types of crime predict a younger age at first sex and more opposite-sex partners, though gender differences exist in how well the mechanisms included explain these relationships. While property crime initially decreases early union risk for women, this type of criminal behavior increases early union risk for men. Violent crime decreased early union risk for both gender groups, but the relationship only remained significant for women. Violent crime decreased the odds of Multiple-Partner Fertility (MPF), but only in reference to Single-Partner Fertility (SPF). Overall, linkages existed between the outcomes of all three studies.

Bachelor of Science, Wittenberg University, 2023, Biology

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the sex and age at death of a Mastodon whose skeletal remains were discovered in Brighton, Ohio in 1923 and are now displayed at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. The sex (male) was determined by a comparative analysis: measuring several features of its skull and left forelimb and comparing these measurements to that of mastodon specimens at the Indiana State Museum in Indiana and the Cincinnati Museum in Ohio. The approximate age (35-45 years old) was determined by the amount of dental wear on one remaining molar and the infilling of the root cavity where the other molars should have been.

MPH, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Medicine: Biostatistics

Background: DNA methylation age can be used to determine an individual's biological age. Theoretically, for healthy subjects, the biological age and chronological age move in tandem. Environmental exposures can accelerate biological age. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of exposure to Elemental Carbon Attributable to Traffic (ECAT) on DNA methylation age in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS) cohort. Materials and Methods: The data has been obtained from the CCAAPS cohort. The data comprises 136 children, who were followed from birth to 12 years of age. Methylation data has been obtained from blood samples at 12 years of age. ECAT was assessed longitudinal starting at birth using a Land Use Regression (LUR) model. Linear regression, logistic regression prediction, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pearson's correlation test, Wilcoxon test have been used to analyze the data. Results: The results of the gender interaction models indicate that biological age is significantly higher than the chronological age for females than for males for ECAT exposures at birth, 12 years, and the average of these consistently. Conclusion: Females are aging biologically significantly faster when exposed to ECAT.

Master of Computer Science (M.C.S.), University of Dayton, 2021, Computer Science

Facial recognition with mask/noise has consistently been a challenging task in computer vision, which involves human wearing a facial mask. Masked Face Analysis via Multi-task deep learning is a method which will answer to many questions. In this thesis, we propose a unifying framework to simultaneously predict human age, gender, and emotions. This method is divided into three major steps; firstly, Creation of the dataset, Secondly, 3 individual classification models used for the system to learn the labelled (Age, Expression and Gender) images, Thirdly, the multi-task deep learning (MTDL) model; which takes the inputs as the data and shares their weight combined and gives the prediction of the person's (with mask) age, expression and gender. However, this novel framework will give better output then the existing methods

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Electrical and Computer Engineering

In applications such as networked monitoring and control systems, wireless sensor networks, and autonomous vehicles, it is crucial for the destination node to receive timely status updates so that it can make accurate decisions. For example, a moving car with a speed of 65 mph will traverse almost 29 meters in 1 second, and hence, stale information (regarding the location of surrounding vehicles, velocities, etc.) has a dramatic serious impact on this situation. Age of information (AoI), or simply age, has been used to measure the freshness of status updates. More specifically, AoI is the age of the freshest update at the destination, i.e., it is the time elapsed since the freshest received update was generated. It should be noted that optimizing traditional network performance metrics, such as throughput or delay, does not attain the goal of timely updating. For instance, it is well known that AoI could become very large when the offered load is high or low. In other words, AoI captures the information lag at the destination, and is hence more apt for achieving the goal of timely updates. In this thesis, we leverage rigorous theory to develop low-complexity scheduling algorithms that are apt for a wide range of information update systems. In particular, we consider the following systems: -Information update systems with stochastic packet arrivals: We consider single and multihop networks with stochastic arrivals, where our goal is to answer the following fundamental questions: (i) Which queueing discipline can minimize the age? And (ii) under what conditions is the minimum age achievable? Towards this goal, we design low-complexity scheduling policies to achieve (near) age-optimality in single and multihop networks with single source. The achieved results that we present here hold under quite general conditions, including (i) arbitrary packet generation and arrival processes, (ii) for minimizing both the age processes in stochastic ordering and any non-d (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Sociology

Summary birth history (SBH) is a low-cost instrument widely used in developing countries lacking complete vital registration system for estimating demographic statistics. Indirect methods are utilized to estimate mortaliy rates the total number of children born and total number of children surviving data from SBH. However existing methods don't allow estimation for full detailed mortality age schedule with uncertainty. This paper introduces an innovative Singular Value Decomposition(SVD)-based method within the Bayesian framework, the SVD-Bayes model, to jointly estimate full age schedules of mortality for children and fertility for women from SBH data by single-month intervals along with uncertainty estimates. SVD model enables construction of full mortality and fertility age schedules with a few SVD-weight components. Posterior distributions for SVD-weight components are obtained using modified Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). Based on the results from simulation study, the SVD-Bayes model estimates full mortality age schedules by single-month age group from summary birth history data for children aged 0-20 years. The model also produces probability of giving birth by single-month age group for women of reproductive age. With SVD-Bayes model, SBH data from censuses and surveys could be used to produce mortality and fertility estimates for evidence-based policy-making and program monitoring and evaluation. The attempt of using ABC algorithm with SVD-Bayes model also shows the promising future of applying this advanced statistical technique in demographic research.

Honors Theses, Ohio Dominican University, 2018, Honors Theses

The domesticated dog (Canis familiaris) is the most popular household pet in America. There are approximately 42.5 million dogs kept as pets in the United States. Despite dogs being the most popular pet, methods for dogs' age determination are limited and lack precision. After eruption of the final permanent teeth at about 7 months of age there is no quality method for determining age. Characteristics such as development of cataracts, tooth wear, and acquisition of grey hair become the leading factors in age determination; however, the aforementioned factors are variable in all dogs. The use of a pulp cavity/tooth width ratio, measured using dental radiographs, was applied to Canis familiaris to determine a more reliable method for determining age in dogs. This, more accurate method for determining age in dogs, will allow a reduction in shelter euthanasia and allow veterinarians and pet owners to more easily determine treatment plans.

Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Youngstown State University, 2017, Department of Criminal Justice and Consumer Sciences

What is domestic violence, and who is affected? On one hand, it can happen to anyone regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. However, my hypothesis is that women age 18 to 24 years had a greater risk to becoming a victim of domestic violence than any other age group.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Anthropology

What degree of authority do mobile pastoralists demonstrate during the emergence of complex settlement systems? Archaeology has historically marginalized mobile populations or ignored their contribution to the development of social complexity. This research employs isotopic analyses on human skeletal remains in context with mortuary practice to explain how mobile pastoralists integrated into the emerging urban centers of the Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BC) South Caucasus in the Serur Valley of Naxcivan, Azerbaijan. Small, fragmentary groups of mobile pastoralists and trace evidence of small-scale settlements characterize the Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BC) in the South Caucasus (Smith, 2005). However, at the Qizqala settlement complex in the Aras River Valley of Naxcivan, Azerbaijan, the Middle Bronze Age features major political transformations and dense settlements on a scale that precedes traditional chronologies of the emergence of complex settlements in the Late Bronze Age (1500-1150 BC) (Ristvet et al., 2012; Smith, 2012). Unlike most emergent Near Eastern urban societies, where the development of states and urban centers was predicated on control of agricultural production and sedentism, this region presents a case where the development of sociopolitical complexity relied on a regional population hypothesized as depending primarily on mobile pastoral subsistence (Smith, 2003). While the lack of long-term settlement across most the region supports seasonal and recurrent mobility patterns during the Middle Bronze Age, little is known about the specific modes of mobile subsistence in the earliest fortified complex settlements and how mobility functioned in emergent complex settlement contexts. How the administrative system of the fortress and these mobile populations negotiated space and power is thus a key consideration in unraveling the development of polities in the South Caucasus and expanding on traditional models of social complexity (Arbuckle, 2012; Fra (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1954, Graduate School

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Classics

Knossos is one of the few Aegean Bronze Age (BA) palatial centers at which occupation continued uninterrupted into the Early Iron Age (EIA); as a result, the site, and especially its burial record, provides a unique setting for a study of the use of the Minoan past in general, and of BA objects in particular, in EIA society. About thirty Knossian EIA tombs have produced BA objects, which would have been between 100 and 1,400 years old at the time of their redeposition. Through an analysis of the morphologies and EIA contexts of these reused BA objects, this thesis examines how and for what purposes the BA past was employed during the EIA. The study also explores how and from where the BA objects were acquired, in what periods of the EIA they were redeposited, and in what kinds of tombs and with what kinds of objects they were placed. This analysis suggests that BA objects are unlikely to have been “heirlooms”—objects passed down within a kin group—but rather functioned as “antiques.” It also shows that most were probably robbed from Final Palatial - Postpalatial—rather than from earlier Minoan—tombs. Additionally, the analysis reveals a stark difference in the morphologies and functions of BA objects redeposited during periods in which the BA was the “recent past” and in periods during which it was the “deep past.” In the Subminoan period (11th century)—only circa 100 years removed from the end of the BA—the materials and shapes of the antique BA objects were ones that were no longer able to be produced in the EIA, and the restricted distribution of these objects indicates that one elite group monopolized this seemingly exotic past. In the Protogeometric “B” - Orientalizing periods (late 9th to 7th centuries)—circa 400 years removed from the end of the BA—the materials and motifs of the BA objects resembled those of EIA burial goods and thereby fit within the constructs of EIA ideologies. The objects were also dispersed within several tombs of moderate wealth, wh (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Anthropology

In order to better understand agricultural practices and land use strategies on the Greek mainland over the course of the Bronze Age, I analyzed stable carbon isotope ratios for 50 samples of charred seeds from the Final Neolithic to Late Bronze Age archaeological site of Tsoungiza in southern Greece. These seed samples were comprised of four economically important taxa barley (Hordeum vulgare), einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum), emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), and lentils (Lens culinaris). Contexts from which seeds in this analysis were recovered included archaeological pits, cisterns, fill and floor deposits. Having controlled for other variables, such as tissues type and source CO2, carbon isotopic data (the ratio of ¹³C/¹²C) in the form of carbon isotope discrimination (?¹³C values) reflect crop water availability in water limiting environments, such as those hypothesized for southern Greece during the Bronze Age (3,300-1,060 BC). I utilized Mann-Whitney non-parametric statistical tests to determine whether statistically significant differences existed between samples of barley from phases of the Early Helladic period (3,300-2,000 BC) and Early Mycenaean period (Late Middle Helladic to Late Helladic II; 1,750-1,580 BC), as well as between samples of einkorn from Early Helladic periods. The data for einkorn and barley from Tsoungiza indicate that growing conditions varied by species during the Early Helladic period, but were largely stable for barley throughout the Early Helladic. Results document a significant decline in carbon isotope discrimination for barley from the early Mycenaean period as compared to periods of the Early Helladic. I interpret that these data suggest increasing cultivar specialization or species-specific cultivation strategies used during the Bronze Age, including a substantial decline in water availability for barley from the Early Helladic to the early Mycenaean period. Through stable isotope biogeochemistry, I identify agricultural p (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, Kent State University, 2014, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Health Sciences

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in diet quality of exercising and non-exercising obese, overweight, normal weight, and underweight male and female college age individuals. Demographic, body measures, physical activity, and dietary data of college age individuals 18 to 25 years old were collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. A 2X2X4 factorial ANOVA using gender, physical activity status, and BMI respectively was performed to analyze the variables effect on diet quality. Numerous significant differences in dietary data existed between male and female college age individuals, mainly from increased nutrient intake. A significant difference in individual's opinion of their diet health existed between weight statuses, although very little difference existed between actual dietary patterns. Overall, all groups had diets well below recommendations in fiber, fruit, and vegetable consumption, and well above sodium and saturated fat recommendations. While significant differences exist between gender, weight status, and physical activity status of college age individuals, the diet quality of each group remains equally poor. Future health interventions and initiatives should focus on college age individuals and the unique circumstances affecting the quality of their diet.