Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2024, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

Most research findings in the past have been inconclusive about the strength of the relationship between transportation investments and the national or state economy. In addition to this, there has been a plethora of arguments regarding the significance of positive relationships in a developed nation that already holds a well-connected and efficient transportation system. While the national and state-level impact of transportation has been questionable, most research agrees with the positive significance of the localized and redistribution impacts. Although economic development remains one of the important goals in the transportation planning process, the State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) struggle to find a simpler methodology to quantify the impact of transportation investment at the state level. Using time-series cross-sectional data from 19 peer states including the state of Ohio from 1970-2020, this thesis analyzed the significance of the relationship between highway capital outlay as well as annual road mileage added and economic development indicators of real GDP, real PCI, total employment, and population to develop a regression model. Furthermore, a case study was conducted for the state of Ohio to discern the impact of highway investment on its economy using time-series data from 1970-2020, as well as to observe the redistribution of the economy from 2000 to 2020 by the National Highway System (NHS) across the Ohio Counties. The research findings suggested that while highway capital outlay had a weak positive but significant relationship with economic change parameters among peer states, it was insignificant in the case of the state of Ohio. Additionally, the annual road miles added to the existing transportation system had no significant impact on any of the economic parameters except population change. The regression models developed with highway capital outlay as a predictor variable explained less than (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Deborah McAvoy (Committee Chair); Bhaven Naik (Committee Member); Issam Khoury (Committee Member); Ana Mojica Myers (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Economics; Transportation; Transportation Planning

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2024, Medicine: Neuroscience/Medical Science Scholars Interdisciplinary

Sports-related brain injuries, including both sports-related concussions (SRCs) and repetitive head impacts (RHI), are forms of brain injury that result from a direct hit to the head or biomechanical forces that are transmitted from the body to the head. It is estimated that 1.6 to 3.8 million SRCs occur annually with approximately 1.9 million occurring annually in adolescent athletes. With previous research focused on the management of neurocognitive and neurobehavioral symptoms following SRC, neuromuscular control deficits are also present in athletes following concussion. Neuromuscular control alterations have been noted up to two years following initial injury, potentially placing athletes at an increased risk for lower extremity injury following clearance of return to play. Additionally, athletes with a prior history of SRC have demonstrated a ~2.5 times greater risk for subsequent lower extremity injury compared to uninjured controls. Behavioral data has provided initial insight into the relationship between SRC and lower extremity injury, however, changes in the central nervous system (CNS) underlying this relationship have not been fully realized. Characterizing neural alterations associated with motor control may provide further insight as to why athletes with a history of SRC display neuromuscular deficits. Additionally, there is an unclear understanding of how RHI exposure may precipitate to the development of motor control deficits. Unlike athletes with an SRC, the absence of overt clinical symptoms, behavioral changes, or neurocognitive manifestations may lead to this population being overlooked. To characterize how sports-related brain injuries may lead to motor control deficits, a literature review is warranted to present the current evidence as it relates to sport-related head injuries, and subsequent lower extremity injury. The literature synthesis (Chapter 1) will provide a comprehensive overview of SRC, RHIs, and previous work that has identified (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Baccei Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jed Diekfuss Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Riley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gregory Myer (Committee Member); Weihong Yuan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Russell Gore M.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Neurosciences

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Regional Development Planning

In this dissertation, I investigated the economic impacts of heritage areas. Designating heritage areas is a widely adopted heritage-led development strategy with a four-decade history in the US. However, the topic of heritage-area economic impacts has not received considerable academic attention. Most existing economic studies on the subject are technical reports skewed toward visitor and tourism impacts. Recent heritage literature, however, suggests that cultural-heritage activities can stimulate wide-ranging impacts that extend beyond the visitor-and-tourism economy. In my research, I adopted this perspective, proposed a broader range for the Heritage Area Economy (HAE) industry list, and further analyzed the heritage-area activities' impacts on the HAE employment development using Pennsylvania's heritage areas as examples. To determine the scope of Heritage Area Economy (HAE), I assessed existing studies on heritage-area economic impacts and heritage-literature findings. From this, I proposed an expanded version of the HAE industry list that crossed four subsectors: culture and art; travel and tourism; outdoor recreation; and other. Further, I applied two statistical models to analyze how employment in these proposed industries was associated with heritage-area activities—designation and investment. I used a difference-in-differences (DiD) model to evaluate the impact of the designations on the proportion of HAE employment growth; and utilized the Granger causality test to analyze whether the prior program investment could be linked to the increasing of HAE employment proportion in the future. The results from the DiD model confirmed that employment development in the HAE in counties with heritage-area designations can be expected to significantly increase statistically after designation. The Granger causality test results confirmed that the amount of prior years' HAE program investments can be associated with the following years' HAE empl (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carla Chifos Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Michael Romanos Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lin Liu Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christopher Auffrey Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Environment and Natural Resources

The clean energy transition that is currently underway is reshaping the demand and global production of minerals and metals. Africa holds an important position in terms of known reserves and production of some of the key minerals and metals needed for the transition. Prior research has shown that mining areas may not fully benefit from their mineral wealth and can be at risk for increased poverty. To combat this phenomenon, many national governments have instituted Local Content Policies (LCPs) to retain the benefit of natural resource extraction. Moreover, the impacts of large-scale mining projects are gendered due to societal norms and expectations related to gender. Existing research seems to indicate that mining development leads to improved women's agency (measured as lower rates of acceptance of domestic violence and greater intra-household decision making) in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time qualitative studies reveal a great deal of negative impacts including livelihood loss, environmental degradation, and land dispossession. Furthermore, much is still not well-known about the role of LCPs in mediating the impacts of mining on women. In this dissertation I summarize LCPs, what is known about their effectiveness, and the circumstances under which they benefit the local economy. I also investigate how mining impacts women's socio-economic well-being and their agency in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone through the lens of LCPs.

Committee: Linda Lobao (Committee Member) Subjects: Gender; Natural Resource Management; Sociology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2023, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

Agricultural nutrient pollution is a significant cause of impairment in American surface waters. Wetland restoration projects in agricultural watersheds can provide an effective sink for excess nutrients and potentially improve downstream water quality. Ohio University has partnered with The Stream and Wetlands Foundation to conduct water quality monitoring during the restoration of Bloody Run Swamp, a wetland in a former agricultural field near Columbus, Ohio. This thesis serves as an analysis of the initial water quality impacts of this restoration project. The restoration of Bloody Run Swamp did not significantly impact total dissolved phosphorus, orthophosphate, TKN, or ammonia concentrations. In contrast, both nitrate/nitrate and total dissolved nitrogen concentration and loads were significantly reduced during construction. This may have been due to the dry weather during construction and the removal of drainage tiles from Bloody Run Swamp. Future water quality monitoring is needed to determine the long-term impacts of this restoration project.

Committee: Natalie Kruse Daniels (Advisor); Gregory Springer (Committee Member); Morgan Vis (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Aquatic Sciences; Biology; Earth; Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Geomorphology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology; Limnology; Water Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Environmental Science

The dissertation investigates how policies on trade and sustainability affect regional food, water, and energy systems in the Midwest region of the United States. Crop production activities in this region have significant environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication. To evaluate the impacts of policies on trade and sustainability on nutrient runoff, a regional watershed model was developed by training a random forest model with observed data and results from a Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The developed model was integrated with land use and economy models to assess whether five trade and sustainability scenarios could meet the phosphorus reduction target of the Maumee River Watershed. The findings suggest that consistent efforts to increase effective management practices have greater potential to decrease the harmful algae blooms compared to global trade impacts. Additionally, the dissertation evaluates GHG emissions of county-level corn farming in the Midwest of the United States with spatially explicit absolute environmental life cycle assessment. The results suggest further investigations of Utilities sector in Indiana to reduce GHG emissions from corn farming in the Midwest of the United States, and demonstrate needs of updating the framework and economy level models. When we consider the consequences of policies on both watershed and GHG emissions, it is essential to consider interactions and feedbacks to the economic and the land use models for more integrated approach. To meet this goal, future work is suggested. For instance, the regional watershed model and multi-regional hybrid life cycle assessment framework can be integrated to assess the temporal and spatial explicit life cycle impact of crop farming for global warming potential and eutrophication. Furthermore, the economy and land use model can provide temporal inputs and outputs for crop farming, which expands the study to dynamic LCA. Most importantly, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bhavik Bakshi (Advisor); Gil Bohrer (Committee Member); Jay Martin (Committee Member); Jeffrey Bielicki (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2022, Biology (Ecology)

The adverse effects of oil spill disasters on wildlife populations often include mass mortalities and widespread oiling of large numbers of individuals. While these incidents are highly visible and well documented, chronic, long-term impacts on vertebrate species may often persist after the initial oil exposure due to lingering toxins in the environment. These chronic effects may often exceed the short-term impacts caused by initial oil exposure. Additionally, emergency spill response, cleanup operations, and mitigation measures may have additional impacts on populations exposed to oil spills. Species that have long lifespans, late age maturation, and low recruitment rates are particularly vulnerable to population-level impacts if oil spills, and subsequent cleanup operation cause an increase in mortality. Regarding the effects of oils spills in freshwater ecosystems, very little is known in comparison to marine ecosystems. In particular, almost nothing is known about the impacts on freshwater organisms' exposure to diluted bitumen (dilbit) oil. To date, most data on the effects of dilbit on free-ranging freshwater organisms were collected in relation to one of the largest inland oil spills in United States history, the Kalamazoo River oil spill, which spilled between 3 and 4.5 million L of dilbit in Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties, Michigan, impacting 56 km of the Kalamazoo River and the species within. Of the vertebrate species known to have been oiled during the Kalamazoo River oil spill, northern map turtles (Graptemys geographica) were the most observed oiled animal. As a result of the Kalamazoo River oil spill, extensive effort occurred in 2010 and 2011 to clean and restore the freshwater ecosystem impacted by the spill. During 2010, this included the capture, cleaning, rehabilitating, and releasing of more than 2,000 northern map turtles. In 2010, we documented a nearly 6% direct mortality rate (i.e., individuals captured dead, died in care, or transfer (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jeanine Refsnider (Advisor); Richard Becker (Committee Member); Lisa Williams (Committee Member); Henry Streby (Committee Member); William Hintz (Committee Member) Subjects: Animals; Aquatic Sciences; Ecology; Environmental Studies; Toxicology; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Media and Communication

This dissertation looks to study the potential impacts and influences of media use and consumption on how individuals play Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), a popular tabletop role-playing game. Now enjoying its 7th consecutive year of record profits, D&D has grown alongside a wave of D&D media, with the traditional board game taking on new digital forms that alter how players can now interact with the hobby. Utilizing media theories such as figurations, Medium Theory, the Magic Circle, and the concept of media worlds, this paper looks at both the media objects being consumed and what influences they left with their user. Interpretive focus groups were used to collect testimony from groups that played D&D together, examining individual impacts and how groups as a whole negotiated their media use while playing. When looking at media consumed, it appears that the most common Uses by participants included Entertainment, gathering Information, or finding Tools to use during gameplay. Overall, Tool media were the most frequently utilized, although the physical distancing required by COVID-19 was cited as a factor in this widespread use. Demonstrated by the Engagement-Consumption-Impacts model, the major influences discovered were increases in the user's Game Knowledge and a decrease in the level of Rules-Adhesion, or how strictly the written rules of the game were enforced. Other findings included participants changing the style in which they played D&D, basing changes off the habits of players they watched online or strategies found to become “better” players. This study also suggests further implications of the theories used. In particular, the study of the “alpha media object,” media capable of impacting the user, the other media objects surrounding it, and even the figuration model as a whole, leaves several questions for future scholars to examine. In this study, that alpha media object was the podcast Critical Role (2015), a show so popular that it has begun to i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joshua Atkinson PhD. (Committee Chair); Vivian Miller PhD. (Committee Member); Radhika Gajjala PhD. (Committee Member); Laura Lengel PhD. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Mechanical Engineering

Vibro-impacts of gears are common in various automotive geared drivetrains used in engines and transmissions, causing excessive rattle noise. External torque fluctuations lead to contact loss at gear mesh interfaces of such systems to result in sequences of impacts. Further, gear root and contact stresses might be elevated due to these impact events bringing durability concerns upfront. An experimental methodology is developed in this study to investigate such gear rattle problems observed in various powertrain applications formed by a single gear pair as well as multimesh gear trains. This test methodology allows one to simulate real-life gear rattle problems in a lab environment by imposing the external torque fluctuations at desired shapes and amplitudes within a wide range of operating speed through its servo motors. The rattle set-up is used to develop a new rattle severity index defined by gear impact velocities. Rattle severity index predicted using a torsional model within wide ranges of system parameters is compared to measured sound pressure level to demonstrate its effectiveness in predicting noise outcome solely from torsional dynamics of the drivetrain. A discrete torsional dynamic model of a single gear pair along with a computationally efficient piecewise-linear solution methodology is developed to conduct extensive parametric studies. Predictions of this model are compared to actual measurements from the rattle test machine for its complete validation. A no-rattle criterion that defines a boundary between no-impact and impacting motions is defined. A wide array of nonlinear behavior is demonstrated through presentation of periodic and chaotic responses in the forms of phase plots, Poincare maps, and bifurcation diagrams. The overall nonlinear response is characterized through parameter maps that showed bands of periodic responses with n and n +1 coast-side impacts per excitation period separated by bands of chaotic motions, with ty (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ahmet Kahraman (Advisor) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Common agricultural practices are leading to widespread soil degradation and poor soil health in the U.S., lowering agricultural productivity, increasing water quality concerns, and threatening the resilience of the agricultural systems to increasing climate variability. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 48% of Ohio's watersheds are degraded by nutrient (phosphorus and nitrogen) loading from various sources including agricultural fields. This has resulted in increasing occurrences of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie and inland lakes, creating several environmental, and socio-economic issues such as degradation of aquatic habitat, poor drinking water, and increased cost for water treatments. Cover cropping is one of the conservation practices which has potential to reduce soil erosion and nutrient runoffs from agricultural fields while improving or maintaining soil health. Although prior works have focused on cover crops and their impacts on soil health and water quality, they are based mainly on controlled field experimental trials. Currently, there is a limited understanding of spatial and temporal trend in cover cropping practices and their impacts at a landscape scale. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop a spatial and temporal inventory of winter cover cropping practices and assess their impacts on crop productivity and water quality in the Western Lake Erie basin. A Random Forest classification model was built upon field collected cover crop data and a long-term seasonal composites of satellite images (Landsat 5, 7, and 8) focusing on winter cover crop growing season from 2008 to 2019. The model was focused mainly on corn and soybean fields, and the information about corn and soybean fields on an annual scale was obtained from USDA cropland data layers which was then used to classify the fields into four categories – (1) Winter kill, (2) Winter hardy (3) Spring emergent, and (4) Not covered. The annual cover croppi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sami Khanal (Advisor); Kaiguang Zhao (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Engineering

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Though research highlights the importance of examining ADHD and repetitive head impacts as they relate to concussion symptoms, historically these variables have been assessed independently of one another. However, there is increasing evidence that ADHD and head impacts should be examined in conjunction. We hypothesized that increased repetitive head impact exposure over the course of an athletic season would result in increased post-season concussion symptoms, and that increased ADHD symptom severity would strengthen this association. Study participants included 447 athletes aged 13-19 years old who participated on a high school boys' football or girls' soccer team (football = 276, soccer = 171) over the course of a single athletic season. ADHD symptoms were assessed at pre-season using parent-reported Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior (SWAN) ratings. Concussion symptoms were assessed using athlete- and parent-reported ratings on a modified Post Concussion Symptom Inventory (PCSI) at pre- and post-season. Head impacts were measured using an accelerometer worn behind the left ear by athletes during all head impact exposure (practices and games). Mixed-model analyses were used to examine the moderating effects of ADHD symptom severity on the association between repetitive head impacts (>90g) and post-season PCSI symptom ratings, controlling for pre-season PCSI ratings. In football and soccer players, neither repetitive head impacts, nor ADHD symptoms, were associated with increased post-season athlete- or parent-reported PCSI ratings, with the exception that increased ADHD inattentive symptoms were associated with increased parent-reported PCSI Cognitive factor scores at post-season. ADHD symptoms did not moderate associations between repetitive head impacts and any post-season PCSI factor score. These results indicate that broadly, ADHD symptoms do not appear to exacerbate the effects of repetitive head impacts after a single seas (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jeffery Epstein Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Quintino Mano Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shari Wade Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Environment and Natural Resources

The ongoing shale energy revolution has transformed global energy markets and positioned the United States as a leader in oil and natural gas production and exports for the first time in generations. However, little scholarly attention has been directed toward the downstream impacts of these developments on the people and places which experience energy export activity or host related infrastructure, particularly those in rail export corridors. This research presents a first-of-its kind, cross-regional comparative analysis of community risks, risk perceptions, energy and environmental attitudes, and related discourses in oil train export corridor communities. The mixed-methods design uses household-level survey data (N=571), interview data (N=58), and news media content analysis data (N=149), to address three key knowledge gaps regarding impacts of and attitudes toward crude oil by rail in examining: 1) the influences and distributions of support, opposition, and increased concern to oil by rail; 2) views toward hydrocarbon exports as well as broader energy preferences; and 3) dominant news media and stakeholder discourses and discursive channels concerning oil train activity. Results and related recommendations include the identification of community risk perceptions, vulnerabilities, and broader energy and export attitudes as well as predictors of their variation; discussion of implications for related community energy siting and planning, news media reporting, and communications; and the contribution of novel baseline data vis-a-vis predictors of risk perception and opposition concerning oil train activity and infrastructure to the risk perception and energy impacts fields.

Committee: Jeffrey Jacquet PhD (Advisor); Kerry Ard PhD (Committee Member); Jeffrey Bielicki PhD (Committee Member); Robyn Wilson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Area Planning and Development; Energy; Environmental Science; Social Psychology; Sociology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2020, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Ghana's Juaboso District is located at 6° 20' north latitude and 2° 50'west longitude. The district capital is Juaboso, located 360 km northwest of Sekondi-Takoradi, the regional capital, and 225 km from Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital. The constituency encompasses a total surface area of 1,329 km2 and serves as an entry or exit point between La Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. The main economic activity of the district is agriculture, much of which focuses on cacao,production. In the past few years, Juaboso's communities have witnessed the invasion of small-scale gold mining operators, and the impacts of these mining activities on the environment that constitute livelihoods, in general, have garnered the attention of individuals, community interest groups, nongovernmental agencies, stakeholders, and the media. This study investigates the impacts of small-scale gold mining in two Juaboso villages, focusing on how the mining affects local livelihoods, the environmental consequences of the mining, and how local informal political institutions mediate access to natural resources. To address these issues, the study employs quantitative analysis in the form of seventeen in-depth semi-structured interviews; a modified grounded theory approach was utilized to analyze data in the form of interview transcripts. The study finds that despite the economic gain received from the mining sector in Juaboso District, small-scale gold mining has a significant negative impact on the livelihoods of farmers in the study communities that depend on cacao as their main source of making a living. Mining activities are also found to have had considerable negative effects on the local ecosystem, further endangering agricultural livelihoods. Besides, the study demonstrates that local informal political institutions may not be well suited to manage legal issues arising from mining activities. Members of these communities need to be aware of the potential impacts of small-scale gold mining on local (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Timothy Anderson (Committee Chair); Risa Whitson (Committee Member); Harold Perkins (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Applied Geospatial Science

This study describes the spatial distribution of Nigerian immigrants in the Toledo Metropolitan Area and their socioeconomic characteristics including income, education attainment, housing, and occupation. Moreover, the study examines the socioeconomic contributions of Nigerian immigrants to the region, USA, and Nigeria. Using US Census and survey data, the study finds that Nigerians in the US have high Socioeconomic Status (SES) and are concentrated in specific cities, regions, and states of the US. The study also finds that Nigerians in the Toledo MSA have a clustered geographic distribution pattern, an impressive socioeconomic profile, and have contributed immensely to the socioeconomic life of the region, the US, and Nigeria. Data for this research were obtained from an online survey as well as from secondary sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau. The data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative techniques and were further analyzed and mapped using ESRI ArcMap 10.3.

Committee: Kefa Otiso Ph.D (Advisor); Kelly Balistreri Ph.D (Committee Member); Andrew Gregory Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Geographic Information Science; Geography; Sociology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Genetic Counseling

Genetic testing for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can identify the etiology of ASD, refine recurrence risk, and help with medical management of comorbidities. However, previous studies have identified many barriers to uptake of genetic testing in children ASD. The purpose of this study was to: 1) assess if a genetic counselor embedded in a pediatric ASD clinic increased uptake of genetic testing in children diagnosed with ASD and 2) describe the opinions and feelings of parents of children who received a diagnosis of ASD and underwent genetic counseling specific to the counseling process, genetic testing, and resource needs. A retrospective chart review was completed comparing a year in which there was no genetic counselor embedded in the clinic compared to a year in which a genetic counselor was embedded. To assess parental opinions and feelings regarding genetic counseling and testing for ASD, semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed. The retrospective chart review found that subjects seen by a genetic counselor were more likely to have genetic testing ordered and completed than those who did not see a genetic counselor. Participants who participated in the semi-structured interviews were overall positive about the genetic counseling process, but described being overwhelmed by the emotions and life changes of a new ASD diagnosis. Although most thought having genetic testing completed in their child was important, few participants actually had their child tested. Many of the barriers to genetic testing raised by participants were consistent with findings in previous studies, with fear of the child's reaction to a blood draw and logistics of obtaining the blood draw being the most commonly reported reason for not completing genetic testing. Participants reported they wanted genetic counseling to be offered at a different time in the autism work-up process and the availability of same day blood draws. In summary, our study found that embedding a geneti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dawn C. Allain MS, LGC (Advisor); Hayley Cassingham MS, LGC (Committee Member); Megan Cermak MS, LGC (Committee Member) Subjects: Genetics; Health Care

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Civil Engineering

This dissertation examines the traffic dynamics underlying a recently observed phenomenon, the so called "sympathy of speeds" whereby a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane seemingly exhibits lower vehicular capacity and lower flow at speeds throughout the free-flow regime compared to the adjacent general purpose (GP) lanes. Unlike the previous studies that simply attributed the behavior as an inherent property of HOV, the research presented in this dissertation starts with the supposition that the sympathy of speeds should also be observed on lanes without the HOV restriction. To this end, this dissertation examines a time-of-day HOV lane that reverts to a GP lane during the non-HOV periods, thereby providing a control condition for the specific lane and location. The single vehicle passage (SVP) method is modified to bin vehicles in the study lane based on the speed in the adjacent lane. First, this dissertation investigates the congested regime under low flow conditions using the modified SVP method and shows that the conservative behavior of HOV lane drivers in terms of longer spacing for a given speed is associated with the increase in the relative speed to the adjacent lane. By taking care to preserve the influence of the relative speed to the adjacent lane during the non-HOV period, the modified SVP method also shows that the dependency on the adjacent lane persists during the GP operations. Second, focusing on free-flow regime under low flow conditions, and further modifying the SVP method, this dissertation shows that the conservative behavior of HOV lane drivers in terms of lower speed for a given flow is associated with the decrease in the adjacent lane speeds. It is shown that this behavior was not due to the HOV operations per se; the same behavior also arises in the non-HOV period when the lane serves all vehicles and it is also observed at another facility without any HOV restriction. Overall, this dissertation showed empirically that the traffic (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Benjamin Coifman (Advisor); Mark Mccord (Committee Member); Rabi Mishalani (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Transportation

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2018, Environmental Science

Climate change has reduced crop yields by 1~2% per decade over the past century, and such adverse impacts are projected to exacerbate in the future. Understanding the magnitude of these impacts is hindered by complex interactions between numerous biophysical and socioeconomic factors. To quantify the impacts of climate change on crop yields, many models have been developed. A common approach is to use statistical models (e.g., simple linear regression, quadratic or higher order regression models) trained on historical yields and some simplified climate factors, such as growing season temperature and precipitation. Responses of crop yields to climate change are still not well understood because of the complexities of relationships between climate factors and crop yields, and considerable uncertainties and limits of currently used statistical models. New approaches are needed to accelerate understanding of the climate impacts on crop yields. Thus, a highly flexible statistical model implemented according to the Bayes' Theorem was employed to investigate how key climate factors (temperature and precipitation) affect maize yield in the U.S. We firstly generated simulated datasets using equations of a curve and surface to test a statistical model, Bayesian Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (BMARS). Although this model has been proved powerful in many former studies, an evaluation is still needed especially when the model is applied to raster data. The result showed that BMARS has capacities to capture complex relationships among variables by performing well in both curve and surface fitting. According to the favorable results, we feel confident to use this model to explore the potential relationships between crop yields and climate variables (mainly temperature and precipitation). Our results showed that growing season temperature (GST) can cause yield loss in many counties when increasing by more than 10% of a reference temperature (averaged GST (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kaiguang Zhao (Advisor); Karen Mancl (Committee Member); Rattan Lal (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science

MA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

U.S. National Forests are experiencing increased visitor use. Though this trend has many positive outcomes, it also increases the pressure placed upon existing outdoor recreation resources. Therefore, timely and geographically targeted monitoring is essential to identifying environmental impacts from visitor activities. This study offers such an approach to allow for identification of impact severity and spatial extent, visitor behavior, perceptions, and values in the case of camping in the Allegheny National Forest. It contributes evidence that can be utilized for implementing effective mitigation measures that can help reduce impact while maintaining or increasing visitor experiences. Specifically, the goals of this investigation were to: 1) document the physical environmental impacts at each campsite, 2) assess on-site users' perceptions and behaviors, and 3) use this data to inform recreation resource management decisions. Quantitative and qualitative methods were necessary to understand the complex nature of recreation resource management. Quantitative data were collected from three areas within the Allegheny National Forest whose designations varied between intensity of use and activity. This data displayed that impact intensity will increase with higher use and less management intervention. The qualitative data were collected through questionnaires provided to on-site users. The results of which indicated that the users were content with the current conditions of the surrounding environment and plan on returning in the future. This study reinforces the idea that management strategies must be implemented in order to maintain an ecologically healthy environment when recreation occurs within it. Of equal importance is that the management strategy should not detract from the user's desired experience. Findings from this study emphasize the need for continual monitoring of environmental conditions and continual assessment of visitor perceptions when managing wilde (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jacqueline Curtis Ph.D. (Advisor); Jennifer Mapes Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Schmidlin Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Studies; Geography; Recreation

Master of Public Administration (MPA), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Public Administration

This research utilized the qualitative research design to explore the perceptions of people about the Ghana School Feeding Program(SFP) and its impacts on school enrollment, attendance, retention and academic performance of primary schoolchildren. The research also explores some of the challenges encountered in the implementation of the SFP in Ghana. The key questions that the research sought to address include; What are the impacts of the SFP on school enrollment, attendance and completion?, What are the impacts of the SFP on the academic performances of primary schoolchildren? and What are the challenges involved in the implementation of the SFP? In addressing these questions, the researcher utilized the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to explore the relationship between hunger and educational outcomes. Twelve participants were selected from six selected schools in the Accra Central District of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana to participate in the research. Participants for the research were selected through the purposive type of sampling and they included parents, teachers, administrators and caterers. Data was collected through a semi- structured phone interview. The findings of the study revealed the perceptions teachers, caterers, parents and school administrators have about the SFP and its impact on enrollment, attendance, completion and the academic performances of primary schoolchildren. Overall, the research participants perceive the SFP to improve educational and academic outcomes of primary schoolchildren. The research also found other issues such as improvement in cognitive development and the reduction of hunger associated with the SFP. Furthermore, the research found some major challenges of the SFP in the implementation of the SFP. These include, the lack of financial resources, the delay of funds to support the implementation of the SFP and poor nutrition mainly associated with improper menu planning and the frequent absence of vege (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stefan Fritsch (Advisor); Philip John Welch (Committee Member); Shannon Orr (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science; Public Administration; Public Health; Public Policy; School Administration

MA, Kent State University, 2017, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Tourism is an ever-growing industry in the world; it is particularly popular in places of cultural, historical, and natural significance. The diverse countries of Sub-Saharan Africa constitute one such area. Sub-Saharan Africa's tourism sector has been substantially increasing over the last few decades, so questions must be posed in order to understand the impact of the drastic contrasts and interactions between the tourists of the developed world and the local destination of the developing world. A tremendous amount of research has been done pertaining to social, economic, and global impacts of tourists within both developed and developing countries. However, there has not been an ample amount of questions posed relating to how the tourists feel that they influence the local environment of a destination. With nature-based tourism as the primary draw for tourists to Sub-Saharan African countries, it is crucial to understand what role travelers are playing within the destination. This research explores significant perceptions of the tourists that visit such areas within Tanzania through web-based surveys of both international tourists as well as the local tour operators.

Committee: Sarah Smiley Ph.D (Advisor); Jacqueline Curtis Ph.D (Committee Member); Andrew Lepp Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Conservation; Environmental Studies; Geography; Sub Saharan Africa Studies