Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2022, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

This study was designed to analyze the effect of the Palmiter method of stream restoration, adapted for infrastructure protection. Many roads and most bridges in the U.S. were built along or across rivers and streams. Rivers and streams are morphologically dynamic and naturally alter their channel over time, leading to bank erosion that can impact the stability of nearby infrastructure, requiring intervention in some cases, commonly by dumping riprap along the erosional surface. Riprap does not halt the problem and in some cases can exacerbate it. The Palmiter method uses mostly on site material and manual labor to relocate the channel away from the erosion issue by shifting the stream power away from the erosional area. Over time, the stream will erode the opposite bank and aggrade the restored bank. Eight sites, including three target reaches where the Palmiter method was used, three control reaches upstream of their respective target reaches, and two reference streams, were sampled four separate times (late July 2021, early September 2021, late October 2021, and late January 2022). Data on total suspended solids (TSS), flow, field water chemistry (field parameters), pebble size distribution, bank retreat, habitat quality, and the macroinvertebrate community were collected and analyzed statistically to determine associations between the Palmiter method and stream health. Most measures of stream health in this study were found to not be significantly different between target, reference, and control reaches. The exception was in stream cover assessed as part of the habitat evaluation and some of the smaller grain sizes in the pebble counts. This suggests that the Palmiter method can protect infrastructure without impairing stream health and can be applied to bank erosion leading to non-emergent infrastructure damage.

MS ARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture

With the economy booming at miraculous speed in China, building industry, particularly architecture, has grown rapidly. While Chinese architects are enjoying the opportunity to build their own monuments, they are also facing the challenges of international competition and economic cycle. The operation and management system of architectural firms should adjust to meet the challenges. Total Quality Management, a system created within Japanese corporations, is a solution to build the overall competitiveness of design and service firms. The thesis will introduce the basics of Total Quality Management, and apply it to current Chinese architecture practices as one possible solution to their demand for better management models.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

As catchments become increasingly impervious, urban stormwater pollutant loads, erosional force, and flooding increases. The practice of stormwater management is critical environmental protection that became regulated by the US federal government in the 1970s. With the need to attenuate peak flow rates and reduce the excess stormwater volumes generated from impervious catchments, stormwater control measures (SCMs) were developed such as stormwater detention basins, retention ponds, drainage ditches, and subsurface stormwater detention. Having a variety of SCMs available provides stakeholders with the ability to target specific aspects of stormwater management, including runoff quantity, runoff quality, or other ecosystem services. Regulations have evolved over time to have a greater emphasis on stormwater quality. As such, SCM design has evolved to address pollutant removal in stormwater. Green infrastructure (GI) practices, also called low impact development (LID) SCMs, have gained popularity for stormwater management since the start of the 21st century and incorporate principles of ecological engineering into stormwater management. Examples of GI include a variety of practices that use infiltration through filter media such as rain gardens, bioretention cells (BRCs), and high rate biofiltration (HRBF), permeable pavements, green roofs, and constructed stormwater wetlands (CSWs). The use of GI has benefits in addition to peak flow, volume, and pollutant reduction such as creating habitat for pollinators, cooling urban spaces, and adding attractive green space. Pollutant removal mechanisms vary between GI practices with some systems providing greater sedimentation and treatment of particulates and some providing greater treatment of dissolved pollutants through microbially-mediated transformation, plant uptake, and/or adsorption. Performance of SCMs varies based on design, site characteristics (e.g. topography, soil texture and infiltration capacity, depth to wa (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2023, Educational Administration (Education)

This study explored the Deming System of Profound Knowledge as a method of leadership and management in K-8 education. The study focused on the process of acquiring and understanding Deming's teachings as they related to the principalship and educational leadership. Using autoethnography as methodology, I leverage personal qualitative data and related educational leadership literature to present my personal journey of becoming an educational leader who practices Deming's System of Profound Knowledge as their primary method for leading and managing a school. Upon reflection and analysis, I found W. Edwards Deming's System of Profound Knowledge practical and valuable as a leadership method in today's schools. Though the mastery of Deming's teachings was a long, complex process, it greatly improved my leadership practice. The findings highlight essential knowledge and skills required to understand and practice the System of Profound Knowledge. It connects educational leadership and Deming's method and recommends further research.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Engineering and Applied Science: Computer Science and Engineering

Given a test input, not knowing the expected output of the software under test (SUT) is called the oracle problem. An emerging method of alleviating the oracle problem is metamorphic testing (MT). Rather than focusing on the correctness of output from a single execution of the SUT, MT exploits metamorphic relations (MRs) as derived oracles for checking the functional correctness of the code. Although researchers have argued that MT can be a simple and effective technique to help software developers, little is known about the actual cost of constructing MRs in real-world software and the relationship between MT and the already well-adopted method in software development. This research examines a series of practices to evaluate the effectiveness of MT during software development. Our investigation is conducted within the context of a real-world scientific software, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), developed and maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To ensure SWMM's accuracy in modeling stormwater runoff and executing hydraulic and water quality simulations, the development team continually evolves the software. Among the challenges they face, software testing stands out as one of the most technically complex tasks. Our research initially investigates the current testing practices and software quality assurance (QA) workflows in scientific software development, taking the SWMM as a case study. The value of our work resides in the qualitative characterizations and quantitative assessments of the tests that scientific software developers have independently written and released within the SWMM context. Our findings indicate that oracles indeed play a role in scientific software testing. Furthermore, by employing an empirical approach, we identified four critical requirements for the improved integration of MT into scientific software development. Constructing MRs is critical because without them, MT cannot b (open full item for complete abstract)

EDD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the higher education undergraduate student body and the structure of course offerings have drastically changed. As we continue to transition from emergency remote courses to quality online learning experiences, we must respond thoughtfully as well as empirically. The purpose of this study was to examine quality learning experiences as perceived by students in online courses and use the new knowledge generated to add to current research and enhance practice. Through qualitative data collection, I intended to answer the following research questions: (a) What do students perceive as quality learning experiences in their online courses? and (b) How can understanding the student experience and perception of quality in their online learning environments improve course development procedures in online courses? Eight participants were interviewed regarding their experiences of quality in online courses. Results of the study determined Barriers, Interaction, Structure, and Community are the themes that students identify when defining quality online learning experiences. It was also indicated that students were more satisfied with their high quality online learning experiences. Implications and recommendations for improved practice and action steps are also provided. The researcher contends that these findings demonstrate the need to systematically build quality into online courses, which will offer students better learning experiences.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Environmental Science

The 2016 revision to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement set forth water quality targets for Lake Erie. The revised binational agreement calls for a 40% reduction in Total Phosphorus (TP) and Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus (DRP) from 2008 loads from the Maumee River watershed to be met nine-years-out-of-ten. Previous studies have shown that widespread implementation of agricultural conservation practices (CPs) is needed to reach or approach these targets. Watershed modeling can play an important role in informing policies that aim to increase the adoption rates of agricultural CPs. However, watershed modelling efforts typically exclude important information derived from social science studies, such as farmer surveys (e.g., what factors affect farmers in adopting certain agricultural CPs). This work takes an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approach to examine agricultural CP adoption in the Maumee River watershed to improve the integration between data derived from farmer surveys and watershed modeling and historically examine state efforts aimed to increase agricultural CP adoption across Ohio. Conservation identities, perceived response efficacy of subsurface phosphorus placement, level of education, years of farming experience and other demographic, farm-operational, and psychological characteristics, derived from the farmer survey, were embedded into a SWAT model of the watershed. Modeled farm operations, created with near field-level Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) within the SWAT model, were assigned a modeled primary operator and assigned demographic, farm-operational, and psychological characteristics informed by the farmer-survey. Integrating the farmer survey data and the SWAT model allowed for novel approaches in targeting the placement of buffer strips and subsurface phosphorus fertilizer placement in the SWAT model. Model results indicate that near optimal water quality results can be obtained for both buffer strips and subsurface phosph (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Horticulture and Crop Science

Many farmers typically regard wheat as a “low input” crop and expect low yields and low returns. Conversely, some farmers intensively manage wheat with many inputs and expect high yields and returns. The objective of this research was to identify inputs that improve wheat grain yield, straw yield, and economic return and reduce deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration in the grain. An incomplete factorial, omission trial was established at two locations in Ohio (South Charleston and Custar) during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 growing seasons. Treatments consisted of intensive management (IM) which received all inputs, a traditional management (TM), and the individual addition or removal each input from the TM or IM, respectively. The inputs were a high seeding rate, a high N rate, a split application of N, a spring sulfur application, a fungicide application at Feekes 9, and a fungicide application at Feekes 10.5.1. Intensive management increased grain yield at three of the site-years during this study by an average of 0.83 Mg ha-1. At the South Charleston location, in general, the use of a fungicide at either timing proved to be important for protecting yield. The addition of a fungicide at Feekes 10.5.1 to the TM significantly protected yield both years by an average of 0.66 Mg ha-1 and the removal of this fungicide from the IM significantly decreased yield by 0.63 Mg ha-1 in 2021. Additionally, at the same location the addition of a fungicide at Feekes 9 to the TM and the removal of a fungicide from the IM significantly changed yield in 2020 by 0.81 and -0.71 Mg ha-1. At Custar, only one treatment significantly changed yield in either year. In 2021, the removal of split N from the IM significantly reduced grain yield by 0.44 Mg ha-1. Straw yield was not consistently affected by any treatment in this study. DON concentration was significantly reduced by the IM at South Charleston both years due to the addition of a fungicide at Feekes 10.5.1. Intensive management did not (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science in Environmental Science, Youngstown State University, 2021, Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Sciences

Although frequently overlooked or omitted, ecosystem services provide an environment for the survival of life on earth, including humans. Soil is a critical compartment for ecosystem services composed of solids, gasses, water, and micro and macro flora and fauna. Soil functions include water holding capacity, nutrient holding and cycling, support for microbial life, carbon capture, and other many other unseen benefits. Within society a main use of soil is agriculture for growth of food, fiber, and other necessities for civilization. Agricultural practices can consist of different techniques, two common categories are conventional and conservation methods. Conventional tillage utilizes turning of the soil to prepare the seedbed and remove unwanted plants. In conservation methods the use of no tillage or reduce tillage is used, where the soil is minimally disturbed, and the seeds are inserted into small slits or openings. Aggressive tillage can affect soil ecosystem function and limit the quality of soil health by decreasing porosity, reducing microbial processes, and increasing erosion. Seven farm fields in Trumbull County, OH, were sampled to investigate the connection between agricultural method and soil quality characteristics that contribute to overall soil health and productivity. Composite soil samples consisting of 2.5 cm soil cores separated into top 15 cm layer and bottom layer were evaluated for organic matter, bulk density, soil texture, plant available phosphorus, pH, total nitrogen, salinity, and percent porosity using standard methods. The data composed of 32 samples, with 16 samples from the top layer and 16 from the bottom layer. The fields were ranked one to four, with a ranking of one indicating conventional methods to ranking of four with the highest amount of conservation practices applied. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, mean comparison, one-way ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis, and backwards linear regressions using S (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, Geography

Agricultural land cover in the U.S. Midwest is a major source of nutrient pollution that has led to severe degradation of stream water quality. Previous studies have shown that land cover, stream morphology, and hydrology can influence stream nutrient concentrations. This study examines the impact of a forested state park on nutrient concentrations within an agriculturally dominated watershed. Water samples were collected biweekly from eight stream sampling sites along four creeks and processed for total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), phosphorus (TP), and orthophosphate (PO43-). Hydrology, channel morphology, and remotely sensed vegetation data were also collected and analyzed within the study area. An analysis of covariance test (ANCOVA) and a regression coefficient t-test indicated that the state park significantly reduced NO3-, PO43-, and TP concentrations. The park as a whole did not significantly reduce TN concentrations, however, within one of the four creeks, significant decreases in TN concentrations were detected. Discharge was a significant driving factor for changes in TN, NO3-, and TP concentrations within one study creek and change in PO43- concentrations within an additional study creek. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was a significant predictor of reductions in TN concentrations within one of four study creeks, and NDVI was globally correlated with reductions in NO3- concentrations. The results of the study suggest that conservation of forested areas within agriculturally dominated watersheds can provide meaningful water quality improvements in the U.S. Midwest.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Accounting

Low internal information quality contributes to misinformation and weak decisionmaking by managers, leading to potential fraud commission. Low-quality information can lead to poor decisions regarding earnings management, discretionary accruals, and reporting errors, potentially leading to misstated financial statements and inadvertent or conscious fraud commission. These circumstances can support unintentional wrongdoing and conscious decisions to commit fraud; however, few researchers have explored these distinctly. Two related theories were used to examine these issues: decision theory and criminal behavior theory. Three hypotheses were tested using publicly listed firms. Hypothesis 1 and 2 results suggest that firms with higher internal information quality have significantly fewer fraud allegations and significant associations with discretionary accruals (i.e., potential earnings management). Few studies have considered fraud commission versus fraud detection. A third hypothesis, tested using a bivariate probit model, showed that higher internal information quality is negatively associated with fraud commission and positively associated with fraud detection.

PHD, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Friendships are among the most important interpersonal relationships in emerging adulthood. Indeed, high-quality friendships have been linked to increased happiness (Demir et al., 2015) and better adjustment (Barry et al., 2016). The mechanisms that might predict these high-quality friendship experiences are not yet well-established, however. Buhrmester et al. (1988) proposed five domains of interpersonal competence (conflict management; emotional support provision; initiation; self-assertion; self-disclosure); more recent literature has identified forgiveness and gratitude as possible additional interpersonal competencies that might influence close peer relationships (see Algoe, 2012; Worthington et al., 2017). The current study examines the measurement of these seven proposed interpersonal competencies and whether they are related to emerging adults' friendship quality experiences using both in-lab (global) measures and nightly report (daily) measures. Results provide preliminary evidence suggesting that measures of Buhrmester et al.'s (1988) interpersonal competency domains, and the two additional domains of forgiveness and gratitude, are reliable, valid, and are somewhat distinct. Additionally, each of the domains of interpersonal competence was found to be relevant for the quality of emerging adults' friendship experiences, though the relevance of each domain appears to vary depending on whether one is interested in predicting positive or negative friendship experiences, and whether one examines these experiences through global reports or reports of daily experiences.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Environment and Natural Resources

Soil quality is defined as the soil's capacity to function within natural or managed ecosystems to sustain plant-animal-human health. It can be inferred from the quantification of soil properties which can be combined into a soil quality index (SQI). An SQI is a value that combines soil physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and scores the soil's “fitness to function”. Soil management practices (SMP), which differ depending on the landholder's agenda, can increase or decrease soil carbon (C) storage, which is an important parameter used for SQI calculation. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the impact of SMP on physicochemical properties in an avocado orchard (AVO) and a tropical pumpkin/bean (TPB) plot and (2) to develop an SQI for each system. The study was conducted in the Juana Diaz Agricultural Experimental Station located in the south-central coast of Puerto Rico and the predominant soil series was San Anton. Both systems scored 0.55 on the 0 to 1 SQI scale, suggesting that higher soil C content does not imply an improvement in soil physicochemical quality. However, reduced tillage operations and natural ground cover have a positive impact on soil quality indicators, but not on soil physicochemical quality itself for this study. Future research priorities should be directed towards the evaluation of soil taxonomical characterization on soil quality and determine its significance if any.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Nursing

As the amount of heart failure (HF) patients and treatment complexity increases, many hospitals are implementing Advanced Heart Failure Intensive Care Unit (AHFICU). The success of this new care model depends on understanding unique patient characteristics including factors related to their ability to home self-manage, cognitive function, and sleep quality. Nursing interventions can then be implemented to meet needs of this unique population. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand relationships among sleep quality, cognitive function, and self-management ability at discharge in AHFICU patients. A convenience sample of 43 adults admitted to this setting for HF was recruited. Data were collected using interviews, phone calls, and medical record reviews at admission, discharge, and post-discharge from University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. Results indicated that less than half were able to self-manage HF pre-admission according to two measures. Most participants excluded for discharge disposition had inadequate self-management ability. However, most patients had adequate HF knowledge pre-admission and discharge. Over half of participants had mild cognitive impairment at admission and mild cognitive impairment at baseline was found in many participants who were not discharged home. Poor sleep quality was noted in patients during hospitalization and mean sleep quality scores were similar pre-admission and during hospitalization. Sleep quality significantly improved post-discharge when compared with other times, cognitive function at admission predicted cognitive function at discharge, and cognitive function at discharge predicted HF knowledge at discharge. Sleep quality trended toward predicting cognitive function at discharge. Most participants had advanced HF. Furthermore, these patients had higher comorbidity, more medications, longer total hospital stay, and higher obstructive sleep apnea prevalence than other HF populations. The present study is (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Arts and Sciences: Psychology

Due to the high prevalence of pediatric obesity and its associated physical (e.g., diabetes, asthma, hypertension) and mental health comorbidities (e.g., depression, low quality of life), it is important to explore all factors that may influence weight management in children and adolescents. The current study explored the relationship between maternal internalizing symptoms (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms) and child weight and weight change (i.e., measured via BMI percentile), quality of life (health-related and obesity-specific), and maternal recognition and concern of child health and weight. Participants were 112 youth (aged 2 to 18) with obesity enrolled in a weight management program and their biological mothers. ANCOVAs revealed a trend for children of mothers with clinical-level internalizing symptoms demonstrating a greater BMI percentile at baseline (p = .07, d = .37) and a significant negative association between maternal clinical-level internalizing symptoms and child health-related quality of life via child- and parent-report (total score child-report: p < .001, d = .99; total score parent-report: p < .001, d = .80) and child obesity-specific quality of live via parent-report (total score: p < .001, d = .88). Multilevel modeling did not support the hypothesized longitudinal association between maternal internalizing symptoms and child BMI percentile change. The association between maternal internalizing symptoms and recognition and concern of child health and weight was also not supported via ANCOVAs. The current study's findings demonstrate the necessity for caregiver mental health screening for prevention and treatment efforts in pediatric obesity. Identifying and treating caregiver mental health symptoms will likely improve child quality of life and weight management efforts and may be an avenue to lower pediatric obesity rates.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Management

Healthcare systems worldwide are challenged with caring for patients with chronic conditions. As of 2014, at least 60% of Americans have at least one chronic condition, with diabetes being among the top five chronic conditions. Although medical management is utilized for glucose control, the majority of diabetes management involves self-care, imposing physical and psychological demands. As a result, there is an underappreciation of the patients' actual workload and burden by providers. Although patients emphasize the importance of interpersonal relationships as a critical component of quality care, there is often incongruence between the goals of providers and the patients. This study aims to identify factors related to interpersonal interactions that influence behavioral change and chronic disease outcomes by exploring the dynamics of the patient-provider relationship. This is a three-part exploratory mixed methods study. In Study 1, thirty Type 2 Diabetic (T2DM) participants were interviewed to explore the social interactions that facilitate behavioral change. Findings showed that positive interpersonal interactions, social relationships, and the ability to cope during disease setbacks or situational events influenced sustained behavioral change. These findings informed measures for Study 2. In Study 2, a quantitative study surveying 423 T2DM participants examined the attributes that influence chronic disease outcomes. Findings revealed coping ability to positively fully mediate the effect of compassion on self-management and treatment satisfaction. Further, coping ability fully mediated the effect of optimism on self-management and treatment satisfaction. Providers enhanced self-management adherence and treatment satisfaction by helping their patients cope with the burdens of diabetes by communicating with compassion and optimism. In Study 3, 422 T2DM participants were surveyed to explore how the patients' perceptions of relationship quality influence c (open full item for complete abstract)

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering

As more and more data become available for machine prognostic analysis in the big data environment, effective data suitability assessment methods become highly desired to help locate data with sufficient quality for analysis. Driven by this purpose, this paper proposes a novel and systematic methodology for data suitability assessment and enhancement based on the needs of prognostics and health management (PHM). In this study, the data suitability for PHM is assessed from the aspects of detectability, diagnosability and trendability, which correspond to the three major tasks of PHM -- fault detection, fault diagnosis, and fault prognosis. The proposed methodology is mainly built upon the recent researches on maximum mean discrepancy in the field of machine learning, which include a family of test statistics that are used to test the difference between two data distributions. After the data suitability is calibrated, a systematic methodology for data suitability enhancement is then proposed to identify the important features for fault detection, diagnosis and prognosis. The data suitability in the present study is enhanced by eliminating the irrelevant for specific PHM tasks. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated using 5 different industrial applications, which include the fault detection in semiconductors manufacturing, boring tool degradation assessment and life prediction, sensorless drive diagnosis, aero-engine remaining useful life prediction and ball screw fault diagnosis and prognostics. The results in these case studies indicate that the proposed methodology can be a promising tool to evaluate whether the data under study or the extracted feature set is suitable for PHM development. And it also can effectively identify the subset of features that would be useful for fault detection, diagnosis and prognosis respectively.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Nursing

Persons with life-limiting cardiopulmonary disease face many symptom management challenges. Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is one such progressive and debilitating chronic condition and serves as an excellent model for symptom management intervention development and testing. Patients with PH experience distressing symptoms such as chest pain, anxiety, nausea, insomnia, dyspnea, dizziness, and fatigue related to PH, as well as medication side effects that can impair patients' ability to manage and adhere to medical treatments. Many integrative health approaches have shown benefits in symptom alleviation in chronic conditions such as cancer and heart disease and may have therapeutic benefits in severe cardiopulmonary conditions such as PH. The purposes of this pilot study are to determine the feasibility and acceptability of six 60-minute sessions of an integrative therapies program, Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT), for persons with PH. The specific aims are to determine the feasibility and acceptability of UZIT among community-dwelling adults with PH. An additional aim is to explore the preliminary efficacy of UZIT for alleviation of pain, anxiety, nausea, insomnia, dyspnea, dizziness and fatigue and improved quality of life in adults with PH. The study enrolled a single cohort of 14 patients with PH who received UZIT multicomponent intervention that included essential oil, gentle-body-movement/restorative pose, body-awareness meditation, and Reiki . This mixed-methods study employed a pre-and post-intervention study design with repeated measures to address the preliminary efficacy aim. Five hundred fifty-seven patients with PH were identified, 128 were potentially eligible to participate, 32 were approached, and 14 provided informed consent, yielding a 43% recruitment rate (14/32). The overall enrollment rate was 1.27 per month. Twelve out of 14 participants completed all study visits. Participants' overall mean acceptability score was 6.40 ± 0.97 (1-7 scale) ind (open full item for complete abstract)