Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Biophysics

The most common pediatric soft-tissue sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), is a complex disease that has limited therapeutic options. New precision therapy strategies are important to improve patient outcomes beyond the standard of care. This study investigates the potential of combining Paxalisib, a dual PI3K-mTOR inhibitor, and SN-38, a topoisomerase I (TOP1) inhibitor, for improved therapeutic performance in RMS. Three different cell lines representing three major subtypes of this pediatric cancer were used for the cell viability assays using Incucyte. Single agent data were reported with dose-response curves and IC50 values. An in-silico tool, SynergyFinder, was used to analyze a potential synergistic effect between these two drugs. These drugs effectively inhibit proliferation of the cells with fusion-positive, fusion-negative, and mutant-MYOD1 alterations. The results indicate a potential synergistic effect; however, more investigation is needed to further validate these results, and understand the underlying mechanism of these drugs on the cell lines.

Committee: Benjamin Stanton (Advisor); Ralf Bundschuh (Committee Member) Subjects: Biophysics

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2023, Psychology

Behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) hold the potential to increase access to mental healthcare. Tailoring such tools may further bridge disparities, such as those in tobacco use and smoking cessation. To assess the value of tailoring BITs to different targets, we used a modified exploratory sequential design to analyze secondary data from two novel, automated text message-based smoking cessation interventions: a tailored intervention (Cravings Coach) and an active, untailored control (Motivation Coach). We first coded qualitative exit interviews using a combination of codes that were pre-determined based on theoretical concepts of interest, and codes that were determined by reading transcripts and iteratively identifying themes relevant to those areas of interest. Next, codes were used to explore important themes and potential differences between how participants perceived the tailored Cravings Coach intervention versus the generic Motivation Coach. We found similarities in impressions of the two interventions, with generally positive impressions of ease of use and convenience, accountability associated with receiving messages, and reminders of participants' smoking cessation goals. Relatively little agreement emerged across participants about which individual differences were important to intervention success, apart from readiness to change, which was perceived to be important. Next, we used t-tests and chi-square tests to compare Cravings Coach and Motivation Coach on key impressions of the interventions, and found no differences. As anticipated, baseline readiness to change predicted more perceived success and less failure with implementing knowledge from the intervention into participants' daily lives. Considering readiness to change when designing and deploying behavioral intervention technologies may improve user outcomes.

Committee: Joshua Magee (Advisor); Vaishali Raval (Committee Member); James Coyle (Committee Member); Christopher Wolfe (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology; Technology

DNP, Kent State University, 2022, College of Nursing

Abstract Background: No-show rates to scheduled follow-up psychiatric appointments can negatively impact mental health clinical outcomes and healthcare productivity. Many factors contribute to this concern, one of which is patients forgetting that they had an appointment. Identifying an intervention such as text messaging reminders for this concern is essential. Purpose: To explore if the use of additional Short Message Service (SMS) reminders to patients 60 minutes before their scheduled follow-up telehealth and in-person appointments will enhance adherence rates to appointments in the psychiatric outpatient clinic. PICOT: In patients suffering from mental illnesses (P), does the use of additional SMS reminders to patients 60 minutes prior to their scheduled appointments (I) compared to usual phone call reminders 24 hours before their appointments (C) increase patient adherence rates to scheduled appointments (O) over a 4-week period (T)? Methods: The design for the proposed quality improvement project was a correlational analysis, PDCA methodology. Participants included individuals at an outpatient mental health clinic in Northeast Ohio who had access to a cell phone with SMS capability and consented to receiving text messages. Implementation Plan/Procedure: The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system QuicDoc by DocuTrac was used to send automated SMS reminders to patients 60 minutes before their scheduled virtual or in person appointments at the mental health clinic. Office Assistant personnel used an audit tool to collect data that reflected the attendance rate during the project. Office assistants and providers also assisted in obtaining feedback from patients. Appointment attendance rates were collected for 4 months prior to August. Two sample Z- Test was used to analyze data. Implications/Conclusions: This quality improvement project highlighted the benefits of additional SMS reminders to phone call reminders in order to address patient nonadherence (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Andrea Stidham (Committee Chair); Dr. Lynn Gaddis (Committee Co-Chair); Dr. Marilyn Nibling (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Mental Health; Nursing

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to stay abreast of advances in communication technologies to be student centric, but institutional adoption of Short Messaging Service (SMS) text varies widely and research on incorporation for advising is limited (Arnold et al., 2020; IPEDS 2020; Santos et al., 2018). This quantitative study explored advisor use and perceptions on values, motives, and institutional support of SMS texting as a communication channel with students and the possible variables impacting those factors. Theoretical concepts in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and adaptive leadership guided the study as well as existing survey research on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) in higher education (Duran et al., 2005). Survey responses from 402 advisors nationwide were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. SMS use was reported among all genders, experience levels, and programmatic formats and advisors overall had a positive view of the communication channel. Motives for use varied between subgroups within the sample and SMS was predominantly used to gain access to richer mediums. A statistically significant association between learning environment and SMS incorporation indicated that online advisors were more likely to use SMS texting for student communication. A statistically significant difference was also identified between median institutional support scores for SMS users and non-users with the directionality indicating users were more likely from SMS supportive institutions. Furthermore, advisors reported using SMS texting for both transactional and relational communication, even when their institution did not support the channel with training, policies, or technology. The study sheds light on the prevalence of SMS use and calls for leadership to gain greater awareness of their local-level policies, industry-wide practices, and system integrated options in managing the university-to-student connection. For HEIs (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brenda Jones (Committee Chair); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member); Patrick Bennett (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Administration; Business Education; Communication; Continuing Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Software; Educational Technology; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; Mass Communications

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2021, Washkewicz College of Engineering

In this thesis, we draw attention to the problem of cross-service attacks, that is, attacks that exploit information collected about users from one service to launch an attack on the same users on another service. With the increased deployment and use of what fundamentally are integrated-services networks, such as 4G/LTE networks and now 5G, we expect that cross-service attacks will become easier to stage and therefore more prevalent. As running example to illustrate the effectiveness and the potential impact of cross-service attacks we will use the problem of account association in 4G/LTE networks. Account association attacks aim at determining whether a target mobile phone number is associated with a particular online account. In the case of 4G/LTE, the adversary launches the account association attacks by sending SMS messages to the target phone number and analyzing patterns in traffic related to the online account. We evaluate the proposed attacks in both a local 4G/LTE testbed and a major commercial 4G/LTE network. Our extensive experiments show that the proposed attacks can successfully identify account association with close-to-zero false negative and false positive rates. Our experiments also illustrate that the proposed attacks can be launched in a way that the victim receives no indication of being under attack.

Committee: Ye Zhu (Committee Chair); Yongjain Fu (Committee Member); Sui-Tung Yau (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical Engineering; Information Technology; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2007, Counselor Education and Supervision

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) to investigate its value for assessing attitudes toward suicide. Despite several limitations, the SOQ continues to be the most prominent measure of attitudes toward suicide. The 568 participants (> 18 years of age) were predominantly female (72.9%) and Caucasian (87.9%). Participants were obtained primarily through networking within various mental health facilities and a large university in the Midwest. The most frequently reported education level was graduate (Masters; 33.5%) followed by undergraduate (28.9%). Most of the participants knew someone who had attempted suicide (63.4%) and who had died by suicide (59%). Research instruments included a demographic questionnaire, the Suicide Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), the SOQ, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Spiritual Meaning Scale (SMS), the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10), and a service referral list. Participation was voluntary, anonymous, and confidential. Prior SOQ models from the literature were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). The CFA fit indices failed to reach the recommended cutoffs; therefore, the continued use of prior SOQ models was not supported. The SOQ items were then subjected to an exploratory principal axis factor analysis resulting in two factors accounting for 8.73% and 6.6% of the total variance, respectively. Next, an oblique rotation resulted in 17 items loading on Factor 1, Perceived Suicide Knowledge, and 12 items loading on Factor 2, Acceptability. Adequate (> .70) internal consistency reliability was exhibited for the factors and the additional measures. Meaningful and statistically significant relationships identified in the correlation matrix included an inverse relationship between Acceptability and spiritual meaningfulness and religiosity, an inverse relationship between participants' history of suicidal ideation/behaviors and perceptions of satisfa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: James Rogers (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling