Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Biomedical Sciences

Skeletal muscle is highly adaptable, and in response to anabolic stimuli, neuronal innervation, and mechanical overload, undergoes an increase in myofiber cross-sectional area called hypertrophy. Hypertrophy requires global increases in protein synthesis, which ultimately drive increases in muscle cell size and mass. The majority of discovered mechanisms known to regulate muscle cell size focus on epigenetic DNA and post-translational protein modifications; however, the necessity of gene expression regulation for muscle growth is unknown. Here we identify three different novel proteins involved in overload-induced gene expression regulation that are essential for muscle hypertrophy. Through a combination of genetic mouse models and hypertrophy-induing synergist ablation assays, three overload-responsive genes were identified. We found that each identified gene is essential for muscle growth. In the first chapter, we detail our finding of how myofiber-derived Cell Communication Network Factor 2 (CCN2) is required for muscle growth and how it functions to regulate focal adhesion kinase-mediated transduction of overload-induced extracellular signals and their regulatory impact on hypertrophic muscle protein synthesis. In the second chapter of this work, we demonstrate how in muscle, the mRNA modifying enzyme Methyltransferase Like 3 (METTL3), functions to regulate anabolic muscle growth by ii providing an inhibitory methylation mark on the pro-atrophic Activin Receptor mRNA and thus acts to post-transcriptionally regulate the myostatin pathway and muscle cell size. In the third chapter of this dissertation, we reveal the role of injury and overload-induced Brain-Expressed-X-Linked 1 (BEX1), which is necessary for reparative growth and the translation of postsynaptic Arc, a key regulator of muscle's adaptive neuromuscular plasticity. While the main contributions of this work are the identification of novel molecular mediators of muscle mass and the preclinical demonst (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Federica Accornero (Advisor); Juan Alfonzo (Committee Member); Denis Guttridge (Committee Member); Scott Harper (Committee Member); Jill Rafael-Fortney (Committee Member) Subjects: Biochemistry; Biology; Biomedical Research; Medicine; Molecular Biology; Physiology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

Three different perspectives – state dependence perspective, risky heterogeneity perspective, and neighborhood perspective – were adopted to explain personal victimization risk among South Korean youths. Framed within theories of lifestyles/routine activities, low self-control, and collective efficacy, this dissertation examined (1) the direct and mediating effects of micro level factors (i.e., low self-control and lifestyles/routine activities) on the risk of personal victimization, (2) whether the micro level effects from the first stage of the analysis differed by a youth's sex, (3) the main and moderating effects of collective efficacy at the macro level on victimization risk, and (4) whether within-person changes in time varying factors (lifestyles) coincided with changes in victimization risk over time, controlling for time invariant factors (sex and low self-control). The sample included 2,844 fourth grade students in South Korea followed for five years (through eighth grade). The fourth grade elementary school students were selected from 15 regions (including Seoul and 14 metropolitan cities and provinces) in South Korea. Respondents selected during the first year were assessed annually over a five year period. Several models were incorporated to estimate both cross-sectional and longitudinal effects on personal victimization: (1) structural equation modeling (involving a measurement model to assess latent variables, and a path model to estimate the direct and indirect effects of interest), (2) multi-level modeling (with youths nested within schools), (3) latent growth curve modeling (to estimate intra- and inter-individual differences in developmental growth trajectories in personal victimization), (4) autoregressive latent trajectory models (integrating latent growth curve modeling with auto-regressive, cross-lagged modeling), and (5) multi-level growth curve modeling (integrating multi-level modeling with latent growth curve modeling). All empirical fin (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Wooldredge Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Bonnie Sue Fisher Ph.D. (Committee Member); Seongho Song Ph.D. (Committee Member); Pamela Wilcox Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering

Controlled growth of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) with appropriate properties has been of great interest both to researchers and industries, due to their wide applications. Because of its simplicity and scalability, catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is the most commonly used method to grow CNTs. In the CVD synthesis of CNTs, the choice of catalyst is one of the most important factors. Numerous efforts have been made to control the growth of CNTs by fine-tuning the related catalysts. However, it remains a challenge to control the properties of CNTs and there remain many unsolved issues in achieving the desired performance of the catalyst. In this thesis, various novel methods have been studied to control the growth of CNTs by controlling catalyst on proper substrates. In this study, anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane has been tested to grow CNTs with the confinement of its nano pores. The experimental work reveals that the maximum diameter of CNTs grown from the pores is confined by the size of pores, providing upper limit for the diameter of grown CNTs. Electro discharge patterning (EDP) has been attempted for the first time to deposit catalyst for growth of CNTs. It has been found that the catalyst material could be transferred to substrate, yielding CNT forests. Combined with program design, it is capable of producing various forest patterns of CNTs. EDP is a new versatile and robust method of patterning catalysts. One potential application is patterning catalyst on metals, growing CNTs to form metal/CNTs composites. Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has been utilized for substrate patterning in order to control positioning of catalyst nano particles. This method provides the capability of positioning catalyst particles in nano scale. SPM nano manufacturing and capillary assembly have been combined to place catalyst nano particles in nano cavities and subsequent growth of CNTs. CNTs successfully grew from the catalysts confined in nano cavities, whi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sundaram Murali Meenakshi Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mark Schulz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vesselin Shanov Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

This study explores the effects of local economic development policies and environmental policies on county population and employment growth in the US. Local environmental policies are policies adopted by counties to control unplanned growth. Using a monocentric city model, growth control is shown to have a negative effect on population growth. The model suggests that optimal growth control policies depend on the policies of neighboring counties, on the strength of agglomeration economies, and on the degree of congestion resulting from population concentration. Aspatial and spatial analysis are conducted to explore the relationship between population and employment growth. Environmental policies and economic development policies are found to be endogenous, and instrumental variables are used to address this problem. An extended weight matrix is constructed to overcome the problem of spatial discontinuity of the sample data due to nonresponse. Estimates from the spatial models using the contiguity weight matrix and the inverse distance weight matrix are consistent with expectations. The main findings are: (1) local environmental policies have negative effects on population growth of both metro and nonmetro counties and positive effects on employment growth of metro counties but negative effects on employment growth of nonmetro counties; (2) local economic development policies stimulate employment growth but have no effects on population growth; (3) initial population level has a positive effect on population growth, while initial employment level has nonpositive effects on employment growth; (4) manufacturing industry concentration is negatively associated with employment growth while retailing industry concentration is positively associated with employment growth; (5) population density is negatively associated with population growth but has no effect on employment growth; (6) and people follow jobs and jobs follow people.

Committee: David Kraybill (Advisor) Subjects: Economics, Agricultural

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Chemical Engineering

Lactic acid has been widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, the worldwide demand has been increasing due to many new industrial applications. Lactic acid bacteria have been used in lactic acid production because of their high growth rate and product yield. However, the limitations including costly substrates and complicated product recovery make bacterial fermentation economically unattractive. In contrast, filamentous fungi such as Rhizopus oryzae can directly produce optically pure L(+)-lactic acid from carbohydrates present in agricultural residues and plant biomass; therefore, can overcome the problems in bacterial fermentation. However, change and diversity of fungal morphology during fermentation cause many problems in reactor control and operation, and affect lactic acid production. In this research, fungal morphology was controlled by immobilization in a Rotating Fibrous Bed Bioreactor (RFBB). It was found that RFBB provided good morphological control and improved oxygen transfer resulting in increased lactic acid production, limited undesirable ethanol production, and stable long-term production in the RFBB. Lactic acid production cost can be minimized by using low-value substrates derived from agricultural residues and plant biomass. The results showed that R. oryzae was capable of utilizing both starchy materials present in agricultural residues and pentose sugars derived from hemicellulose to produce lactic acid. Process engineering techniques were used to improve lactic acid production. It was found that overgrown immobilized cells in the RFBB caused oxygen limitation and lowered lactic acid production. Oxygen limitation was prevented by increasing oxygen transfer rate using high aeration rate or supplying oxygen-enriched air. Controlling cell growth and biofilm thickness by shaving-off the fungal mycelia under high shear rates and limiting the nitrogen source in the medium was also studied. To achieve controlled growth and immobil (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Shang-Tian Yang (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Chemical

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2008, Counseling Psychology

This study examined the construct validity of Tedeschi and Calhoun's (2004) theory of posttraumatic growth, as measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), by empirically examining the nature of its relationship with hardiness, sense of coherence, resilience, self-efficacy, locus of control, and optimism. Data from 276 students and community members were collected through a web-based survey. Findings from a correlational and exploratory factor analysis did not support the theoretical link that Tedeschi and Calhoun purported would exist between posttraumatic growth and the six personality variables. Tedeschi and Calhoun's proposed 5 domain model of growth was also examined through a confirmatory factor analysis. Results and suggested modifications did not indicate an adequate level of fit for the model to this sample (χ2=457.33(p <.0001), RMSEA = .09, CFI = .87, NFI = .81, GFI = .80). Exploratory analysis also failed to reveal a significant difference in total PTGI scores between individuals who did and did not report experiencing a traumatic event. Clinical implications for utilizing posttraumatic growth, as measured by the PTGI, could not be explored due to a lack of construct validity found in the study. In order to further explore the construct validity of posttraumatic growth, as measured by the PTGI, possible future areas of research are examined, including the underlying factor structure of the PTGI and further exploration of the nature of the relationship between posttraumatic growth and theoretically related personality variables.

Committee: James Rogers PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology; Psychotherapy; Religion; Social Research

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2013, Biological Sciences

Phalaris arundinacea, also known as reed canary grass (RCG), is a non-native invasive grass that thrives in floodplains. RCG plants displace native flora which reduces diversity in otherwise species rich wetlands. This is a widespread problem throughout many parts of the USA. RCG can grow by its seeds or its rhizomes. Its seeds are capable of surviving long periods in soil. RCG can potentially be controlled by multi-year treatments in early spring and early fall with broad spectrum or grass specific herbicides. The goal of this study was to optimize methods to control RCG, in order to increase species diversity. One objective was to examine effects of broad spectrum herbicide AquaNeat® (glyphosate), and grass specific Fusilade II® (fluazifop-p-butyl) applied in either spring or fall, or both spring and fall at two field sites in order to ascertain which combination(s) of treatment can potentially control RCG. Both field sites were in zones affected by floods and contained at least 95% cover of RCG. A second objective asked whether pretreatment with a plant growth hormone called X-CyteTM (kinetin), shown to release buds from dormancy to enhance impact of herbicides, would enhance any of the affects revealed by the first seasonal and herbicide based experiments. Based on biomass measurements, single herbicide application in either spring or fall was less effective than treatment in the spring followed by treatment in the fall. Kinetin in the field appeared to have no significant effect on the efficacy of either herbicide type, but this result may be due to the timing of application. Kinetin applied at a lower height in the greenhouse successfully released above ground buds from dormancy and appeared to produce a full kill. However, further observation revealed that rhizomes were not killed. Thus, field results combined with greenhouse results suggest kinetin is of little value in augmenting kill of RCG. Overall, glyphosate was more successful than fl (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: James Amon Ph.D. (Advisor); Donald Cipollini Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Rooney Ph.D. (Committee Member); James Runkle Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Environmental Science; Plant Biology; Plant Sciences