Doctor of Nursing Practice , Case Western Reserve University, 2022, School of Nursing

Abstract: Utilizing an anonymous survey of Americans 65+ years this exploratory, cross-sectional study sought to understand perceived changes in personal independence related to Covid-19 isolation. Participants (n=136) quantified changes in ability to perform tasks and ranked the importance of these tasks to their feeling of independence. Results demonstrate that the majority of the 65+ participants recognized the largest change as reduction in emotional status with minimal overall change in their ability to remain independent and ranked the most important task as Transportation. Findings suggest that nurses must use open-ended and probing questions to assess resource needs for Americans 65+ at every encounter. The ability to perform tasks associated with a feeling of independence is key to maintaining quality of life in Americans 65+. Problem: Social isolation related to Covid-19 on 65+ year old Americans Specific aims: Quantify changes to perceptions of independence as related to social isolation of Covid-19 among 65+ year old Americans. Keywords: Independence, elderly, isolation, quantify, medical. Methods: Exploratory, cross-sectional survey design with convenience sample of 65+year old participants. Descriptive data statistics collected with crosstab analysis to determine perception of change in independence and ranking of specific tasks associated with independence.

Master of Science in Engineering (MSEgr), Wright State University, 2010, Electrical Engineering

With the increase in the complexity of control systems design and the demand for more productivity, the possibility of the occurrence of faults in control systems has also significantly increased. In this thesis, a unified method for the fault diagnosis of sensor faults and process faults is developed for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear uncertain systems. The fault detection and isolation (FDI) architecture is comprised of a fault detection estimator and a bank of fault isolation estimators (FIEs), where each FIE is designed, based on the functional structure of a particular fault, in the fault class under consideration. The output residuals are generated, and adaptive thresholds are designed for the detection and isolation of the faults. The effectiveness of the fault detection and isolation algorithm is illustrated by a simulation example of single-link robotic arm. Extensive simulation studies have been conducted using Matlab/Simulink. Based on the nature of the residuals and their corresponding adaptive thresholds, the faults under consideration are successfully detected and isolated.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2013, EMC - Mechanical Engineering

During the past forty years, the number of large retail stores (often referred to as big-box stores) has grown significantly. These stores incorporate steel pallet storage racks loaded with heavy merchandise which pose a life-safety risk to the exposed general public during a seismic event. A base isolation system compatible with conventional racks is designed and developed which provides seismic isolation primarily in the cross-aisle direction. The new patented base isolation system provides seismic isolation by incorporating heavily damped elastomeric bearings (referred to here as seismic mounts) and low-friction bearing plates. The objective of the base isolation system is to reduce horizontal accelerations of the rack to eliminate product shedding and structural damage during a major earthquake without interfering with normal, day-to-day material handling operations. Full scale shake table testing show the new base isolation system meets the performance objectives recommended in the FEMA-460 document “Seismic Considerations for Steel Storage Racks Located in Areas Accessible to the Public” for both life safety under the Design Earthquake (DE) and for collapse prevention under the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE). Special heavily damped (HD) butyl compounds are developed and utilized in the seismic mounts. These compounds are statically and dynamically characterized which provides input data for numerical studies. Non-linear hyperelastic material models are developed and used with finite element analysis to design various base isolation systems. Several of these new base isolation systems are optimized to achieve characteristics that expand their use from lightly loaded racks to heavily loaded racks. Designs are further optimized based on feedback from shake table testing and transient structural analysis. The new base isolation system is evaluated by uniaxial and triaxial shake table tests performed at the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simu (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Engineering and Applied Science: Electrical Engineering

Damage detection and isolation (DDI) is a task that can be divided into two major portions. Damage detection constitutes the first part of the problem, where the goal is to determine when a structural anomaly has occurred. Once an anomaly has been detected, algorithms must be employed to determine if the anomaly is a structural damage, or is due to system noise, sensor failure, or another non-structural event. Having confirmed the presence of a structural anomaly, the second part of the problem, damage isolation, is to determine where that anomaly has occurred.,/p> The principles of DDI have been used for decades on critical infrastructures, but the advancements in computational power, instrumentation, and wireless communication and high bandwidth have enabled evolutionary development in structural health monitoring. Structural health monitoring (SHM), in its infancy, meant implementation of a suite of instruments and a data acquisition system. The data acquisition system sampled less data and required manual downloading of the acquired data before any analysis or processing could begin. In the second generation of systems, the manual downloading could be eliminated by using remote access and data transfer. This enabled convenient and frequent data analysis and synthesis. With the recent developments in data acquisition systems, more on-site data analysis and synthesis can be performed, allowing more rapid responses when anomalies are detected. The specific aim of this research is to develop, calibrate, and validate sophisticated damage detection and isolation procedures that can be implemented on the next generation of structural health monitoring systems.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Electrical Engineering

Substrate noise coupling in integrated circuits is the process by which interference signals generated by high speed digital blocks cause parasitic currents to flow in the silicon substrate and couple devices in various parts of the circuits on this common substrate. In RFIC the switching noise couples to the sensitive analog circuits through the substrate causing degradation in performance and yield hit. Overcoming substrate coupling is a key issue in successful “system on chip” integration. In this thesis a substrate aware design flow is built, calibrated to silicon and used as part of the design flow to uncover substrate coupling problems in RFICs in the design phase. The flow is used to develop the first comprehensive RF substrate noise isolation design guide to be used by RF designers during the design phase. This will allow designers to optimize the design to maximize noise isolation and protect sensitive blocks from being degraded by substrate noise coupling. Several effects of substrate coupling on circuit performance will be identified and remedies will be given based on the design guide. Three case studies are designed to analyze the substrate coupling problem in RFICs. The case studies are designed to attack the problem from the device, circuit and system levels. On the device level a special emphasis is given to designing on chip inductors as an important device in RFIC. An accurate model is developed for a broadband fit of the inductor scattering parameters. This model is shown to be scalable and is proven to be accurate across various frequency bands and geometries. A special emphasis is put on the design for manufacturing effects that affect the design robustness. A circuit level case study is developed and results are compared to simulations and measurements to highlight the need for such a flow before tapping out to ensure a yielding part. The system level problem studied is a GSM receiver where the research results are directly applied to it as a d (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Nursing

Background: Diabetes is an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. Social isolation and loneliness are modifiable yet understudied factors that may exacerbate the effect of diabetes on cognitive impairment. Furthermore, evidence of physiological mediators (systemic inflammation and sleep disturbance) in the relationship between social isolation, loneliness, and cognitive function is limited, highlighting the need for further research. Purpose: The aims of this study were 1) to examine the effects of social isolation and loneliness on the initial levels of cognitive function and rates of cognitive decline in older adults with diabetes, 2) to investigate the mediating effect of systemic inflammation on the longitudinal association between social isolation and cognitive function, and 3) to determine the mediating effects of physiological mediators on the associations between social isolation, loneliness, cognitive function, and to identify whether these association vary by the presence of diabetes. Methods: A secondary analysis of existing data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was conducted. Data from participants aged 50 and over with diabetes were analyzed. This study utilized data from the Steptoe Social Isolation Index, the UCLA loneliness scale, C reactive protein results, and the Jenkins Sleep Scale to measure social isolation, loneliness, systemic inflammation, and sleep disturbances, respectively. Cognitive status was measured using data from the telephone interview. Latent growth modeling, a cross lagged panel model, and multigroup analysis within a structural equation modeling framework were used. Results: For Aim 1, social isolation and loneliness negatively affected the initial levels of cognitive function, but were not associated with a faster decline in cognitive function in older adults with diabetes over the ten year timeframe. For Aim 2, this study found reciprocal negative longitudinal (open full item for complete abstract)

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

Objectives: The 65 and older population is a growing population in the US. In this population there can be marked increases in isolation, loneliness, and depression. Polyvagal Theory holds that a greater sense of safety, security, and sense of engagement improves well-being. A key hypothesis stated that participation will lower self-report ratings of loneliness. Additional hypotheses included improving self-reported purpose in life and feelings of psychological safety. Methods/Design: The present dissertation is a quasi-experimental design, utilizing pre- and post-test measures comparing degree of loneliness, depression, purpose in life (PIL), and Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS) in a 6-week novel somatic-based intervention. Results: Sample consisted of 13 community-dwelling older adults (aged <65). Paired t-tests were used to determine significance of changes from pre- to post-intervention. Although no changes were statistically significant, results show small improvements in loneliness, no change in social engagement and compassion, and decrease in bodily sensations and purpose in life. Thematic analysis of participants'' weekly feedback was also conducted. Conclusion: This novel intervention contributes to an overall body of research in Polyvagal Theory practice and development of polyvagal interventions targeted at the specific community of adults 65 and older.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Animal Sciences

Bovine coronaviruses (BCoVs) are important members of the Betacoronavirus genus, Embecovirus subgenus in Orthocoronavirinae subfamily within the Coronaviridae family. They can cause enteric or/and respiratory diseases in cattle. However, the mechanisms for BCoV tissue tropism and pathogenesis are still unknown and could be due to interactions of viral, host, and environmental factors. There are limited studies to investigate whether co-infection with other bovine pathogens, environmental factors (such as season of the year) and host factors (such as beef vs dairy; age, such as pre- vs post-weaning; and the level of pre-existing BCoV antibodies) contribute to enteric or respiratory tropism. In our study, we isolated recent BCoV strains and compared them with historical strains to study the evolution of BCoVs. Bovine fecal samples were collected from dairy calves, dairy cows, and beef cattle in Georgia by Dr. Palomares Lab at the University of Georgia. Bovine fecal and nasal samples from asymptomatic veal calves from an Ohio farm were provided by Dr. Habing's Lab at The Ohio State University. We detected BCoVs from both nasal (n=10) and fecal samples (n=156) and isolated BCoV strains from enteric samples. The BCoV genomic sequences of five strains BC7, BC8, BC9, BC39, and BC47 were characterized, and they all belong to genogroup II by phylogenetic analyses. Sequence analyses were performed to compare the mutations between the historical and current viruses and between the viruses isolated from respiratory and enteric samples. We found that one pair of samples BC8 and BC18 from the same calf, but different collection sites (fecal and nasal sites), showed two amino acid differences in the spike (S) protein; We predicted the locations of these two amino acid residues in the 3D protein structures. Reverse genetics is a state-of-the-art technology to study viral factors, but until now no infectious clones have been generated for BCoVs, and this has hampered in-dept (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2024, Physics

The goal of this work is to investigate magnetic materials (MM) and the influence of magnetic field on different shapes and types of MM with innovative magnetic devices. Using magneto-optical detection devices, we examined the physical science of two MM systems: malarial hemozoin (a paramagnetic crystal) in rod-like form, and synthetic magnetic particles with iron oxide cores in spherical form. The second study focuses on capturing and imaging targeted cells using a newly developed CAPGLO device that combines magnetic and fluorescent mechanisms. Due to their magnetic properties, the crystalline hemozoin shows unique alternation in the presence of a magnetic field. Using a light beam, we were able to detect and verify the changes in the direction of the crystal by measuring the polarization-dependent optical absorption when the magnetic field is alternated between on and off. Our results show a factor of two increase in absorption as it grows with light polarization along the easy-axis crystallographic direction compared to polarization along the hard-axis (ax/az = σx/σz = 2), which shows a correlation between the basic physics and the chemical structure of the crystal. The characteristics of magnetophoresis – that is, motion under a gradient magnetic field of magnetic particles (MP) suspended in fluid – are analyzed. As the MP migrate from the center of the sample toward the magnets, we measure the changes in the photodiode detector voltage for the light beam over time. Our results show the effect of different concentrations and MP sizes. In addition, we notice a universal pattern that displays multiple phases that are correlated with the motion of fluid, the chain formation of MPs, and the complete separation of the MPs. Lastly, CAPGLO is an original magnetic detector designed to capture the composite made up of an MP binding to a cell. The cancer cell example has concentrations corresponding to biopsies. The composites are imaged using a fluorescence technique. (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

During and following the COVID-19 isolation period, millions of teens grappled with the sudden break in physical contact, which coincided with the natural changes occurring during adolescence. For Black female teens, the adolescent experience is unique from other teen groups as it is characterized by the sexualization and adultification of this demographic. Filling the void created by being physically isolated, the use of and the value in social media engagement increased exponentially. This has caused concerns about the mental health of teens as connections were drawn to heightened rates of anxiety and depression in this population. Social isolation restrictions halted in-person schooling for millions of teens, causing an interruption in natural progressions of social and emotional development. Emotional intelligence, encompassing five key components of emotional development: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills, signifies the ability to both manage and understand the emotions of self and others. Underdeveloped emotional intelligence, I assert, lies at the root of manifestations of emotional dysregulation and consequent anxiety and depression exhibited in Black female teens. Using the Causal Chain Theory to explore this phenomenon through the lens of the Black female teen, some root causes explaining increased anxiety and consequent 4 emotional dysregulation in this demographic were discovered. Causal chains illustrate the path of influence running from root cause to problem symptoms. It is within this chain of events that this project sought to enlighten current research on the connections between the perturbations existing among Black females, social media use, deficiencies in emotional intelligence and anxiety. In this study, twenty-five Black females participated in semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observations. Approaching this project phenomenologically, the author was able to use the (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

In this study, the impact of learner-learner interactions on sense of community in an online doctoral degree program is explored through a quasi-experimental mixed methods approach. Survey data and analysis from 46 enrolled students in an online EdD program at a private religiously affiliated Midwestern research university, along with qualitative interviews from 20 participants, suggest a positive link between sustained learner-learner interactions and the development of a meaningful sense of community among online students. The research findings emphasize the importance of intentional program design that ensures continuous opportunities for virtual learners to engage with one another. The implications of this study underscore the evolving nature of online education, urging university leaders, faculty, staff, and students to proactively engage in its ongoing development while recognizing the inherent value learner communities provide as essential wellsprings of intellectual exploration in the digital age.

Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2023, Psychology

Depression is a powerful risk factor associated with suicidality, but determining who goes on to die by suicide remains unclear. Social support has been identified as a protective factor against suicidality, however the mechanisms involved are not well understood. The current study utilizes a new instrument to measure aspects of social support to determine how they impact the likelihood of dying by suicide. Clinical, diagnostic, and social support factors were measured utilizing psychological autopsy procedures to determine association with cause of death in 100 depressed adults. Results indicated suicide decedents were more likely to be male, experience thoughts of suicide, and experience interpersonal conflict than natural deaths. Natural deaths were more likely to be socially connected than suicide decedents. Socially isolated or conflicted individuals were more likely to experience alcohol abuse and endorse feeling guilty or worthless than socially connected individuals.

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

This study examines architecture's role in human behavior and, more specifically, mental health. Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are beginning to place more importance on mental health and stability. This paper seeks to utilize this momentum to provide people who live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with adequate resources to help themselves, especially within city centers. Architects need to consider utilizing strategies such as: 1. Controlling stimuli 2. Using biophilic design and natural materials 3. Implementing Therapeutic Zones for well-being 4. Utilizing passive energy sources This study demonstrates how architecture can positively affect mental health. Several buildings provide precedents to show this positive effect. Society has pushed behavioral health centers out of urban centers into the suburbs. This study provides evidence to support using a mixed-use typology within the Findlay Market area in Cincinnati, Ohio, to give urban dwellers respite and independent healthcare options. The study further utilizes architecture to juxtapose the current typology and its surrounding context.

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2023, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Prior research suggests that COVID-19 perceived threat and existential isolation (EI) would be associated with an individual's subjective health, levels of anxiety, and feelings of hope relating specifically to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was unclear whether such concerns might be unique predictors (no interaction, two cumulative main effects) or interact (one effect modifies the other). To learn more about the possible combined effects, I analyzed data gathered via MTurk, during an 11-week period at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-June 2020). Method: This study (N = 2,673) measured perceived COVID19-related threat, EI, anxiety, subjective health, and hope. Results: EI was found to be positively correlated with anxiety and negatively correlated with subjective health and hope. Perceived COVID-19-related threat was negatively correlated with subjective health and positively correlated with anxiety. Greater perceived threat was not found to be negatively correlated with feelings of hope. One outcome interaction was observed such that perceived COVID-19-related threat decreased hope when people felt existentially isolated, but increased hope when people felt a sense of existential connection (e.g., “we're all in this together”). Conclusion: Discussion highlights theoretical considerations, limitations, and practical implications of addressing mental health.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1966, Sociology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

This study explores obstacles to career advancement faced by black female staff in Higher education. Through interviews and surveys, key factors impacting this population are identified and a solution is proposed in the form of an action plan. Interviews exposed the issue of isolation, lack of support, and a need for early training for both employees and supervisors. The proposed action plan adopts an Africentric model of community building to provide a structure to address the three identified themes. This study contributes to an area of research with limited attention. University diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts routinely focus on diversifying faculty and student populations, while excluding staff. This mixed method research study addresses how the creation, implementation, and maintenance of a self-governing support structure is beneficial to the culture of the campus and expands the DEI recruitment and retention efforts ordinarily reserved for faculty and students.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Wright State University, 2022, Leadership Studies

The study outlines the path that the researcher took to investigate the phenomenon of nomophobia as it relates to employee engagement. In the first two chapters, the researcher outlines a synopsis of the problem, presents gleanings from a review of pertinent literature on employee engagement and nomophobia, and articulates a basic conceptual framework for the study. The researcher also shares how the data was collected and analyzed in the third chapter of this document. In the fourth chapter, the method is articulated and finally, results and recommendations are shared in the last chapter.

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Creative Writing/Fiction

With[in]out is an artistic experimentation and liberation of hybrid stories that mirror thought processes and memory through an array of characters from an array of genres. Each piece utilizes form, genre, diction, white space, and style to best exhibit the inner worlds of characters on the page as well as the worlds the characters themselves inhabit. With[in]out creates a space for characters to go on a complex, internal journey involving difficult decisions, mental illness, trauma, isolation, and recovery. The collection asserts that memory is but a collage of images and sensory experiences and asks the reader to consider this tenet, as well as the stylistic choices within each piece, to gain a deeper understanding of how each character operates, to viscerally immerse oneself beyond prose conventions.

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

The Internet and the web are ingrained in our society, and billions of people are on it daily. The number of websites and the amount of data that is generated is staggering. The current business model for technology companies is through ad sales and selling marketing data to other companies. The flaw with this model is that it encourages the industry to collect users' data to help better target users on the Internet to increase revenue. The end-user has little control over what data is collected while using the Internet. Though more pressure is coming from the public because of recent data leaks and vulnerability discovery, browser vendors are focusing more attention on privacy and security. This thesis proposes an in-browser policy enforcement mechanism to protect users' privacy. Based on several privacy laws, such as the limitation of third-party cookies and data leakage, we define formal policies to be enforced in the browser via a reference monitor. We have first developed a proof-of-concept prototype as a browser extension to implement the policy enforcement mechanism. Our prototype, built on an existing browser extension codebase, can block 95% of third-party cookies and enforce the cross-origin isolation policy during a browser session, demonstrated by experiments on ten popular websites. In addition, our enforcement tool allows users to customize the policies at runtime. Lastly, we propose a path on moving the enforcement mechanism into the Chromium browser so that privacy protection can be enabled by default.

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

Weak isolation levels, such as Read Committed and Snapshot Isolation, are widely used by databases for their higher concurrency and better performance, but may introduce subtle correctness errors in applications that only experts can identify. To help developers debug the anomalies caused by weak isolation, we proposed IsoDiff, a tool to analyze transactions in database applications and identify possible anomalous executions under given weak isolation levels. To address the challenge that the number of anomalies can be non-polynomial with respect to the number of types of transactions, IsoDiff finds a representative subset of anomalies involving different transactions, operations, and problematic patterns. To reduce false positives, IsoDiff proposes two novel methods: 1) correlation detection; 2) timing relationship check, to eliminate as many false positives as possible. We further extend the work of IsoDiff on several respects. First, we design a random yet deterministic mechanism to provide stable performance and consistent result with control of single random seed. Second, we incorporate domain knowledge from developer via a generalized feedback framework to allow developers express their requirements and eliminate false positives with their specific usage scenarios. Third, we make augmentation on IsoDiff in consideration of practical database management system settings. To show the effectiveness, we evaluate IsoDiff against TPC-C and other real applications under Snapshot Isolation and Read Committed, showing that IsoDiff can balance computation time and the coverage of anomalies; it can automatically eliminate a significant portion of false positives; and its feedback mechanism allows a developer to express the root cause of false positives, which can eliminate many false positives with only a small number of developer hints. The extensive evaluation on IsoDiff shows its generalizability and flexibility of handling various requirements from databas (open full item for complete abstract)