Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical products are distributed through several distribution channels such as retail, hospital, and mail order. Cost containment is the major impetus driving the development of mail order pharmacy. However, currently available empirical evidence that does not support the substitution of community pharmacy by mail order services to reduce overall drug expenditures.The objective of this study was to compare drug utilization and pharmaceutical expenditures by simulating the effects of community pharmacy on drug utilization for a retiree patient population using mail order pharmacy. The data used for the analysis were pharmacy claims data for the period January 2000-September 2005. Drug claims for each patient were aggregated into courses of drug therapy (CDTs) representing unique patient IDs and unique drug products. Utilization differences between community and mail-order pharmacy were assumed to occur only at the last claim for each CDT. The simulation model employed to estimate the difference in drug utilization using mail-order pharmacy claims data assumed that discontinuation in community pharmacy would follow a random pattern. A comparison basket of products with at least one claim in both community and mail-order pharmacy during each year from 2000-2005 were selected. Unit costs and expenditures for the medications in the basket were compared across community and mail-order pharmacy. Seventy two and a half percent of the CDTs dispensed were intended for maintenance therapy and maintenance therapy was more concentrated in mail-order pharmacy as compared to community pharmacy. The use of mail-order pharmacy services resulted in an increase in drug utilization of 2.96% over community pharmacy and a reduction in pharmaceutical expenditures by 10.0-13.0% from 2000-2005. The unit total gross costs in community pharmacy were higher for about half of all products in the comparison basket of products. The differences in pharmaceutical expenditures between com (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Enrique Seoane PhD (Advisor); Sheryl Szeinbach PhD, RPh (Advisor); Judith Schwartzbaum PhD (Committee Member); Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Pharmaceuticals

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1973, Economics

Committee: Virginia Vivian (Advisor) Subjects:

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

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Communication Studies (Communication)

Newsrooms have long been communicative spaces in which journalists negotiate various roles and identities, define professional values, debate coverage practices, and interpret events. Such spaces are increasingly significant as journalists adapt to a changing media landscape and respond to public perceptions reflected in such narratives as the characterization of responsible journalism as “fake news.” But publishers are increasingly downsizing newsrooms and outsourcing critical functions to free-lancers or editing and design hubs. In an effort to explore the costs associated with shrinking newsrooms, I spent nearly three months observing journalists in the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail newsroom and interviewing them about their experiences. I found that newsroom interactions were central to journalists' socialization into their shared professional, organizational, and geographic communities and to their negotiation of shifting demands related to digital technologies and audience expectations.

Committee: Devika Chawla Ph.D. (Advisor); Laura Black Ph.D. (Committee Member); Benjamin Bates Ph.D. (Committee Member); Hans Meyer Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Organizational Behavior

Master of Arts in Professional Communication, Youngstown State University, 2017, Department of Communicaton

This study explores social exchange theory in relationships between college coaches and athletes. There are positive and negative aspects of athletes' perceptions of their coaches' recruitment styles, communication competence, ability to motivate, support, and leadership styles. Past studies have looked into student-athletes' perceptions of their coaches' communication and relationship with their student-athletes. This study builds on this research by exploring student-athlete alumni perceptions of their coaches. As a previous student-athlete alumna on the track and field team at Youngstown State University, I encountered a variety of experiences with multiple coaches. I interviewed seven men and seven women alumni who were members of the Youngstown State University Track and Field team. I used three demographic questions, 26 nonverbal immediacy scale-observer questions (Richmond, McCroskey, & Johnson, 2003), and five open ended questions to apply the social exchange theory to athletes' perceptions of their coaches' communication competence, motivation, support, and leadership styles. Results also indicate a difference between men's and women's perception of their coaches. Women's primary factors included support combined with trust from coaches. Men mainly looked at their individual performance, injuries, and financial aid to figure out whether they wanted to be on the team or not. This study indicates that athletes are satisfied when their coaches treat athletes like friends and treat each individual athlete with care.

Committee: Rebecca Curnalia PhD (Advisor); Christina Saenger PhD (Committee Member); Jay Gordon PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Gender Studies; Social Research; Sports Management

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Art

The Space Program is a program of missions and media in space, including: • Space Program (program), 56-page printed program accompanying the Space Program (live), 2017 • Space Program (live), installation-performance (30 minutes) with six video projections, technical equipment, convex mirror, and ukulele, 2017 • Missions in Space, pilgrimages and performances in space, 2016 - ongoing Mission Equipment, functional sculpture for Missions in Space, 2016 - ongoing • Transmissions, postcards and other communications from Missions in Space, 2016 - ongoing • Support the Space Program, a yard sale exhibition to fund the Space Program, 2016 The Space Program in all its forms—including this document—is necessarily reflexive, which is to say that it addresses its own form as content and acknowledges the “I” of the author(s). I, Melissa Yes, am an artist and graduate student at The Ohio State University (OSU), and I am a time-space mechanic, a wily bricoleur. I take things apart and remake them. When I break something down, I see how it contains and is contained within systems that can be rewired. In the Space Program, I deconstruct images, sounds, timelines, and popular Western values and narratives to tweak a system of connections among people, media, and messages. In the Space Program (live), I steal snippets of (mostly) popular American film and television programs, break them into pieces, and pattern them into my own (re)invented narrative. In so doing, I take apart constructs such as masculine American individualism, Manifest Destiny, and habits of dualistic logic. The Space Program is a mixed signal, both in the fact that it is a mixture of forms and sources of media, but also because with the Space Program I am communicating multiple (seemingly opposed) things at once. Making and unmaking—seeming opposites—are ways of naming transformation. Production and consumption are one process—a digestion—and the Space Program digests objects, interactions, moving (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Todd Slaughter (Committee Chair); Ann Hamilton (Committee Member); Michael Mercil (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts; Performing Arts

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Engineering : Industrial Engineering

The main goal in this research investigation was to determine the effects of maintenance operations on the lean production system. In order to study this relationship several variables were defined to measure the leanness of a production system and evaluate the maintenance operations within the same company. Then a questionnaire was designed to conduct a survey in greater Cincinnati area and collect data. All data were checked in and recorded on a computer database as they were received, in order to analyze them with SAS. The first test performed was normality test of variables to see if they were normally distributed. Then the inference about differences of means were performed in order to see if there was actual differences between the means of defined variables between lean and mass (non-lean) production systems. Based on the results of these tests some of the variables were eliminated and the statistical analysis was continued with the valid variables. With the remaining variables, a regression model was developed, which with the help of, the effect of each variable on the production system can be studied. In other words, it shows that if a company wants to move toward a lean production system, what variables are critical in maintenance operations. This permits mid-level managers or engineers to plan for making the right changes and getting the best results in the shortest time. This investigation provides a general scheme of the whole relationship between maintenance and lean production systems.

Committee: Dr. Richard Shell (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Industrial

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2004, Philosophy

The significance that establishing relationships holds for ethical theory can be evidenced in the network culture that is emerging in contemporary society. John Rawls' Contractarianism, despite its aim to be an ethic of “justice and fairness”, is not always capable of addressing the broad range of human qualities and virtues as is required in a complex world. Thus, I explore alternatives to Contractarianism, such as the moral particularity of Iris Murdoch, Lawrence Blum, and others as well as the corporeal generosity of Rosalyn Diprose. I then propose my own Mutualist model of generosity that asserts an appreciation for intimacy and symbolic exchange, the acceptance of risk, and above all, a commitment to an authentic responsiveness to others. Through an examination of the aesthetic of networked art, I show that an ethic of interconnectedness can be established through acts of generosity.

Committee: Susan Purviance (Advisor) Subjects: Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, Economics

Considerable controversy exists over the role of vertical integration in pharmaceutical distribution. This research establishes that an insurance plan pays less for brand-name drugs dispensed at PBM-captive mail-order pharmacies compared to the same drugs dispensed at retail pharmacies. For generic drugs, the relative costs are reversed. That is, generics cost more at mail-order than retail pharmacies. Integration may affect the price that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) can negotiate with drug makers. The preferred status set by PBM can provide significant demand enhancement to a brand-name drug, so the brand's producer is willing to offer discounts to PBMs and their captive mail-order pharmacies. The lower insurance plan payments of mail-order distribution could be the results of either cost advantages arising from negotiation or from saving generated by efficient distribution. When drug patents expire, the competitive landscape changes. No generic maker will be willing to pay for preferred status, since other generics could free ride on that status. Empirical results show that insurance plan payments for generics dispensed at captive mail-order pharmacies are more than that they pay to competitive retail pharmacies. Since the generic drug price comparisons should be free of negotiated cost advantages, this comparison suggests that retail pharmacies are at least as efficient compared to mail-order. This means that the price difference between mail and retail for brand-name drugs understates the true effects of PBM negotiations. Legislation introduces an odd intervening case in the form of the Hatch-Waxman Act, which gives the first generic maker to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) a 180-day window following patent expiration in which other generic entry is prohibited. The producer of the brand-name is permitted to authorize a second generic producer, and hence three players (brand maker, authorized generic, and first ANDA generic producer) compete (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Howard Marvel P (Advisor); Matthew Lewis S (Committee Member); Huanxing Yang (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Biophysics

Innate immunity is the first line of defense mounted by the host against the pathogens. Innate immune responses are initiated at receptors that get activated upon pathogen recognition to turn on several proinflammatory pathways. The present study concentrated on understanding the role of two proteins, MAIL (IκBzeta) in the signalosome pathway and pyrin in the inflammasome pathway. The signalosome pathway leads to the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines that are involved in host defense and host cell survival. On the other hand, the inflammasome pathway leads to the activation of caspase-1, an enzyme which has been implicated in processing and release of proIL-1β, proIL-18 and proIL-33.MAIL is a recently described homologue of IkBalpha that is rapidly induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in monocytes. MAIL regulates the transcription of a number of inflammatory genes including IL-6 in the mouse. Although the role of IL-6 is well established in cancer and sepsis, the regulation of IL-6 in human monocytes and macrophages is poorly understood. Here we show that MAIL expression is suppressed with differentiation of monocytes to macrophages which correlates with IL-6 production. Furthermore, suppression of MAIL by small interfering RNA decreases LPS and Nod2 ligand induced IL-6 production. Our data suggests that MAIL is a key regulator of IL-6 production in monocytes and plays an important role in inflammation. Dysregulation in IL-1β synthesis and production leads to many autoinflammatory diseases like familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). FMF is characterized by recurrent fever and inflammation and is caused by mutations in the pyrin gene (MEFV). Pyrin interacts with the proteins of the inflammasome and thus regulates its activity. However, the exact role of pyrin in the regulation of inflammasome assembly is poorly understood and a subject of controversy. Both activating and suppressing roles of pyrin have been proposed. In the studies outlined here, Pyrin levels in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark D. Wewers M.D. (Advisor); Susheela Tridandapani Ph.D (Committee Member); Scott T.R. Walsh Ph.D (Committee Member); Daren L. Knoell Pharm.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Cellular Biology; Immunology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 1997, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Engineering and Technology)

A mailing list has traditionally been something that a user had to either create manually or get permission from a super user to create. A user either had to use a mail-in interface or a complex Unix command line interface. Many of these programs were effective at making mailing lists, but most were lacking in certain areas, and their use was too complex for the novice Internet user. For the OU mailer program described in this paper, concepts were combined from MajorDomo and the Purdue Mailer, and a GUI front end was added. The general user is more likely to use a application if it is free of cost and easy to use, which is why the front end was written in Java. In Java, it is easy to create a GUI interface that can run on many operating systems, without having to modify the code. The final product was a program that was both functional and secure, yet easy to use.

Committee: Shawn Ostermann (Advisor) Subjects:

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

Four different data collection methods (face to face interviews, telephone interviews, mail surveys, and Web-based surveys) compared Social Desirability Bias (SDB). This study used Multiple Comparison tests and a randomized post-test only control-group design. No SDB differences were found among methods. For SDB no gender (2-factor), ethnicity (2-factor), nor was a gender and ethnicity (3-factor) interaction found. This study was more rigorous than other studies because 13 known extraneous influences were controlled for and two more were avoided. Effect sizes ranged from .002 to .029. Implications are: SDB need not trouble researchers when comparing the 4 methods and SDB may be decreasing over time. Suggestions for future research include (1) studies between non-published and published studies; (2) meta analytic method comparisons over well-established constructs; (3) meta analytic studies on SDB over time; (4) measurement invariance of the 4 methods on SDB; and other suggestions.

Committee: Rafa Kasim (Committee Co-Chair); Shawn Fitzgerald (Committee Co-Chair); Milton Harvey (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 1991, Operations Research

While there has been a great deal of research into how to increase the number of responses to a mail survey, very little has been done on the question of how many surveys should be mailed out. The first part of this work deals with how to model the survey response pattern. This is then used as a foundation for a two stage optimization problem to determine the optimal number of questionnaires. Past experience and tuition are included by means of a prior distribution. A confidence constraint is imposed whereby there is a prespecified probability of meeting some desired level of returns by a specified deadline. The resulting problem can be solved using numerical integration and search routines. Simulations are performed to compare this procedure with the previous work of Parasuraman (1982). The last part of this work introduces a new regression model, the Odds Ratio Model, for problems with a binary response variable. This provides a conceptually attractive alternative to the logistic regression model.

Committee: John Wilson (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2005, Family and Consumer Sciences-Clothing, Textiles and Interiors

Maille Armour, also known as chain mail, is an intricate fabric of inter-linked metal rings which are passed through each other in a specific pattern to create a strong, flexible material. It has been used by many cultures throughout the ages and is still being used today. For an individual interested in making maille, it can be difficult to find instructional materials. This applied thesis utilized the design process as elucidated in Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall's The Universal Traveler to design, write, and evaluate the process of creating a manuscript for an instructional book on making maille armour and other maille items. The process Koberg and Bagnall describe involves seven stages: acceptance of the situation or problem, analysis, definition, ideation, selection, implementation, and evaluation.

Committee: Virginia Gunn (Advisor) Subjects: