Bachelor of Science, Walsh University, 2026, Honors

Caffeine is a popular ergogenic aid, but the impact that the stimulant has on balance and sensory skills in athletes is unknown. Purpose: The objectives of this study were to determine what potential effects caffeine has on balance and sensory skills in collegiate sprinting athletes and if caffeine habituation will nullify caffeinated effects when performing balance and sensory skill testing. Methods: 13 (7 male and 6 female) DII collegiate, sprint-based track & field athletes participated in this study. Participants completed a condensed version of the CaffCo survey for the researcher to gain valuable information pertaining to personal caffeine consumption data and habits. Two tests on the NeuroCom Balance Master occurred during two trial days to evaluate balance and sensory skills, utilizing two conditions: once with 3 mg/kg anhydrous caffeine and once without (placebo). The tests administered were a Sensory Organization Test (SOT) and a Limits of Stability (LOS) test. From these tests, overall composite score of SOT was utilized, along with Velocity of Motion (VOM) and Reaction Time (RT) from the LOS test. A paired-samples t-test and a two-way ANOVA were run to analyze the data. Results: No significance was found when assessing composite scores of each test with caffeine vs. placebo conditions (p > 0.05). Additionally, no significant differences were found between habituated vs. non-habituated composite test scores in caffeine vs. placebo conditions (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Caffeine did not have effects on balance and sensory skills in collegiate sprinting athletes. Additionally, caffeine habituation did not have nullifying effects when testing balance and sensory skills. Further research is needed as this study had various limitations, such as dosage amount, sample size, and habituated participants.

Committee: Kelsey Scanlon (Other); Jonathan Naylor (Advisor) Subjects: Health Sciences; Science Education; Statistics

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2006, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Communication and Information

Music venues are meaningful cultural spaces where people come together to experience culture (Williams, 2011). The most communally interconnected (Bennett & Rogers, 2016) of these venues are independent music venues (IMVs), which notably operate without corporate control or sponsorship (Whiting, 2021). While these spaces are important hubs for fan and musician stories as well as community connections (Straw, 1991), disruptions over the past several years, like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Mims, 2022), threaten their continued existence. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine extra-organizational storytelling from an emic, insider perspective to trace how IMVs in the Midwestern U.S. promote and perceive of their stories, and place that communication within a larger context of societal norms and expectations. This dissertation used two lenses to guide an exploration of IMV promotional narrative: extra-organizational storytelling and master narrative. Extra-organizational storytelling is a hybrid conceptual framework which draws from organizational, advertising, public relations, and semiotics literature to situate and investigate how IMVs conceptualized and constructed their promotional communication. Master narrative provided a macro-level theoretical framework to understand how IMV promotional personnel co-create and tap into shared society-wide narratives which influence their work. I conducted and analyzed 28 in-depth informant interviews (Lindlof & Taylor, 2019) with promotional personnel from 26 different IMVs from across the Midwest. I found that organizational structures provided powerful context which shaped how participants communicated about and perceived of their venue's story. Storytelling and promotion were complex concepts participants connected to differently, with unique tensions associated with independence and extra-organizational storytelling. When considering their IMV stories, participants alternately highlighted characters, setti (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cristin Compton (Advisor); Cheryl Ann Lambert (Committee Member); Téwodros Workneh (Committee Member); Mary Gallagher (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Science, Miami University, 2024, Physics

Entanglement generation and control, fundamental to many quantum information technologies such as quantum computing and quantum communications/networking, are the core of our research. We explore waveguide quantum electrodynamics (wQED), an exciting platform that enables strong light-matter interaction at the single photon and atom level. This thesis presents a comprehensive study on tripartite entanglement in bidirectional and uni-directional (chiral) wQED platforms. By incorporating realistic system conditions, including losses, we investigate how initially un-entangled two-level quantum emitters (qubits) can be entangled through waveguide-mediated fields composed of three-photon Fock states. We derive and apply Fock state master equations within the density matrix formalism of quantum optics. This work represents a crucial step towards analyzing multipartite entangled states in nanophotonic setups, a topic of growing interest in efforts to establish long-distance quantum networking, thereby underscoring the practical implications of our findings.

Committee: Imran Mirza (Advisor); Samir Bali (Committee Member); Burcin Bayram (Committee Member) Subjects: Physics

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2024, English (Arts and Sciences)

Abstract HAYNES, CAMPBELL R., M. A. , May 2024, English Creative Writing My Truth Director of Thesis: Mark Halliday This collection of poems explores my own truths, and the history of my family, as I revealed them to myself in the process of writing and revising these poems. In my Introduction, I focus in detail on the revision process of one particular poem, “Photograph”, which I revised many times over a period of months, and what I learned in the process of these revisions. The poems are divided into four groupings: poems recalling my youth and adolescence, poems about others, poems about my family, and poems set during my college and graduate school years. The first poem in the collection “The Drive to Record My Life”, begins the collection by reflecting on how the act of writing down my truth makes my life seem more real to me, and how creative writers are driven to give life to our experiences by writing them down. The collection of poems closes with “The Self-Built Cage”, which reflects on how I construct my own cage to protect myself from the outside world with my writings, and how the materials with which this cage is constructed include my own truths.

Committee: Mark Halliday (Advisor); Carey Snyder (Advisor); Eric LeMay (Advisor) Subjects: Philosophy

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2024, Theatre

The subconscious mind gathers a lot about a person based on visuals alone. In the world of live theatre, this initial impression is highly controlled by the costume designer. Each element of live theatre combines to create a story that captures the attention of the audience; the actor walks onto the stage, their mind and heart completely in their performance, surrounded by an involved environment and adorned with skillfully detailed garments. Together with my professors and associates at The Ohio State University, we produced a surreal yet modern telling of Blood Wedding by early 20th century playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. We dove into the text, found our balance between poetry and realism, and created a world of bittersweet love. This thesis documents the costume design process from that production. The five chapters will discuss the producing situation, concept and design scheme, character analyses, production, and self-evaluation of the project.

Committee: Rebecca Turk (Advisor); Alex Oliszewski (Committee Member); Tom Dugdale (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Performing Arts; Theater; Theater Studies

Master of Science, Miami University, 2021, Physics

In this thesis, we address the long-standing question of why photosynthesis (the process by which plants and some types of bacteria convert sunlight into chemical energy) is a nearly perfectly efficient process despite the interaction with a hot and noisy environment. By holding quantum effects responsible for such a behavior, we present a simple quantum optical model of photosynthetic reaction centers as a five-level quantum system coupled with heat reservoirs. In particular, we show that the coherence generated through the environmental interactions between the transitions with a common final state can lead to the enhancement of the efficiency of the photosynthetic yield. Therein, we treat the excitation transfer cycle as a quantum heat engine while modeling reservoirs as Markovian (memory-less) as well as non-Markovian (environments that can keep track of memory effects). The outcome of the aforementioned simple model clearly shows the presence of noise-induced coherence that can be controlled by altering the spectral shape of the reservoirs. The results of this thesis may find applications in constructing near-future bio-inspired artificial quantum devices.

Committee: Imran Mirza Dr. (Advisor); Burçin Bayram Dr. (Committee Member); Samir Bali Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Physics

Master of Science, Miami University, 2021, Physics

The operation of state-of-the-art quantum computers are requiring the coherent control of 100's of quantum bits (qubits) to store, manipulate and transfer information quantum mechanically. The traditional theoretical tool adopted in the field of quantum optics such as the master equation approach, quantum Langevin equations, input-output formalism, and real-space method began to face challenges as these techniques are more suitable to deal with few qubit problems. Offering a solution to this issue, in this thesis, we present an introduction to the tensor network (TN) theory and Matrix Product States (MPS) as a formalism to predict ground states and time evolution of interesting excited states of many-qubit architectures. As a simple example, we apply the TN theory to waveguide quantum electrodynamics architectures to analyze the excitation dynamics of two-level quantum emitters coupled to the one-dimensional guided photonic modes.

Committee: Imran Mirza PhD (Advisor); Herbert Jaeger PhD (Committee Member); Samir Balli PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Information Science; Optics; Physics; Quantum Physics; Theoretical Physics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Kinesiology

Sport participation is often associated with positive development; however, changes in youth sport culture have led to a privatized model grounded in a performance narrative (i.e., sport participation is based on winning and competition). This is concerning as scholars have found performance narratives at elite levels of sport often lead to negative consequences (e.g., role engulfment, negative affectivity) for athletes who internalize it. To date, little research has explored the presence and influence of the performance narrative in adolescent athletes, which is concerning since adolescence is a vital time for identity development. Furthermore, adolescent athletes who internalize a performance narrative may face greater risk of emotional disturbances, due to disruptions to their sport participation from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how the sport experiences of adolescent athletes and their negotiation with cultural narratives in sport has influenced their identity development. Additionally, the study sought to understand how disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the identity development of adolescent athletes. A narrative inquiry was employed to explore adolescent athletes' experiences in sport and experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected through 3 semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescent (14-18 years old) athletes. Findings from the study indicated that participants had positive perceptions of their development through sport but differed in the extent they constructed their identity around sport. Additionally, most participants constructed their athlete identity through a performance narrative, leading them to tie their self-worth to their performance in sport. Lastly, participants experienced challenges from disruption to their sport experiences; however, the consequences they experienced from these challenges were dependent on whether they reset their sense of norma (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leeann Lower-Hoppe (Advisor); Donna Pastore (Advisor); Kwame Agyemang (Committee Member) Subjects: Kinesiology; Sports Management

BA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

"Dazed and Confused and Triumphant" is often the experience of both readers and writers of ergodic literature, whose struggle to understand it becomes a meaningful accomplishment after they do. Ergodic literature, as defined by its founder Espen Aarseth in his book 'Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature', is literature in which "nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text". "Nontrivial effort" encompasses anything beyond reading a text from front to back, such as nonlinearity, space subversion, and multiple endings to choose from. In this thesis, I use the syllabus of a Fall 2012 NEOMFA Craft & Theory course to design the hypothetical 16 week class "Dazed and Confused and Triumphant" as a way to teach myself ergodic literature and grow as an experimental writer. The syllabus requires students to read and experience a comprehensive list of ergodic literature all throughout time (ex: the 'I Ching', the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' series, and the video game 'Undertale'), write weekly essays analyzing ergodic techniques in these readings, and create original ergodic literature based on what they've learned. All of these assignments and more are completed and included in this thesis. The thesis itself is arguably ergodic in its creation, format, and puzzle for its readers to solve.

Committee: Lauren Vachon MFA (Advisor); Carol Robinson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Molly Merryman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Suzy D'Enbeau Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Fine Arts; Language Arts; Literature; Web Studies

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2020, Psychology, General

Generativity is the concern for helping future generations. Narrative psychology is one avenue for studying generativity in Erikson's model of development. The present study involved interviews from 25 families. Each family was interviewed approximately an hour in length and asked six questions pertaining to family memories. This study examined a new measure of narrative themes of generative concern expressed by individuals and shared between family members. Two researchers coded each family interview to establish inter-rater reliability, with a third coder to resolve discrepancies. Individual and family-level scores for generative narratives were compared with individual and family-level scores on a self-report measure of generative concern. The results showed that neither individual nor family-level scores were significantly related for the interviews overall. However, generative narratives, in response to a question regarding the family's characteristics, related to self-reported generative concern for individual and family-level data. One limitation of this study is the low number of families who participated. Overall, this study shows there is some evidence to support Erickson's model of development and that generative themes and self-report measures can be quantitatively studied.

Committee: Jack Bauer PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Science, Miami University, 2020, Physics

Quantum states of light with a fixed number of photons are useful for several quantum optical technologies. In this thesis, we theoretically study single-photon generation in a three-mode optomechanical cavity with a Kerr type nonlinear medium. We begin by presenting a detailed derivation of the master equation under Born-Markov approximations describing the dissipative dynamics of our setup. Next, we concentrate on two system parameters, the three-mode coupling rate (g) and the strength of the Kerr nonlinearity (U) and analyze the detuning (Δ) dependence of the second-order correlation function g(2) to determine the photon statistics. As a key finding, we analytically conclude that the system can exhibit UPB for a wide range of detunings even with weak nonlinearities by adjusting the three-mode coupling. For instance, we find that the condition g(2) (0) < 1 can be met with fixing U== 0.69k and 푔 = 2k while κ here represents the optical mode decay rate. Moreover, we observe that the minimum of g(2) (0) shifts to higher detunings with increasing three-mode coupling rate and decreasing the Kerr nonlinear strength. With the current advancements in hybrid optomechanics, this work is experimentally feasible and can provide an alternate method for single-photon generation without relying on stringent conditions of CPB.

Committee: Imran Mirza (Advisor); Samir Bali (Committee Member); E. Carlos Samson (Committee Member) Subjects: Physics; Quantum Physics

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Engineering and Applied Science: Materials Science

Dynamic mechanical analysis of nanocomposites is important in the assessment of performance and reliability of the material. However not much is known about the relaxation behavior of nanographene sheets (NGS)/polyimide composites. In this work, the relaxation behavior of polyimide and NGS/ polyimide composite was investigated as function of frequency, time, and temperature. Also, the effect of loading was examined to optimize the strength and durability. A modified form of Williams-Landel-Ferry equation (WLF) was utilized with the calculated frequencies to obtain constants C1 and C2. Cole-Cole plots were used to examine the behavior of polyimide and graphene reinforced polyimide and it showed that the composite displayed a good fit to a single-relaxation-time. The activation energy for alpha and beta transitions were determined and Master curves for the nanocomposites were constructed and used to predict the lifetime of the composites. Dielectric relaxation of the composite under various temperatures and frequencies was investigated. It was shown that the electrical properties of the composites increased with increasing weight fraction of graphene. As graphene/polyimide composites has dense morphology, their use as electrode material requires creating pores. Poly (lactic acid) additive was used to create porous graphene/polyimide composite structures. The cured porous composite showed a one phase structure. Lifetime and relaxation modulus for porous NGS/polyimide nanocomposites were determined. The lifetime of the porous composites was shown to be lowered while its damping ability improved.

Committee: Jude Iroh Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gregory Beaucage Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vesselin Shanov Ph.D. (Committee Member); Donglu Shi Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Materials Science

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Forensic Science

There is a critical need to establish a standardized system of categorization for shedder status, as one currently does not exist. This research aimed to collect samples from the cheek, hand, and forearm of a large sample population to observe natural breaking points in the quantity of DNA retrieved from each individual. Individuals were swabbed and the DNA was extracted using phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol extraction. The samples were then quantified and analyzed. It was found that there was no correlation between the quantities of DNA retrieved from each area. No significant differences were found between genders. The only external factor found to have a significant impact on shedder status was if the individual had been wearing any type of gloves within 15 minutes of swabbing. Categories for shedder status could not be created using the data from this research. Further research needs to be conducted in order to understand the importance of external factors, and how a standardized method can be created to determine shedder status.

Committee: Travis Worst Ph.D. (Advisor); Lewis Maddox Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jon Sprague Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Molecular Biology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

In recent years, the incorporation of recycled material in the production of plastic pipes has gradually increased. With this new development, the federal government were considering the possibilities of allowing corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes manufactured with post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials installed as culverts under major highways, despite the fact that they may contain impurities and their long-term behavior is still not fully understood. This dissertation was part of the NCHRP Report 870 (Pluimer, 2018), which led to a new revision in AASHTO M-294. This new revision allows HDPE pipes to be manufactured with either virgin or recycled materials. This dissertation presents a test program recently completed at Ohio University, in which corrugated HDPE pipes with varied post-consumer recycled (PCR) material contents were subjected to a forced long-term constant vertical deflection of 20%. Eight HDPE pipe specimens having inside diameter of either 610 mm (24 in) or 762 mm (30 in) were kept in a compressed state in the laboratory for two years. The maximum tensile strain was found to be about 3% for all the pipes. No cracks were seen in the 0% PCR and the 49% PCR pipes during the 2-year duration. However, the 98% PCR pipe developed longitudinal cracks at the crown position inside after 101 days and additional longitudinal cracks at the springline position outside after 131 days. To predict the long-term behavior of HDPE drainage pipes, coupon specimens with 0%, 49%, and 98% post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials were loaded incrementally in tension according to the stepped isostress method (SSM) to establish their master creep curves. A reference stress of 15% ultimate tensile strength was used with a dwell time of 24 hours. The 0% and 49% PCR specimens elongated by more than 600%, whereas the 98% PCR specimen elongated little and ruptured within a few minutes after adding the final load. The trend of the SSM's shift factors in terms o (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Teruhisa Masada (Advisor); Shad Sargand (Committee Member); Issam Khoury (Committee Member); Sergio Lopez-Permouth (Committee Member); Xiong Yu (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Geotechnology

MFA, Kent State University, 2018, College of the Arts / School of Art

The landscapes I depict are meant to create a space that we can inhabit. Although the work is only a painting or a drawing, the various compositional cues and formal decisions I make are meant to draw the viewer into the two-dimensional space and they are performed through a thorough rendering of both the structural and figurative elements in order to create a sense of tactility and seduction while the abstraction of sky and ground depicts an open-ended space where the audience can plant their feet. Looking to Regionalism and the artists within the movement, Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper depict both the real and surreal respectively. While the latter definitions can be applied to both artists interchangeably, I aspire to be the joining force between the two; mixing the surreal emptiness of Hopper's cafes with the austere and magic somberness of Wyeth's landscapes.The artificial connection between the placement of the figures in the landscape and the landscape itself references a disassociation I feel from not personally knowing the figures in my source material. With the advent of more obtainable technology, such as smartphones with high quality cameras, current mainstream forms of social media also serve as a vast and endless database of source material. Taking screenshots from friends Snapchat stories, public Facebook pages, and Instagram profiles of complete strangers, these images are so far removed from any sort of sustainable context that when placed into a composition, they feel out of place, awkward, or completely alien.

Committee: Gianna Commito (Advisor); Jonas Sebura (Committee Member); Davin Ebanks (Committee Member); John-Michael Warner (Committee Member) Subjects: Fine Arts

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, History of Art

Author portraits, those initial introductions to the creator of a text that are usually located on the very first folio, are ubiquitous in medieval illuminated manuscripts, yet this subject has not been the focus of a systematic art historical survey. For this reason, few are aware of the evolution of this genre over the course of the Middle Ages, moving beyond the early static figures of authors posing with their works, or seated writing on scroll or codex. This dissertation expands our understanding of this tradition, focusing on a limited selection of examples drawn from a variety of popular formats for author portraits that were employed in the fourteenth century. In particular, this study addresses representations of contemporary scholars - authors shown dreaming of their subject matter, accompanied by personifications or objects representing the content of their text, diligently engaged in translating an important work from Latin into the vernacular, or meeting privately with the recipient to deliver and discuss their work. Each category is explored through close examination of one outstanding example, and includes an analysis of the entire manuscript, in order to place the image within its textual, socio-political, and art-historical context. Although each case study embodies a different role for the author, as a group they reflect changing perceptions of authorship in the Late Middle Ages, and the increasing understanding of and respect for both the physical and intellectual labor required. These depictions of scholastic authors provide visual evidence of the interest in the author as an individual that Alastair Minnis, in his seminal work, Medieval Theory of Authorship, ultimately associated with the implementation of the “Aristotelian prologue” type, an introductory tool employed in education and commentary which encouraged reflection on an author's life, reputation and working methods. The images suggest a narrowing of the gap between ancient (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karl Whittington PhD (Advisor); Barbara Haeger PhD (Committee Member); Christian Kleinbub PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History; Medieval History; Middle Ages

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2017, Computer Science

The abuse of browser preferences is a significant application security issue, despite numerous protections against automated software changing these preferences. Browser hijackers modify user's desired preferences by injecting malicious software into the browser. Users are not aware of these modifications, and the unwanted changes can annoy the user and circumvent security preferences. Reverting these changes is not easy, and users often have to go through complicated sequences of steps to restore their preferences to the previous values. Tasks to resolve this issue include uninstalling and re-installing the browser, resetting browser preferences, and installing malware removal tools. This thesis describes a solution to this problem by developing a user-interactive browser add-on named “Settings Protection.” This thesis describes the various means of exploiting preferences in the Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers and discusses preferences that are frequently exploited by browser hijackers. The Settings Protection add-on observes and detects changes in preferences that users may be unaware of. After detecting these unknown changes, the add-on reverts the modified preferences to old values and saves the new changes upon the user's confirmation. If the user is not expecting these changes in the browser, the add-on discards them. A proof of concept add-on for the Mozilla Firefox browser implements this research and is tested in a real-time environment. Lastly, this thesis evaluates the performance of the Settings Protection add-on using the Mozilla Firefox performance tools.

Committee: Adam R. Bryant Ph.D. (Advisor); Mateen M. Rizki Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michelle A. Cheatham Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

This thesis investigates the link between the built environment and wellbeing. It attempts to establish a stronger correlation through the design of a building that incorporates daylight and views in an urban condition. Through the exploration and design of spaces that people inhabit daily –offices, schools, and residences– a formal methodology is produced that can be implemented in any site condition. Additional research in materiality and scientific examination of the resulting building form and opening strategies could help indicate the extent to which the built environment can affect people's wellbeing. The basic environmental factors of daylighting include color temperature, orientation, and sky conditions. These factors contribute to the quality and quantity of lighting that can be experienced in a space. Scientific research has found that accurately measuring the success of daylighting strategies requires the examination of both objective and subjective parameters. It's been found that large, operable windows both improve performance and are preferred by people in both educational and residential settings. Scientific studies regarding the importance of views have found that less obstruction, higher floor levels, and views of water are most preferred by building inhabitants. In multiple studies investigating the importance of greenspace, it was found that rooms with any type of view were preferred over just the inclusion of indoor plants; and, views of nature were more impactful than urban views. This collection of research is important for designing built spaces in urban environments, which pose challenges due to nearby building obstruction, noise, and lack of natural views. A precedent analysis was also conducted examining short- and long-term occupancy spaces and their daylighting strategies. The methodology for this thesis utilizes digital and physical daylighting studies to analyze opening types in addition to a module density investigation. The phy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christoph Klemmt A.A. Dipl. (Committee Chair); Ann Black M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Literature