Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, 2018, Biology

Some phenotypes have more ability to evolve than others, captured by the term “evolvability.” While some traits can evolve rapidly, such as the shape, color and size of a butterfly wing, the Drosophila testis specific beta-2 (ß2) tubulin protein, a fundamental component of the spermtail axonemes, has not evolved in over 60 million years. This protein is a main element of the microtubules within the axoneme which supports the motility of the sperm cell. There is a 9+2 configuration of microtubules, nine doublets of microtubules arranged along the outer edge of the structure with two central microtubules. Each microtubule consists of tubulin dimers of ß2 tubulin and the major alpha tubulin isoform 84B which is present in most cells of the body. Previous studies have shown that substitutions of the of beta-1 tubulin, a 95% identical paralog of beta-2 expressed in somatic cells, and chimeric tubulins composed of beta-1 and beta-2 tubulin sequence are unable to support a motile axoneme, indicating the axoneme is highly sensitive to beta tubulin structure. From these findings, evolutionary conservation and highly sensitive structure/ function relationship, two hypotheses tested here were developed for the long conservation of ß2 tubulin. The first, stabilizing selection: nature is constantly selecting a particular sequence even though other sequences may work due to differences in the quality of sperm produced. Or, it may be that there is no alternative sequences that function, and a co-evolutionary event with another protein found within the axoneme is required to release beta-2 tubulin to evolve. These hypotheses were tested using the substitution of a beta-2 ortholog, the gene in a different species which evolved from a common ancestor, was examined to determine its ability to produce a functional sperm in the Drosophila melanogaster model. If able to produce a functional sperm, stabilizing selection is supported; if unable, a co-evolutionary event has occurred. Throug (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mark Nielsen (Committee Chair) Subjects: Biology; Developmental Biology; Evolution and Development

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2006, Civil Engineering (Engineering)

The disposal of fly ash (particularly class F fly ash) is increasingly becoming a problem, and the way to solve this problem safely and economically is by utilization. Due to the unique behavior of fly ashes, it has not been widely used in soil modification applications. To improve or increase fly ash utilization, this study seeks to develop a generalized theory that can adequately predict the behavior of fly ash modified soils and to quantify the uncertainties in the behavior of the ash, which hinders its wide application in soil modification. For this study, laboratory tests were performed on mixtures made from three different fly ashes of different chemical compositions. The laboratory tests were designed such that all the necessary properties needed for the analyses were addressed as well as data gaps observed in the literature. The laboratory testing provided engineering (index, deformation, and strength) properties and the necessary physicochemical properties of mixtures at various fly ash percentages for all the mixtures were determined. Three mixture theory models were used to predict engineering properties based on the properties of individual constituents. The predictive accuracies of three models were assessed, and the model that best predicted actual results was selected for modification. The need for modification is because of deviations in the model predictions. The selected model was that of Voigt (1889). Upon physicochemical analysis, it was observed that the chemical composition of the fly ashes play a significant role in the behavior of the modified soils, particularly that of calcium oxide (CaO). A relationship was found between CaO and the sum of oxides (SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3) in the fly ashes. As a result, the selected model was modified based on the two chemical components (CaO and the sum of oxides) of the fly ashes. A modification term ( ) was defined as a ratio between the CaO and the sum of oxides raised to an experimental index (x). The term va (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sebastian Bryson (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Computer Science and Engineering

General-purpose accelerators such as graphics processing unit (GPU), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and tensor processing unit (TPU) are increasingly utilized to improve the performance of modern High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Cloud systems. GPUs, in particular, have emerged as a popular hardware choice due to their ability to handle massive parallelism and high-bandwidth memory. They have become a driving force behind rapid advancements in HPC and ML applications, particularly Deep Learning. GPUs significantly improve computational efficiency and overall performance and are ideal for handling computationally intensive workloads related to scientific simulations, data analysis, and neural network training. To handle growing data and models, HPC and Deep Learning applications need multiple nodes for faster computation. Interconnects like Ethernet and InfiniBand are keys for node communication and data sharing. Slow interconnect between nodes can be a bottleneck in these applications compared to intra-node interconnect PCIe, NVLINK, etc. Large data sets and training large deep-learning models increase the need for data transfer between nodes, causing significant delays and reducing performance. The Message Passing Interface (MPI)—considered the de facto parallel programming model—provides a set of communication primitives to support parallel and distributed execution of user applications on HPC systems. With the support of passing GPU buffers to MPI primitives directly, the state-of-the-art MPI libraries significantly improve performance for GPU-accelerated applications. However, the inter-node communication bandwidth of the state-of-the-art MPI libraries has saturated the bandwidth of the InfiniBand network for large GPU resident data. In this dissertation, we take advantage of GPU-based compression techniques with GPU computing resources to reduce the data size being transferred through the network with limited bandwidth on modern heterogeneous sy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dhabaleswar Kumar Panda (Advisor); Hari Subramoni (Advisor); Radu Teodorescu (Committee Member); Christopher Stewart (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer Science

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

This thesis discusses the use of fly ash particles coated by sulfurized vegetable oil created by our colleagues at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to greatly increase the hydrophobicity of the material as partial replacement of carbon black in Hevea natural rubber composites. Composites created with surface modified fly ash retained their tensile strengths and crosslink densities up to 20 wt% replacement of carbon black, while composites created with unmodified fly ash only retained their physical properties up to 10 wt% replacement of carbon black. The partial replacement of petroleum-based carbon black in rubber-based products with fly ash would increase the sustainability of the rubber industry while simultaneously reducing the overall cost by using a waste-derived filler. The thesis will also discuss a micro-compounding procedure that was adopted from a saturated polyisobutylene-based thermoplastic elastomer to effectively compound, cure, and test natural rubber compounds with a polymer mass less than 10 grams. Based on tensile tests and crosslink density measurement using solvent swelling, this micro-compounding method was found to be comparable to conventional macro-compounding for use in laboratory settings when testing commercial Hevea and semicommercial guayule control polymers. Comparative tests of greenhouse guayule rubbers were also carried out.

Committee: Judit Puskas (Advisor); Gonul Kaletunc (Committee Member); Ajay Shah (Committee Member); Katrina Cornish (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Food Science and Technology

Underutilized biomasses hold promise as sustainable food, feed, and fuel. As food, novel materials must be nutritious, safe, and desirable to consumers while causing minimal environmental damage. This dissertation hopes to encourage future cultivations of macroalgae and an insect, Hermetia illuscens (the Black Soldier Fly larvae, BSFL). Macroalgae and BSFL are associated with environmental benefits including low land, water, and energy demands. They are both nutritious but are not readily accepted by modern consumers as food. To facilitate their adoption, novel materials must take the shape of familiar foods. This requires processing into novel food ingredients. Environmental impacts increase as processing and materials are employed during the creation of novel ingredients. While the desirability of the final product may benefit, the process must be scrutinized to reduce resource use and ensure sustainability. Extraction and separation operations aim to concentrate a specific component, such as protein, in a single fraction. Depending on the composition, the remaining materials will also have value. Optimal co-product development requires that the influence of each process parameter be well understood. This is advantageous to processors since each additional product shares the costs and environmental impacts associated with production. The research aimed to evaluate hypotheses concerning the influence of processing parameters on material separation and physicochemical properties after biomass fractionation. The following specific objectives were addressed during this research 1) understand the nutritional quality of macroalgae and BSFL, 2) evaluate aqueous extracts from BSFL and macroalgae, 3) develop an experimental fractionation system to monitor component separation using experimental data and mass balance relationships, and 4) evaluate the effects of process parameters on the outputs of the fractionation. Macroalgae and insects were found to be promising fut (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dennis Heldman (Committee Chair) Subjects: Agricultural Engineering; Food Science

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences

An important aspect of a homicide investigation is the estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI). PMI allows for investigators to estimate a time of death. This can provide a jury with key evidence informing when events of a crime occurred. Currently used methods to determine PMI are livor mortis, rigor mortis, algor mortis, stomach contents and insect succession. These are not without their faults and are often debated within the courtroom. This study aims to investigate conditions that can better aid PMI determination. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of PMI, its current methods, and its importance. The first research project, described in Chapter 2, aims to determine readily available and convenient rearing material for forensically important flies. For the first project, different canned meat sources were explored in the rearing of first instar maggots to adulthood from a beef liver control. Beef liver is a commonly used rearing material, consequently, beef liver is inconvenient to use as an investigator. This study suggests that there are convenient canned meat products that are just as successful as beef liver in rearing forensically important flies. The second research project, described in Chapter 3, aims to explore microbial composition during decomposition in an indoor setting, and comparing this to an outdoor setting. Swabs were collected from dead mice held in an indoor and outdoor setting for 14 days. The microbial composition was sequenced using amplicon sequencing and analyzed for similarities and differences via amplicon sequence variants. This study suggests that the necrobiome composition over time is significantly different from an indoor compared to an outdoor environment.

Committee: Ronald DeBry Ph.D. (Committee Member); Annette Rowe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gregory Dahlem Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology

Master of Science in Civil Engineering, University of Toledo, 2021, Civil Engineering

The use of sustainable concrete mixtures with high content of supplementary cementitious materials requires the understanding of the mechanical behaviour of these mixtures after exposure to damaging events such as fire. Deterioration due to microcracking may cause degradation of the mechanical and mass transport properties, therefore affecting the durability of damaged elements. It is therefore necessary to understand the resilience of concrete mixtures with high contents of supplementary cementitious materials. In this study, the dynamic shear modulus (Gd) and crack density parameter (ε) of five different mixtures with varying proportions of fly ash and silica fume before and after exposure to 150 ℃ (300 ℉) and 300 ℃ (570 ℉) were examined. A w/cm of 0.50 was selected for all mixtures; the control mixture had 100% ordinary Portland cement, all other mixtures had 5 % silica fume cement replacement and increasing fly ash cement replacement of 0%, 20%, 40% and 60%, and labelled as mixtures S0F0 (control), S5F0, S5F20, S5F40 and S5F60, respectively. Gd of thin concrete disks 25 mm (1 in) thick and 100 mm (4 in) in diameter were determined in both wet and air-dry conditions, to estimate ε. Before damage, Gd of mixture S0F0 was 15.0 GPa (2.20 Mpsi), and 14.5 GPa (2.10 Mpsi) for all other mixtures, and ε was 0.235, 0.250, 0.225, 0.230 and 0.255 for mixtures S0F0, S5F0, S5F20, S5F40 and S5F60 respectively. The study found that the exposure to 300 ℃ produced a decrease in Gd and an increase in ε that was statistically significantly higher than companion specimens exposed to 150 ℃ using paired analysis. No statistically significant difference was observed in the decrease in Gd and increase in ε between mixtures for each exposure, indicating similar deterioration of the sustainable mixtures and the control mixture after exposure to moderate temperatures.

Committee: Luis A. Mata (Committee Chair); Douglas K. Nims (Committee Member); Juan J. Recalde (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2020, Polymer Science

Mushrooming energy consumption, depletion of fossil fuel, and massive fly ash generation are demanding the development of cost-effective energy generating/storage alternatives. Lithium-ion battery (LIB) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) are regarded as promising options. This dissertation focused on investigation of the infrared spectroscopy of species across the electrolyte-electrode interfaces in energy storage/generation devices as well as the interface between amine-epoxy and fly ash. In this study, we employed polydioxolane as solid polymer electrolyte for LIB. We used in situ ATR to investigate the mechanism of polymerization. Electric swing is able to enhance the LIB performance and its mechanism is investigated. Magnesium-ion batteries (MIBs) attracted numerous attentions because of its high volumetric capacity, reduced cost, and high safety features. In this study, Mg ion intercalation into TiO2 is clarified by IR, and the electron accumulation in TiO2 is unraveled by a rising feature of IR spectra from 3000-1000 cm-1, as a result of slow intercalation rate of Mg2+ into TiO2. Operando infrared technique shows the charge transfer and solvation behavior under battery working condition. A Mg2+/Li+ hybrid battery featuring dendrite free Mg anode and high capacity Li intercalation cathode has been examined to outperform MIB. SOFC is a compelling energy generation option featuring high efficiency, sequestration of greenhouse gas and long-life expectancy, but it is hampered by carbon iv deposition and costly reactor for high temperature operation. Pd@CeO2 nanoparticles are synthesized and function as carbon inhibition overcoat layer to remove deposited carbon. Landfill of fly ash exhibits severe environmental threats due to leakage of metal elements into ground water. Encapsulation with hydrophobic polymer is an environmentally benign and cost-effective technique. An amine-epoxy film is synthesized and addition of surfactant assists in homogeneous dispersion (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steven. S. C Chuang (Advisor); Toshikazu Miyoshi (Committee Chair); Junpeng Wang (Committee Member); Chunming Liu (Committee Member); Zhenmeng Peng (Committee Member) Subjects: Polymer Chemistry

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Biology

In dipteran insects (true flies), modified hindwings known as halteres detect forces produced by body rotations, and are essential for flight. Halteres are mechanosensory organs with several arrays of sensory cells at their base, and they are one of the characteristic features of flies. Mechanosensory information from the halteres is sent to wing-steering and head movement motor neurons, allowing direct control of body position and gaze. Analyses of the structure and dynamics of halteres indicate that they experience very small aerodynamic forces but significant inertial forces, including Coriolis forces associated with body rotations. The sensory cells at the base of the haltere detect these forces and allow the fly to correct for perturbations during flight. The mechanisms by which haltere neurons transform forces resulting from three-dimensional body rotations into patterns of neural spikes are unknown, however. We use intracellular electrodes to record from haltere primary afferent neurons during a range of haltere motions. We find that spike timing activity of individual neurons changes with displacement, and propose a mechanism by which single neurons can encode three-dimensional haltere movements during flight. However, halteres are not just used for flight. The most recently diverged monophyletic subsection within the Dipteran order, called Calyptratae also use their halters during walking behavior (Hall et al., 2015). We examined the biomechanics of a representative Calyptratae fly and compared it with known wing-haltere mechanics in a non-Calyptratae fly (Deora et al., 2015) that does not use its halters when walking. We also compared the transition behavior (takeoff) that occurs between walking and flying in a variety of Calyptratae and non-Calyptratae fly families. We find that body morphology and haltere use contribute to takeoff speed and stability, but only in the Calyptratae clade.

Committee: Jessica Fox PhD (Advisor); Roy Ritzmann PhD (Committee Member); Hillel Chiel PhD (Committee Member); Michael Lewicki PhD (Committee Member); Nicole Crown PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Entomology; Neurobiology; Physiology; Zoology

PHD, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Physics

Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDP) often acquire a unique structure upon binding to other molecules. Expanded conformation and highly dynamic nature of IDPs encourage fast molecular recognition associated with coupled folding and binding. While fast association is important to propagate a signal, rapid dissociation is also essential in facilitating optimized signal switching upon binding multiple partners in the cell. In this work, using pKID-KIX IDP complex as model system, we explore binding properties that give rise to rapid association and dissociation by performing structure based model simulations. Implementing modifications and parametrization into the model, we study how the degree of intrinsic disorder and the speed of conformational dynamics influence properties of the encounter complex in order to elucidate the binding mechanism of IDPs.

Committee: John Portman Dr. (Advisor); Selinger Robin Dr. (Committee Member); Balci Hamza Dr. (Committee Member); Abeysirigunawardena Sanjaya Dr. (Committee Member); Caldwell Heather Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biophysics; Physics

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Civil Engineering

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of the bulk chemical composition of fly ash on the compressive strength of concrete. Results from the compressive strength tests of 181 concrete samples that used partial cement replacement with fly ash were used as data to create multiple linear regression models. These models were compared to a baseline model to predict the compressive strength of concrete based on bulk composition of the fly ash. Both statistical and experimental methods were used for verification. This study found that the new Selected model measuring w/c ratio, w/c ratio, LOI, and the bulk percentage of six metal oxides, was better able to predict concrete 28-day strength. It finds that the current ASTM limits for fly ash are insufficient to fully explain the strength of concrete utilizing fly ash and that a better set of measurements is needed to determine if a fly ash is acceptable for use in concrete for structural applications.

Committee: Lisa Burris (Advisor); Tarunjit Butalia (Committee Member); Abdollah Shafieezadeh (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Music

With a career spanning almost forty years, Canadian composer Howard Shore has become one of the most respected and sought after film composers working in the industry today. Much of his work, in particular his scores for the Lord of the Rings films, have received much academic attention; his longstanding working relationship with Canadian horror filmmaker David Cronenberg, however, has not yet benefited from such academic inquiry. Using the films The Brood, Videodrome, The Fly, and Naked Lunch as case studies, this thesis examines the way that Shore uses the arena of Cronenberg's films as a laboratory for personal musical experimentation. Examples include Shore's use of electronic synthesizer sounds alongside a string orchestra for Videodrome, implementations of against-the-grain writing for The Fly, and the incorporation of free-jazz aesthetics in Naked Lunch. Using as sources Howard Shore's words and what academic inquiry exists in this field, but more often utilizing my own analysis and observations of the music and films, I argue that Shore's scores incorporate such musical experimentation to work in tandem with Cronenberg's own experimental art. As such, Shore's scores for Cronenberg's films are a prime illustration of the practical value of experimental composition, showing that there is room for experimental composition in music outside of the realm of academia and indeed that such music can have commercial potential.

Committee: Stephen Hartke (Advisor); Charles Edward McGuire (Committee Chair); Rebecca Fülöp (Committee Member); Jesse Jones (Committee Member) Subjects: Film Studies; Music

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1987, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Agriculture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1960, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Biology