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Pilot Watershed Phosphorus Mitigation: Municipal Wastewater Lagoon Agricultural Water Reuse and Phosphorus Loading Distribution Study.
Get PDFPhosphorus runoff contributes to harmful algal blooms in the Western Lake Erie Basin. This study investigates strategies to reduce phosphorus loads in Shallow Run, a tributary of the Blanchard River that drains into the Lake Erie watershed.
Chapter one examines the feasibility of redirecting wastewater lagoon effluent from Shallow Run onto a neighboring farm for irrigation. The study assesses the risks and effects of reusing the wastewater by analyzing water quality, including heavy metals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and nutrient loads. The study found that the contaminant levels in the effluent are safe for irrigation, making the site suitable for land application based on current data.
Chapter two evaluates phosphorus distribution across the watershed to identify high-loading areas. Water samples collected from targeted points across the watershed were analyzed in the OSU Ecohydrology Lab for nutrient concentrations. The data were further supplemented with water quality monitoring data from the National Center for Water Quality Research. These findings provide an opportunity to target areas of the watershed with the largest phosphorus loadings with mitigation strategies. A few areas were found to have higher phosphorus loads, but more data is necessary to confirm these findings.Pilot Watershed Project (NRCS)No embargoAcademic Major: Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineerin
Fostering Sustainable Behavior in Ohio Parks and Promoting Local Tourism
No full text“Sustainability” as a term referring to ecological balance emerged in the 1970s. Since then, the term has exploded in popularity world-wide, with extensive use in political debates, social movements, and media coverage. In the politically diverse state of Ohio, the term “sustainability” can be contentious. Literature reviews and interviews with Ohioans reveal multiple reasons for their lack of engagement with sustainable practices, including feelings of alienation, discomfort, and anxiety linked to narratives surrounding sustainability. These feelings lead to hopelessness—which can present as anger, grief, or disinterest towards the cause.
Unfortunately, rejecting sustainability has serious environmental consequences, many of which have been observed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). In response, ODNR launched its ConServe Ohio initiative, promoting sustainable management and visitor behavior in their parks. But, how could ODNR get angry, upset, or disinterested Ohioans to participate?
In a survey of 62 participants with moderate-extensive involvement in sustainability efforts, hope was cited as the primary motivator to get (and stay) involved). Two research questions thus emerged: What sparks hope? How can hope inspire people to act sustainability in Ohio State Parks? Interviews, design conjectures, and formative prototype assessments yielded key insights. For some, financial gain is the primary pathway to hope. For others, hope comes from acting for the betterment of the environment in a tangible way. And for others, it means seeing their communities thrive.
The Trash to Cash waste management system tackles the challenges faced by ODNR while embracing the diverse perspectives of Ohioans and supporting the unique needs of our ecosystems and local economies. The system includes three key components: collection bins, reward “coins” made from native wildflower seed paper, and an exchange program where these coins can be redeemed for discounts at local businesses. As tourism becomes an increasingly important economic driver in rural Ohio, Trash to Cash not only eases the strain of waste management on local communities but also encourages visitors to support the places they explore by spending locally.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and WatercraftNo embargoAcademic Major: Industrial Desig
Elucidating the roles of ninjurin-1 and plasma membrane repair in cell fate decision
No full textNinjurin-1 (NINJ1) is a protein that can oligomerize on the plasma membrane to cause membrane rupture and cell death. NINJ1 has been shown to be activated downstream of pore formation by gasdermin-D (GSDMD), a protein activated by the inflammasome and involved in cytokine release and pyroptosis. NINJ1 was also shown to be activated downstream from plasma membrane perforation by bacterial pore-forming toxins, as well as downstream of several programmed cell death pathways as a key effector of lytic cell death. Many molecules including GSDMD, pore-forming toxins, and NINJ1 can damage the plasma membrane, potentially leading to cell death. In response to these damages, plasma membrane repair is a process that restores cell integrity and prevents cell death. Several molecules, including the cytoskeletal proteins septins, have been shown to mediate plasma membrane repair. If and how NINJ1 affects plasma membrane repair and vice versa are unknown, yet such knowledge would yield significant insights into cell fate decision upon plasma membrane damage, i.e. cell survival versus induction of cell death.
This project aims to develop and validate tools to elucidate the role of NINJ1 and septin-mediated plasma membrane repair in cell fate decision. This was done by generating stable cell lines deficient for NINJ1 and septin expression using both CRISPR dCas9 and RNA interference. Cell lines overexpressing GFP-tagged NINJ1 were generated to visualize NINJ1 activity by fluorescence microscopy. Future directions include visualization of NINJ1 recruitment in epithelial cells and macrophages using LLO as a model of plasma membrane damage, as well as reassessing knockdown efficiency of NINJ1 in stable cell lines to evaluate its potential role in septin-dependent or septin-independent plasma membrane repair mechanisms. This project adds to the growing body of research surrounding NINJ1 and its role in lytic cell death processes. Particularly, this may explain the virulence of LLO and its ability to induce cell death in infected host cells. Understanding the mechanisms of LLO virulence is critical for future therapeutic applications that reduce the severity of listeriosis experienced by vulnerable populations, such as infants, elderly individuals, and pregnant women.A five-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Microbiolog
Preclinical investigation of LP-118, a dual BCL-2 and BCL-XL inhibitor, in acute myeloid leukemia
No full textAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignancy of myeloid lineage hematopoietic cells. Overexpression of the protein BCL-2 often prevents apoptosis, but dependency on BCL-2 for survival can be targeted using venetoclax, a selective small-molecule inhibitor of BCL-2. Relapsed or refractory AML can be dependent on BCL-XL or MCL-1 for survival, which causes venetoclax resistance. Here, we describe the preclinical investigation of LP-118, a small-molecule BCL-2 and BCL-XL inhibitor. LP-118 induces cell death at lower concentrations than venetoclax in AML cell lines, and dependence on BCL-XL tends to predict sensitivity to LP-118 and resistance to venetoclax. Moreover, LP-118 prolongs survival in a cell line derived xenograft mouse model of AML, and inhibition of CDK4/6 alongside LP-118 causes synergistic cell death in an AML cell line. Altogether, LP-118 displays promising preclinical characteristics that may sensitize AML dependent on BCL-XL for survival to cell death, presenting a potential improved therapeutic modality in AML.Pelotonia ScholarshipA three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Biomedical Scienc
Post-Mortem pH and Temperature Changes in Berkshire and Maternal Whiteline Pigs
Get PDFThe objective of this study was to analyze differences in pH and temperature decline across five muscle groups between Berkshire and maternal whiteline (Landrace × Yorkshire F1 progeny) pigs during the early post-mortem period. These physiological parameters are crucial for determining meat quality attributes such as tenderness, color, and water retention. The muscles examined included the longissimus dorsi (LD), psoas major (PM), semitendinosus (ST), triceps brachii (TB), and gluteus medius (GM). Data were collected from 10 pigs (n = 6 for Berkshire and n = 4 for maternal whiteline), with each muscle measured at six time points during the early post-mortem period (1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours following slaughter). Least squares means were computed within each genotype for each muscle group using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) and scatter plots were created to visualize the relationship between pH and time as well as temperature and time. To model these relationships, lines of best fit were applied using a power equation of the form y = ax^b, where y represents pH or temperature, and x represents time following slaughter. The results showed differences in the rate of pH and temperature decline between the two genotypes across all muscle groups. However, further statistical analysis would be needed to determine the broader implications of these findings. This study provides insight into how genetic differences between pig genotypes may affect post- mortem muscle behavior and offers a foundation for future research into genotype-specific factors influencing pork quality.CFAES Internal Grants Program – New Researcher Incentive Program and from the Animal Science Undergraduate Research Experience.No embargoAcademic Major: Animal Science
L2 Interpretations of Spanish Masculine Plural Noun Phrases (NPs)
Get PDFIn theory, masculine plural noun phrases in Spanish are gender ambiguous, meaning that they can refer to either a group of solely men, or a mixed group of men and women. Recent research, however, has found that, for native speakers of Spanish, the masculine interpretation is actually more accessible to speakers than the mixed interpretation (Anaya-Ramírez et al. 2022). This preference also appears to have an early onset for native speakers (Gygax et al. 2019). The goal of this paper, however, is to determine if the same phenomenon is seen in L2 Spanish speakers. Prior research has shown that L2 Spanish speakers with English as their L1, a language without grammatical gender, have difficulties with processing grammatical gender cues, motivating us to believe that they may exhibit different behaviors when confronted with these ambiguous masculine plural noun phrases in Spanish (Lew-Williams and Fernald 2010). This investigation is conducted by looking at the acceptance rates and reaction times of L2 Spanish speakers when encountering either a feminine or masculine anaphor to refer to a member of a group previously identified with a masculine plural noun phrase. This is the same experimental design utilized by Anaya-Ramírez et al. 2022, but their work was on native Spanish speakers. Results from the experiment found that masculine anaphors, non gender-stereotyped nouns, and increased Spanish proficiency all produced significantly faster reaction speeds for the stimuli in the experiment. The results suggest that L2 speakers are more sensitive to noun- stereotype information when making acceptability judgements. This supports the idea that L2 speakers understand and interpret grammatical gender information in a different way than L1 speakers do.No embargoAcademic Major: LinguisticsAcademic Major: Spanis
Banking on Subscriptions? Think Again With Me
Get PDFBusiness, Society, and International Relations: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research
Forum)Your money tells a story; Huntington helps you read it. That journey begins with what our research unveiled as The Iceberg of Spending—the divide between flex and fixed transactions. Flex transactions are visible, representing conscious, day-to-day spending. Below the surface, fixed payments accumulate quietly, often unnoticed yet significantly shaping financial stability.
Using a Research through Design approach that combined surveys, interviews, observations, iterative assessments, and external sources, we discovered a misalignment between consumer and business motivations—dark patterns and weaponized algorithms encourage spending while limiting control and fueling subscription fatigue. These fragmented services create financial uncertainty and make tracking payments difficult.
If... you’re drowning in unexpected subscriptions, feeling overwhelmed by daily purchases, or worried about money slipping away unnoticed... then you’ll regain control with With Me, the app that centralizes subscriptions, predicts expenses, and rewards smart financial choices—all while turning money management into an engaging experience you can compare anonymously or share with friends.
Our research shaped our design decisions from the features we included to how they are presented in the app. Customize your homepage to track flex and fixed payments in real-time. Group subscriptions with Huntington for one discounted price on a timeline you set. Predict utility peaks or grocery trips to plan ahead. Explore your personalized spending path, from environmental impact to caffeine intake, and track specific purchases to compare with peers to see how your spending patterns float in relation to others. Understand what’s visible, what’s hidden, and what it means for your financial journey.
With Me is currently envisioned as an extension of the Huntington app for its users. Using existing transactional data, the platform gives clear, personalized insights as your story unfolds, breaking your iceberg of spending into manageable pieces to sail more confidently on unsteady waters, backed with a reward system to measure the distance you’ve traveled along the way.
It's not about cutting down—it's about understanding your money journey and taking control, on your terms. No more uncertainty, just precise, actionable financial clarity. With Me, for you by Huntington.Huntington BankNo embargoAcademic Major: Industrial Desig
Spectrophotometric speciation studies of two model melanin monomers
No full textMelanins are important natural pigments synthesized by small molecules via various obscure oxidation and polymerization reactions. Eumelanin, one of the melanins found in mammals, colors hair and eyes, provides photoprotection, binds to metal ions, and provides antioxidant properties. The atomistic structures present in eumelanin are unknown because all melanins are amorphous and recalcitrant to chemical analysis. Here, in a bottom-up approach to studying eumelanin, redox active, polymerization-inhibited molecular subunits of eumelanin are observed in the presence of heavy metal centers and differing pH. The molecules focused on include 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and its oxidized form indole-5,6,-quinone (IQ). Although these molecules were first identified in the 1920s as probable eumelanin subunits, their properties are poorly characterized due to the tendency of DHI and IQ to rapidly polymerize. This study utilizes derivatives of these compounds that have bulky ‘blocking’ groups installed at key carbons, which prevent carbon- carbon bond forming reactions but allow redox changes to take place. The first steady-state spectrum of the semiquinone radical (SQ) species is presented via stabilization with Zn(II) ions. EPR measurements show that the addition of Zn(II) ions to a solution of DHI-Me and IQ-Me increases the population of radicals dramatically. These results show the ability of monomeric SQ to bind to heavy metals, while elucidating the contribution of SQ to the broadband absorption of melanin. Additionally, the first high precision measurement of the pKa of IQ is reported, utilizing global analysis. This value may allow for future speciation of substructures in melanin with an understanding of how IQ responds to changes in acidity. Results from this study further our understanding of melanin towards usage in complicated chemical environments in medical and renewable energy biotechnology.No embargoAcademic Major: ChemistryAcademic Major: Physic
Analysis of Temporal and Spatial Reliability of fMRI Signals in Emotion Regulation Task
Get PDFRecent research (Fröhner et al., 2019; Hajcak et al., 2017) raises serious concerns regarding the reliability of task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) metrics. Establishing the reliability of fMRI-based measurements is crucial for their clinical use, particularly in identifying meaningful biomarkers, tailoring personalized treatments, and guiding future research directions. Therefore, we evaluated three forms of reliability of a widely used emotion regulation fMRI task: split-half, test-retest, and spatial reliability. Our sample consisted of forty adult participants with no history of psychiatric or neurologic illness that underwent two fMRI scans 12 weeks apart. During both scans, participants completed an emotion regulation task instructing them to view neutral or distressing images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). In the (1) “Look Neutral” and the (2) “Look Negative” (i.e., Maintain) conditions, participants naturally viewed neutral or negative images, respectively, without attempting to change their emotional response. In the (3) “Reappraise Negative” participants were asked to change their thoughts about the image to alter their emotional response. Between each image, a fixation cross was shown. We extracted BOLD signal from a group of ROIs (10 ROIs) from a meta-analysis (Morawetz et al., 2020) of emotion regulation brain activation. From these ROIs, we then calculated split-half reliability at time 1, test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation between time 1 and 2), Euclidean distance between peak voxels (from time 1 and 2), and cluster overlap (dice coefficients). We found that split half reliability was highest for modelling Conditions alone, with the average falling in the “fair” range (average r=0.55, range= [-0.25, 0.82]). Both Condition-Fixation contrasts (average r =0.38, range= [-0.44, 0.74]) and the Condition-Look contrasts (average r =0.24, range= [-1.216, 0.616]) fell into the “poor” range (F (2,78) =13.66, p<0.001). Test-retest reliabilities showed a different pattern, such that the ICC for contrasts between active conditions – fixation were the highest (F(2,78)=20.51, p<0.001); average ICC = 0.40, range =[-0.26, 0.74]), followed by conditions alone (average ICC = 0.24, range =[-0.33, 0.54]), and active condition – look contrasts (average ICC = 0.07, range =[-0.31, 0.38]). We found higher spatial reliability when modelling Conditions alone, such that distances between peak activations during time 1 and 2 were shorter than for Contrasts (b = 2.01, SE = .37, t(704) = 5.45, p < 0.001). Reliability of the BOLD signal from task Conditions alone showed higher internal consistency across condition/contrast comparisons within a given scan whereas contrasts between active conditions – fixation had greatest test-retest reliability. Euclidean distance results show that conditions alone hold higher spatial consistency values at the group level from time 1 to time 2. These results suggest that future research using this task should be careful to select the most appropriate and reliable measures (conditions vs contrasts) based on their question of interest. Additionally, task-based fMRI researchers should consistently evaluate the psychometric properties of their data.No embargoAcademic Major: Psycholog
Cold War 2.0 or Just Hot Air? Putting U.S.-China AI Competition in Perspective.
Get PDFThe idea of a “Digital Cold War” between the United States and China has taken hold in headlines and policy conversations since 2017, driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. This thesis examines how that analogy gained traction, why it resonates, and whether it holds up under closer scrutiny. It gives particular attention to national security concerns and challenges common assumptions about AI’s future. Drawing from international relations theory, historical analysis, and Cold War scholarship, the project develops a five-part framework based on the defining features of the original Cold War. This framework is then applied to U.S.-China AI rivalry to evaluate the accuracy of the Digital Cold War narrative. Combined with a close analysis of arguments on both sides of the debate, the findings suggest that the parallels to the Cold War are more compelling than the differences. Acknowledging these parallels and reckoning with the power narratives have in shaping policy offers a valuable opportunity to avoid unnecessary escalation and more deliberately shape the trajectory of U.S.-China relations.No embargoAcademic Major: International StudiesAcademic Major: Computer and Information Scienc