Ohio Academy Research Articles

Front Matter

We regret that the 130th annual scientific meeting of The Ohio Academy of Science—originally scheduled for April 24, 2021, at Edison State Community College—was not held due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.No abstracts were published in Volume 121, No. 1.The annual business meeting will be held virtually in December 2021.The University of Findlay will host the 2022 annual meeting on April 9, 2022. Please follow the Academy website for details. https://www.ohiosci.org/

Abstracts from the 2020 OAS Annual Meeting

The 129th Annual Meeting of The Ohio Academy of Science, described herein, was not held due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, all abstracts were peer-reviewed and constitute valid scientific publications.

Abstracts from the 2019 OAS Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2019 Ohio Academy of Science Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2018 OAS Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2018 Ohio Academy of Science Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2017 OAS Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2017 Ohio Academy of Science Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2016 OAS Annual Meeting

Abstracts from the 2016 Ohio Academy of Science Annual Meeting

The State of Ohio History: A Roundtable Discussion

The State of Ohio HistoryA Roundtable Discussion Gregory S. Wilson (bio), L. Diane Barnes (bio), Kevin F. Kern (bio), David J. Merkowitz (bio), and Donna M. DeBlasio (bio) introduction Gregory S. Wilson This past year, I challenged a talented group of colleagues to consider the state of Ohio history and present their ideas at the Ohio Academy of History annual meeting in 2015. I meant for us to contemplate both research about Ohio, as well how we teach and present that history in Ohio’s schools and its public history settings. Happily, they accepted. Stemming from that conversation, L. Diane Barnes commissioned the following set of essays for publication here. Several things prompted my concern, and many of them are described in the following pages. My colleague at the University of Akron, Kevin F. Kern, and I coauthored a new state history of Ohio, and I thought it might be an opportune moment to step back and examine how we tell the story of a state, and whether telling that story remained important and useful, or even just plain interesting.1 Many years into the “cultural turn” in the discipline of history, and with more attention paid to global and transnational histories, [End Page 7] whither the focus on something so seemingly trite as a state, let alone Ohio, an entity rarely associated outside the state with anything besides blandness, deindustrialization, and football? I had wondered, too, how the teaching of Ohio’s history fared both in the public schools and at the college level. Having worked with teachers from across Ohio, as well as history professionals working outside academe, I also thought it wise to consider how Ohio’s history is faring in public history settings across the state. What stories, if any, are we telling—and hearing—about Ohio’s history? The results of these musings are the ideas, questions, and suggestions penned below from L. Diane Barnes, Kevin F. Kern, David J. Merkowitz, and Donna M. DeBlasio. I thank each of them for their contributions. Together, they demonstrate that the people of Ohio remain interested in history generally and in the history of Ohio in particular. But they caution us, in various ways, to be alert for just how and why that history is being used, threats to history as a professional subject and discipline, and how it is being taught and studied. To paraphrase a famous quotation, the price of critically engaged, supported, and relevant history is eternal vigilance. Together these essays highlight the past foundation of Ohio history and offer important pleas for new directions in the study, teaching, and presentation of Ohio’s rich, compelling, and important history. part i: the ohio history journal L. Diane Barnes As editor of the Ohio History journal, I have been thinking a lot about state history and whether it has outlived its usefulness as a category of study, perspective, and analysis. I think maybe it has, at least in its current practice. The ways that state history has been conceived and approached in the last fifty years (maybe one hundred years) has changed little. This failure of practitioners of Ohio history to keep up with the times created an impression of the field as anachronistic and backward looking. Scholarly submissions to the journal have remained fairly constant and centered around just a few subjects: state politics and politicians, state development and infrastructure, and war, with a little of abolitionism, civil rights, and the Kent State shootings thrown in for good measure. This persistent trend continues today, and I am as guilty as earlier editors of maintaining [End Page 8] the old guard. A recent volume, for example, included a cogent essay exploring the influence of Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 religious liberty letter to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptists on the framers of the 1803 Ohio Constitution. Another examined James A. Garfield’s front-porch campaign for the presidency, while a third considered the intersection of slavery, race, and regional identity in Ohio during the early republic.2 Excellent scholarship drove all of these essays, and the historiography of the state advanced in each area; however, these same subjects might have appeared in the Ohio History of a...

A Conversation with Robert C. Elston

Robert C. Elston was born on February 4, 1932, in London, England. He went to Cambridge University to study natural science from 1952–1956 and obtained B.A., M.A. and Diploma in Agriculture (Dip Ag). He came to the US at age 24 to study animal breeding at Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in 1959. From 1959–1960, he was a post-doctoral fellow in biostatistics at University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, where he studied mathematical statistics. He then rose through the academic ranks in the department of biostatistics at UNC, becoming a full professor in 1969. From 1979–1995, he was a professor and head of the Department of Biometry and Genetics at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. In 1995, he moved to Case Western Reserve University where he is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and served as chairman from 2008 to 2014. Between 1966 and 2013, he directed 42 Ph.D. students and mentored over 40 post-doctoral fellows. If one regards him as a founder of a pedigree in research in genetic epidemiology, it was estimated in 2007 that there were more than 500 progeny. Among his many honors are a NIH Research Career Development Award (1966–1976), the Leadership Award from International Society of Human Genetics (1995), William Allan Award from American Society of Human Genetics (1996), NIH MERIT Award (1998) and the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award, Harvard University (2004). He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics as well as a Fellow of the Ohio Academy of Science. A leader in research in genetic epidemiology for over 40 years, he has published over 600 research articles in biostatistics, genetic epidemiology and applications. He has also coauthored and edited 9 books in biostatistics, population genetics and methods for the analysis of genetic data. The original conversation took place on August 4, 2009, during the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in Washington, DC by GZ and ZL. NLG had dinner with RCE during the 2013 JSM in Montreal, Canada, and added supplementary material and edited the conversation. RCE updated and clarified certain points.

SHAPING HEALTH-RELATED POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES: 1 FAMILY PHYSICIAN AT A TIME

The Affordable Care Act will profoundly influence health care delivery in the United States. Here, Dr Randy Wexler, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at The Ohio State University, describes his health policy interests and activities. Through the years, Dr Wexler has worked with local-, state-, and federal-level policy makers. We hope that by sharing his experiences, family physicians will become interested in and prompted to be more involved in shaping health-related policy related to the delivery of primary care. As a busy family physician, how did you become interested and involved in health-related policy activities? My interest in policy issues really evolved out of my frustration with the overall health care system. During my family medicine residency training I began attending my local Ohio Academy of Family Physicians affiliate and things just evolved from there. I think all family physicians must be engaged in health policy-related activities in some manner. You have to make the time to be involved. So many of the decisions made by state and federal agencies impact how family physicians not only practice, but also the manner in which we deliver care. To not engage in any form, even just a little, allows others to determine how we practice. It is just like the old saying, “you can pay (a little time) now or pay (a lot of time) later.” A family physician is seeking to be involved in health-related policy efforts. What advice could you provide him/her in getting started? Fortunately, there are many ways to get involved. At the local level one can engage with their state American Academy of Family Physicians affiliate. To impact federal issues the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has many options. For example, the Family Medicine Political Action Committee (FamMedPAC) advocates for family medicine in Washington, DC. Information about FamMedPAC is available at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/fammedpac.html?navid=fammedpac. The AAFP also has a “Speak Out” Web site (http://capitol.aafp.org/aafp/home/) that encourages family physicians to contact their members of Congress and provides a comprehensive list of sample talking points on pertinent issues. Finally, one can call the office of their General Assembly or member of Congress and request an appointment. Often you will meet with an aide, but aides are the sergeants of government and good relationships to establish. While most meetings will be just 15 or 30 minutes, it is always beneficial to place a follow-up phone call a few days after each meeting. Building relationships with elected officials is the key to establishing a voice for family medicine. As a whole, NAPCRG advocates for increased primary care research funding. Again, how do you suggest family physicians lead this effort? The most important thing NAPCRG can do is educate policy makers on the importance of primary care research and the impact such research can have on the nation. The late Dr Barbara Starfield and colleagues demonstrated that primary care services reduce both morbidity and mortality, whether primary care is characterized by primary care provider supply, source of primary care, or which components of primary care are utilized.1 Further, they found that primary care—in comparison to specialty care—results in not only equitable distribution of health resources and improved outcomes, but also reduced costs. Primary care research is well suited for evaluation and interpretation of “real-world” problems and can focus improvements on managing health services toward more efficient and higher quality care. Primary care research can be especially relevant in addressing new and emerging issues, in addition to the consideration of questions such as “how the provision of care can be improved.”2 Furthermore, primary care is ideally positioned to deal with issues related to disparities in health care delivery by addressing areas necessary to resolve such inequities. Rust and Cooper3 argue that we must: (1) conduct research in real-world, high-disparity primary care settings; (2) develop community partnerships; (3) address the complex mix of disparities in chronic disease risk factors and outcomes; (4) focus efforts on the triangulation of patient, community, and provider; and (5) test dynamic, constantly improving interventions. Research in primary care is ideal for addressing such needs and inequities fomented by the current health care system.

State Tort Reform. Ohio Supreme Court Strikes down State General Assembly's Tort Reform Initiative. State Ex Rel. Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers v. Sheward, 715 N. E.2d 1062 (Ohio 1999)

State Tort Reform. Ohio Supreme Court Strikes down State General Assembly's Tort Reform Initiative. State Ex Rel. Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers v. Sheward, 715 N. E.2d 1062 (Ohio 1999)

Use of psychological measures in primary care.

To determine the use of psychological measures among primary care physicians. Survey. Primary care practices in Ohio. Active members of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. None. Subjects' use "ever" and "during the past 12 months" of 11 psychological measures encountered in primary care settings. Approximately 80% of 521 respondents acknowledged having used 1 or more of the listed psychological measures in clinical practice. Of the measures listed, each was endorsed by some proportion of respondents. The majority of physicians who had ever used a particular measure had done so in the preceding 12 months. Compared with respondents who did not use psychological measures in practice, unique predictors for those who did were being relatively younger, female, and practicing in more densely populated areas. Most family physicians have used psychological measures in clinical practice.

Quality of the family physician component of AMA Masterfile.

This investigation was undertaken to gain insight into the validity of the American Medical Association (AMA) Masterfile data. Allopathic family physicians were chosen as the study population Omissions were picked up from by comparing the AMA list with the 1990 Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Foundation-Ohio Department of Health (OAFPF-ODH) census. Verification of the 1990 specialty and geographic location of allopathic family physicians not common to both files was achieved by sequentially (1) reviewing the AMA names against 1990 deletions from the 1985 OAFPF-ODH census, (2) contacting physicians directly by telephone, (3) verifying 1990 physician status with county medical personnel, and (4) mailing a brief questionnaire to each physician whose 1990 status remained unverified. The status of specialty and geographic location in 1990 was verified in 91 percent of names not common to both lists. Incorrect omissions (undercounts) and incorrect inclusions (overcounts) offset each other for both lists. Two groups of family physicians contribute to counting biases: family physicians who fulfill short-term goals by part-time practice in several locations, and family physicians who restrict their practice to a limited medical content area. Because of nearly equal offsetting of overcounting (incorrect inclusions) and under counting (incorrect omissions), the 1990 Ohio family physician AMA Masterfile data is adequate for work-force projections and policy studies when the county data are aggregated at the state level. The overcounting and undercounting for smaller areas or categories must still be studied, however. Application of the AMA Masterfile data of other geographic areas requires a knowledge of the components of undercounts and overcounts of the population being studied.

In Memoriam: Bryan Steven Obst, 1956-1991

Born on 7 April 1912, Ralph Dexter grew up in the fishing port of Gloucester, on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. His early passion for molluscs, crustaceans, and tidal pools remained with him throughout his life, but at age 16 a Miss Babson of the Cape Ann Scientific, Literary, and Historical Association awakened his interest in birds. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1934 and in 1981 received the University's Distinguished Alumnus Award. His outstanding undergraduate record earned him admission to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where, in 1938, he was awarded a Ph.D. for his doctoral dissertation on the ecological interactions of marine communities in a tidal inlet on Cape Ann, Massachusetts (Ecol. Monogr. 17:261294, 1944). He later served as Vice-President and President of the Malacological Union. In 1937 Ralph accepted a job at Kent State University where for 45 years he taught courses in ecology, field zoology (which included ornithology), and history of biology, and where, in 1938, he married Jean Westwater. With Kent, Ohio, having few tidal communities, Ralph began a long-term study of the Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) that nested in the vent pipes on the roof of the biology building. From 1944 until the end of his life, Ralph banded all adult and nestling swifts that used those vents. During this time he published many papers on swifts, as well as ecological studies of the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Common Barn-Owl (Tyto alba), Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus), and Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor). In 1957 Kent State recognized Ralph Dexter with its Most Distinguished Faculty Award, in 1964 the Chimney Swift was incorporated into the seal of the university, and in 1977 Ralph received the University's President's Medal. Ralph's interest in America's 19th century naturalists is reflected in several historical papers, his active membership in the Society for the History of Natural Science, and his pivotal role in founding the History of Science Committee of the Ohio Academy of Science. He was a Fellow of the AAAS and the Ohio Academy of Sciences; for the latter he served as Secretary, Historian, and President. In 1991 the Academy honored him as one of its Centennial Honorees. He joined the American Ornithologists' Union in 1942 and became an elected member in 1976. He was also a member of the Association of Field Ornithologists, the Wilson Ornithological Society (where he served on the Nominating and Resolutions committees), and the Inland Bird Banding Association (where he served as Vice-President). Ralph Dexter died in Kent, Ohio, on 29 October 1991. He is survived by two daughters.

Fluoride prescription practices of Ohio physicians.

In 1985 a fluoride supplement survey was mailed to all members of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians and the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The response rate after two mailings was 60.2 percent. Of the respondents who were identified as either family physicians or pediatricians, 76.6 percent reportedly prescribed fluoride supplements for at least some of their child patients. Pediatricians were more likely to prescribe fluoride supplements than were family physicians. Younger physicians also were more apt to prescribe fluoride supplements than were their older colleagues. Only 6.2 percent of those physicians who prescribed fluoride adhered to a minimum protocol of inquiring about the fluoride content of the child's drinking water, having the water analyzed when the fluoride content was unknown, and continuing fluoride supplements until at least age ten. Medical schools, and especially residency programs, should include a preventive dental segment that uses a state-specific protocol for the prescription of fluoride, including where water may be analyzed. For those already in practice, the preferred method of providing information may be short articles in local journals or newsletters. Public health dentists should assist the medical profession in this educational process.

Urban Development in Modern China. Edited by Laurence J. C. Ma and Edward W. Hanten. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1981. 264 pp. Maps, Tables, Diagrams, Notes and References, Index. $20. - The Environment: Chinese and American Views. Edited by Laurence J. C. Ma and Allen G. Noble. New York: Methuen, 1981. Pbulished for the Ohio Academy of Science. 397 pp.

Urban Development in Modern China. Edited by Laurence J. C. Ma and Edward W. Hanten. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1981. 264 pp. Maps, Tables, Diagrams, Notes and References, Index. 29.95. - Volume 42 Issue 1

Book reviews and Materials received

Abstract Abstract The Environment: Chinese and American Views. Edited by Laurence J. C. Ma and Allen G. Noble. Published for the Ohio Academy of Sciences. New York and London: Methuen, 1981. Pp. xiii + 397, $29.95. Earth Resources, Energy, and The Environment. By Douglas G. Brookins. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1981. Pp. vi + 190. Change and Development In The Middle East. Edited by John I. Clarke and Howard Bowen-Jones. New York and London: Methuen, 1981. Pp. xiii + 322, $47.00. People, Environment, and Place: An Introduction To Human Geography. By Robert P. Larkin, Gary L Peters, and Christopher H. Exline. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1981. Pp. x + 358, $20.95.

Historically Speaking,— Benefits Derived from Mathematics Projects

Students in our high school, enrolled in any elective mathematics courses, are encouraged to undertake mathematics projects, which are then entered each spring in the annual District Science Day Contest sponsored by the Ohio Academy of cience. Winners in the District Contest are eligible to compete for awards in t he tate Science Day Contest. This contest creates great interest and enthusiasm in our school, and to win a “superior” rating in the State Contest is considered one of the highest honors that a student can achieve.

Ohio Academy of Medical History

Ohio Academy of Medical History

THE UNITED STATES IN PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE

W ITHIN the thirty-five years from 1920 through 1954, American professional geographers published extensively in four leading periodicalsthe Geographical Review, Journal of Geography, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and Economic Geography. Other professional publications in which geographic articles appeared included the Texas Geographic Magazine, the Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, the Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, Landscape, and others of equal standing. In addition, geographers published many research papers in periodicals such as the quarterly of the Michigan Academy of Arts, Letters, and Science; the journal of the Ohio Academy of Science; the quarterly of the California Historical Society, and similar outlets. To this body of material may be added the mass of published and unpublished research efforts consisting of masters' theses and doctoral dissertations prepared in the centers of graduate instruction in the country. In an effort to determine what parts of the United States have been investigated most thoroughly by members of the geographic profession in this country, the contents of each publication were noted, and each article or thesis dealing with a particular part of the nation was placed in its appropriate place upon a series of maps.

Changing Man's Habitat: Physical and Biological Phenomena

Dr. Sears is Chairman of the Conservation Program and Professor of Botany at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and for 1953-1955 is also Chairman of the Department of Plant Science. He has been Presi? dent of the Nebraska Academy of Science, Ohio Academy of Science, Ecological Society of America, and is President-elect (for 1957) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, His present research interests are on Pleistocene vegetation, pollen analysis, and applied ecology. His works include: Deserts on the March, 1935; This Is Our World, 1937; and Charles Darwin, the Naturalist as a Cultural Force, 1950.