Digital Commons Network^™

The Player’S Journey: Ludology And Narratology In Modern Gaming, Angelica Fuchs

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the evolution of gaming criticism (specifically ludology and narratology) and games as a medium of expression through the use of case studies. These case studies look at some of the core aspects of four major titles (The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, various BioWare games and Journey) and survey how these games work to effectively employ a narrative while maintaining an immersive, intuitive system for the player to interact with. Through these titles, the thesis suggests that in order to gain a full scope of a game’s intentions, studies should analyze more than …

Laminated Paint, Travis R. Austin

Theses and Dissertations

Though we may not perceive it, we are surrounded by material-in-flux. Inert materials degrade and the events that comprise our natural and social environments causally thread into a duration that unifies us in our incomprehension. Sounds reveal ever-present vibrations of the landscape: expressions of the flexuous ground on which we stand.

Escapism: Indulging In Daydreams, Tanruk Pairoj-Boriboon

Theses and Dissertations

A fantasy world, that exists only in our minds, provides us a place where we can mentally escape from everyday reality. Escapism, such as indulging in daydreams, allows us to experience comfort and makes us feel safe, eliminating feelings of insecurity and vulnerability.

This study aims to use playfulness and reverie as a tool to access and confront mental discomforts. Transforming disturbing situations into an experience of reverie; a correction of unsatisfying reality, by converting a solid component of the real world into a desirable infinite form will provide alternative viewpoints.

Throughout my work, this method has been employed to …

Structural And Functional Consequences Of Hiv-1 Viral Protein Tat And Morphine Co-Exposure At The Blood-Brain Barrier, Crystal R. Leibrand

Theses and Dissertations

According to UNAIDS 2016, over 37 million people worldwide were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2016, with over 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States. Of those, approximately one half will suffer from HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), which is a spectrum of neurocognitive disorders ranging from asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment, to mild neurocognitive disorder, to HIV-associated dementia. While combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has decreased the incidence of the most severe forms of HAND in patients with HIV, milder forms of HAND still persist. These defects can include decreased motor skills, cognitive abilities, memory, and attention. While …

Engineering Surface Properties To Modulate Inflammation And Stem Cell Recruitment Through Macrophage Activation, Kelly M. Hotchkiss

Theses and Dissertations

Biomaterials are becoming the most commonly used therapeutic method for treatment of lost or damaged tissue in the body. Metallic materials are chosen for high strength orthopaedic and dental applications. Titanium (Ti) implants are highly successful in young, healthy patients with the ability to fully integrate to surrounding tissue. However the main population requiring these corrective treatments will not be healthy or young, therefore further research into material modifications have been started to improve outcomes in compromised patients. The body’s immune system will generate a response to any implanted material, and control the final outcome. Among the first and most …

Edgelands, Anne Bujold

Theses and Dissertations

Animal imagery has been part of the human effort to understand our place in the world since the beginning of recorded history. Through examining the role and use of animal imagery in the creation of cultural signals, I have developed a framework for my practice. Edgelands employs representations of feral animals as symbols for the “misfit” to emphasize the value of those who do not fit in. My experience as a woman in the field of metal work informs my material choice and process, subverting ironwork motifs and the purpose of gates and boundaries. Edgelands overlaps a series of material …

Stat3 In The Regulation Of Brown Adipocyte Differentiation, Marc Cantwell

Theses and Dissertations

Thermogenic fat is a promising target for new therapies in diabetes and obesity. Understanding how thermogenic fat develops is important to develop rational strategies to treat obesity. Previously, we have shown that Tyk2 and STAT3, part of the JAK-STAT pathway, are necessary for proper development of classical brown fat. Using primary preadipocytes isolated from newborn mice we demonstrate that STAT3 is required for differentiation and robust expression of Uncoupling Protein 1. We also confirm that STAT3 is necessary during the early induction stage of differentiation and is dispensable during the later terminal differentiation stage. Without STAT3, the brown preadipocytes have …

[2017-12-08] Meeting Of The Board Of Visitors Of Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

Commonwealth Times 2017-12-04

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2017-11-20

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Battling The Big One: Lgbtq Inclusive Art Education During The Trump Era, Mark J. Villalpando

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

Recently, because of our new political atmosphere, there have been many attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, or LGBTQ+, individuals and communities. Even though there have been positive developments in the past few years, homophobia is still a major concern for many people in the Unit- ed States. These issues often manifest themselves to a greater degree within the microcosm of public schools where LGBTQ+ students are forced to deal with hateful speech, heteronorma- tive environments, and rampant homophobia. These strugglescan have harmful e ects on the social and emotional develop- ment of queer youth. Progressive and inclusive …

Commonwealth Times 2017-10-16

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2017-10-09

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Toward A Decarceral Sexual Autonomy: Biopolitics And The Compounds Of Projected Deviance In Carceral Space, Raechel Tiffe

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This essay examines the rhetorical and structural divides between the “inside” and “outside” carceral world as they exist within the intersections of racialized state violence and biopolitics. It is also a reflection on my embodied experience, as a volunteer and activist, inside penal and correctional facilities, not in an attempt to center my “freeworld” body as more important than the embodied experiences of incarcerated people, but rather to trouble that binary altogether and to use my experience as a perceived outsider to illuminate what I call the compounds of projected deviance. I will use my experiences working in jails …

Service-Learning, The Arts, And Incarceration, Melanie Buffington, Courtnie N. Wolfgang, Tesni A. Stephen

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This paper describes three different service-learning approaches the authors utilized in graduate art education students and incarcerated residents at a municipal jail facility. By situating our experiences within feminist theory, we analyze and unpack the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Through an analysis of teacher and student journal entries we came to see that our level of responsiveness to residents needed to increase as compared to our considerations of the university students. We came to see the significant knowledge that the residents hold about excellence in teaching and created an opportunity for the university students and ourselves to learn …

Mathematical Modeling For The Transmission Dynamics Of {\It Mycobacterium Marinum} Incorporating Intra-Host Variability, Lihong Zhao

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Through The Wall By Annie Buckley And Matthew Mcmilon, Jonathan Cummins

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2017-04-24

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2017-03-27

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Democracy In A Singapore Prison, 1825-1873, Thom Gehring

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

No abstract provided.

Use Of Management Pathways Or Algorithms In Children With Chronic Cough Chest Guideline And Expert Panel Report, Anne B. Chang, John J. Oppenheimer, Miles M. Weinberger, Bruce K. Rubin, Kelly Weir, Cameron C. Grant, Richard S. Irwin, Chest Expert Cough Panel

Pediatrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Using management algorithms or pathways potentially improves clinical outcomes. We undertook systematic reviews to examine various aspects in the generic approach (use of cough algorithms and tests) to the management of chronic cough in children (aged ≤ 14 years) based on key questions (KQs) using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome format.

METHODS: We used the CHEST Expert Cough Panel's protocol for the systematic reviews and the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) methodological guidelines and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework. Data from the systematic reviews in conjunction with patients' values and preferences and the clinical context …

Genomewide Association Study Of Alcohol Dependence Identifies Risk Loci Altering Ethanol-Response Behaviors In Model Organisms, Amy E. Adkins, Laura M. Hack, Tim B. Bigdeli, Vernell S. Williamson, G. Omari Mcmichael, Mohammed Mamdani, Alexis C. Edwards, Fazil Aliev, Robin F. Chan, Poonam Bhandari, Richard C. Raabe, Joseph T. Alaimo, Ginamari G. Blackwell, Arden Moscati, Ryan S. Poland, Benjamin Rood, Diana G. Patterson, Dermot Walsh, Collaborative Study Of The Genetics Of Alcoholism Consortium, John B. Whitfield, Gu Zhu, Grant W. Montgomery, Anjali K. Henders, Nicholas G. Martin, Andrew C. Heath, Pamela A.F. Madden, Josef Frank, Monika Ridinger, Norbert Wodarz, Michael Soyka, Peter Zill, Marcus Ising, Markus M. Nöthen, Falk Kiefer, Marcella Rietschel, The German Study Of The Genetics Of Addiction Consortium, Joel Gelernter, Richard Sherva, Ryan Koesterer, Laura Almasy, Hongyu Zhao, Henry R. Kranzler, Lindsay A. Farrer, Brion S. Maher, Carol A. Prescott, Danielle M. Dick, Silviu A. Bacanu, Laura D. Mathies, Andrew G. Davies, Vladimir I. Vladimirov, Mike Grotewiel, M. Scott Bowers, Jill C. Bettinger, Bradley T. Webb, Michael F. Miles, Kenneth S. Kendler, Brien P. Riley

Psychiatry Publications

Background

Alcohol dependence (AD) shows evidence for genetic liability, but genes influencing risk remain largely unidentified.

Methods

We conducted a genomewide association study in 706 related AD cases and 1,748 unscreened population controls from Ireland. We sought replication in 15,496 samples of European descent. We used model organisms (MOs) to assess the role of orthologous genes in ethanol (EtOH)-response behaviors. We tested 1 primate-specific gene for expression differences in case/control postmortem brain tissue.

Results

We detected significant association in COL6A3 and suggestive association in 2 previously implicated loci, KLF12 and RYR3. None of these signals are significant in replication. …

A New Hcc Model Induced By Co-Overexpression Fgf19 And Met In Mice, Junyan Tao 8598903, Morgan Preziosi, Sucha Singh, Xin Chen, Satdarshan (Paul) Singh Monga

Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances

No abstract provided.

Individually Mark–Mass Release–Resight Study Elucidates Effects Of Patch Characteristics And Distance On Host Patch Location By An Insect Herbivore, Zeynep Sezen, Derek M. Johnson, Katriona Shea

Biology Publications

1. How organisms locate their hosts is of fundamental importance in a variety of basic and applied ecological fields, including population dynamics, invasive species management and biological control. However, tracking movement of small organisms, such as insects, poses significant logistical challenges.

2. Mass-release and individual–mark–recapture techniques were combined in an individually mark–mass release–resight (IMMRR) approach to track the movement of over 2000 adult insects in an economically important plant–herbivore system. Despite its widespread use for the biological control of the invasive thistle Carduus nutans, the host-finding behaviour of the thistle head weevil Rhinocyllus conicus has not previously been studied. …

Expanding Approaches To Teaching For Diversity And Social Justice In K-12 Education: Fostering Global Citizenship Across The Content Areas, Ariel Tichnor-Wagner, Hillary Parkhouse, Jocelyn Glazier, Jessie Montana Cain

Teaching and Learning Publications

Educators today must be able to respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to teach all students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for civic participation in a globalized, pluralist society. While state departments of education and national teacher organizations have begun to adopt global awareness in their teaching standards and evaluation tools, there is a Fostering global citizenship across content areas2need for educators to understand what globally competent teachers actually do in classrooms across subject areas and grade levels. This qualitative, multiple case study explores the signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) of 10 in-service teachers in …

Neutralization Of Diverse Human Cytomegalovirus Strains Conferred By Antibodies Targeting Viral Gh/Gl/Pul128-131 Pentameric Complex, Sha Ha, Fengsheng Li, Matthew C. Troutman, Daniel C. Freed, Aimin Tang, John W. Loughney, Dai Wang, I-Ming Wang, Josef Vlasak, David C. Nickle, Richard R. Rustandi, Melissa Hamm, Pete A. Dephillips, Ningyan Zhang, Jason S. Mclellan, Hua Zhu, Stuart P. Adler, Michael A. Mcvoy, Zhiqiang An, Tong-Ming Fu

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading cause of congenital viral infection, and developing a prophylactic vaccine is of high priority to public health. We recently reported a replication-defective human cytomegalovirus with restored pentameric complex glycoprotein H (gH)/gL/pUL128-131 for prevention of congenital HCMV infection. While the quantity of vaccine-induced antibody responses can be measured in a viral neutralization assay, assessing the quality of such responses, including the ability of vaccine-induced antibodies to cross-neutralize the field strains of HCMV, remains a challenge. In this study, with a panel of neutralizing antibodies from three healthy human donors with natural HCMV infection or a …

Underwater Ant House, Mark Duggan, Zachary Ellis, Zachary Soulier

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The project seeks to design and test and submersible enclosure capable of sustaining oxygen breathing life. A mesh covered in a superhydrophobic coating can both restrain water up to a maximum pressure and retain a direct interface between air and water. Oxygen can transfer over this boundary if there is a sufficient difference in concentrations between the water and air.

Multiple designs have been produced with the intent of testing and demonstrating these theories. 3D printing allowed for quick and customizable production of every component. Enclosures were made for testing the maximum allowable pressure and to fit an oxygen sensor. …

Enhanced Dynamometer For Conducting Long-Term Brake Wear Testing, Grant Adams, Andres Alvarez Del Piño, Casey Greenstreet, Matthew Wall

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The purpose of this project is to develop an automated control system for two constant torque dynamometers Krauss Friction Tester Type RWS60A – Serial no. 080 built in Orangeburg, West Germany recently obtained by FDP Friction Science. This control system will be efficient, effective, safer, and meet the standards of modern day technologies. Currently, the machines are outdated, obsolete, and unable to operate. Therefore, to bring the dynamometers back into full operation and be competitive in today’s industry a new control system that meets industry expectations must be implemented. For this reason, a programmable logic controller from Automationdirect named ClickPLC …