Progressions: Assembled By The Horn Rva & Amendment Literary Journal (2017)

Amendment, 2004-

"Each semester the Horn RVA collects recordings from diverse performers in the Richmond, Virginia, to produce The Horn RVA Presents, a free compilation cd featuring original artwork from VCU students. After releasing three samplers of local music in the past two years, The Horn’s staff felt it was time to expand the project to include voices from the entire music scene with an emphasis on originally generated content. Our goal is to feature narrative perspectives from all sides of the music scene to mirror the inclusivity of the music community in Richmond. To meet the needs of the expanding project, …

Directed Evolution Provides Insight Into Conformational Substrate Sampling By Srta, Muna Suliman, Vishaka Santosh, Tom C. M. Seegar, Annamarie C. Dalton, Kathryn M. Schultz, Candice S. Klug, William A. Barton

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications

The Sortase family of transpeptidases are found in numerous gram-positive bacteria and involved in divergent physiological processes including anchoring of surface proteins to the cell wall as well as pili assembly. As essential proteins, sortase enzymes have been the focus of considerable interest for the development of novel anti-microbials, however, more recently their function as unique transpeptidases has been exploited for the synthesis of novel bio-conjugates. Yet, for synthetic purposes, SrtA-mediated conjugation suffers from the enzyme's inherently poor catalytic efficiency. Therefore, to identify SrtA variants with improved catalytic efficiency, we used directed evolution to select a catalytically enhanced SrtA enzyme. …

Minion™ Nanopore Sequencing Of Environmental Metagenomes: A Synthetic Approach, Bonnie L. Brown, Mick Watson, Samuel S. Minot, Maria C. Rivera, Rima B. Franklin

Biology Publications

Environmental metagenomic analysis is typically accomplished by assigning taxonomy and/or function from whole genome sequencing or 16S amplicon sequences. Both of these approaches are limited, however, by read length, among other technical and biological factors. A nanopore-based sequencing platform, MinION™, produces reads that are ≥1 × 104 bp in length, potentially providing for more precise assignment, thereby alleviating some of the limitations inherent in determining metagenome composition from short reads. We tested the ability of sequence data produced by MinION (R7.3 flow cells) to correctly assign taxonomy in single bacterial species runs and in three types of low-complexity synthetic communities: …

Perfluorocarbon Emulsions Radiosensitise Brain Tumors In Carbogen Breathing Mice With Orthotopic Gl261 Gliomas, Lisa A. Feldman, Marie-Sophie Fabre, Carole Grasso, Dana Reid, William C. Broaddus, Gregory M. Lanza, Bruce D. Spiess, Joel R. Garbow, Melanie J. Mcconnell, Patries M. Herst

Neurosurgery Publications

Background

Tumour hypoxia limits the effectiveness of radiation therapy. Delivering normobaric or hyperbaric oxygen therapy elevates pO2 in both tumour and normal brain tissue. However, pO2 levels return to baseline within 15 minutes of stopping therapy.

Aim

To investigate the effect of perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions on hypoxia in subcutaneous and intracranial mouse gliomas and their radiosensitising effect in orthotopic gliomas in mice breathing carbogen (95%O2 and 5%CO2).

Results

PFC emulsions completely abrogated hypoxia in both subcutaneous and intracranial GL261 models and conferred a significant survival advantage orthotopically (Mantel Cox: p = 0.048) in carbogen breathing mice injected intravenously (IV) with …

Medical Literary Messenger (Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring/Summer 2017)

Medical Literary Messenger

Solicitude / Dan Campion -- R & R / Claude Clayton Smith -- Alopecia Areata / Will Justice Drake -- Guide to Nether-Land / Tanmoy Das Lala -- The Wolf / Rebecca Taksel -- Life Support / Lindsay Rutherford -- Tuesday Mermaids / Connie Zumpf -- Transition / Vernita Hall -- Admissions / Kathryn Eberly -- The Vote / Alisa Olmsted -- Health & Healing in Honduras / Michael P. Stevens and Nadia Masroor -- Lamentation of a Night-Shift Nurse / Mallory Drake -- Blues from the Stepdown Ward / Terry Sanville -- Nectarines / Lindsay Rutherford -- Alzheimer’s / …

Electroconvulsive Therapy In Geriatric Patients: A Literature Review And Program Report From Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, Usa, Andrew D. Snyder, Vasu Venkatachalam, Ananda Pandurangi

Psychiatry Publications

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapeutic intervention in the elderly patients with major depression, especially those with psychosis, suicidality, catatonia, nutritional compromise, and resistance to medications. Response rates can be as high as 80%. We present an extensive review of the relevant literature, provide a description of the ECT program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and present results of our experience with ECT in fifty elderly patients. The treatments were safe, well tolerated, and produced high response rates, variably between 68% and 84%. Patients in the long‑term maintenance ECT program continue to show sustained benefits from …

The Scope, The Scope

The Scope

Collection of all 2016 articles from The Scope.

About The Scope

This magazine was produced by students in Science Journalism (MASC 491-005), which was taught during the Fall 2016 semester by Jeff South, an associate professor in the Robertson School of Media and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Sara Williams, head of academic outreach for VCU Libraries.

The course, VCU’s first focusing exclusively on science reporting, was supported by a grant that funds projects aligned with VCU’s strategic plan, called Quest for Distinction. VCU selected the Science Journalism course as a “disruptively innovative idea” and as a way …

Emphasizing Common Childhood Anxieties In Children’S Fantasy: An Analysis Of The Illustrations In Matilda And Charlotte’S Web, Ellie Erhart

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

In children’s literature, illustrations are just as important to story as a book’s text; illustrations contribute to the overall tone of the story and to the way readers interpret its events.

After Blackness, Then Blackness: Afro-Pessimism, Black Life, And Classical Hip Hop As Counter-Performance, Kevin Eubanks

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

No abstract provided.

Liver Adiposity And Metabolic Profile In Individuals With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury, Kathleen C. Rankin, Laura C. O’Brien, Liron Segal, M. Rehan Khan, Ashraf S. Gorgey

Physiology and Biophysics Publications and Presentations

Purpose. To quantify liver adiposity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to determine its association with metabolic profile in men with spinal cord injury (SCI). Materials and Methods. MRI analysis of liver adiposity by fat signal fraction (FSF) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was completed on twenty participants. Intravenous glucose tolerance test was conducted to measure glucose effectiveness (𝑆g) and insulin sensitivity (𝑆i ). Lipid panel, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and inflammatory cytokines were also analyzed. Results. Average hepatic FSF was 3.7% ± 2.1. FSF was positively related to TG, non-HDL-C, fasting glucose, HbA1c, VAT, and …

Cyclic-Amp Regulates Postnatal Development Of Neural And Behavioral Responses To Nacl In Rats, Jie Qian, Shobha Mummalaneni, Tam-Hao T. Phan, Gerard L. Heck, John A. Desimone, David West, Sunila Mahavadi, Deanna Hojati, Karnam S. Murthy, Mee-Ra Rhyu, Andrew I. Spielman, Mehmet H. Özdener, Vijay Lyall

Physiology and Biophysics Publications and Presentations

During postnatal development rats demonstrate an age-dependent increase in NaCl chorda tympani (CT) responses and the number of functional apical amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na+channels (ENaCs) in salt sensing fungiform (FF) taste receptor cells (TRCs). Currently, the intracellular signals that regulate the postnatal development of salt taste have not been identified. We investigated the effect of cAMP, a downstream signal for arginine vasopressin (AVP) action, on the postnatal development of NaCl responses in 19–23 day old rats. ENaC-dependent NaCl CT responses were monitored after lingual application of 8-chlorophenylthio-cAMP (8-CPT-cAMP) under open-circuit conditions and under ±60 mV lingual voltage clamp. Behavioral responses were …

A Declaration Of The State Of The Colony: Type Facsimile Edition, Edward Waterhouse, Dylan Ruediger

British Virginia

Edward Waterhouse’s Declaration of the State of the Colony is the Virginia Company's official response to the Powhatan attack on the plantation in the spring of 1622. The attack, often called the “Jamestown Massacre,” cost the lives of 25% of the population of the colony (individually listed by Waterhouse in a harrowing catalog of the dead). It led to massive retaliation by the English. It also significantly changed the ideological basis of the colonial project in Virginia from one based on naïve hopes that Indians would voluntarily subordinate themselves to the English towards an aggressive colonialism of dispossession. Waterhouse’s text …

A Declaration Of The State Of The Colony: Photographic Facsimile Edition, Edward Waterhouse, Dylan Ruediger

British Virginia

Edward Waterhouse’s Declaration of the State of the Colony is the Virginia Company's official response to the Powhatan attack on the plantation in the spring of 1622. The attack, often called the “Jamestown Massacre,” cost the lives of 25% of the population of the colony (individually listed by Waterhouse in a harrowing catalog of the dead). It led to massive retaliation by the English. It also significantly changed the ideological basis of the colonial project in Virginia from one based on naïve hopes that Indians would voluntarily subordinate themselves to the English towards an aggressive colonialism of dispossession. Waterhouse’s text …

#Black Lives Matter, Bahar Davary

Ethnic Studies Review

This short story begins with a reference to the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer as part of a pattern of behavior that shouts loud and clear: “black lives don’t matter”. The story traces the injustices of slavery and life and work on the plantations. It takes us from Jim Crow laws in the U.S. to the stifling of the national movement of the Congolese, from assassination of Patrice Lumumba, to the killings of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. In short, the story is a reflection on the responsibility of educators in addressing the …

Below The Neck, Above The Knees, Desiree Dawn Kapler

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis explores the act of violation in the context of trauma and healing through the use of personal narratives and experimental film. My research allows personal storytelling to transform into a larger and more universal theme of generational trauma and dysfunction. Through a feminist lens, I challenge social norms of body autonomy for the sick and abused, capitalism’s social effects on the poor, and passed down maternal lessons from the women who are doing the best that they can with the lives and opportunities that they have been given.

This work is created in spite of the labels my …

What's Haunting Jackson Ward? Race, Space, And Environmental Violence, Rachel Spraker

Theses and Dissertations

This research is about examining the way in which racialized environmental violence contributes to exploitative social relations becoming embedded in the everyday world. I argue that the space of the everyday has been produced through cycles of social relations proceeding from and/or tied to racialized environmental violence. I continue the work of critical scholars in asserting that social and environmental violence is linked in the same ideological impulse which seeks to hide itself behind a variety of alienating processes. The slow way in which environmental violence works is particularly impactful in these processes because of its attritional lethality, contributing to …

Identification Of Expression And Function Of The Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor In Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle, Alexander T. May

Theses and Dissertations

In response to ingestion of nutrients, enteroendocrine L cells secrete the incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), to enhance glucose-dependent insulin release. Therapies related to GLP-1 are approved for type 2 diabetes. The GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) is expressed in cells of the gastrointestinal tract and elsewhere. In pancreatic beta cells, GLP-1R are coupled to the Gs/cAMP/PKA pathway. The expression and function of GLP-1R in gastrointestinal smooth muscle are not known. Aim. To test the hypothesis that GLP-1 regulates smooth muscle function by acting on GLP-1R expressed on smooth muscle. Methods. Smooth muscle cells (SMC) were isolated and cultured. Expression of GLP-1R …

Understanding The Expressive Cartoon Drawings Of A Student With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Michael S. Collins

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the highly expressive comic drawings of Amy, a child with autism. This study connects larger fields of research: the study of how people with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] process faces and emotions; and, research about artists with ASD. Amy's understanding of emotion was analyzed by asking her to view and identify humans and cartoon characters expressing different emotions. Her ability to illustrate emotion is tested by asking her to respond to various drawing prompts. The study concluded that Amy has difficulty identifying the emotions of humans and cartoons, but she does have the ability to illustrate …

Signaling Components Involved In The Hormone Induced Translocation Of Enac In Cultured Adult Human Fungiform (Hbo) Taste Cells, Deanna Hojati

Theses and Dissertations

The amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na⁺ channel, ENaC, is the Na⁺-specific salt taste receptor in rodents. Compared to rodents, human salt taste perception is amiloride-insensitive. In rodents the ENaC is composed of aβg-subunits. Whereas humans express an additional subunit, the d-ENaC subunit. ENaC in human taste cells is composed of aβg-subunits or dβg-subunits, with the latter being amiloride-insensitive. Currently, it is not known if dβg-ENaC expression and trafficking is regulated by hormones and their downstream intracellular signaling effectors. The aim of this study is to investigate if arginine vasopressin (AVP), aldosterone, and cAMP regulate d-ENaC expression and trafficking in …

Determinants Of Hospital Administrators' Choice Of Anesthesia Practice Model, Maribeth L. Massie

Theses and Dissertations

Hospital administrators are being held accountable by patients, insurers, and other stakeholders in evaluating their overall hospital performance to reduce costs and improve efficiency. With the move to alternative payment models and value-based purchasing, hospital administrators must understand the economic viability and value that their specialty services bring to their facility.

The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants New England acute care hospital administrators’ utilize in making the choice of anesthesia practice model for their facility.

A quantitative, exploratory study of factors hospital administrators use when choosing an anesthesia practice model utilizing a non-experimental, correlational research design …

Nanomedicine Drug Delivery Across Mucous Membranes, Michael G. Lancina Iii

Theses and Dissertations

NANOMEDECINE DRUG DELIVERY ACROSS MUCOUS MEMBRANES

By Michael G. Lancina III

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy, 2017.

Major Director: Dr. Hu Yang, Associate Professor, Chemical and Life Science Engineering

Control over the distribution of therapeutic compounds is a complex and somewhat overlooked field of pharmaceutical research. When swallowing a pill or receiving an injection, it is commonly assumed that drug will spread throughout the body in a more or less uniform concentration and find its way to wherever it is needed. In …

N-Alkyl 4-Methylamphetamine Enantiomers And The Implication For Potential Modulation Of Abuse Liability And Enhancement Of Psychoactive Drug Targeting., Ramsey Sitta

Theses and Dissertations

Drugs of abuse have a long history in humanity. Currently however, a subject of great interest is the phenylalkylamine family of drugs. Not only is the abuse liability of interest but also the potential therapeutic expansion of the capabilities of this family of drugs by utilizing the unique stereospecific effects of the newly discovered hybrid compounds. Based upon prior data of N-Alkyl 4-MA the enantiomers of N-Methyl, N-Ethyl, and N-Propyl were analyzed in hDAT, hNET, and hSERT. It was found that there was a negative correlation between chain length and potency and dopaminergic component. In agreement with the currently established …

Discovery Of Mor Selective, Reversible Opioid Antagonist For Potential Use In Treatment Of Drug Dependence, Abdulmajeed Jali

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

DISCOVERY OF MOR SELECTIVE, REVERSIBLE OPIOID ANTAGONIST FOR POTENTIAL USE IN TREATMENT OF DRUG DEPENDENCE

Abdulmajeed M. Jali, M.S.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017

Director: Dana E. Selley, Ph. D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

Opioid dependence/addiction is a major public health problem that is associated with multiple health and social costs. Pharmacotherapeutic treatment has been relatively effective, but the risk of relapse after treatment remains high. Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, is FDA-approved for long-term maintenance therapy to reduce relapse risk. However, naltrexone …

Longitudinal Bidirectional Relations Between Subtypes Of Anxiety And Callous-Unemotional Traits In Early- To Mid-Adolescence, Stephanie A. Hitti

Theses and Dissertations

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by limited empathy, lack of guilt or remorse, and callous use of others. They are a risk factor for adult psychopathy, especially when comorbid with conduct problems. Thus, efforts to identify risk factors and consequences of CU traits have been prominent. One construct that may act as both a risk factor for and consequence of CU traits among youth is anxiety. While the most consistent finding is in this literature is a negative relation between CU traits and anxiety, findings have been mixed. The present study examined bidirectional relations between three subtypes of anxiety (i.e. …

Altered Axon Initial Segment Structure And Function In Inflammatory Disease, Kareem C. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Axonal pathology is a key contributor to long-term disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), but the mechanisms that underlie axonal insults remain unclear. While most axonal pathologies characterized in MS are a direct consequence of myelin loss, we propose that axonal pathologies also occur independent of demyelination. In support of this idea, we recently reported that mice that develop experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model commonly used to mimic the pathogenesis of MS, exhibit a structural and functional disruption of the axon initial segment (AIS), a subdomain of the axon that …

Integrating Genetics And Neuroimaging To Study Subtypes Of Binge Drinkers, Megan E. Cooke

Theses and Dissertations

Risky alcohol use is a major health concern among college students, with 40.1% reporting binge drinking (5 or more drinks in one occasion) and 14.4% reporting heavy drinking (binge drinking on 5 or more occasions) in the past month. Risky alcohol use is thought to be the result of a complex interplay between genes, biological processes, and other phenotypic characteristics. Understanding this complex relationship is further complicated by known phenotypic heterogeneity in the development of alcohol use. Developmental studies have suggested two pathways to risky alcohol use, characterized by externalizing and internalizing characteristics, respectively. However, the underlying biological processes that …

The Effects Of The Hiv-1 Tat Protein And Morphine On The Structure And Function Of The Hippocampal Ca1 Subfield, William D. Marks

Theses and Dissertations

HIV is capable of causing a set of neurological diseases collectively termed the HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND). Worsening pathology is observed in HIV+ individuals who use opioid drugs. Memory problems are often observed in HAND, implicating HIV pathology in the hippocampus, and are also known to be exacerbated by morphine use. HIV-1 Tat was demonstrated to reduce spatial memory performance in multiple tasks, and individual subsets of CA1 interneurons were found to be selectively vulnerable to the effects of Tat, notably nNOS+/NPY- interneurons of the pyramidal layer and stratum radiatum, PV+ neurons of the pyramidal layer, and SST+ neurons …

Podocyte Dedifferentiation And Glomerular Injury Mediated By Lysosome Dysfunction: Role Of Acid Ceramidase, Guangbi Li

Theses and Dissertations

Cell differentiation and senescence in podocytes are attributed to normal autophagy and associated cellular activities. It is possible that derangement of autophagy under different pathological conditions activates or enhances podocyte dedifferentiation leading to glomerular injury and ultimate glomerular disease. To test this hypothesis, we first tested whether autophagic deficiency due to lysosome dysfunction enhances podocyte dedifferentiation and explored the molecular mechanisms by which this lysosome dysfunction trigger or enhance podocyte dedifferentiation. By Western blot and confocal analysis, lysosome inhibition using an inhibitor or siRNA of V-ATPase inhibitor was found to markedly decrease the epithelial markers (P-cadherin and ZO-1) and increase …

Impact Of Chemotherapy On Nicotine Dependence, Yasmin Alkhlaif

Theses and Dissertations

Although cigarette smoke has been implicated in a causal relationship with various types of cancers, around 62% of all cancer patients are current smokers, recent quitters, or former smokers. While most patients who are smokers are motivated to quit after cancer diagnosis, 25 -30% of these patients continue to smoke. Furthermore, most quitters relapse after 2-3 years of post-chemotherapy. This represents a major health concern since several clinical studies revealed that perpetuation of smoking in cancer populations attenuates patient's well-being and quality of life. Smoking may impair healing, attenuate the efficacy of chemotherapy, increase the disease complications and diminish survival …

The Pharmacology Of An Agonist Medication To Treat Stimulant Use Disorder, Amy Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Cocaine use disorder is a serious public health issue for which no approved pharmacotherapies exist. The development of a pharmacotherapy for cocaine use disorder is a priority for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Amphetamine maintenance has been shown to be effective to reduce cocaine use in double-blind placebo controlled clinical trials, but has not been approved due to concerns over safety and abuse liability. Development of new pharmacotherapies is facilitated by preclinical testing for effectiveness and identification of new targets for medication development. The first part of this dissertation develops a novel non-human primate cocaine self-administration choice procedure that …