Digital Commons Network^™

Using Bovid Tribe Proportions To Reconstruct Paleoenvironments Of Eastern African Paranthropus, Lisa Day

Theses and Dissertations

There are conflicting theories about the eating habits and corresponding environmental needs of Paranthropus boisei and Paranthropus aethiopicus, two species of extinct hominins that existed ~2.8 to ~1 Ma in eastern Africa. Paranthropus species are well-known for their unusually large molars and sagittal crest (a bony ridge on their skulls which allowed for large chewing muscle attachments), these skeletal adaptations were once thought to be due to their feeding on hard foods; however, recent isotope data and dental microwear studies question the simplicity of this assumption. This has revealed a gap in our understanding of the environmental needs of …

Mitigation Of Nicotine Reward And Withdrawal By The N-Acyl Amino Acids: N-Oleoyl Glycine And N-Oleoyl Alanine, Kimberly Karin

Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research is exploring the efficacy of N-acyl amino acids (N-oleoyl glycine; OlGly and N-oleoyl alanine; OlAla) in rodent models of drug reward and dependence. In particular, OlGly attenuated the reinforcing effects of nicotine in the mouse nicotine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm and reduced somatic and affective signs of mecamylamine-precipitated withdrawal in nicotine-dependent mice. Based on the addition of a methyl group on the head group, OlAla was proposed to have increased metabolic stability compared to OlGly. While OlAla has been assessed in assays of reward and withdrawal of opioids, cocaine, and …

Real-Time Motion Controller For Human-Robot Teams Utilizing Artificial Potential Fields, Gabriella Graziani

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a real-time robotic motion control system for human-robot teams. The framework utilizes artificial potential fields (APFs) to guide robotic agents towards a “goal” agent while navigating around “obstacle” agents; these goals and obstacles are also dynamic agents with their own set of tasks. This system is also developed for a live-programming environment, where a controlling agent updates the tasks of all agents within the system at any time during the system’s runtime. This motion controller was created and tested for a human-robot choreographic team. After the controller was fully integrated on a Trossen Robotic LoCobot Wx200 robotic …

The Effect Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury On Perineuronal Nets Surrounding Neocortical Parvalbumin Interneurons, Olivia Lowman

Theses and Dissertations

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an extremely common affliction with an estimated 42 million people being affected by it worldwide each year. It can lead to a range of long-term chronic issues and the underlying pathology is not well understood. Several previous studies have shown that parvalbumin inhibitory interneurons (PV+) are injured during TBI, therefore altering the excitatory to inhibitory ratio in neural networks which can lead to several neurodegenerative disorders such as epilepsy. Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are an extracellular matrix element that preferentially surround PV+ neurons in the neocortex and are recently thought to have important roles in …

Building A Macrosystems Ecology Framework To Identify Links Between Environmental And Human Health, Felisha N. Walls

Theses and Dissertations

The structure and functions of natural systems continue to be degraded by human activities such as land-use change. One potential consequence that has received relatively little attention is a corresponding decline in human health. Altered ecosystems can present a host of risks to human health. Yet the consequences of environmental degradation are rarely considered in national-scale research on human well-being. The guiding objective of this work is to compare stream health and socioeconomic metrics with spatially congruent human health metrics throughout the conterminous United States, then to identify potential links between environmental health, socioeconomic factors and human health. Environmental health …

Population Demography Of A Neotropical Migratory Songbird In The Face Of A Changing Climate, Adele Balmer

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the population dynamics and demographic trends of the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), a migratory songbird that breeds in North America during the spring and summer and overwinters in Central and northern South America. The primary objective of this dissertation is to examine the combined implications of variation in weather and individual traits on demographic traits and to project the effects of climate change on population trajectories of the Prothonotary Warbler.

The analyses conducted in this dissertation centered around female Prothonotary Warblers; however, visual identification of a nestling’s sex is impossible in most altricial bird species, …

Integrative Post-Gwas Analyses Of Psychiatric Disorders: Identifying Putative Risk Genes And Gene Sets Using Transcriptome, Proteome And Methylome Information, Huseyin Gedik

Theses and Dissertations

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of psychiatric disorders (PD) yield numerous loci with significant signals, but often they do not implicate specific protein coding genes. Because GWAS risk loci are enriched in expression/protein/methylation quantitative loci (e/p/mQTL, hereafter xQTL), transcriptome/proteome/methylome-wide association studies (T/P/MWAS, hereafter XWAS), which integrate information from GWAS and x-level (mRNA, protein or DNA methylation levels) coming from largest xQTL studies, can link GWAS signals to effects on specific genes. For gene level analyses, researchers use mendelian randomization (MR) methods to fine-map the association between x-levels and trait. However, none of the previous studies ever jointly analyzed XWAS of multiple …

The Living Legends Of Sholoukh – شلوخ الأساطير Facial Scarification In Sudan, Ayah S. Elnour

Theses and Dissertations

Sholoukh — ritual face scarring—is a dying art form in Sudan.

Used to distinguish members of one tribe from another,

Sholoukh reflects the tribal pride of an individual. In the past,

sholoukh was seen as important as having a passport for a tribe

member, however, it was not always applied by choice. Using

just a razor blade, the wisest, most senior tribal elder would scar

the face of a child, initiating them into the tribe for life.

As this tribal art form fades away, the dwindling Sholoukh-bearers

have become living legends in Sudan. To honor them, I create

a collage …

Kpt-330 Synergizes With Everolimus To Reduce Mtorc1-Overactive Basal-Like Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis Burden, Aaron D. Valentine

Theses and Dissertations

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a highly metastatic breast cancer subtype, accounts for approximately 20% of all breast cancer diagnoses. Basal-like TNBC is notably difficult to treat due to the lack of actionable drug targets such as estrogen and progesterone receptors, as well as HER2. Due to the deficiency in TNBC-targeting drugs that are able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for breast-to-brain metastasis, there is a need to develop novel BBB-permeable treatments. After preliminary testing, KPT-330 (XPO1 inhibitor) and everolimus (FKBP1A/mTOR inhibitor) were selected as drug candidates for this study. Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models for in vitro and in vivo …

Effect Of Apical Preparation Size On Endodontic Treatment Outcomes, Joseph Vaughn

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Previous authors have attempted to identify the ideal apical preparation size needed to achieve endodontic treatment objectives. Despite vast literature on the topic, there exists a lack of consensus on ideal apical enlargement, with few studies discussing the effect of apical prep enlargement on clinical outcomes. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effect of final apical preparation size on endodontic outcomes in maxillary and mandibular molars treated in both a graduate endodontic clinic and a private practice.

Methods: A chart review was conducted for patients seen at the VCU graduate endodontic clinic as well as …

Jody, John Price

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A young man learns some valuable life lessons before joining the army when he gets involved with a soldier's wife.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Glycations On Muscle Extracellular Matrix Promote Rage Expression In Volumetric Muscle Injury Model, Ammar Jawad, Lucas C. Olson, Brock Lodato, Eirian Crocker, Scott Pennebaker, David Joshua Cohen, Tri M. Nguyen, Zvi Schwartz, Michael J. Mcclure

UROP Posters

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) has been found to overwhelm muscle regeneration, resulting in loss of long-term muscle function and increased risk of injury to individuals with age-associated diseases. Current treatment plans result in suboptimal recovery; however, decellularized muscle matrices (DMMs) have been found to provide an effective environment for muscle regeneration via muscle-specific growth factors. These factors limit scarring, enabling these DMMs to guide progenitor cells toward effective tissue regeneration. However, factors such as age may affect DMM’s regenerative capacity, and must be considered when developing these technologies. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are chemical cross-links that contribute to the aging …

Isoprenylation Inhibition Significantly Reduces Ige Mediated Mast Cell Function And Allergic Disease, Jordan Dailey

Theses and Dissertations

Allergic disease is the 6^th leading cause of chronic illness in the US and accounts for billions of dollars in healthcare annually. Mast cells are tissue resident innate immune cells linked to allergic disease and activated by IgE and other ligands. Upon activation, they release histamine, cytokines, chemokines, proteases, and lipid mediators evoking allergic symptoms. New ways of targeting mast cells could greatly benefit allergic disease therapy. Previous findings supported repurposing statin drugs, such as Fluvastatin, as a therapeutic treatment of allergic disease reduced allergic symptoms in vitro and in vivo. We found that Fluvastatin suppressed IgE-mediated mast cell …

Assessing Drug Development Proporties Of Antithrombotic And Anti - Cancer Agents, Elsamani I. Abdelfadiel

Theses and Dissertations

The current GAG anticoagulants such as heparin, heparin derivatives, and vitamin K antagonists, such as warfarin continue to be the backbone of anticoagulant therapy. These drugs act through an indirect mechanism to convey inhibition of several coagulation enzymes. However, xv their use leads to several serious adverse effects, such as excessive bleeding risk and unpredictability of patient response. Regardless of their clinical achievement, every individual agent is accompanied by several side effects, particularly major/minor bleeding, thrombocytopenia, drug-food or drug-drug interactions, or absence of antidote. Of all these side effects, bleeding, and a lack of an effective antidote to reverse excessive …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Prdm16 As A Tumor Suppressor In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Eric Hurwitz

Theses and Dissertations

The transcription factor Prdm16 functions as a potent suppressor of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b) signaling, whose inactivation is deemed essential to the progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Using the Kras^G12D-based mouse model of human PDAC, we surprisingly found that ablating Prdm16 did not block but instead accelerated PDAC formation and progression, suggesting that Prdm16 might function as a tumor suppressor in this malignancy. Subsequent genetic experiments showed that ablating Prdm16 along with Smad4 resulted in a shift from a well-differentiated and confined neoplasm to a highly aggressive and metastatic disease, which was associated with a striking deviation …

A Standardized Pipeline For Isolation And Assembly Of Genomes From Symbiotic Bacteria In Whole Louse Genomic Sequence Data., Mohammad Mikail I. Bala

Theses and Dissertations

Many insects are known to harbour intracellular and heritable bacteria (endosymbionts), which provide their hosts with adaptive traits. Whole insect gDNA shotgun sequencing projects often sequence the genome of endosymbiont, in addition to the insect’s genome. There are approximately 600 whole genome shotgun libraries from insects available on the public repository (NCBI), which can be mined to obtain endosymbiont genomes. The assembly and annotation of endosymbiont genomes can contribute towards the exploration of their role as obligate symbiotic partners. However, de novo assembly of an endosymbiont genome, continues to be challenging, when the host and/or enteric bacterial gDNA is present …

Gestational Vulnerability To Ozone Air Pollution - A Placental Story, Vishnupriya Alavala, Sarah Brent, Russell Hunter, Matthew J. Campen, Andrew Ottens

UROP Posters

About 99% of the global population resides in areas with air pollution surpassing World Health Organization standards. Air pollution is associated with adverse neonatal health outcomes such as low fetal birth weight and an increased risk for maternal pre-eclampsia. A particularly reactive air pollutant is ozone, which forms reactive oxygen species that induce cellular damage. Research exists on the dispersion of reactive oxygen species through the bloodstream leading to fetal vulnerability during pregnancy, specifically via the placenta. Yet, placental and fetal development is a temporal process with varied susceptibility to negative gestational outcomes.

To addressing this gap, our laboratory utilized …

Proposing An Rna Interference (Rnai)-Based Treatment For Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) By Analyzing The Post-Transcriptional Gene Targeting Of Sars-Cov-2, Hepatitis C Virus, And A549 Lung Cancer Cells, Arjun Jagdeesh

UROP Posters

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that infects CD4+ T cell lymphocytes in humans, leading to the development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) if left untreated. While current treatment methods, including antiretroviral combination treatments, effectively limit HIV replication, HIV can evade these treatments due to its high mutation rate. Long-term antiretroviral treatment can also be toxic to patients, meaning patients would benefit from a new mechanism of HIV treatment. RNA interference (RNAi) is an antiviral pathway found in mammals, plants, and insects that involves a small-interfering RNA that is incorporated into a protein complex called the RNA-induced Silencing Complex …

Patient-Specific Analysis Of Aortic Hemodynamics And Wall Shear Stresses In Patients Undergoing Pediatric Bariatric Surgery Using 2d Phase-Contrast Mri, Oluwaferanmi S. Akande, Joao Soares, Nathan Hargan, Dr. Uyen Truong, Haeung Kang, David Lanning

UROP Posters

Patient-Specific Analysis of Aortic Hemodynamics and Wall Shear Stresses in Patients Undergoing Pediatric Bariatric Surgery using 2D Phase-Contrast MRI

Feranmi Akande¹ Nathan Hargan² Haesung Kang³ David Lanning³ Uyen Truong⁴ João S. Soares¹

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

² Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

³ Department of Cardiology, Children’s Hospital of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University

Introduction: Severe obesity among today’s youth is a rising epidemic within the United States. Emerging research has linked childhood obesity with shortened life expectancy and early …

Commonwealth Times 2022-11-30

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Ink (2022)

Ink, 2008-

The student-run features magazine covering the fashion, art, music and culture worlds at VCU and in Richmond. Published annually in print and updated regularly online.

Lola's Story: Love And Resiliency, Susan R. Whiteland

International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education

Lola, a hand puppet, tells her story of being constructed in a university’s special topics class for the purpose of encouraging older adults who may be experiencing loneliness and isolation. Lola is introduced to an elderly woman who bonds with the puppet. Engagement with the puppet encourages positive emotions that contribute toward resilience and subjective well-being. Lola’s story supports the idea that feelings of happiness and positivity attributed to puppetry may be instrumental in memory retention and overall socio-emotional health.

Commonwealth Times 2022-09-07

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Model Of Quarantine Implementation In An Animal Shelter For Canine Distemper Outbreak, Virginia Parkman, Nick Cogan

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Noise As A Strategy, Nour Riman, Bard Ermentrout

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Empirical And Computational Approaches To Explore The Underlying Neuromodulatory Mechanisms Of Social Status Regulation On Zebrafish Motor Circuits, Sungwoo Ahn, Choongseok Park, Fadi Issa

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Ink (2022)

Ink, 2008-

The student-run features magazine covering the fashion, art, music and culture worlds at VCU and in Richmond. Published annually in print and updated regularly online.

Commonwealth Times 2022-02-16

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2022-01-19

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Ultrafast Dynamics Of Nitro−Nitrite Rearrangement And Dissociation In Nitromethane Cation, Mi'kayla D. Word, Hugo Andres Lopez Pena, Derrick Ampadu Boateng, Shane L. Mcpherson, Gennady L. Gutsev, Lavrenty Gutsev, Ka Un Lao, Katharine M. Tibbetts

Chemistry Publications

We report new insights into the ultrafast rearrange- ment and dissociation dynamics of nitromethane cation (NM+) using pump−probe measurements, electronic structure calculations, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The “roaming” nitro−nitrite rearrangement (NNR) pathway involving large- amplitude atomic motion, which has been previously described for neutral nitromethane, is demonstrated for NM+. Excess energy resulting from initial population of the electronically excited D2 state of NM+ upon strong-field ionization provides the necessary energy to initiate NNR and subsequent dissociation into NO+. Both pump−probe measurements and molecular dynamics simulations are consistent with the completion of NNR within 500 fs of ionization with …