Digital Commons Network^™

A Stochastic Multi-Host Model For West Nile Virus: Determining The Probability Of Disease Extinction!, Suzanne Robertson

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Stochastic Immunology Model And Its Analysis, Rahnuma Islam, David Swigon

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Clustering Using Self Organizing Maps In Biology, Olcay Akman

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Decoding Immune Cell Navigation: Integrating Artificial Life Modeling With Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics, Sadegh Marzban

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Plenary: Mathematics Of Malaria Transmission Dynamics: The Renewed Quest For Eradication, Abba Gumel

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Plenary: Insights Into Depression: Mathematical Approaches, Janet Best

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2024-04-24

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

The Changing Nature Of Education In Youth Justice Centres In New South Wales (Australia), Laura Metcalfe, Cathy Little Dr, Garner Clancey Dr, David Evans Dr

Journal of Prison Education Research

Education is an important protective factor in preventing involvement in crime. For those young people that enter the youth justice system, and especially youth justice centres, education is a critical, but infrequently explored part of their time in custody following generally disrupted schooling experiences. There are currently six youth justice centres in New South Wales, Australia. Each of these centres have an Education and Training Unit which are schools funded by and staffed with Department of Education personnel. There is evidence that young people accessing these schools regard them very positively. However, this article, drawing on publicly available information, raises …

Commonwealth Times 2024-04-10

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Ink (2024)

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 2024-03-27

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2024-03-13

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2024-02-28

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2024-02-14

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

An Evidence-Based Approach To Prison Library Provision: Aligning Policy And Practice, Jayne Finlay, Susannah Hanlon, Jessica Bates

Journal of Prison Education Research

The aim of this paper is to enable a better understanding of the possibilities of prison library services and offer evidence that can help to support efforts to align policy and practice in prison library provision. Alongside an examination of existing policies, guidelines and literature, the paper presents findings that emerged from interviews with six prison library experts, undertaken as part of a recent national review of prison library services in Ireland. Following a discussion of these findings, a set of ten principles for prison library provision in Ireland is presented which holds relevance for global prison library policy and …

Commonwealth Times 2024-01-31

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

"In Some Ways They’Re The People Who Need It The Most": Mobilizing Queer Joy With Sex Ed Teachers In New Brunswick, Canada, Casey Burkholder, Melissa Keehn

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Teaching about sexuality can be messy. What does it mean to incite queer joy as an educational language in sex education? In this article, we explore how queer joy can be used by teachers as a language to confront this messy work of sex education and teach in more pleasurable, joyful, and inclusive ways. In our analysis, we draw upon the conversations and visual data we created alongside 43 teacher-participants from New Brunswick, Canada in a series of participatory media-making workshops and describe how queer joy informs the artful praxis that transpired in these spaces. In these workshops, we observed …

Commonwealth Times 2024-01-17

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Graying Incarcerated Persons And Education Programs In Nigerian Correctional Centre, Ijeoma B. Uche Phd, Agnes E. Okafor Phd, Okala A. Uche Phd *Corresponding Author

Journal of Prison Education Research

Correctional education programs are rehabilitation programs designed for incarcerated persons in Nigerian correctional institutions. However, getting the graying incarcerated persons to participate in education programs becomes quite challenging. This study investigates graying incarcerated persons and education programs in one correctional centre. Data were collected qualitatively from fifteen (15) incarcerated individuals aged 60 years and above using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was employed in analyzing the data generated for the study. Findings show that there are no available education programs for graying incarcerated individuals. The study also revealed that designing education programs in such a way that it will accommodate the …

Overexpression Of Wnt7a Enhances Radiosensitivity Of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Via The Wnt/Jnk Pathway, Loan Quynh Tran

VCU's Medical Journal Club: The Work of Future Health Professionals

Wnt7a serves an important role in slowing down the growth of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, little is known about the effect(s) of Wnt7a on the sensitivity of NSCLC to radiation. In the study, NSCLC cell proliferation and apoptosis in response to Wnt7a overexpression and/or radiation as one combination were determined by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tertazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The western blot technique was used to further examine the activation of Wnt/cJun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathways in NSCLC cell lines H1650 and A549.

The results indicate that the overexpression of Wnt7a, in combination with radiation inhibits …

Filling The Gap: Enhancing The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem For Black And Hispanic Entrepreneurs, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

This white paper examines current research, identifies best practices within the United States, and formulates recommendations to further equity in access, process, quality, and outcomes to inform thought leaders, policymakers, practitioners, community influencers, and entrepreneurs on how to translate research into actions that benefit Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs within the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the greater Richmond community.

The “Desegregation“ Of Mcv Hospitals, 1968 To 1971, Robert E. Petres

Publications from the Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences

The “desegregation“ of MCV Hospitals, 1968 to 1971 Robert E. Petres

Retired OB/GYN physician recounts his experiences as resident at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV)’s St. Philip Hospital in Richmond, Va. in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

MCV declared the desegregation of its hospitals in 1965, but when Petres arrived in 1968, he observed something different. The obstetrical hospitals may have been racially integrated as a matter of policy, but in practice they were segregated. “Private Service" patients – most white women in Richmond – delivered their babies in the obstetrics unit of West Hospital, where there were …

Effect Of Psilocybin On Empathy And Moral Decision-Making, Sky Evans

VCU's Medical Journal Club: The Work of Future Health Professionals

Empathy is the ability for human beings, as well as all other mammals, to understand the mental state of another person on an emotional level. It allows us to feel compassion and promote the well-being of those around us. Impaired empathic abilities lead to severe negative social consequences and influence the development and treatment of several psychiatric disorders, specifically in disorders such as antisocial personality disorder. Furthermore, empathy has been shown to play a crucial role in moral and prosocial behavior. In neuroscience and psychiatry research, the serotonin system has been shown to be involved in modulating empathy and moral …

Expanded Forward Trial Demonstrates Continued Potential For Stem Cell-Derived Islet Cell Therapy To Eliminate Need For Insulin For People With T1d, Ananya Aengula

VCU's Medical Journal Club: The Work of Future Health Professionals

A clinical trial has released a potential new Stem-Cell Therapy, VX-880 that has been found to treat Type 1 Diabetes through hepatic portal vein infusion.

Crispr-Cas9 Editing Of The Hbg1 And Hbg2 Promoters To Treat Sickle Cell Disease, Brooklyn Schofield

VCU's Medical Journal Club: The Work of Future Health Professionals

In order to protect against complications of Sickle Cell Disease, researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to repeat CD34+ stem cells in an attempt to target and disrupt the HBG1 and HBG2 gene factors in sickle cell hemoglobin. Three participants were injected with OTQ923, the factored gene, and then monitored for F cell levels, hemoglobin levels, and fetal hemoglobin levels. Within 6-18 months, all 3 participants saw an increase in these factors from their original baseline.

Epds-Us (English), Sara W. Moyer, Patricia Kinser

School of Nursing Publications

How we talk about perinatal mental health matters, even in the minute details of words on screening forms. Any shifts towards removing barriers to screening, reducing stigma, encouraging disclosures, raising awareness related to symptom prevalence and the breadth symptom related experiences, and creating opportunities for connecting with support and care are essential.

In the EPDS-US, we have adapted the wording of the original Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), using a respectful care and trauma-informed approach with a focus on optimizing patient experiences and clinical utility while maintaining reliability and validity of the 10 item scale. Many individuals report feelings of …

Six-Month Pain And Function Outcome Expectations Were Established For Total Knee Arthroplasty Using The Smallest Worthwhile Effect, Daniel L. Riddle, Nancy Henderson

Physical Therapy Publications

Introduction: Interpretations of patient-reported outcome measures following knee arthroplasty lack context and typically do not account for costs, risks and benefits compared to an alternative treatment. The primary purpose of our paper is to estimate expectations patients have for pain and function destination outcome, six-months following surgery relative to the outcome expected if knee arthroplasty was not done. Secondary purposes were to determine if statistically significant changes in the smallest worthwhile six-month outcome occurred following an interactive discussion and to assess the construct validity of the expected six-month outcome obtained at baseline.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis …

Socioeconomic Status And Health Disparities Drive Differences In Accelerometer-Derived Physical Activity In Fatty Liver Disease And Significant Fibrosis, Lucia Tabacu, Sajag Swami, Mark Ledbetter, Mohamad S. Siddiqui, Ekaterina Smirnova

Internal Medicine Publications

Background and aims: The cornerstone of clinical management of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity (PA) aimed at improving cardiometabolic risk. To inform NAFLD prevention and treatment guidelines we aimed to: (i) quantify the role of PA on lowering the risk for NAFLD and fibrosis; (ii) characterize NAFLD and fibrosis association with PA in the context of socioeconomic environment.

Methods: A sample of 2648 participants from the NHANES 2003–2006 was selected to develop survey weighted multivariable logistic regression models for predicting NAFLD and significant fibrosis, diagnosed non-invasively via fatty …

Through The Decades: Aapi Life At Vcu, Asian American & Pacific Islander Affinity, Aurianna Nacua, Aerin Fortes, Cierra T’Eo, Maryam Rabiutheen, Sithmi Rajaguru, Natalie Auandee

Through the Decades: AAPI Life at VCU

Posters displayed at the exhibit "Through the Decades: AAPI Life at VCU." The posters presented were: Depictions of AAPI Culture On-campus, The Model Minority Myth on Campus, Services for AAPI Individuals, Black Contributions to AAPI Life on Campus, Monroe Park Campus, Meet the Monroe Park Students, Medical College of Virginia, Meet the Medical Students, Current Student Voices, Past Student Organizations, Current Student Organizations Spotlight, Meet Past Faculty, Current Faculty and Staff Spotlight, and Pieces by Professor Roberto Jamora.

Pollinator Inventory On An Urban College Campus: The Impact And Necessity Of Native Plantings, Donata Kraskauskaite, Daniel Albrecht-Mallinger

Environmental Studies Publications

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure pollinator abundance and diversity across Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus in Richmond, Virginia, especially focusing on the impact of campus plantings on pollinators.

Methods

18 transects across VCU’s Monroe Park Campus, as well as 2 at the nearby Amelia Street School native meadow planting, were established and stratified by planting composition (native/invasive) and species diversity. Each transect was inventoried every other week for pollinators from April through July of 2023. Nonparametric and median-based linear models were used to test differences in pollinator abundance and morphospecies diversity across planting types.

Results …