Digital Commons Network^™

Analysis Of The Role Of Aminoacyl Trna Synthetase Genes In Global Protein Synthesis And Mrna Specific Regulation Of Translation In Cancer Cells, Elyse Nguyen, Dipak Poria, Esta Sterneck

UROP Posters

Analysis of the Role of Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetase Genes in Global Protein Synthesis and mRNA Specific Regulation of Translation in Cancer Cells

Elyse Nguyen, Depts. of Biology and Chemistry, Dipak Poria, & Esta Sterneck, with Dr. Sarah Williams, Dept. of Forensic Science

Coordinated control of transcription and translation of gene expression impels cellular fate decision under different microenvironmental stresses. Cancer cells often usurp these regulatory machineries to adapt under microenvironmental stress or under therapeutic intervention. The transcription factor CEBPδ is induced by various stressors and mediates cellular adaptation and survival. RNA-seq analysis of a CEBPD-silenced human melanoma cell line, MB-435s, …

Characteristics Of Medicaid Dental Providers Who Provide Oral Health Services To Pregnant Women In Virginia, Hasib Zaman

UROP Posters

Characteristics of Medicaid Dental Providers Who Provide Oral Health Services to Pregnant Women in Virginia

Hasib Zaman, Depts. of Bioinformatics and Computer Science, with Dr. Shilipa Naavaal, VCU School of Dentistry

Introduction: Medicaid is a federal program that provides health insurance for low-income adults, children, pregnant women, and elderly adults in the United States. Virginia expanded their Medicaid, both financially and demographically, in January 2019 and currently has 1,317,981 individuals enrolled in Medicaid, which is an increase of 39.7% from 2018; however, within this expansion, there was no increase in budget for dental Medicaid. Although there are programs, such as …

Vicarious Trauma Exposure And Its Effects On Mental Health Among Adolescents And Adults: A Narrative Research Review, Harrison Davis, Angel Whitfield, Sydney Judge, Bailee Beverly, Jenna Minter, Eryn Delaney, Chloe Walker

UROP Posters

Vicarious Trauma Exposure and Its Effects on Mental Health among Adolescents and Adults: A Narrative Research Review

Harris Davis, Dept. of Psychology, Angel Whitfield, Sydney Judge, Bailee Beverly, Jenna Minter, Harrison Davis, and Eryn DeLaney and Chloe Walker, Dept. of Psychology Graduate Students, with Dr. Chelsea Williams, Dept. of Psychology

A narrative research review was conducted to examine studies that have tested the relation between vicarious trauma (i.e., witnessing abuse of others; Trautmann, S., Reineboth, M., Trikojat, K., Richter, J., Hagenaars, M. A., Kanske, P., & Schäfer, J. (2018). and mental health in adolescents and young adults. Using psycinfo to …

Against Our Will: Sexual Trauma In American Art Since 1970, Andrew D. Hottle

Art Inquiries

Book review of Against Our Will: Sexual Trauma in American Art Since 1970, by Vivien Green Fryd.

Bridging The Digital Divide: A Risk-Based “Telehealth Needs” Scoring Model For Patient Outcome Prediction, Cindy Ann Crump

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research was to develop a predictive model of the effect of patient characteristics on outcomes and resource utilization in telehealth interventions for chronic disease management. Clinical studies have shown high variability in telehealth across settings and populations. The central hypothesis of this study was that patient characteristics, including disease type, illness severity, demographic information, and socio-technical preferences play a role in determining telehealth intervention outcomes. A non-experimental, retrospective study evaluated the feasibility of creating a Telehealth Needs score using Medicare and Medicaid claims data from 2016 to 2017. Claims were summarized into de-identified cases to train …

From Bedside To Bench: Use Of Patient-Derived Xenograft Models To Develop Novel Therapeutic Strategies For Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Tia H. Turner

Theses and Dissertations

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a clinically aggressive disease that is associated with bleak outcomes due to its metastatic propensity, frequent failure to respond to chemotherapy, and lack of alternative treatment options. Despite decades of major translational research efforts, there has been very little success thus far in the development of effective targeted therapies for this disease. It is imperative to develop novel therapeutic strategies to improve patient outcomes, as well as minimize the toxicity associated with standard-of-care chemotherapeutics. Given that metastatic disease accounts for the vast majority of TNBC-related deaths, a better understanding of therapeutic responses within common sites …

Teacher Approaches To Women’S History, Gender, And Feminism In Secondary Social Studies, Kimberly R. Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

While several scholars have worked to reimagine social studies curriculum from a feminist perspective, there are few studies that look at how teachers understand and experience gender equity work (Bohan, 2017; Engebretson, 2018). This study seeks to bridge that gap between theory and practice in order to progress toward a more gender-equitable social studies education. Utilizing a hermeneutic circle design to facilitate dialogue across participants, I conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with seven secondary social studies teacher participants and collected participant-provided curriculum materials. Using techniques from constructivist grounded theory, I analyzed how teachers made sense of their experiences trying to include …

“Is Therapy For Me?” Perceptions Of Therapy Inclusivity And Willingness To Seek Help Among Black Emerging Adults, Randl B. Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health issues are prevalent among Black emerging adults; however, they tend to underutilize mental healthcare services. The goals of the current study were to examine whether: (1) perceived therapy inclusivity would predict willingness to utilize mental healthcare services and (2) the relationship between perceived therapy inclusivity and willingness would be moderated by two indices of racial identity (i.e., centrality and private regard). Results provide evidence that greater perceptions of therapy inclusivity are associated with greater willingness to seek mental health services even after controlling for factors, such as gender, self-stigma, and previous mental healthcare utilization. Additionally, there was no …

Characterization Of The Tsc/Dyrk1a Interaction, Supriya Joshi

Theses and Dissertations

The Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) includes TSC1, TSC2 and the TBC1D7 subunits that together function as a principal inhibitor of the mTOR protein kinase complex 1 (mTORC1). mTORC1 is a master regulator of cell growth and proliferation that responds to signaling cues such as growth factors and nutrient availability. Proteomic studies in our lab revealed an interaction between the TSC subunits and DYRK1A, a ubiquitous protein kinase encoded by a gene located in the Down syndrome (DS) region on human chr21. In this study, we sought to validate the interaction of the TSC components with DYRK1A and to determine the …

A Randomized Trial Of Cbt4cbt For Women In Residential Treatment For Substance Use Disorders, Sydney S. Kelpin

Theses and Dissertations

Women with substance use disorders (SUD) face unique barriers to substance use treatment, and as a result, are less likely than their male counterparts to seek treatment for the disorder. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment known to reduce relapse rates by teaching clients to recognize and respond to their cues for substance use. Recent research suggests CBT may be particularly of benefit to women. Despite the effectiveness of CBT, its dissemination in clinical practice is limited due to a range of barriers (e.g., time, cost). Computer-based training for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT) offers an opportunity to improve …

Characteristics Of Alveolar Bone Marrow Cells From Patients Undergoing Dental Extractions Or Dental Implant Therapy, Meng H. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Alveolar bone marrow stromal cells (aBMSCs) play important roles in craniofacial wound healing. To establish an easy, efficient and reliable method to harvest aBMSCs, we compared three different methods: extraction socket aspiration, osteotomy aspiration and bone core digestion. Samples of aBMSC were collected from two groups of subjects. Group 1 (dental extraction): after dental extraction, 22.5-gauge needles were used to collect 0.5-1cc marrow aspirate. Group 2 (dental implant): during implant surgeries, bone core and 0.5-1cc marrow aspirate were obtained from the osteotomy. Samples were cultured in petri dishes and attached cells were expanded. The population doubling time (PDT), surface markers, …

Characterizing Glycosaminoglycan And Glycosaminoglycan-Oligo Interactions With Cancer Stem Cells And Their Regulators, Rahaman Navaz Gangji

Theses and Dissertations

Tumor metastasis and recurrence account for more than 90% of cancer-associated deaths and are thought to occur due to a small subpopulation of neoplastic cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs). Because CSCs are resistant to conventional chemotherapy, there is a critical need to develop CSC-targeting agents. Microenvironmental components, especially glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), play a key role in regulating CSC phenotype. GAGs such as heparan sulfate (HS) interact with hundreds of proteins and influence a variety of biological processes including tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis and stem cell biology.

Recently, the Desai and Patel laboratories have demonstrated that a hexasaccharide form of …

The Relationships Among External Environments, Organizational Structures, And Performance In Pursuit Of The Clinical And Academic Missions At Academic Health Centers, Eric J. Strucko

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical and academic missions place Academic Health Centers (AHCs) at the center of the American health care system, and the future viability of these institutions requires successful performance in competitive environments. AHCs are organizations involving hospitals, physician group practices, and medical schools, and treat patients with complex conditions, conduct bio-medical and health science research, and educate future physicians and health professionals. AHCs account for 20% or $540 billion of national health care expenditures, conduct over 80% of all heart, liver, and lung transplants, utilize over $27 billion in annual sponsored research funding, and graduate approximately 17,300 medical doctors annually. Financial …

Modulation Of Ferroportin In Oral Cancer, Ashley N. Hemingway

Theses and Dissertations

Iron plays a critical role in life sustaining functions for the cell. Dysregulation of these processes can be an issue with maintaining homeostatic conditions. Various cancer types have been observed to show malfunction in the maintenance of their iron homeostasis, in particular with the iron export protein—ferroportin. Ferroportin is the sole iron exporter known. Its structure and mechanism have not fully been elucidated yet, but its modulation has been associated with a poorer prognosis in cancers like breast, leukemia, prostrate, ovarian, colorectal, etc. Decreased iron exportation by ferroportin may lead to an increased labile iron pool allowing the cell to …

A Comparison Of Patient Testimonials On Youtube Of The Most Common Orthodontic Treatment Modalities: Braces, In-Office Aligners, And Direct-To-Consumer Aligners, Riley Hunsaker

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The objectives of this research was to investigate and compare the educational value of the most popular YouTube orthodontic patient testimonials between braces (B), in- office aligners (IOA), and direct-to-consumer aligners (DTCA), and to classify the emotional response of the viewers through a sentiment analysis of the video comments.

Methods: Three different phrases relevant to B, IOA, and DTCA were searched on YouTube. The 20 most popular patient testimonial videos that met the criteria for each group were selected, for a total of 60 videos. Using the YouTube API for each video, 13 video metrics were extracted, an information …

The Effects Of Autophagy And Senescence On Sensitivity To Cisplatin In Head And Neck Cancer, Zara H. Siddiqui

Theses and Dissertations

While current treatments in cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation, can generally be effective in eliminating disease in patients, there also exists the possibility of recurrence of cancer cells over time. In patients diagnosed with locally advanced head and neck carcinoma, about 50-60% develop a loco-regional recurrence within two years, and 20-30% of patients develop metastatic disease at distant sites in the body [5]. On a cellular level, one mechanism for this survival may be that natural mechanisms such as autophagy and senescence play a role in allowing cells to survive after undergoing treatment. One standard of care chemotherapy for …

Robert Catherine, Sarah Nelson Rupp

Theses and Dissertations

Robert Catherine is an experimental augmented reality novel engaged in the speculative realist question: What is the point to anything if everything?

A perverted and downwardly mobile Richmond millennial man quarantined because of the Coronavirus writes a series of creative non-fiction essays for his girlfriend about suicide, panic attacks, ADHD, DNA testing, capitalism, depression, and sexual repression.

Formulation And Validation Of Nanoparticle Controlled Delivery For Chemotherapeutic Drug Products, Shani L. Levit

Theses and Dissertations

Taxol, a formulation of paclitaxel (PTX), is one of the most widely used anticancer drugs, particularly for treating recurring ovarian carcinomas following surgery. Clinically, PTX is used in combination with other drugs such as lapatinib (LAP) to increase treatment efficacy. Delivering drug combinations with nanoparticles has the potential to improve chemotherapy outcomes. In this study, we use Flash NanoPrecipitation, a rapid, scalable process to encapsulate weakly hydrophobic drugs (logP in vitro. Encapsulating either PTX or LAP into nanoparticles increases drug potency. When PTX and LAP are co-loaded in the same nanoparticle, they have a synergistic effect that is greater than …

Exploring The Heteromeric Interface Of The 5-Ht2a-Mglu2 Receptor Complex, Mohamed Aarif Abdul Kareem

Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder characteristic of several neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate being in imbalance. Early therapies focused solely on dopamine antagonism and second-generation antipsychotics focused on the dopamine and serotonin systems and their respective G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) proteins. Although debate for dimerization of certain classes of GPCR exist, the establishment of an mGlu2-5-HT_2A heterocomplex, which is implicated in schizophrenia is of interest. Previous studies have used a mutation-based approach to identify transmembrane domain 4 (TM4) as the domain responsible in mGlu2 for mediating heteromerization before narrowing down the individual amino acids responsible for …

Monumentalizing Rituals Of The Palestinian Diaspora, Reema Abu Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

Displaced Palestinians have historically sought to preserve their Palestinian memories and identities in order to remain connected to their lost homeland. Despite the importance of memory for them, and their history of suffering and exile, there have not been any significant monuments designed to preserve their collective memory.

This thesis considers the adaptation of a traditional monument by redesigning it to the specificity of the Palestinian diaspora. In doing so it proposes the monumentalizing of four Palestinian rituals to add significance, meaning and permanence to them. The four rituals are making maamoul, applying orange and mashmoom perfume oil to …

From The Margins To The Center: Legitimation Strategies From An Alt-Right Case Study, Lauren C. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing interest in understanding Donald Trump’s election in 2016 as part of the historical trajectory of white racial identity politics, we do not know much about how ideas deemed “radical right” become mainstreamed. My study builds on extant research that implicates the emergence of the think tank industry by viewing one such right wing think tank as a racialized organization. My analysis focuses on the organizational strategies of the National Policy Institute (NPI). Google searches for NPI spiked in 2016 with their vocal support of Trump and visible organizing in D.C. Using Williams’ (2018) theoretical framework of organizational …

Cultural Production In Qatar: Design, Dialog And The New Authentic, Asma Derouiche

Theses and Dissertations

Qatar, as a rapidly modernizing Arab country with a highly heterogeneous emergent community, is working to achieve a balance between accelerated development and cultural identity. Qatar’s cross-cultural environment and diverse attributes offer unprecedented opportunity to produce forward-looking, “100% Qatari Products,” that express a New Authentic.

This thesis explores social dynamics governing cultural production in Qatar, and it challenges unproductive manifestations of social hierarchy—particularly related to norms surrounding the default working relationship between designers and artisans. The research highlights and celebrates the inherent diversity of the Qatari artifact, creating a platform and methods wherein designers and artisans collaborate equally and meaningfully. …

A Comparison In Pediatric Dental Website Design From A Guardian And Pediatric Dentists’ Perspective., David M. Voth

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This project aims to determine which aspects of pediatric dental practice websites are preferable to the guardians of pediatric dental patients and which of these aspects are currently available to guardians on the websites of pediatric dental practices across the United States. The comparison will reveal if practice websites are meeting the needs of the guardians of pediatric dental patients. Our hope is to provide meaningful guidance to pediatric dentists designing new practice websites and to provide the guardians of pediatric dental patients with an appealing online experience during their use of the aforementioned websites. Methods: A survey with …

Sensory Substitution, Key To Inclusive Learning, Fathima Z. Zahir

Theses and Dissertations

Visually impaired students, in primary education, encounter unique challenges while learning creative skills, exploring artistic expression and developing problem-solving skills, because so much instructional content is delivered visually. Sensory substitution—an approach that replaces visual information with feedback from other intact senses like touch, sound, taste or smell—provides an opportunity to address those challenges.

Through the use of sensory substitution, this thesis proposes concrete ways to capitalize on the enhanced abilities of visually impaired primary school students. The research outcome of this thesis is a system of templates that puts these enhanced abilities to work for visually impaired students, to support …

Internalizing Data Collection: Personal Analytics As An Investigation Of The Self, Neal R. Swisher

Theses and Dissertations

Personal analytics, aka self-tracking, is the practice of using a digital device to track aspects of behavior, such as exercise habits, heart rate, sleep patterns, location, diet, and a host of other data points. This dissertation is an exploration of “self” in self-tracking, informed by theories of subjectivity, autonomy, power and knowledge. As a technological intervention, self-tracking devices change how we experience our own body and behavior. They also serve as methods to digitize human behavior. This data is combined with other data and processed using computational methods. Self-tracking devices are both personal and bureaucratic. They are devices used for …

A Theoretically-Based Mixed Methods Approach To Examining Mental Health Disorders And Help-Seeking Behaviors Among University-Enrolled African American Men, Kofoworola D.A. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies show that African American men in college are disproportionately experiencing high levels of psychological distress, increasing their risk of developing mental health symptoms associated with depression and anxiety. Despite being at higher risk for developing mental health symptoms, university-enrolled, African American men are not seeking help even when experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety, impacting their academic performance. The evidence base describing mental health symptom prevalence and evidence-based prevention strategies among university-enrolled, African American men is limited. To that end, this dissertation work utilized a concurrent, mixed methods approach, theoretically-based in the Social Ecological Model (SEM), to …

Regulation Of Vascular And Lymphatic Endothelial Barrier Function By Sphingosine-1-Phosphate, Jacqueline Bellaci

Theses and Dissertations

Endothelial cells play an important role in maintaining homeostasis, and disruption of the endothelial barrier have been linked to a number of different pathologies, including cancer metastasis. The vascular endothelial barrier is known to be regulated by a variety of factors, including sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid metabolite, which has been shown to improve barrier function. However, most studies to date have been focused on the vascular endothelium, and the regulation of the lymphatic endothelial barrier has not been thoroughly investigated. We found that prior to any stimulation the lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) had a lower trans-endothelial resistance (TER) in …

A Graph Theoretical Approach To The Dollar Game Problem, Rachel Koch

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we consider a problem in Graph Theory known as the Dollar Game. The Dollar game was first introduced by Matthew Baker of the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2010. It is a game of solitaire, played on a graph, and is a variation of chip firing, or sand-piling games. Baker approached the problem within the context of Algebraic Geometry. It is the goal of this paper to provide an overview of the necessary graph theory to understand the problem presented in this game, as well as background on chip firing games, their history and evolution. Finally we …

Spit In My Mouth: Queer Intimacies, Material Intra-Actions, And Sensuous Becoming, Gm Keaton

Theses and Dissertations

This document describes my multidisciplinary art practice as it intersects with New Materialism, Queer and Affect theory, Ecology, and my embodied and experiential knowledge as a queer subject. The writing is divided into two categories. One is more theoretical, thinking through these different discourses. The other realizes them through relationships and intra-actions between my material kin and me. With these two modes of writing,I propose that embodied and felt knowing is as valid and illuminating as more traditional forms of knowledge. These sections are interdependent and resist linear logic, offering relational meanings to each reader as they find their way …

A Girl Is A Girl Is A Girl, Paige Lizbeth Morris

Theses and Dissertations

It is well known that Western society uses men’s visual pleasure as a means to determine womxn’s value; her success is dependent on her compliance with culturally determined beauty standards. This process turns womxn into commodities and reinforces notions of gender complementarity, perpetuating a lifetime of servitude to patriarchal ideologies. It reminds the non-male that she is incomplete, insufficient, insignificant, and so easily dismissable. It forces her to be dependent, to shut up, to sit down, and to enjoy it.

In an effort to reject these presumed histories and narrow connotations of womxn, I have analyzed my gender performance in …