Digital Commons Network^™

Mast Cell Activation By Diverse Stimuli Can Be Suppressed By Steroid Therapy And Targeting The Fyn-Stat5b Cascade, Anuya Paranjape

Theses and Dissertations

Mast cells are critical effectors of allergic disease that can be activated by numerous stimuli. We have examined mast cell control by the inflammatory cytokine, IL-33, as well as IgG. In the first study reported here, we found that the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, potently and rapidly suppressed IL-33-induced cytokine production from murine bone marrow–derived and peritoneal mast cells, as well as human mast cells. Dexamethasone also antagonized IL-33-mediated enhancement of IgE-induced cytokine production and migration. Although dexamethasone had no effect on IL-33-induced phosphorylation of MAP kinases or NFκB p65 subunit, it antagonized AP-1 and NFκB-mediated transcriptional activity. Finally, intraperitoneal administration …

Nitrosative Stress Sensing In Porphyromonas Gingivalis: Structure And Function Of The Heme Binding Transcriptional Regulator Hcpr, Benjamin R. Belvin

Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a Gram negative anaerobe implicated in the progression of periodontal disease, is capable of surviving and causing infection despite high levels of reactive nitrogen species found in the oral cavity due to its efficient nitrosative stress response. HcpR is an important sensor-regulator that plays a vital step in the initiation of the nitrosative stress response in many Gram negative anaerobic bacteria. We employ a combination of X-ray crystallography, SAXS, resonance Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and molecular biology techniques to better understand this key regulator. Knockout of the hcpR gene in W83 P. gingivalis results in the inability of …

Multimodal Pedagogies, Processes And Projects: Writing Teachers Know More Than We May Think About Teaching Multimodal Composition, Jessica B. Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

Multimodal writing refers to texts that use more than one communicative mode to convey information. While there is much scholarship that examines the history of alphabetic writing instruction and the alphabetic composing processes of students, little research explores the historical origins of multimodal composition and the processes in which students engage as they compose multimodal texts. This two-part project takes a fresh approach to studying multimodal writing by exploring the multimodal pedagogies of ancient Greek and Roman rhetoric and writing teachers, analyzing the role of mental and physical images in modern writers’ composing practices, and investigating contemporary students’ processes for …

Electrospraying Extracellular Matrix To Form Nanoparticles, Patrick Link

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Alveolar wall destruction is a significant contributor to COPD. Inflammatory macrophages are a major source of the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) proteolysis. ECM breakdown causes air to get trapped in the alveoli, obstructing airflow. One step in curing COPD may be to convert inflammatory to pro-regenerative macrophages. Recently, decellularized ECM scaffolds have shown the ability to induce a pro-regenerative phenotype.

Yet these scaffolds are incapable for reaching the alveolar region of the lungs. To reach the alveolar region particles need a diameter of 1-5 μm or smaller than 300 …

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 …

The Dual Faces Of Misery, Arden Moscati

Theses and Dissertations

Major Depression (MD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are psychiatric disorders that arise from dysfunction of the core human capacities for emotion. Sapience is inextricably bound up with the potential for feelings of regret, worry and concern. When these emotions lead to clinically significant impairment or distress, they may result in one or both of the disorders of MD and GAD. The occurrence of MD and GAD in the same person, known as comorbidity, is remarkably high; substantially higher than would be expected by chance.

MD and GAD have been studied since the mid-20^th century, resulting in a substantial …

Insecurities: Tracing Displacement And Shelter, Elizabeth Berkowitz

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Cross Country: The Power Of Place In American Art, 1915-1950, Naomi Slipp

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Arts: A Guide For Conservators, Curators, And The Curious, Kari Rayner

Art Inquiries

Book review of Arts: A Guide for Conservators, Curators, and the Curious, by Roy S. Berns.

[2016-12-08] University Resources Committee Of The Board Of Visitors, 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 2016-11-28

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-11-21

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-11-14

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-11-07

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-10-31

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-10-24

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-10-17

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-10-10

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-10-03

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-09-26

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-09-12

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Ink (2016 Fall)

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.

Amendment (2016 Fall)

Amendment, 2004-

Amendment is a VCU student-produced progressive literature and art journal that provides a platform for students to promote equality, tolerance, and social progression through artistic expression.

Commonwealth Times 2016-08-29

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Times 2016-08-22

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Behold, She Stands At The Door: Reentry, Black Women And The Black Church, Kathryn V. Stanley

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This paper examines the African American church’s response to the special problems of African American women who reenter the community post-incarceration. The first portion of the paper examines the impact of criminal justice policies on women of color and the attending problems of reentry which resulted. It then surveys the black church’s response to returning citizens, especially women. It concludes by proposing shifts in perspectives and theologies which create barriers to successful reintegration into the community at large, and the church in particular. The intended audience is individuals and faith communities who seek to work effectively with returning women.

Editorial: Navigating Divides, Melanie L. Buffington

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

No abstract provided.

Disrupting The Tourist Paradigm In Teacher Education: The Urban Art Classroom As A Globalized Site Of Travel, Transience, And Transaction, Justin P. Sutters

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

Employing Bauman’s scholarship on globalization, the author theorizes teacher candidates as tourists in order to critically examine current field observation practices in art education. The study follows preservice students as they participate in collecting narratives during field observations in an urban/inner-city school. The visual representations of their experiences are analyzed to isolate and address emergent themes that reveal the consumerist nature of field practices through instances of (trans)action. Recent national studies give credence to the shifting landscape of public education in the United States and the author suggests that the changing demographics of both teachers and students necessitate a reconceptualization …

Art Education As Potential Space: A Conversation About Navigating Divides In The Process Of Becoming An Art Teacher, Karyn Sandlos, Miriam Dolnick

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

The authors reflect on some challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned in the process of planning and implementing an artistic investigation of physical space in a public high school in Chicago. This article is the result of conversations between a student teacher and a preservice teacher educator working in collaboration. Our definition of ‘divides’ includes both the sense in which divides function as obstacles, barriers, and/or forms of constraint, and also productively as opportunities to navigate and work through tensions between opposites. Working with the psychoanalytic concept of potential space, we suggest how students, art teachers, and teacher educators might make …

Artitudes: Mapping Lines Of Demarcation In Art Education, Pamela Harris Lawton

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

This essay explores the conscious and un-conscious divides art educators create as they map their careers as art educators. It begins with a discussion of possible causes for lines of demarcation to develop through examination of how art educators self-identify, the structure of teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher education, degrees in art education, and a visual and written narrative of my own journey navigating lines of demarcation within the profession. It closes with suggestions for strategies to diminish or erase the dividing lines that contribute to negative perceptions, attitudes (artitudes), low professional self-esteem, and teacher burnout.