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Child As Other: The Crisis Of Representing Childhood, Cynthia Henebry Apr 2014

Child As Other: The Crisis Of Representing Childhood, Cynthia Henebry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores my own work in the context of historical and contemporary representations of children. Because the child’s experience is essentially unknowable to the adult, issues of control that are always at play between photographer and subject are highlighted when an adult is the photographer and a child is the subject. This is evident when we examine and compare the photographs of children that have so far existed as well as the contexts in which they were made. While I believe that complete resolution of these issues is all but impossible, my work and research is motivated by a …

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Anti-Heroics, Modesty, And Bad Taste, Philip Hinge Apr 2014

Anti-Heroics, Modesty, And Bad Taste, Philip Hinge

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work revolves around investigating painting’s relationship with “bad taste” and heroism. By comparing my paintings to illustrative depictions of “heroism”, artists who turn bad art good, ideas concerning modesty, humor, and invention I will contextualize my stance towards “heroism” and bad taste. By establishing my relationship to the aforementioned examples I will trace the growth of my work over the past few years and discuss how its role within contemporary painting has changed as well as how it interacts with various cultural references.

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Delayed Reaction, Ashley Olsen-Potthast Apr 2014

Delayed Reaction, Ashley Olsen-Potthast

Theses and Dissertations

My work is a response to random happenings that provide me with opportunities for creativity. I intuitively handle my materials and media, and have developed a personally symbolic palette. I never know exactly how a piece of art will turn out. I begin my paintings by taking photographs of various places or by working on site. My imagery typically consists of landscapes from the mountains of Virginia to the coastlines of Italy. I am attracted to views that are visually soothing, such as sleepy towns, moonlit mountains, or commonplace activities. In referencing these views, I use bright, non-naturalistic and personally …

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Cytoprotective Versus Non-Protective Autophagy Induced By Radiation In Head And Neck Cancer Cells, Duaa Bakhshwin Apr 2014

Cytoprotective Versus Non-Protective Autophagy Induced By Radiation In Head And Neck Cancer Cells, Duaa Bakhshwin

Theses and Dissertations

The primary treatment options for head and neck cancer are radiation therapy or surgery, or both combined; chemotherapy is often used as an additional, or adjuvant, treatment. Patients treated with radiotherapy are exposed to a high cumulative dose of radiation over a period of time and there is a 17-33% chance of recurrence. High cumulative doses of radiation, a long time course of treatment, side effects and the possibility of recurrence provide the rationale for developing approaches for radiation sensitization, which could be helpful to patients in decreasing the dose, duration of radiation, side effects, or the chance of recurrence. …

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Waveform Analogy, Experimentation, And Optimism, Aaron Storck Apr 2014

Waveform Analogy, Experimentation, And Optimism, Aaron Storck

Theses and Dissertations

This paper offers a contextualization of my art practice, within particular trends in contemporary art and its discourse. It traces an expressed interest in networked objects, and the indeterminacy of meaning in art; from researched examples and texts, through specific expressions of these ideas in my thesis art exhibition. The paper then outlines key areas of practical interest to the experimental viability of my art practice. The paper goes on to explore the relationships between indeterminacy, experimentation, and creativity in the arts; within the context of an original thought experiment that draws an analogy between topics in physics and the …

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The Roles Of Krüppel-Like Transcription Factors Klf1 And Klf2 In Mouse Embryonic And Human Fetal Erythropoiesis, Divya Vinjamur Apr 2014

The Roles Of Krüppel-Like Transcription Factors Klf1 And Klf2 In Mouse Embryonic And Human Fetal Erythropoiesis, Divya Vinjamur

Theses and Dissertations

Hemoglobinopathies are some of the most common monogenic disorders in the world, affecting millions of people and representing a growing burden on health systems worldwide. Although the pathophysiology of sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia, two of the most common hemoglobinopathies, have been the focus of much research over the last century, patients affected by these diseases still lack a widely applicable and easily available cure. Sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia are caused by defects in the structure and production of the beta-globin chains that, along with the alpha-globin chains make up the heterotetrameric hemoglobin molecule. Studies geared towards re-expression of …

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The Effect Of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase On The Epigenetics Of Human Mitochondrial Dna, John Strang Apr 2014

The Effect Of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase On The Epigenetics Of Human Mitochondrial Dna, John Strang

Theses and Dissertations

Aberrant metabolism has become an increasingly interesting area of cancer biology. In many cancers including lower grade glioma, glioblastomas and some leukemias, a mutation in the metabolic enzyme Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH), has been found in more than 70% of cases and has been shown to lead to a distinct hypermethylator phenotype. IDH commonly converts isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate in normal cell metabolism. Three isoforms of this enzyme are found in humans: IDH1, IDH2 and IDH3. Studies on IDH1, the cytosolic isoform, have revealed that mutations in the enzyme’s binding site lead to a novel gain of function: the synthesis of an …

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Hcpr Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis Utilizes Heme To Bind No, Benjamin Belvin Apr 2014

Hcpr Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis Utilizes Heme To Bind No, Benjamin Belvin

Theses and Dissertations

The obligate anaerobe Porphyromonas gingivalis is the etiological agent responsible for periodontal disease. It must withstand high levels of reactive nitrogen species in the oral cavity generated by the host and other oral flora. The mechanisms allowing for protection against such stress remain poorly understand. HcpR is an FNR-CRP family regulator that has been implicated in regulation of the nitrosative stress response. In this study we characterize the biochemical properties of HcpR. It is a homo-dimer that is composed of 3 domains – a heme-binding domain, dimerization helix, and a DNA-binding domain. Our studies show that HcpR binds the heme …

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Irradiation Of Hs578t Breast Tumor Cells Induces Non-Cytoprotective Autophagy, Aisha Alhaddad Apr 2014

Irradiation Of Hs578t Breast Tumor Cells Induces Non-Cytoprotective Autophagy, Aisha Alhaddad

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the US. The most frequently observed cancer type in women is breast cancer. A special type of breast cancer is triple negative (TNBC) cancer that is characterized by lacking three receptors: estrogen, progesterone and human epithelial growth factor (HER 2). The HS578t breast cell line is a model of TNBC that also has a mutation of the p53 protein. Ionizing radiation is used widely in the clinic to debulk tumors before surgery as well as post-surgery to eliminate residual tumor cells outside the surgical field. Previous studies from our laboratory …

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Role Of Anillin In Regulation Of Epithelial Junctions, Gibran Chadha Apr 2014

Role Of Anillin In Regulation Of Epithelial Junctions, Gibran Chadha

Theses and Dissertations

Adherens junctions (AJs) and tight junctions (TJs) are characteristic features of differentiated epithelial cells and are critical for regulation of epithelial barriers and cell polarity. Integrity and remodeling of epithelial junctions depend on their interactions with underlying actomyosin cytoskeleton. Anillin is a multifunctional scaffold able to interact with different cytoskeletal proteins including F-actin and Myosin II. This project aimed to investigate roles of anillin in regulating epithelial AJs and TJs. Using A549 human lung epithelial and DU145 human prostate epithelial cells, we demonstrated the anillin depletion-induced loss of AJs and TJs. This was accompanied by disorganization of perijunctional actomyosin belt …

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Contextualizing Anthony Van Dyck's Iconography Within The Emerging Traditions Of Portraiture And Artists' Biography In The Early Modern Period, Casey Nye Apr 2014

Contextualizing Anthony Van Dyck's Iconography Within The Emerging Traditions Of Portraiture And Artists' Biography In The Early Modern Period, Casey Nye

Theses and Dissertations

The Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck extended his preoccupation with portraiture into the printed medium by designing a body of portrait prints, posthumously compiled into a book entitled, the Iconography. This suite of images, organized and designed by Van Dyck and printed by workshop assistants between 1632 and 1644, is comprised of engraved and etched half-length portraits of contemporary European men and women of various professions and backgrounds, including artists, scholars, diplomats, and religious leaders. This thesis examines the artistic and literary context for Van Dyck’s Iconography, with a focus on the changing social and intellectual status of artists in …

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Politics Of The Cigarette: Smoking, Health, And The Surgeon General (1960-1969), Joanne Chiao Apr 2014

Politics Of The Cigarette: Smoking, Health, And The Surgeon General (1960-1969), Joanne Chiao

UROP Posters

Cigarette consumption reached an all-time national high in the early 1960s. With scientific articles linking cigarettes with cancer, the public questioned whether the personal choice was a hazardous one. As a result, the federal government began investigating the health effects of cigarette smoking and regulating the tobacco industry's labeling and advertising. Under the direction of United States Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry (1961-1965), the Public Health Service (PHS) issued one of the first large-scale initiatives to curtail the power of American Tobacco, the 1964 Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public …

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"Modern Primitive: Parody, Ambivalence, And Paradox In Paul Colin's Le Tumulte Noir", Julia Boyette Monroe Apr 2014

"Modern Primitive: Parody, Ambivalence, And Paradox In Paul Colin's Le Tumulte Noir", Julia Boyette Monroe

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Paul Colin’s 1927 portfolio of lithographs entitled Le Tumulte Noir as an expression of the simultaneously progressive, celebratory, racist, and colonialist ideas about jazz music, dance, and blackness in Paris during the 1920s. Because the portfolio often demonstrates conflicting tropes for representing people of African American descent, for example minstrelsy vs. New Negro imagery, this thesis uses several methods for investigating the ambivalence of the artwork and the culture in which it was produced. The double-coding of meaning presented by parody, calligrams, and self-division are central to this analysis of Colin’s representations of the “Charlestonesque epidemic” in …

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Rap And Fashion, Talia Levinas Apr 2014

Rap And Fashion, Talia Levinas

UROP Posters

The presence of rap culture in fashion demonstrates a trend in marketing, bringing cultural niches into the mainstream. This work examines the transition of rap fashion into popular culture, using hip-hop as a muse for the high-end. Specifically, I look at how rappers are beginning to create their own fashion lines and how high-fashion and urban street style incorporate hip-hop characteristics. Rappers use fashion as a way to show off wealth and success, flaunting designer names and labels in music videos, lyrics, and styling. In turn, high-fashion and street style brands use rap figures as guest designers and samplings of …

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"'The Lifecycle Of A Neighborhood': Developing A Self-Guided Tour Of The Built Environment In Judiciary Square For The National Building Museum, Washington, Dc", Amy H. Griffin Apr 2014

"'The Lifecycle Of A Neighborhood': Developing A Self-Guided Tour Of The Built Environment In Judiciary Square For The National Building Museum, Washington, Dc", Amy H. Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

Self-guided tours for museums require authors to define a learning objective, research content, design graphics, and implement inclusive interpretive methods. However, museum education literature does not provide clear, comprehensive direction for these complex projects. By recounting the development of a self-guided tour of Judiciary Square for the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, this thesis assesses the value and limitations of theoretical literature in practice. It introduces additional research methods and approaches to address project components that museum education literature overlooks.

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Socioeconomic Status And Weight Loss Behaviors, Hannah Seward Apr 2014

Socioeconomic Status And Weight Loss Behaviors, Hannah Seward

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States and many other countries, obesity is viewed as a public health crisis that must be handled. Many social and individual solutions to the problem are proposed in research and policy. On an individual level, many Americans try to get rid of their fat with a multitude of weight loss practices as part of a healthy lifestyle. Obesity rates, feelings towards fatness, and weight control behaviors are significantly affected by a number of sociocultural factors. In this project I explore the relationship between the desire to lose weight and weight control practices with income. Using data from …

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The History And Educational Legacy Of The Manchester Art Museum, 1886-1898, Angela Parker Apr 2014

The History And Educational Legacy Of The Manchester Art Museum, 1886-1898, Angela Parker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the history of the Manchester Art Museum (Manchester, England), which was founded by Thomas Coglan Horsfall (1841-1932) in 1886. It considers the museum’s permanent collections and its programming from 1886 to 1898 with brief notes on the later years of the institution. While, like previous work on the Manchester Art Museum, the thesis contextualizes the museum within Victorian arts and community institutions, it breaks new ground by highlighting the ways in which it diverged from these institutions. The analysis of the museum’s collections and programming emphasizes the contributions that Horsfall and the Art Museum Committee made to …

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Commonwealth Times 2014-04-21 Apr 2014

Commonwealth Times 2014-04-21

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

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Orthodontic Marketing Through Social Media Networks: The Patient And Practitioners' Perspective, Kristin Nelson Apr 2014

Orthodontic Marketing Through Social Media Networks: The Patient And Practitioners' Perspective, Kristin Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The aim of this study was to (1) assess the orthodontic patient and practitioner use and preferences of social media, and (2) to investigate the potential benefit of social media in marketing and communication strategies in orthodontic practices. Material and Methods: A survey was distributed to all participants, which included orthodontists from the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) and patients/parents from the VCU Orthodontic Clinic and Private Practices throughout the United States. The participants were asked to answer questions related to their use of social media as well as their perceptions of usage of social media in the orthodontic …

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Senses In Synthesis: Imaginative Sensing In The 19th Century, Jesse Hernandez Apr 2014

Senses In Synthesis: Imaginative Sensing In The 19th Century, Jesse Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

During the late 19th century, arts and literature had a surge of sensory awareness, made manifest through sensory analogy, intersensory metaphor, and synaesthesia. This dissertation explores this phenomenon through a study of five poets and artists: Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Barlas, and Julia Margaret Cameron. Using imaginative sensing, these artists transformed the relationship between artist and observer, assigning greater responsibility to their audience while simultaneously asserting artistic control of their work. Their fascination with sensory mixing and multisensory awareness demonstrates unique ideas about perception and embodiment, ideas that have sparked both controversy and imitation. I begin …

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Synthesis Of Cisplatin & Biological Testing Of The Complex, Compared To Triplatin (Bbr3464), Heba Dawood Apr 2014

Synthesis Of Cisplatin & Biological Testing Of The Complex, Compared To Triplatin (Bbr3464), Heba Dawood

UROP Posters

Two chemotherapeutic drugs were studied; one of them is Cisplatin that is currently used to fight cancer and the other is Triplatin (BBR3464) that was developed by Dr. Farrell. Cisplatin was synthesized and many different experiments were conducted such as: Recrystallization, Infrared Spectroscopy, UV-VIS, Melting Point, and Fluorescence experiment. After synthesizing the drug, it was tested in biology lab; we tested the effects of the drug on ovary cancer cells and its ability to kill cancer cells. A Cisplatin MTT ASSAY experiment was done and another MTT for Triplatin was done. Results from both of the experiments were compared and …

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Poiesthetic Play In Generative Music, John Priestley Apr 2014

Poiesthetic Play In Generative Music, John Priestley

Theses and Dissertations

Generative music creates indeterminate systems from which music can emerge. It provides a particularly instructive field for problems of ontology, semiotics, aesthetics, and ethics addressed in poststructuralist literary theory. I outline how repetition is the ultimate basis of musical intelligibility and of memory in general. The extension of these abstractions beyond tonal music to sound in general is afforded by the concrete iterability of audio recording media. Generative systems delineate a music that is repeatable in principle and in certain qualities, though not in specific forms; a music that produces emergent complexities from novel combinations, retaining the potential to surprise. …

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The Electronic Election -- Web 2.0 Technology And Political Campaigns, Kirby Miller Apr 2014

The Electronic Election -- Web 2.0 Technology And Political Campaigns, Kirby Miller

UROP Posters

The influence of Web 2.0 technologies has infiltrated the political realm, not only being used by members of each political party, but also in each level of civic engagement. The primary problem this paper assesses is the extent to which American presidential candidates have used Web 2.0 technologies as a political tool and how these technologies will affect the future of political activity. While Web 2.0 technologies have been widely used by candidates in the two recent presidential races, and while they will see an increased use as the millennial generation emerges in the political arena, the effective use of …

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Heteronormative Stereotypes In Children's Animated Television, Nora Kavaldjian Apr 2014

Heteronormative Stereotypes In Children's Animated Television, Nora Kavaldjian

UROP Posters

The socializing effect that television has on child viewers is incredibly important to childhood development – research shows that children can model roles and behaviors that they observe on television – and this power to condition children’s minds to a television-based view of reality can influence children’s conceptions of gender, stereotype, and diversity. Children exposed to television media will base their conceptions of the world on what they’ve seen, usually animated cartoon shows with highly stereotyped characters in fairly set roles (Barcus 1983, Bandura, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to review research on the subject of gender roles …

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Examination Of The Communication Practices And Preferences Between Orthodontists And General Dentists, Kevin Bibona Apr 2014

Examination Of The Communication Practices And Preferences Between Orthodontists And General Dentists, Kevin Bibona

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to evaluate if orthodontists’ and general dentists’ perceptions of how often, under what circumstances, and by which media orthodontists communicated with general dentists were similar, and to determine if orthodontists were meeting the communication needs of general dentists. Orthodontists (N=1,000) and general dentists (N=1,000) throughout the United States were randomly selected to participate in a web-based and mailed survey, respectively. The results indicated that the orthodontists communicated with general dentists using the type of media the general dentists preferred to use. As treatment complexity increased, orthodontists shifted from one-way forms of communication to two-way …

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Commonwealth Times 2014-04-14 Apr 2014

Commonwealth Times 2014-04-14

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

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The Effects Of Racial Socialization And Parent-Child Relationship Quality On Emerging Adult Reports Of Racial Discrimination To Parents, Nathasha Cole Apr 2014

The Effects Of Racial Socialization And Parent-Child Relationship Quality On Emerging Adult Reports Of Racial Discrimination To Parents, Nathasha Cole

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of parent-child relationship quality and racial socialization on reports of racial discrimination to parents are examined in an African American emerging adult population. The effects of parent-child relationship quality and racial socialization on reports of racial discrimination to parents are also considered. The influences of demographic characteristics on reports of racial discrimination are also assessed. The purpose of this study is to examine if there are relationships between cultural origin, gender, socio-economic status and reports of racial discrimination to parents. The study also aims to determine if parent-child relationship quality has an effect on whether or not black …

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The Inspiration Of Imogene Coca: A Biography And Original Musical, Marisa Guida Apr 2014

The Inspiration Of Imogene Coca: A Biography And Original Musical, Marisa Guida

Theses and Dissertations

Imogene Coca was a pioneer of comedy for women on stage and television. Her career in performance spanned the twentieth century. In the 1950s she was known as America’s funnyfaced little imp and “Imogene Coca” was a household name. Today that name is getting lost amidst a sea of male clowns and her funny faces are nearly forgotten. Imogene’s contributions to theatre, television, and comedy are too important to forget. This thesis includes a biography of her work in vaudeville, Broadway, television, and film, and an original musical inspired by that body of work. Coca’s comedy is timeless and the …

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Mammary Epithelial Cells Cultured Onto Non-Woven Nanofiber Electrospun Silk-Based Biomaterials To Engineer Breast Tissue Models, Yas Maghdouri-White Apr 2014

Mammary Epithelial Cells Cultured Onto Non-Woven Nanofiber Electrospun Silk-Based Biomaterials To Engineer Breast Tissue Models, Yas Maghdouri-White

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer affecting women in the world today. To better understand breast cancer initiation and progression modeling biological tissue under physiological conditions is essential. Indeed, breast cancer involves complex interactions between mammary epithelial cells and the stroma, both extracellular matrix (ECM) and cells including adipocytes (fat tissue) and fibroblasts (connective tissue). Therefore, the engineering of in vitro three-dimensional (3D) systems of breast tissues allows a deeper understanding of the complex cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions involved during breast tissue development and cancer initiation and progression. Furthermore, such 3D systems may provide a …

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An Intuitive Approach, Fonda Cody Apr 2014

An Intuitive Approach, Fonda Cody

Theses and Dissertations

Artist Statement I explore the inherent features of painting, glass, and ceramics. I focus on the materials and work in a spontaneous, exploratory manner. This process of discovery fuels my creativity in working with each media as I develop an awareness of their possibilities and limitations. The better I know my materials, the easier it becomes to be expressive with them. In my paintings, I am interested in exploring my own personal response to paint and the weight of color on canvas. In these works, I often depict stylized architecture in a landscape. My glasswork focuses on color as inspired …

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