Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Virginia Commonwealth University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 3901 - 3930 of 7325

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

[Aura], Stephanie Benassi Aug 2010

[Aura], Stephanie Benassi

Theses and Dissertations

[AURA] is a collection of photographs of landscapes and objects that have been implicated in fringe beliefs, alternative narratives and the strange events that reside beyond the scope of our everyday experiences. These photographs represent the symbols used to describe phenomena and also concentrate on the areas surrounding the events. My investigation also examines how the affect of the landscape has contributed to the interpretations by those that witnessed it. As a photographic collection, [AURA] investigates issues related to truth, as well as the role of subjectivity versus objectivity in my photographic practice. By concentrating this discussion on issues of …

Go to article

Canopy Disturbance And Reproduction In Cornus Florida L., Daniel Carr Aug 2010

Canopy Disturbance And Reproduction In Cornus Florida L., Daniel Carr

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined aspects of local reproductive variation in the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.) coincident with recent differences in primary canopy architecture. The dogwood trees in this study were impacted by a hurricane that created numerous treefall gaps, which created fine scale heterogeneity in the primary canopy. Fine scale disturbances in a forest can result in changes for multiple members of the forest community, including the reproductive responses of the trees and interspecific pollination mutualisms. Previously determined differences in offspring genetic structure suggested that pollen movement among genetically unstructured maternal individuals was significantly impacted between open, or disturbed, canopy …

Go to article

Variation In Sound Production Of The Blue Catfish, Ictalurus Furcatus., Zachary Ghahramani Aug 2010

Variation In Sound Production Of The Blue Catfish, Ictalurus Furcatus., Zachary Ghahramani

Theses and Dissertations

The blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is an invasive species introduced to Virginia in 1974 and is the largest catfish in the United States. Like other Ictalurids, they are capable of producing disturbance calls via stridulation of the pectoral spine. These sounds can be made in air and water, and catfish can be preyed upon by both aerial and underwater predators. I characterized these putative distress calls by recording them in air and in the fish’s natural habitat. Sounds exhibited a wide variation in acoustic parameters relative to fish ontogeny: larger fish produced higher amplitude sounds with lower frequency bands. Sweep …

Go to article

Effect Of Ph On The Transcriptional Profile Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis W83, Nathan Maietta Aug 2010

Effect Of Ph On The Transcriptional Profile Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis W83, Nathan Maietta

Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a gram-negative, anaerobic bacterium, is widely recognized as a causative agent for periodontal disease. Despite sequencing of the complete genome, no research exists examining gene regulation response in P. gingivalis to shifts in pH. Previous studies have shown that P. gingivalis is capable of surviving in the variety of micro- environmental niches found within the oral cavity, including basic and acidic pH conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms of this survival are not well understood. This study examined P. gingivalis by comparing bacteria shocked at three acidic to neutral pH conditions (5.5, 6.5 and 7.0) to bacteria vii shocked …

Go to article

Klf2/Klf4 Double Knock-Out Mouse Embryos Show Cranial Bleeding With Endothelial Disruption Of The Primary Head Vein, Benjamin Curtis Aug 2010

Klf2/Klf4 Double Knock-Out Mouse Embryos Show Cranial Bleeding With Endothelial Disruption Of The Primary Head Vein, Benjamin Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are a family of 3 Cys2/His2 zinc finger transcription factors with a diverse set of roles in cellular differentiation, cell cycle regulation, tumor suppression, erythropoiesis, angiogenesis, and other processes. During embryonic development, KLF2 has a role in vessel maturation. Adult conditional KLF4 knockout mouse embryos have thickened arterial intima follow vascular injury. Breeding KLF2+/- and KLF4+/- mice resulted in the generation of KLF2/KLF4 double knockout (DKO) embryos. KLF2/KLF4 DKO embryos died by E10.5 with cranial bleeding. Using immunohistochemistry, embryo whole-mounts were examined for differences in gross vascularization between wild-type (WT), KLF2-/- and KLF2/KLF4 (DKO embryonic day 9.5 …

Go to article

Discovery Of A Novel Ccr5 Antagonist As An Effective Therapeutic Agent For Prostate Cancer, Tasrif Ahmed Jul 2010

Discovery Of A Novel Ccr5 Antagonist As An Effective Therapeutic Agent For Prostate Cancer, Tasrif Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Previously, the CCR5 receptor was found to be a good target for treating prostate cancer (PCa). Dr. Yan Zhang’s laboratory designed several CCR5 antagonists, which were screened for their inhibitory effect on the growth and invasion of the M12, DU145 and PC-3 PCa cell lines. Primary in vitro screening showed one compound (Drug 17) significantly inhibited the proliferation of PCa cells at 1μM concentration, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 237.68 nM. Further in vitro assays including a proliferation, cytotoxicity and invasion assay confirmed the inhibitory effect of drug 17. The physiological effect of drug 17 was tested by the …

Go to article

Contribution Of Nuceliec Acids On The Structure Of Recombinant Hepadnavirus Core Antigens, Maimuna Bruce Jul 2010

Contribution Of Nuceliec Acids On The Structure Of Recombinant Hepadnavirus Core Antigens, Maimuna Bruce

Theses and Dissertations

The Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) has been proposed to be an ideal candidate for use as an adjuvant due to its immunogenicity, and tolerance to manipulations such as insertions of epitopes or covalent attachment of ligands. HBcAg is a complex macromolecule containing protein and nucleic acid. We investigated the effect of the removal and reconstitution of nucleic acids upon its structure. It’s been shown that the RNA content of hepadnavirus core antigens can be reduced significantly, but not be completely removed. Following removal of some of the RNA, antigens retain the ability to bind added nucleic acids, in particular, …

Go to article

Function And Regulation Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 In Glioblastoma Multiforme, Monika Anand Jul 2010

Function And Regulation Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 In Glioblastoma Multiforme, Monika Anand

Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive and fatal cancer of the brain. It is characterized with augmented morbidity and elusion to therapies due in part to the incessant infiltration and spread of tumor cells in normal brain. We investigated the function of Matrix metalloproteinase-1, an important enzyme noted to be responsible for invasion in other cancers, in GBM and its regulation by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. Previous studies from our laboratory demonstrated elevated levels of MMP-1 in GBM. Further studies indicated the involvement of MMP-1 in GBM invasion. The GBM cell lines T98G, U251MG and U87MG were used …

Go to article

Characterization And Crystallization Of The Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Trmd, Zohal Hamidi Jul 2010

Characterization And Crystallization Of The Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Trmd, Zohal Hamidi

Theses and Dissertations

One third of the world’s population is affected by Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtB). The emergence of multidrug-resistant MtB makes this disease a major public health concern. New agents are needed to treat TB infections in a manner that circumvents existing pathways of resistance. One strategy is to target the organism at the translational level by inhibiting vital modifications of RNA. One gene responsible for these modifications is the tRNA (guanosine-1)-methyltransferase, trmD, which has been shown to be essential in several bacteria. The eukaryotic and bacterial m1G methyltransferases are structurally dissimilar, making this enzyme …

Go to article

Role Of Xrcc3 In Acquisition And Maintenance Of Invasiveness Through Extracellular Matrix In Breast Cancer Progression, Siddharth Saini Jul 2010

Role Of Xrcc3 In Acquisition And Maintenance Of Invasiveness Through Extracellular Matrix In Breast Cancer Progression, Siddharth Saini

Theses and Dissertations

Acquisition of invasiveness through extracellular matrix is a crucial characteristic of transition to malignancy in the breast. It was previously shown that Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1), a mitotic kinase and genome stability regulator, is involved in acquisition of invasiveness in a breast cell model (HMT-3522 cell line) of pre-invasive to invasive transition. This and other data led to the suggestion that a new class of genes called GISEM for Genome Instability and Extracellular Matrix Invasiveness may exist. Previous lab data show that XRCC3 is found downregulated in progression from preinvasive to invasive phenotype. This led to the hypothesis that XRCC3 …

Go to article

Effect Of Mechanical Stimulation On Mesenchymal Stem Cell Seeded Cartilage Constructs, Karin Wartella Jul 2010

Effect Of Mechanical Stimulation On Mesenchymal Stem Cell Seeded Cartilage Constructs, Karin Wartella

Theses and Dissertations

Cartilage tissue engineered constructs using mesenchymal stem cells were stimulated with 3 different stimulation algorithms to achieve characteristics mimicking the superficial tangential zone of articular cartilage. The stimulation algorithm of both compression and tension without an offset had the best properties out of all the evaluated groups.

Go to article

Dante Gabriel Rossetti And The Italian Renaissance: Envisioning Aesthetic Beauty And The Past Through Images Of Women, Carolyn Porter Jul 2010

Dante Gabriel Rossetti And The Italian Renaissance: Envisioning Aesthetic Beauty And The Past Through Images Of Women, Carolyn Porter

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s knowledge and interpretation of the Italian Renaissance during the 1860s. I argue that there is a relationship between Rossetti’s Aestheticism and his understanding of the Italian Renaissance and that this relationship is visibly manifested in his images of women from the period. In Victorian England, Aestheticism and the philosophy of beauty for its own sake became increasingly popular throughout the 1860s. I challenge the idea that Aestheticism and an interest in Renaissance art are mutually exclusive aspects of the artist’s work. Rossetti’s images of women expressed both his understanding of Renaissance art and the …

Go to article

Pyridoxal Kinase: Its Role In Vitamin B6 Metabolism, Jigarkumar Desai Jul 2010

Pyridoxal Kinase: Its Role In Vitamin B6 Metabolism, Jigarkumar Desai

Theses and Dissertations

Pyridoxal kinase (PL kinase) and pyridoxine 5’-phosphate oxidase (PNP oxidase) are the two vitamin B6 salvage enzymes involved in metabolism of the primary inactive vitamin B6 (pyridoxal, pyridoxine and pyridoxamine) into the active cofactor form, pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP). PLP, arguably the most important vitamin, is required by numerous vitamin B6 (PLP-dependent) enzymes as a co-factor. These enzymes serve vital roles in the metabolism of glucose, lipids, amino acids, heme, DNA/RNA and many neurotransmitters. High levels of vitamin B6 are linked to neurotoxicity, due to the non-specific interactions of PLP with non-B6 proteins. This problem is controlled, in part, by maintaining …

Go to article

The Transcriptional Regulation Of Hla-E By Interferon-Gamma In Tumor Cells, Quintesia Grant Jul 2010

The Transcriptional Regulation Of Hla-E By Interferon-Gamma In Tumor Cells, Quintesia Grant

Theses and Dissertations

The human Class Ib gene, HLA-E inhibits both Natural Killer Cells and a subset of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes by engaging the CD94/NKG2A inhibitory receptor. IFN-γ induces the expression of HLA-E as well as Class Ia molecules, which are required for the killing of target cells. Since HLA-E has negative effects on immune killing of target cells, we have sought to identify locus specific mechanisms of IFN-γ induction in order to identify molecular targets for selective activation of Class Ia genes, but not HLA-E. We have previously identified a unique upstream IFN-γ response region in the HLA-E promoter and showed …

Go to article

Vaudeville: A How To Guide, Evan Anderson Jul 2010

Vaudeville: A How To Guide, Evan Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

At the turn of the twentieth century vaudeville was the most prevalent form of theatrical entertainment. With more than 1,500 houses across the country, vaudeville reached in excess of 30 million audience members each year. It directly led to the advent of film and radio. Yet barely one hundred years later vaudeville has been forgotten by the once loyal masses. This guide is meant to help counter vaudeville’s fall. By adding together a basic script consisting of comedy and dramatic sketches, original works and classic vaudeville acts with music and information on the how and whys of vaudeville, this guide …

Go to article

Cell Death And Sustained Senescence Arrest In Colon Carcinoma And Melanoma Tumor Cells In Response To The Novel Microtubule Poison, Jg-03-14, Jonathan Biggers Jul 2010

Cell Death And Sustained Senescence Arrest In Colon Carcinoma And Melanoma Tumor Cells In Response To The Novel Microtubule Poison, Jg-03-14, Jonathan Biggers

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies from this and other laboratories have shown that the novel microtubule poison, JG-03-14, which binds to the colchicine binding site of tubulin, has the capacity to promote both autophagy and apoptosis in breast tumor cells, as well as interfering with endothelial cell function and potentially disrupting tumor vasculature. The current work was designed to investigate the interaction between JG-03-14 and cell culture models of colon carcinoma and melanoma, specifically HCT116 human colon carcinoma cells and B16F10 murine melanoma cells. In both cases, JG-03-14 promoted death in the bulk of the treated population. FACS analysis, DAPI and TUNEL staining …

Go to article

Defying Labels: Richmond Now’S Multi-Generational Dynamism, Schuyler Vanvalkenburg Jul 2010

Defying Labels: Richmond Now’S Multi-Generational Dynamism, Schuyler Vanvalkenburg

Theses and Dissertations

In the late 1960s a group of women became interested in forming a chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Richmond. These women, led by Zelda Nordlinger and Holt Carlton, followed a pragmatic, big-tent approach to women’s activism. This ideological and tactical openness defies traditional historical labels as these women fluidly moved through organizations and tactics in order to gain a stronger local following. Richmond’s NOW chapter, while staying attuned to the national organization’s platform, remained relatively autonomous and parochial in its tactics and pursuits. Further, Richmond NOW showed a marked change around 1974 with an influx of …

Go to article

Double-Strand Break Repair Mechanisms In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Bret Adams Jul 2010

Double-Strand Break Repair Mechanisms In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Bret Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Central to the progression of all organisms is the maintenance of a stable genome despite continuous insults arising from genotoxic and environmental stresses. Embryonic stem cells show promise for treatment of a variety of diseases as well as for providing normal human tissue to conduct scientific research. A major obstacle for their application is that genomic instability arises in stem cells after prolonged cell culture. The most detrimental form of DNA damage is the DNA double-strand break (DSB), which is managed by cells through complex mechanisms, designated the DNA damage response. There are two major types of DSB repair; homologous …

Go to article

Synthesis, Functionalization And Characterization Of Dual Mode Nanoparticles For Biomedical Applications, Farah Radwan Jul 2010

Synthesis, Functionalization And Characterization Of Dual Mode Nanoparticles For Biomedical Applications, Farah Radwan

Theses and Dissertations

Three different approaches were used to prepare dual mode nanoparticles using a previously described reverse micelle technique. Superparamagnetic Fe@FeOx core shell nanoparticles were chosen to be the magnetic component for all three dual mode systems. In the first type of particles, 2- amino-1,3- propane diol (APD) was used as a functionalization ligand to stabilize the surface of the particles and its functional amino group also provided a binding site for the attachment of a fluorescent probe. The TEM analysis showed that the APD coated particles have a size range of 8-13 nm while XPS and MALDI measurements confirmed the presence …

Go to article

Resistance Exercise And Vascular Function: Training And Obesity-Related Effects, Grayson Lipford Jul 2010

Resistance Exercise And Vascular Function: Training And Obesity-Related Effects, Grayson Lipford

Theses and Dissertations

Endothelial dysfunction, or the inability of an artery to dilate sufficiently when subjected to excessive shear stress, serves both as a predictor of future cardiovascular events as well as an early indication of atherosclerosis. Several chronic disease states, including obesity, have been shown to alter endothelial function, which may be mediated through circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines. Still, the mechanisms by which obesity-related low-grade inflammation alters endothelial function are not fully elucidated. Acute and chronic endurance exercise training has previously been shown to be effective in improving endothelial function; however, chronic resistance exercise training is not universally regarded as beneficial …

Go to article

Primitive Current, Joseph Dixon Jul 2010

Primitive Current, Joseph Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

The ocean is the common theme in my work. There is a calmness that comes over me when I sit on the beach and look off into the distance, over an infinite seascape peppered with gulls and shrimp boats. This is a safe place to be but it always leaves me wondering about what lies beneath the surface of the water, below what I can see and below what I know. Time and time again, I come back to the power and mystery of the ocean and all that it symbolizes. To explore the question what lies below?, I create …

Go to article

Sub, Counter And Someothers, Tim Bearse Jul 2010

Sub, Counter And Someothers, Tim Bearse

Theses and Dissertations

Textual accompaniment to the exhibition Blizzard Skitch. This thesis discusses parallels between body cognition in skateboarding and object cognition in sculpture and architecture.

Go to article

Impact Of Nickel Doping On Hydrogen Storage In Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks, Tanushree Banerjee Jul 2010

Impact Of Nickel Doping On Hydrogen Storage In Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks, Tanushree Banerjee

Theses and Dissertations

A supply of clean, carbon neutral and sustainable energy is the most scientific and technical challenge that humanity is facing in the 21st century. Though there is enough fossil fuels available for a few centuries, their use would increase the level of CO2 in the atmosphere. This would lead to global warming and may pose serious threats such as rising of sea level, change in hydrological cycle, etc. Hence there is a need for an alternative source of fuel that is clean and sustainable. Among the many resources considered as an alternative power source, hydrogen is considered one of the …

Go to article

Commonwealth Times 2010-07-01 Jul 2010

Commonwealth Times 2010-07-01

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Mechanistic Studies On The Electrochemistry Of Proton Coupled Electron Transfer And The Influence Of Hydrogen Bonding, Timothy Alligrant Jun 2010

Mechanistic Studies On The Electrochemistry Of Proton Coupled Electron Transfer And The Influence Of Hydrogen Bonding, Timothy Alligrant

Theses and Dissertations

This research has investigated proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) of quinone/hydroquinone and other simple organic PCET species for the purpose of furthering the knowledge of the thermodynamic and kinetic effects due to reduction and oxidation of such systems. Each of these systems were studied involving the addition of various acid/base chemistries to influence the thermodynamics and kinetics upon electron transfer. It is the expectation that the advancement of the knowledge of acid/base catalysis in electrochemistry gleaned from these studies might be applied in fuel cell research, chemical synthesis, the study of enzymes within biological systems or to simply advance the knowledge …

Go to article

Regional Heterogeneity And Diversity Of Astrocytes In Response To Hiv-1 Proteins And Morphine, Wen Chen Jun 2010

Regional Heterogeneity And Diversity Of Astrocytes In Response To Hiv-1 Proteins And Morphine, Wen Chen

Theses and Dissertations

HIV-infected individuals who abuse opiates have been found to have a higher incidence and a faster progression of HIV encephalitis. Astrocytes, the major support cells in the CNS, are known to play a critical role in the HIV neuropathy. Although astrocytes tend not to be productively infected by the HIV-1 virus, dysregulation of their pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines/chemokines secretion is usually neurotoxic. Glutamate transport in astrocytes is reported to be impaired as well, which result in extrasynaptic excitatory neurotransmitter accumulation and over stimulation of postsynaptic neurons. It is long known that astrocytes from different brain regions have diverse responses …

Go to article

The Shaping Of Managers’ Security Objectives Through Information Security Awareness Training, Mark Harris Jun 2010

The Shaping Of Managers’ Security Objectives Through Information Security Awareness Training, Mark Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Information security research states that corporate security policy and information security training should be socio-technical in nature and that corporations should consider training as a primary method of protecting their information systems. However, information security policies and training are predominately technical in nature. In addition, managers creating security policies rely heavily on security guidelines, which are also technically oriented. This study created a series of information security training videos that were viewed by four groups of managers. One video discussed the socio-technical aspects of security, another discussed only the social aspects of security, the third detailed only the technical aspects …

Go to article

An Assessment Of The Methods That Are Used To Recruit College Students Into The Turkish Hezbollah., Tuncay Unal Jun 2010

An Assessment Of The Methods That Are Used To Recruit College Students Into The Turkish Hezbollah., Tuncay Unal

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to identify tactics used by the Turkish Hezbollah to recruit college students into joining their terrorist organization. This study based on the assumptions that social networks and institutional structures are two main tools that are used effectively by the Turkish Hezbollah to recruit college educated students. In this sense, the researcher claims that Social Learning theory and Social Control Theories can be used to provide theoretical explanation to the Hezbollah’s recruitment strategy. Parallel to these theories assumptions, while having militants within social networks increases the likelihood of being recruited through social learning theory assumptions, college students who …

Go to article

Novel Mechanism In Astrocyte Gene Regulation And Function, Sandeep Singh Jun 2010

Novel Mechanism In Astrocyte Gene Regulation And Function, Sandeep Singh

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation sheds light on several novel mechanistic findings in astrocyte specific gene regulation and function by the NFI-X transcription factor which can be further extrapolated to astrocyte differentiation and glial tumor invasion. First, we cloned and analyzed human NFI-X3, a novel splice variant of the nfix gene, which contains a unique transcriptional activation (TA) domain completely conserved in primates. In contrast to previously cloned NFI-X1, overexpression of NFI-X3 potently activates NFI reporters, including GFAP reporter, in astrocytes and glioma cells. The expression of NFI-X3 is dramatically upregulated during the differentiation of neural progenitors to astrocytes and precedes the expression …

Go to article

Ex Vivo Expansion Of Tumor-Specific T Cells With Sequential Common Gamma Chain Cytokines Render Them Refractory To Mdsc Upon Adoptive Immunotherapy., Debasmita Basu Jun 2010

Ex Vivo Expansion Of Tumor-Specific T Cells With Sequential Common Gamma Chain Cytokines Render Them Refractory To Mdsc Upon Adoptive Immunotherapy., Debasmita Basu

Theses and Dissertations

Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are heterogeneous population of immature cells at various stages of differentiation, characterized by the presence of CD11b and Gr1 in mice. They are major contributors of the tumor-induced immune suppression against the tumors. So far, various strategies have been introduced to overcome the endogenous MDSCs. Most of these approaches rely on the elimination of MDSCs and it is not clear whether tumor-reactive T cells may be differentiated towards phenotypes that are refractory to MDSCc. Our laboratory has previously shown that high affinity T cells derived from tumor-sensitized wild-type FVB mice and expanded ex vivo with …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last