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Beta 2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributions To Anxiety-Like Behavior, Shawn Anderson
Beta 2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributions To Anxiety-Like Behavior, Shawn Anderson
Theses and Dissertations
Nicotine is a major psychoactive ingredient in tobacco that is thought to promote smoking behavior via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain. Given reports that people smoke to relieve anxiety and that anxiety precipitates relapse, the overarching goal of this dissertation research is to assess beta 2 subunit containing nAChR (beta2*nAChR) contributions to anxiety-like behavior. Nicotine’s activity at beta2*nAChRs is concentration-dependent, with high concentrations facilitating activation followed by rapid desensitization and low concentrations preferentially desensitizing beta2*nAChRs; hence, activation or inhibition of beta2*nAChRs may support smoking behavior. Rodent studies reveal that nicotine affects anxiety-like behavior dose-dependently: low doses promote anxiolysis- …
Analysis And Construction Of Engaging Facial Forms And Expressions: Interdisciplinary Approaches From Art, Anatomy, Engineering, Cultural Studies, And Psychology, Leejin Kim
Theses and Dissertations
The topic of this dissertation is the anatomical, psychological, and cultural examination of a human face in order to effectively construct an anatomy-driven 3D virtual face customization and action model. In order to gain a broad perspective of all aspects of a face, theories and methodology from the fields of art, engineering, anatomy, psychology, and cultural studies have been analyzed and implemented. The computer generated facial customization and action model were designed based on the collected data. Using this customization system, culturally-specific attractive face in Korean popular culture, “kot-mi-nam (flower-like beautiful guy),” was modeled and analyzed as a case study. …
Alcohol And Medication Use In Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Understanding The Effect Of Alcohol And Central Nervous System-Acting Medications On The Risk For Falls, Maitreyee Mohanty
Alcohol And Medication Use In Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Understanding The Effect Of Alcohol And Central Nervous System-Acting Medications On The Risk For Falls, Maitreyee Mohanty
Theses and Dissertations
Introduction: Aging, comorbid conditions, and use of medications render older adults more susceptible to alcohol-disease or alcohol-drug interactions that may lead to harmful outcomes. In this dissertation project the risk profile of alcohol and medications use among older adults was investigated. Considering the rise in CNS-acting medication use and the adverse effect profile linked to CNS-acting medications, it was also of interest to find if older adults were at risk of falling due to interactions between alcohol and CNS-acting medication. Objectives: The objectives were as follows: 1) to determine the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with at-risk drinking, 2) to …
Older Msm And Hiv/Aids: A Grounded Theory Study To Inform Prevention, Johnnie O'Neal
Older Msm And Hiv/Aids: A Grounded Theory Study To Inform Prevention, Johnnie O'Neal
Theses and Dissertations
This study sought to increase knowledge as it relates to HIV-prevention for older adults, especially for MSM who are HIV-negative. In participating in this study, participants shared their experiences, stories and feelings related to their exposure to HIV and HIV-prevention initiatives. Using a Traditional Grounded Theory method, 22 interviews with older MSM were conducted with the aim of producing a theory that explained how these men lived prior to HIV, the different ways they responded to the onset of the virus, how they have lived their lives over the last three decades, and the extent to which the virus continues …
Behavioral And Genomic Characterization Of Scheduled Ethanol Deprivation, Jonathan Warner
Behavioral And Genomic Characterization Of Scheduled Ethanol Deprivation, Jonathan Warner
Theses and Dissertations
Alcoholism is a persistent substance abuse disorder that is associated with negative health, social, and economic outcomes. Treatment strategies for alcohol use disorders are limited, and only three drugs have been approved by the FDA for treatment. Although behavioral therapy and drug combination strategies improve abstinence outcomes, the majority of those in treatment will not achieve long-term abstinence. Therefore, better treatment strategies are needed. While much progress has been made toward understanding the neurobiology of alcoholism, this knowledge has not been effectively translated into treatment strategies. Animal models of alcohol drinking have been crucial to this research effort, but until …
Broken News: Market Segmentation And Selective Exposure In Online News, Deidra Lee
Broken News: Market Segmentation And Selective Exposure In Online News, Deidra Lee
Theses and Dissertations
Research has revealed that more Americans than ever are turning to the World Wide Web as their primary source for news and information instead of legacy media outlets such as printed newspapers and magazines and broadcast news. As more and more people rely on the Internet as a primary source for news, it is important to analyze the characteristics and content of online news to expose and correct problems associated with the practices that inform its production and presentation. There are several longstanding practices in the American journalistic tradition that have been adapted to the online news environment. The practices …
Characterizing The Implementation Of Cbt For Youth Anxiety, Meghan Smith
Characterizing The Implementation Of Cbt For Youth Anxiety, Meghan Smith
Theses and Dissertations
Although evidence-based treatments (EBTs) often perform well in research settings, when EBTs are delivered in practice settings they sometimes fail to outperform usual care (UC). One reason for this could be that therapists in practice settings may not follow the EBT protocol as closely or may deliver more therapeutic interventions that align with other treatment domains. I tested this possibility in the context of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for youth anxiety by comparing how CBT was delivered in practice (i.e., community-based clinics) and research (i.e., lab) settings. A diverse sample of youth (aged 7-15) received one of two treatments to address …
Differences In Attitudes Towards People With Disabilities: Examining The Effects Of The Presence Of An Assistance Dog, Jennifer A. Coleman
Differences In Attitudes Towards People With Disabilities: Examining The Effects Of The Presence Of An Assistance Dog, Jennifer A. Coleman
Theses and Dissertations
Individuals with disabilities face various types of social stigma. Research suggests that the presence of an assistance dog leads to an increase in social interactions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether people’s attitudes toward individuals with disabilities differ when pairing that person with an assistance dog. Undergraduate students (N= 244) were randomly assigned to view an individual with a disability either alone or with an assistance dog. Participants rated their attitudes toward the individual, completed a newly developed Implicit Association Test, and answered behavioral intention questions. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that individuals with …
My Inner Mask, Genevieve Ivan
My Inner Mask, Genevieve Ivan
Theses and Dissertations
My work is comprised of masks. The indigenous power of masks inspires the spirit, energy, and soul of my work. I use masks to reveal my inner self, similar to how masks were used in ritual ceremonies in the ancient past. The masks that I create break the grounds of my physical containment and open the curtains of my creative energy and psychological chaos. They allow me to embrace my vulnerability and my strength. My work encompasses prints, paintings, and ceramic sculptures. I work expressively by layering the process of mark making in an intuitive manner. Each layer I create …
Enhancing Self-Efficacy In The Utilization Of Physical Activity Counseling: An Online Constructivist Approach With Psychologists-In-Training, Cassandra D. Pasquariello
Enhancing Self-Efficacy In The Utilization Of Physical Activity Counseling: An Online Constructivist Approach With Psychologists-In-Training, Cassandra D. Pasquariello
Theses and Dissertations
In our sedentary society, physical inactivity has become the biggest public health concern of the 21st century. In addition to physical health promotion, physical activity has been associated with a number of positive psychological and social outcomes. Psychologists are well positioned to provide physical activity counseling and may have ethical obligations to address physical activity with their clients. Training the next generation of psychologists about the role of physical activity and health is critical to ensure best practices in graduate education. Researchers have cited insufficient training as a barrier to integrating physical activity into clinical work, yet little is known …
The Nature Of Architecture, Andrew Cossaboon
The Nature Of Architecture, Andrew Cossaboon
Theses and Dissertations
I enjoy driving in the city. It makes me feel minuscule against the skyscrapers and monuments. I wonder about who has lived in the city and admire the craftsmanship, the creative design, and the intelligence it takes to engineer and build these structures. The clean lines, geometric shapes, and surface textures of the buildings inspire my works. My obsession with construction and architecture has driven my creativity. In ceramics, I reflect on architecture when forming vases and jars. I hand-build and wheel-throw my pieces, and add surface texture and lines reminiscent of stone and brickwork. Only white and black glazes …
Signal Processing Of Electroencephalogram For The Detection Of Attentiveness Towards Short Training Videos, Paul Nussbaum
Signal Processing Of Electroencephalogram For The Detection Of Attentiveness Towards Short Training Videos, Paul Nussbaum
Theses and Dissertations
This research has developed a novel method which uses an easy to deploy single dry electrode wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) collection device as an input to an automated system that measures indicators of a participant’s attentiveness while they are watching a short training video. The results are promising, including 85% or better accuracy in identifying whether a participant is watching a segment of video from a boring scene or lecture, versus a segment of video from an attentiveness inducing active lesson or memory quiz. In addition, the final system produces an ensemble average of attentiveness across many participants, pinpointing areas in …
The Development Of A Discipline: Examination Of The Profession Of Gerontology And Gerontological Professionals, Tracey Gendron
The Development Of A Discipline: Examination Of The Profession Of Gerontology And Gerontological Professionals, Tracey Gendron
Theses and Dissertations
The growth of the aging population has warranted increased training and education to prepare professionals with the specific knowledge needed to best serve older adults. Gerontology, as an academic discipline, provides professionals with the conceptual knowledge and the skills necessary to address the complexities of working with a diverse aging population. Little research has been done of the characteristics of professionals both with and without formal education in gerontology that are working with the aging population. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of career motivation, job satisfaction, attitudes about aging, career commitment, and professional identity among …
Analysis Of Prescribed Gender Roles Through The Use Of Dissociative Identity Disorder In Contemporary Film, Christian Ruiz
Analysis Of Prescribed Gender Roles Through The Use Of Dissociative Identity Disorder In Contemporary Film, Christian Ruiz
UROP Posters
Art is considered both a mirror to reality and a means of critiquing society. This is especially evident through contemporary filmmakers’ use of dissociative identity disorder (DID) in psychological thrillers from the 1990s to 2012, which is a time frame in which both film and society were notably different from those of the previous decades and in which there has not been extensive cultural study regarding DID. Through the presence of multiple selves, which is characteristic of DID, filmmakers illustrate their main characters’ attempts to resolve a stressful, or traumatic, situation. This study is an examination of the ways in …
Determinants Of Music Preference: Why Do You Like The Music You Like?, Shannon Minor
Determinants Of Music Preference: Why Do You Like The Music You Like?, Shannon Minor
UROP Posters
Turn on the radio or click play; your favorite song begins to fill your ears. You bob your head and maybe sing along, but do you question why you like the music you are hearing? Many research studies indicate that people’s emotional states dictate their music preference; however, music preference is determined by a combination of a person’s self view and the culture they are immersed in. As technology advances and the music delivery system evolves, music is able to be played more and with the option of new genres and songs. My theory is, picture a world without music, …
Heart Rate Variability As A Moderator Of Trauma Writing Outcomes, Alison Eonta
Heart Rate Variability As A Moderator Of Trauma Writing Outcomes, Alison Eonta
Theses and Dissertations
Writing about personal traumatic experiences is associated with beneficial effects on physical and psychological symptoms compared with writing about emotionally neutral events. However, not everyone benefits from trauma writing to the same extent. The present study hypothesized that the effectiveness of trauma writing may be moderated by emotion regulation, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Research also shows that greater physiological reactivity is predictive of better trauma writing outcomes. Given the importance of physiological output in emotional processing, response training was developed and found to increase appropriate physiological reactivity. Because higher RSA is thought to indicate a more flexible …
Cannabinoid Modulation Of Reinforcement Maintained By Stimulation Of The Medial Forebrain Bundle In C57bl/6j Mice, Jason Wiebelhaus
Cannabinoid Modulation Of Reinforcement Maintained By Stimulation Of The Medial Forebrain Bundle In C57bl/6j Mice, Jason Wiebelhaus
Theses and Dissertations
Cannabinoid agonists, including marijuana containing delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), are found rewarding by humans. In addition to human self-reports and experimental studies that show marijuana is rewarding, contributions from preclinical studies also have implicated cannabinoid receptors in reward-motivated behavior. One way to assess these preclinical effects of cannabinoids is intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), where an animal performs a response to receive electrical stimulation of a specific brain area or circuit known to be involved in reward. Drugs of abuse, such as psychomotor stimulants, facilitate responding for ICSS. While a few studies have shown facilitating effects of cannabinoids in rats, several have shown the …
Exploring Substance Use Disorders Community Outpatient Counselors’ Experiences Treating Clients With Co-Occurring Medical Conditions: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Lauretta Cathers
Theses and Dissertations
Abstract EXPLORING SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS COMMUNITY OUTPATIENT COUNSELORS’ EXPERIENCES TREATING CLIENTS WITH CO-OCCURRING MEDICAL CONDITIONS. AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Lauretta Anne Cathers, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013 Major Director: Amy Armstrong, PhD, Chair, Rehabilitation Counseling The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study presents the findings from a qualitative study examining substance use disorders (SUD) community outpatient treatment counselors’ experiences treating clients with co-occurring medical conditions. Interviews from five SUD community outpatient treatment counselors resulted in four emerging super-ordinate themes. The findings illustrate …
Effectiveness Of A Cbt Intervention For Persistent Insomnia And Hypnotic Dependency In An Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, Hannah Taylor
Effectiveness Of A Cbt Intervention For Persistent Insomnia And Hypnotic Dependency In An Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, Hannah Taylor
Theses and Dissertations
Previous research supports the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in patients with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses; however, questions remain about the effectiveness of CBT-I due to the fact that previous studies excluded patients with significant psychiatric symptoms and comorbid diagnoses. This study begins to address this gap in the insomnia literature by testing a five-session CBT-I intervention in a diverse sample of patients receiving mental health treatment in an outpatient psychiatry clinic (N=23) who continue to experience chronic insomnia despite receiving pharmacological treatment for sleep. Participants were randomized to CBT-I (n=13) or a treatment as usual control group (n=10). …
Spit For Science: The Relationship Between Deviant High School Behavior And College Substance Use, Preetha Palasuberniam
Spit For Science: The Relationship Between Deviant High School Behavior And College Substance Use, Preetha Palasuberniam
UROP Posters
This study examined the relationship between deviant high school behavior, as defined by symptoms of conduct disorder, and frequency of alcohol and cigarette use in the past 30 days in college freshman at VCU. Deviant high school behaviors included skipping school, running away, stealing, starting a fire, destroying property, hurting animals or people, using weapons, fighting, and lying. The sample included first year freshmen at VCU who participated in the Spit for Science study. The software SPSS was used to calculate the significance of the correlations between deviant high school behavior and frequency of alcohol and cigarette use. A sum …
Using Behavioral Incentives To Promote Exercise Compliance In Women With Cocaine Dependence, Leila Islam
Using Behavioral Incentives To Promote Exercise Compliance In Women With Cocaine Dependence, Leila Islam
Theses and Dissertations
To date, low rates of patient compliance have made it impractical to study whether regular exercise can contribute to positive outcomes in women with substance use disorders (SUD). One robust strategy for promoting and maintaining behavior change is contingency management (CM). CM has been used successfully to reinforce drug abstinence, treatment attendance, and other pro-social behaviors. CM delivers incentives (prizes) contingent upon target behaviors, though can be expensive. To reduce costs, CM is often delivered with an escalating variable-ratio schedule, first tested by Petry and colleagues (2005). As a Stage Ib behavioral therapies development project (Rounsaville et al., 2001), the …
The Role Of Pain-Related Catastrophizing In Outcomes And Recovery From Minimally Invasive And Surgical Procedures For Treating Temporomandibular Disorders, Aaron Martin
Theses and Dissertations
The current study examined the ability of pain-related catastrophizing to predict outcomes following non-surgical and surgical intervention for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). The interpersonal context of pain-related catastrophizing, referred to as the communal coping model, was also examined to determine if patient perceptions of punishing and solicitous responses from significant others would moderate or mediate relations between pain catastrophizing and outcomes. The role of pain duration as a moderator of the relation between pain-related catastrophizing and perceived significant other responding was also examined. A total of 94 patients were identified for which 65 had follow-up outcomes that could be examined. Patient …
Osteopontin Expression During The Acute Immune Response Mediates Reactive Synaptogenesis And Adaptive Outcome, Julie Chan
Theses and Dissertations
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a worldwide epidemic as the number of victims living with the resulting cognitive and physical impairment continues to rise, principally due to limited treatment options which fail to address its multifaceted sequelae. By approaching TBI therapy from a molecular standpoint, we have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms which prevent effective recovery. With this information, we can move toward the identification of novel therapeutic treatments which target specific molecules to improve patient outcome following TBI. Here, we have focused on the therapeutic potential of osteopontin (OPN), an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein …
The Impact Of Local Public Education On Economic Development, Curtis Cobert
The Impact Of Local Public Education On Economic Development, Curtis Cobert
Theses and Dissertations
The focus of this thesis is to seek and observe the patterns of economic development around local public schools of varying quality. The Greater Richmond Region (consisting of the City of Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico) were used as the basis of the study. The scores for the schools were derived from an equation that took into account some of the main quality aspects. The factors that went into the equation were graduation rates, dropout rates, standardized test scores and AP (Advance Placement) enrollment. The basis of the economic development evaluation is based on a set …
Historic Kenmore, Emily Stong
Historic Kenmore, Emily Stong
Theses and Dissertations
Located in downtown Fredericksburg, VA on the cusp of the residential and commercial zones, Kenmore is a completely restored historic plantation built in the 1770’s. The site consists of three separate buildings located thirty feet apart from each other in a linear arrangement. The architectural details are fully restored and are important aspects to the buildings and Fredericksburg’s architecture community. Kenmore Plantation will be transformed from a historic residence to a therapeutic and wellness center for women of the Fredericksburg community. The existing buildings and gardens served as a metaphor for the design concept and strategies. They are objects on …