Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Early Stage Bone Regeneration With Biomimetic Electrospun Fibrinogen Nanofibers And Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Michael P. Francis, Yas M. Moghaddam-White, Patrick C. Sachs, Matthew J. Beckman, Stephen M. Chen, Gary L. Bowlin, Lynne W. Elmore, Shawn E. Holt

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

The key events of the earliest stages of bone regeneration have been described in vivo although not yet modeled in an in vitro environment, where mechanistic cell-matrix-growth factor interactions can be more effectively studied. Here, we explore an early-stage bone regeneration model where the ability of electrospun fibrinogen (Fg) nanofibers to regulate osteoblastogenesis between distinct mesenchymal stem cells populations is assessed. Electrospun scaffolds of Fg, polydioxanone (PDO), and a Fg:PDO blend were seeded with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) and grown for 7-21 days in osteogenic differentiation media or control growth media. Scaffolds were analyzed weekly for histologic and molecular …

Enhanced Osseous Integration Of Human Trabecular Allografts Following Surface Modification With Bioactive Lipids, Tiffany Wang, Jack Krieger, Cynthia Huang, Anusuya Das, Michael P. Francis, Roy Ogle, Edward Botchwey

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

In this study, we used extracellular matrix (ECM) gels and human bone allograft as matrix vehicles to deliver the sphingolipid growth factor FTY720 to rodent models of tibial fracture and a critical-sized cranial defect. We show that FTY720 released from injectable ECM gels may accelerate callous formation and resolution and bone volume in a mouse tibial fracture model. We then show that FTY720 binds directly to human trabecular allograft bone and releases over 1 week in vitro. Rat critical-sized cranial defects treated with FTY720-coated grafts show increases in vascularization and bone deposition, with histological and micro-computed topography (microCT) evidence of …

The Effects Of Pet Ownership On Anxiety And Depression Among Trauma-Exposed College Students, Dung N. Nguyentran, Marlene A. Michniak, James J. Jung, Christine Q. Do

UROP Posters

Rates of anxiety and depression are prevalent in college students and can be attributed in part to stress and trauma-related events. However, studies suggest that pet ownership has the possibility of alleviating symptoms of anxiety, depression, negative emotions, and suicide. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between pet ownership and levels of anxiety and depression among those who have experienced a traumatic event. The sample was comprised of five hundred and forty-seven VCU students who completed an online survey from Spit for Science during their junior year. Linear regressions were performed to determine the nature and …

Interactively Cutting And Constraining Vertices In Meshes Using Augmented Matrices, Yu-Hong Yeung, Jessica Crouch, Alex Pothen

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We present a finite-element solution method that is well suited for interactive simulations of cutting meshes in the regime of linear elastic models. Our approach features fast updates to the solution of the stiffness system of equations to account for real-time changes in mesh connectivity and boundary conditions. Updates are accomplished by augmenting the stiffness matrix to keep it consistent with changes to the underlying model, without refactoring the matrix at each step of cutting. The initial stiffness matrix and its Cholesky factors are used to implicitly form and solve a Schur complement system using an iterative solver. As changes …

Fall 2016 Supplement To Brauneis & Schechter, Copyright: A Contemporary Approach, Robert Brauneis, Roger E. Schechter

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This cumulative supplement contains additional materials for Brauneis and Schechter, Copyright: A Contemporary Approach (1st ed. 2012) that make it current through July 2016. Special features include a hyperlinked table of references to 19 recent cases decided since July 2015, which may be helpful in getting an overview of developments over this past year; a hyperlinked table of contents to all inserts; and a chapter-by-chapter guide to using the supplement, intended for professors who are creating or updating syllabi. The supplement contains nine principal cases with notes, as well as dozens of other updates.

Double Deference In Administrative Law, Emily Hammond

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Administrative law presumes a neat system of agency rulemaking and adjudication followed by judicial review. But the reality of the administrative state departs starkly from this model. One such departure is the use of audited self-regulatory organizations (SROs) -- private organizations comprised of specific industries that formulate binding law to regulate themselves. Although SROs operate subject to the oversight of federal agencies, their power is vast, reaching significant swaths of the national and international economies. There is little to constitutionally constrain such arrangements, and whereas the administrative law model values the norms of participation, deliberation, and transparency, the procedures used …

Regulation And The Courts: Judicial Review In Comparative Perspective, Francesca Bignami

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

After a historical survey of the literature, this chapter puts forward a new analytical scheme to capture variation in comparative judicial review. The earliest, and still relevant, classification developed in the scholarly literature turns on the difference between judicial review of administrative action by the ordinary courts in the English common law and by a special body (Conseil d’Etat) connected to the executive branch in the French droit administratif. This is followed chronologically by the contrast that has been drawn by Robert Kagan and public-choice scholars between the litigious and formal American system of law and public policy and the …

Guns, Bird Feathers, And Overcriminalization: Why Courts Should Take The Second Amendment Seriously, Robert J. Cottrol, George Mocsary

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Who should the state punish? Why? Should punishment be proportional? This article surveys, in the context of these fundamental criminal-law questions, the Second Amendment’s constitutional history and jurisprudence. A vast body of evidence shows that the framers of both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments intended to protect the individual’s right to keep and carry arms for protection against both governmental and private aggression.

Yet courts, unwilling to allow disfavored groups the means of self-defense, or fearing being blamed for criminal firearm activity, have failed to enforce the right to bear arms to any meaningful extent. After the Civil War, the …

Photocopies, Patents, And Knowledge Transfer: 'The Uneasy Case' Of Justice Breyer's Patentable Subject Matter Jurisprudence, Dmitry Karshtedt

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

One aspect of Justice Stephen Breyer’s discomfort with patents, as expressed in his opinion for the Supreme Court in Mayo v. Prometheus and his dissent from the order dismissing certiorari in LabCorp v. Metabolite, is strikingly similar to one of his critiques of copyright law in The Uneasy Case for Copyright, a well-known article he wrote as Professor Breyer more than forty-five years ago. In The Uneasy Case, Breyer argued that the burdens on duplication of technical articles imposed by copyright law restrict the flow of information and prevent scientists from enjoying spillover benefits of published research. His patent opinions …

Use Of A Web-Based Dietary Assessment Tool In Early Pregnancy, Laura Mullaney, Amy C. O'Higgins, Shona Cawley, R. Kennedy, Daniel Mccartney, M.J. Turner

Articles

Background Maternal diet is critical to fetal development and lifelong health outcomes. In this context, dietary quality indices in pregnancy should be explicitly underpinned by data correlating food intake patterns with nutrient intakes known to be important for gestation.

Aims Our aim was to assess the correlation between dietary quality scores derived from a novel online dietary assessment tool (DAT) and nutrient intake data derived from the previously validated Willett Food Frequency Questionnaire (WFFQ).

Methods 524 women completed the validated semiquantitive WFFQ and online DAT questionnaire in their first trimester. Spearman correlation and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to test associations …

Detection Of Yersinia Enterocolitica Serotype O:9 In The Faeces Of Cattle With False Positive Reactions In Serological Tests For Brucellosis In Ireland, Don O'Grady, Kevin Kenny, Seamus Power, John Egan, Fergus Ryan

Articles

Intestinal infection by Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:9 (YeO9) in cattle has been linked to false positive serological reactivity (FPSR) in diagnostic tests for brucellosis. Although eradicated in Ireland, brucellosis monitoring still identifies seropositive animals, usually one or two (termed singletons) per herd, which are classed as FPSR. To investigate a link between FPSR and YeO9, faeces and blood were collected from singleton FPSR cattle, and from companion animals, in eight selected herds with more than one FPSR animal, for YeO9 culture and Brucella serology. YeO9 was isolated from 76/474 (16%) FPSR singletons in 309 herds, but not from any of …

The Level Of Nmda Receptor In The Membrane Modulates Amyloid-Β Association And Perforation, Christian Peters, Fernando J. Sepúlveda, Eduardo Fernández-Pérez, Robert W. Peoples, Luis G. Aguayo

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects mostly the elderly. The main histopathological markers are the senile plaques formed by amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) aggregates that can perforate the plasma membrane of cells, increasing the intracellular calcium levels and releasing synaptic vesicles that finally lead to a delayed synaptic failure. Several membrane proteins and lipids interact with Aβ affecting its toxicity in neurons. Here, we focus on NMDA receptors (NMDARs) as proteins that could be modulating the association and neurotoxic perforation induced by Aβ on the plasma membrane. In fact, our results showed that decreasing NMDARs, using enzymatic or siRNA …

N-Acetylcysteine Decreases Binge Eating In A Rodent Model, M. M. Hurley, Jon M. Resch, Brian Maunze, M. M. Frenkel, David A. Baker, Sujean Choi

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Binge-eating behavior involves rapid consumption of highly palatable foods leading to increased weight gain. Feeding in binge disorders resembles other compulsive behaviors, many of which are responsive to N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which is a cysteine prodrug often used to promote non-vesicular glutamate release by a cystine–glutamate antiporter. To examine the potential for NAC to alter a form of compulsive eating, we examined the impact of NAC on binge eating in a rodent model. Specifically, we monitored consumption of standard chow and a high-fat, high carbohydrate western diet (WD) in a rodent limited-access binge paradigm. Before each session, rats received either …

Cb1 Receptor Antagonism Blocks Stress-Potentiated Reinstatement Of Cocaine Seeking In Rats, Jayme R. Mcreynolds, Elizabeth M. Doncheck, Oliver Vranjkovic, Geoffrey S. Ganzman, David A. Baker, Cecilia J. Hillard, John R. Mantsch

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Rationale

Under some conditions, stress, rather than directly triggering cocaine seeking, potentiates reinstatement to other stimuli, including a subthreshold cocaine dose. The mechanisms responsible for stress-potentiated reinstatement are not well defined. Endocannabinoid signaling is increased by stress and regulates synaptic transmission in brain regions implicated in motivated behavior.

Objectives

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) signaling is required for stress-potentiated reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats.

Methods

Following i.v. cocaine self-administration (2 h access/day) and extinction in male rats, footshock stress alone does not reinstate cocaine seeking but reinstatement is …

Potassium Intake, Bioavailability, Hypertension, And Glucose Control, Michael S. Stone, Lisa Martyn, Connie M. Weaver

Articles

Potassium is an essential nutrient. It is the most abundant cation in intracellular fluid where it plays a key role in maintaining cell function. The gradient of potassium across the cell membrane determines cellular membrane potential, which is maintained in large part by the ubiquitous ion channel the sodium-potassium (Na+-K+) ATPase pump. Approximately 90% of potassium consumed (60-100 mEq) is lost in the urine, with the other 10% excreted in the stool, and a very small amount lost in sweat. Little is known about the bioavailability of potassium, especially from dietary sources. Less is understood on how bioavailability may affect …

International Protection Of Free Trade In Procurement Under Nafta’S Chapter 10 On Public Procurement: The Pathway From Nafta To Wto Government Procurement Agreement To A Potential European-Us Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership, Christopher R. Yukins

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which entered into force on 1 January 1994, is an agreement between Mexico, Canada and the United States to ensure that covered goods and services fall under a comprehensive free trade agreement among the three countries. NAFTA included, in Chapter 10, provisions opening up many aspects of the parties’ procurement markets. As a practical matter, however, NAFTA’s procurement-related provisions have largely been overshadowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), which includes the United States, Canada, and many other member parties, but not Mexico. Perhaps in part because Canada …

Money Can’T Buy You Love: Valuing Contributions By Nonresidential Fathers, Laurie S. Kohn

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article examines the roots of the disproportionate values the legal system assigns to paternal roles in the family law and child support system, looking to social norms, traditional family law, and the state's interests in the well-being of children. This hierarchy of values reveals itself in the current structure of child support laws and in the enforcement of parenting-time orders on the one hand and child support obligations on the other. The article considers how the allocation of disproportionate values impacts low-income fathers, mothers, children, and the state. The article envisions ways in which the family law system could …

The Effects Of Sceletium Tortuosum In The Chick Anxiety-Depression Model, Emily Mae Fountain

Honors Theses

Sceletium tortuosum (S. tortuosum), known colloquially as Kanna, is a natural botanical that is thought to reduce anxiety, elevate mood, and produce euphoria. This study explores S. tortuosum's properties in the chick anxiety-depression model, a pre-clinical drug efficacy screening model that shares many features to clinical stress-related disorders and has high predictive validity. Socially-raised male Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks age 4-6 days were given intraperitoneal injections of either a vehicle, imipramine, or S. tortuosum fraction (10, 20, 30, 50, 75, or 100mg/kg) 15 minutes prior to being placed in a stress-inducing isolation chamber for 60 minutes and distress vocalizations were …

Exploration In The Effectiveness Of Solid Lipid Nanoparticle Formulations In Enhancing Ocular Delivery Of Win 55, 212 In The Management Of Glaucoma, Emily Ann Nesbit

Honors Theses

Glaucoma is a progressive and degenerative ocular disease which, without proper treatment, can result in permanent blindness. Due to a complex organization of lipophilic and hydrophilic ocular membranes, topical delivery of therapeutic agents has also proved to be a challenging task. Cannabinoids, such as Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), have intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering and neuroprotective capabilities. Due to the unfavorable physiochemical characteristics of these molecules, delivery into the eye through a topical route is very difficult. Previous research has shown that prodrug derivatization and formulations such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) improve the physiochemical characteristics and ocular bioavailability of such molecules. WIN …

The Other Face Of Catharine Cockburn, Christopher Mckee

Honors Theses

This paper explores the subtle nuances between John Locke and Catharine Trotter Cockburn, with an emphasis on Cockburn's ideas on space and the Great Chain of Being. I argue that Cockburn meshes Lockean empiricism and 18th-Century Neoplatonism to create an idiosyncratic approach to the ideas of her time. I also show that Cockburn's method can offer novel insights on Locke's thinking matter.

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Factors Mediating The Expression Of Alternative Mating Tactics In Male Green Treefrogs, Hyla Cinerea, Aleah R. Liddell

Honors Theses

Males of many anuran species optimize their chances of reproductive success by vigorously calling to attract females or by adopting a non-calling satellite mating tactic. Satellite males perch silently near calling males and attempt to intercept females that the caller attracts. Models predict that tactic expression in male anurans is influenced by either extrinsic factors (i.e., the social-acoustic environment) or intrinsic factors (i.e., circulating hormone levels and body condition), but it is unclear how these factors potentially interact to influence tactic expression. For example, males often adopt a satellite mating tactic in response to the broadcast vocalizations of conspecific males, …

Food For Thought: The Role Of Food In Romantic Relationships, Breana Cook

Honors Theses

Food is a necessary component of our lives as we need it to live. However, food can be seen as a relatively important, unconscious or not, factor in interpersonal relationships. We investigated the role of food and cooking in modern, romantic relationships through surveying 68 individuals from a junior college in the southern region of the United States. We predicted that there was a connection between food and dating and relationships and concluded this by exploring the social stigmas surrounding food, the gendered perceptions of these stigmas, and perception of food in a certain context to assess the meaning of …

The Effects Of Tillage, Glyphosate, And Genetic Modification On Bacterial Root Endophyte Composition In Zea Mays, Breena Lori Nolan

Honors Theses

The community structure of the endophytic bacteria in Zea mays roots was examined for the potential effects of glyphosate application, tillage strategies, and whether or not the corn plant in question was of an organic or glyphosate-resistant variety. Roots were harvested from plots designated to receive their specific treatments at the USDA-ARS Crop Production Systems Research Unit Farm. Vortexing, sonication, and tissue grinding, extraction, and next generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes from these roots were used to describe their bacterial community composition. Results indicated significant differences in the bacterial communities correlated to tillage practice or corn type, whereas glyphosate …

Food With Integrity: A Financial Analysis Of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kaylie M. Rowell

Honors Theses

For the accounting alternative thesis, we were to pick a publicly traded company domiciled in the U.S that we were interested in and research their financials, business, and industry. I chose Chipotle Mexican Grill due to their unique restaurant brand. Chipotle's Food with Integrity campaign makes up their main brand, but brings the issue of finding enough suppliers to meet their needs. If Chipotle has to use processed food to fulfill the lack of the natural, organic food then they will eventually lose their customer's trust. Chipotle has also expanded globally so there are always issues that appear when dealing …

Methods Of Quantification And Characterization Of Coccidian Oocysts, Mariam Abunemeh

Honors Theses

Coccidiosis is a major economic and health risk in the poultry industry. The oocysts of the causative agent of coccidiosis are excreted in animal feces and must be ingested by a new host for a new infection to begin. These oocysts are microscopic and very similar between species. The ability to quantify and identify the oocysts that are causing the illness is important to controlling this disease. My research first compares methods of quantifying oocysts of domestic turkeys for their ease of use and accuracy. Next, I attempt to identifying novel oocysts from a different turkey species by morphological and …

The Evolution Of The Sugarcoated American Food Market And The Paradox Of Artificial Sweeteners, Mary Moses Hitt

Honors Theses

Living in present-day America makes it hard to imagine an era when sugar was not as inexpensive and readily available as it is now. It is in little colorful packets on restaurant tables, filled to the brim in jars at coffee shops, or mixed into candy products located at the beginning of every cash register. Today, sugar is one of, if not, the most widely consumed food products in the world, but our love for sugar is nothing new. Humans have been experiencing the bliss triggered by sweet-tasting foods since their earliest diets, which included fruits and honey. Our diets …

Mapping Forest Health Using Spectral And Textural Information Extracted From Spot-5 Satellite Images, Jinghui Meng, Shiming Li, Wei Wang, Qingwang Liu, Shiqin Xie, Wu Ma

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Forest health is an important variable that we need to monitor for forest management decision making. However, forest health is difficult to assess and monitor based merely on forest field surveys. In the present study, we first derived a comprehensive forest health indicator using 15 forest stand attributes extracted from forest inventory plots. Second, Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the forest health indicator and the spectral and textural measures extracted from SPOT-5 images. Third, all-subsets regression was performed to build the predictive model by including the statistically significant image-derived measures as independent variables. Finally, the …

Northern Long-Eared Bat Day-Roosting And Prescribed Fire In The Central Appalachians, Usa, W. Mark Ford, Alexander Silvis, Joshua B. Johnson, John W. Edwards, Milu Karp

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis Trovessart) is a cavity-roosting species that forages in cluttered upland and riparian forests throughout the oak-dominated Appalachian and Central Hardwoods regions. Common prior to white-nose syndrome, the population of this bat species has declined to functional extirpation in some regions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including portions of the central Appalachians. Our long-term research in the central Appalachians has shown that maternity colonies of this species form non-random assorting networks in patches of suitable trees that result from longand short-term forest disturbance processes, and that roost loss can occur with these disturbances. Following two …

Synergistic Effects Of Climate Change And Grazing On Net Primary Production Of Mongolian Grasslands, Shree R. S. Dangal, Hanqin Tian, Chaoqun Lu, Shufen Pan, Neil Pederson, Amy Hessl

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In arid and semi-arid regions, grassland degradation has become a major environmental and economic problem, but little information is available on the response of grassland productivity to both climate change and grazing intensity. By developing a grazing module in a process-based ecosystem model, the dynamic land ecosystem model (DLEM), we explore the roles of climate change, elevated CO2, and varying grazing intensities in affecting aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) across different grassland sites in Mongolia. Our results show that both growing season precipitation totals and average temperature exert important controls on annual ANPP across six sites over a precipitation gradient, …

Light Interception By Pasture Canopies As Affected By Height And Botanical Composition, Edward Barrow Rayburn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.