Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationShunt catheter obstruction due to the foreign body host response is a serious problem in the treatment of hydrocephalus. Our goal was to reduce inflammatory cell adhesion on silicone catheters in an effort to limit shunt obstruction. We investigated chemical and mechanical cues that may influence macrophage and astrocyte adhesion, and using this knowledge, examined pertinent catheter modifications. A novel in vitro bioreactor, capable of measuring dependencies between macrophage and astrocyte adhesion, intracranial flow rate, pressure, pulsation frequency, and protein concentration, was developed and tested. Results demonstrated that a combination of chemical cues (particularly surface chemistry) and mechanical cues (particularly shear stress) influenced macrophage and astrocyte attachment to shunt catheters. The surface chemistry of the catheter was modified using long term coatings with anti-inflammatory capabilities including poly(ethylene) glycol and N-acetyl-L-cysteine, both of which significantly inhibited macrophage and astrocyte adhesion when tested in the bioreactor. Additionally, the shear stress through ventricular catheter drainage holes was manipulated by changing the diameter of these openings. Data generally suggested that macrophage and astrocyte adhesion decreases with increasing hole size. Two barriers were overcome in this research: (1) the development of an in vitro system capable of testing catheter constructs in a method superior to standard static in vitro culturing; (2) significant surface and architecture modifications that inhibit inflammatory cell adhesion which could be used in future studies to inhibit inflammatory-derived obstruction. Together, the implementation of this system and the modifications to current catheter design will help answer questions of how and why catheters fail

An Analysis of the Effects of Selected Demographic Variables on the Readiness of Kindergarten Students.

Non

Race in the Life Sciences: An Empirical Assessment, 1950-2000

The mainstream narrative regarding the evolution of race as an idea in the scientific community is that biological understandings of race dominated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries up until World War II, after which a social constructionist approach is thought to have taken hold. Many believe that the horrific outcomes of the most notorious applications of biological race—eugenics and the Holocaust—moved scientists away from thinking that race reflects inherent differences and toward an understanding that race is a largely social, cultural, and political phenomenon. This understanding of the evolution of race as a scientific idea informed the way that many areas of law conceptualize human equality, including civil rights, human rights, and constitutional law. This Article provides one of the first large-scale empirical assessments of publications in peer-reviewed biomedical and life science journals to examine whether biological theories of race actually lost credibility in the life sciences after World War II. We find that biological theories of race transformed yet persisted in the dominant academic discourse up through modern times—a finding that contradicts the central narrative that the life sciences became “color-blind” or “post-racial” several decades ago. The continued salience of biological race in the life sciences suggests that more attention needs to be paid to the questionable assumptions driving this research on biological race and its potential spillover effects, i.e., how persisting claims of biological race in the scientific literature might reconstitute its significance in law and society in a manner that may be harmful to racial minorities

Intravital Imaging of Cellular Response due to Traumatic Brain Injury Using Confocal Microscopy

Introduction: Cellular reaction to traumatic brain injury is complex and involves considerable interactions between cells and reactivity to foreign bodies. Our objective was to assess neurons, microglia, astrocytes, and intracellular Ca2+ signaling by creating a novel confocal microscopy technique involving an air immersed lens that does not sacrifice resolution and limits signal attenuation. This study aimed to create a consistent dynamic methodology to observe the cortical cellular response using real-time intravital imaging as trauma is being induced. Methods: Once surgical plane was achieved, rodent cortices were exposed via craniotomy and blunt insertion with a silicone shunt catheter into the lateral ventricle was performed at a controlled rate. Neurons, microglia, astrocytes, and intracellular Ca+2signaling were fluorescently tagged with DiD (4-chlorobenzenesulfonate), tomato lectin from lycopersicon esculentum, sulforhodamine B, and Cal 520 AM, respectively. Activity tracking of fluorescently tagged markers 700 microns from blunt insertion TBI was performed using upright resonant scanning confocal microscopy. Results: Neurons, microglia, astrocytes, and Ca2+ signaling were identified at a depth of 100 microns from the meninges. Gross movement of cells was visualized during shunting by identifying specific cells and tracking movement over time. Preliminary data shows that astrocytes are in closest proximity to the inserted shunt catheter. Conclusion: This novel method identified cell types and tracked gross movement. Although preliminary data and other post-hoc studies indicate primarily astrocytic involvement, it shows that we can successfully record immediate cell involvement around the shunt catheter for the first time. Future studies will improve cellular tracking and imaging resolution

Recommendation for the Enrollment of Hydrocephalus Patients in Children\u27s Special Health Care Services

Recommendation for the Enrollment of Hydrocephalus Patients in Children\u27s Special Health Care Services Background: Pediatric hydrocephalus is a devastating and costly disease. The mainstay of treatment is surgical shunting of cerebrospinal fluid. These shunts fail at a high rate. The relationship between clinical decision making and shunt failure is poorly understood and multifactorial. Treatment paradigms have changed little since the 1980s. In order to investigate factors that affect outcomes, we have established the Wayne State University shunt biobank. Methods: Children\u27s Hospital of Michigan is one of the participating centers in our biobank and has enrolled 73 patients from whom we have collected 115 shunt samples and 40 CSF samples. Samples were directly obtained from the OR. CSF samples were kept cold until they were spun down and put on liquid nitrogen. The shunt samples were fixed in PFA and stored in PBS+ azide. Clinical data was taken from electronic medical records and maintained in a REDCap database under coded identifiers. Regression analysis was performed to determine factors affecting number of revisions. Results: Patient age and Medicaid usage were found to be significant predictors of the number revisions; patient weight and the median income of the family\u27s zip code were not significant predictors. The number of revisions also significantly varied by type of shunt system used. Conclusion: Many studies have used median income of a patient\u27s zip code as a stand in for socioeconomic status, our study found Medicaid enrollment to be a more significant predictor than income. This variable is commonly available in patient EMRs and merits further investigation for its usage in larger cohorts. Moreover, given that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has a free program to provide specialist care to children with a number of congenital conditions, among which hydrocephalus is included, it is our recommendation that hospital centers make efforts to enroll their patients in this program as it was associated with better outcomes than Medicaid. Unsurprisingly age was a very significant predictor of the number of shunt failures. The relationship between number of shunt revisions and shunt system type needs further examination to yield prognostic insight, as most patients are only placed on non-standard shunt systems after experiencing multiple failures with the standard ventriculoperitoneal shunt

Canadian Women’s Responses to Royal Tours from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day

In the United Kingdom and Canada, support for the monarchy is higher among women than men. From Walter Bagehot’s political theory in the nineteenth century to modern day polling data, monarchism among women is usually attributed to royal events in popular culture from nineteenth-century royal weddings to twenty-first century depictions of the royal family in television and film. Press coverage of royal tours of Canada in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries often depicted women as passive bystanders in crowds, only gradually adding depictions of women as active participants in welcoming royalty. The history of Canadian women’s responses to royal tours and other public engagements by royalty in Canada from the eighteenth century to the present day reveals that there is a long history of women assuming active roles when royalty are present in Canada, seeking redress in legal cases in the eighteenth century, requesting patronage for organizations benefiting women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and debating the future of the monarchy in Canada in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The impact of royalty in Canada on women’s lives has become part of Canadian culture and literature. The higher levels of support for monarchism among women compared to men should therefore not be assumed to be due to passively viewing royal weddings, fashions or popular culture alone, but should be placed within this context of women actively engaging with royalty during their public appearances in Canada, viewing royal occasions as opportunities to have their concerns addressed by prominent public figures. </div

Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1996.Includes bibliographic references (leaves 63-66). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66).by Carolyn Louise Harris.M.S

Centering Health Equity and Structural Racism in Health Sciences Curriculum

This paper overviews scientific evidence and some of the local Richmond, Virginia history related to structural racism and health disparities. The paper then describe recent demands for racial justice and curriculum transformation that have been made by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) health sciences students, faculty and community members as well as the action steps the university has taken to address these demands. The paper concludes by calling on VCU health sciences faculty members to take action in the following three ways: (a) by participating in professional conversations about the intersections of health equity, structural racism, and health sciences education, (b) by familiarizing themselves with available institutional resources for creating inclusive and social justice oriented curriculum and learning environments, and (c) by considering participation in new systemic racism and implicit bias faculty learning communities offered by the VCU Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences

Promoting VCU Community Solutions

This promotional project focuses on VCU Community Solutions — the new interdisciplinary initiative for education, research, and service. Since this initiative demonstrates the synergy that students, faculty, and community members can create by working together, the promotional video captures their perspectives. Through interviews and footage of community programs, the video shows how VCU Community Solutions engages university and community partners in addressing critical social issues — creating more imovative approaches by working together