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Clarinet Studio Recital, video
No full textStudio Recital videoClarinet Studio Recital, videoTuesday, November 11, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, Virgini
Clarinet Studio Recital
No full textStudio RecitalClarinet Studio RecitalTuesday, November 11, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, Virgini
Layers of Identity
No full textStudents explore identity, specifically that identity is layered, shaped by personal experience, cultural background, community ties, and unique traits. Students conduct interviews with peers, reflect on identity components, both individually and collectively, and create a layer artwork on transparent acetate sheets. When stacked the layers visually showcase the layers of the student’s identity and represent how identity is complex, constructed, and always shaped by multiple influences.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cstae_resource_early/1006/thumbnail.jp
Senior Recital, Luke Sardinia, horn
No full textSenior RecitalLuke Sardinia, hornassisted by David Kim, pianoFriday, November 21, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.Sonia Vlahcevic Concert HallW.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts922 Park Avenue | Richmond, VirginiaThe presentation of this senior recital will fulfill in part the requirements for the Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Luke Sardinia studies horn with Dr. Patrick Smith
CHARACTERIZATION OF OUTER SURFACE PROTEIN C OF BORRELIELLA ROLE IN HOST TROPISM
No full textThe Lyme disease spirochetes, Borreliella spp., are maintained in nature through a complex enzootic cycle involving Ixodes ticks and a diverse set of reservoir hosts. The outer surface protein C (OspC) of the bacterium is an essential virulence factor required for transmission from ticks and early infection of mammals. Deletion of ospC abolishes infectivity, yet the precise molecular mechanisms underlying OspC function remain incompletely defined. In this dissertation, I examined the contribution of OspC type identity to host specificity. OspC is highly diverse, with over 30 genetically stable types described. While intra-type sequences are conserved (\u3e95% amino acid identity), inter-type sequences show substantial divergence (\u3c 65% identity). It has been hypothesized that this diversity contributes to host range determination among Borreliella species. To test this, I employed a genetic type-switch strategy in the B. burgdorferi strain B31-5A4, which naturally produces OspC type A. The ospC type A gene was replaced with ospC genes from diverse species-associated types, including B. afzelii type PKo, B. garinii type Pwa, B. andersonii types MOS-1b and MOD1, and several naturally occurring B. burgdorferi types (A, H, I, K, M, E, F, and Mok3A). All type switch strains expressed OspC on the cell surface and retained native plasmid content.
Mouse infection studies revealed that most type-switch strains established infection, as confirmed by PCR, seroconversion, and culture of tissue biopsies. In contrast, type switch strains expressing either OspC type PKo, I, or MOS-1b did not establish infection. Additionally, six OspC type A/PKo hybrid strains were generated to delineate the region of OspC that was essential for establishing infection. Of the hybrid mutants, strains expressing OspC constructs A1A2P3 or A1P2P3, were unable to infect mice, despite robust in vitro expression and stability. These findings provide direct experimental evidence that OspC type identity is a determinant of host specificity and demonstrate that certain inter-type combinations can abolish essential OspC functions.
Together, this work supports the growing hypothesis that OspC is a multifunctional protein, mediating critical yet distinct roles in host colonization, dissemination, and immune activation. The findings also implicate OspC as a driver of host range diversity among Borreliella species. Future studies should focus on identifying additional host-specific ligand binding partners, defining the mechanistic basis of OspC multifunctionality, and testing type-switch strains across alternative reservoirs to assess ecological relevance. By elucidating how OspC mediates both essential and type-specific functions, this dissertation advances our understanding of Lyme disease pathogenesis
LINKING DISTURBANCE & MACROPHYTE COLONIZATION–EXTINCTION DYNAMICS TO INVASION SUCCESS & COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY: INTEGRATING POPULATION, COMMUNITY, & LANDSCAPE PERSPECTIVES
No full textAquatic plants, macrophytes, are foundational components of freshwater ecosystems, influencing abiotic conditions, providing habitat structure, and shaping biodiversity and community assembly processes. Their role is particularly critical in dynamic systems where disturbance regimes and colonization processes interact to shape community patterns and species distributions. Despite their ecological importance, macrophytes remain underrepresented in theoretical and applied studies of metacommunity dynamics and invasion ecology, especially in natural systems experiencing frequent environmental fluctuations. Here we aim to elucidate how macrophytes influence and respond to spatial and temporal variation in aquatic ecosystems, with a particular focus on colonization-extinction dynamics, invasion success, and community assembly. First, we use a five-year observational dataset from a riverine rock pool network to explore how local patch characteristics mediate the effects of landscape-level flooding on the colonization and extinction dynamics of the invasive macrophyte Hydrilla verticillata. Then we present a factorial field experiment testing how propagule pressure and flooding disturbance interact to shape H. verticillata invasion outcomes in the same rock pool system. Last, we build on insights from these studies to investigate how macrophyte presence, growth form, and biomass influence aquatic community structure, using both field surveys and a controlled mesocosm experiment manipulating H. verticillata and Lemna minor.
Our findings suggest that macrophyte dynamics are strongly shaped by environmental context, and in turn, act as key ecological filters that structure abiotic conditions and community composition in aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, we found that H. verticillata colonization is greater in large, infrequently flooded pools further from the river, while local extinction is greater in small, frequently flooded pools close to the river, highlighting the importance of local context in shaping species distributions. We then show that under stable conditions, propagule number and size both increased H. verticillata growth, but these effects are erased by flooding, demonstrating that disturbance can override propagule-driven invasion success.
Finally, macrophyte identity and biomass were shown to significantly alter abiotic conditions and community structure in both natural and experimental settings, influencing species richness, colonizer composition, and macrophyte biomass. This work demonstrates that macrophytes both respond to and actively structure aquatic environments in context-dependent ways. By integrating long-term observational data, field experiments, and mesocosm studies, this work advances our understanding of how macrophyte identity, disturbance regimes, and colonization dynamics shape freshwater community assembly in an era of rapid global change
Machine Learning-Driven Optimization for Utility-scale Quantum Optimization
No full textHard combinatorial optimization problems, often mapped to Ising models, promise potential solutions with quantum advantage but are constrained by limited qubit counts in near-term devices. We present an innovative quantum-inspired framework that dynamically compresses large Ising models to fit available quantum hardware of different sizes. Thus, we aim to bridge the gap between large-scale optimization and current hardware capabilities. Our method leverages a physics-inspired GNN architecture to capture complex interactions in Ising models and accurately predict alignments among neighboring spins (aka qubits) at ground states. By progressively merging such aligned spins, we can reduce the model size while preserving the underlying optimization structure. It also provides a natural trade-off between the solution quality and size reduction, meeting different hardware constraints of quantum computing devices. Extensive numerical studies on Ising instances of diverse topologies show that our method can reduce instance size at multiple levels with virtually no losses in solution quality on the latest D-Wave quantum annealers. Additionally, we demonstrate that GNN architectures can address the parameter initialization challenge in variational quantum algorithms, specifically QAOA for MaxCut problems, by learning structure-to-parameter mappings that achieve performance comparable with physics-based heuristics when trained on sufficiently large datasets
Targeting CCR5 as a therapeutic approach for CNS neuropathology in HIV: Insights into sex as a biological variable
No full textThe introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy has significantly improved the longevity and quality of life of people with HIV (PWH). However, neurocognitive impairments along with mood and motor deficits, collectively referred to as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), remain a prevalent concern in this virally suppressed clinical population. Since HAND is considered a progressive disease, therapeutic intervention is critical to combat worsening symptoms. This dissertation aims to explore the underlying mechanisms that contribute to cognitive decline in PWH. Importantly, sex is considered as a biological variable, when applicable, so that we can better understand sexually dimorphic pathways that may influence HIV neuropathology and subsequent treatment. HIV-1 transactivator of transcription (Tat) has been linked to the development of HAND through neuroinflammatory and neurotoxic mechanisms, and emerging evidence suggests that C-C chemokine 5 receptor (CCR5) is a promising target to relieve neurocognitive impairments. To test whether CCR5 is involved in cognitive changes in HAND, we used a non-infectious, transgenic model in which HIV-1 Tat is inducibly expressed. Overall, our findings indicate that males are more susceptible to Tat’s detrimental effects, which we demonstrate can impair spatial learning and memory, as well as increase Tau hyperphosphorylation. Importantly, treatment with maraviroc (MVC), a CCR5 inhibitor, improved the Tat-induced cognitive deficits seen, and hippocampal BDNF processing was enhanced as a result. MVC also selectively reduced phosphorylated tau in the hippocampus of male mice. These molecular changes likely promote a neuroprotective environment where healthy neurons and synaptic processes can thrive, ultimately improving cognitive function. Exploratory studies using a phospho-protein microarray assay detecting over 150 analytes further revealed that MVC may counteract Tat-induced dysregulation of multiple signaling proteins, particularly kinases involved in learning, memory, and synaptic function. Additionally, we explored the influence of CCR5’s ligands on synaptodendritic injury, a key structural component of synaptic function and plasticity. CCL3 appeared to be the most abundant ligand in our in vitro model, warranting further study of the CCL3/CCR5 axis in Tat-induced neurotoxicity. Taken together, the work in this dissertation is meant to expand on our current knowledge of HIV-neuropathology and suggest a novel therapeutic approach involving CCR5 that considers sex-specific mechanisms
From trans health to vaccines: A theoretically driven model exploring factors related to susceptibility to medical misinformation
Get PDFMedical misinformation represents a significant threat to both individual and public health. While some consequences of this form of misinformation are relatively benign, there can be serious consequences ranging from a decreased trust in healthcare systems to an increased likelihood of epidemic outbreak and death. One such consequence can be seen in the recent legislative actions taken regarding access to transgender healthcare in the United States. Gender affirming care has been shown to benefit the mental well-being of transgender youth and adults; however, the demonstrably false information that underlies these legislative efforts can and has yielded significant harm. But what leads individuals to being susceptible to this (or other) medical misinformation in the first place? Often perceived as political, limited work has explored the underlying factors that might yield increased susceptibility to medical misinformation. Some previous work on misinformation more generally has suggested two potential pathways that yield increased susceptibility to misinformation: superficial information processing and selective processing. While the superficial information processing account would suggest that individuals who are susceptible to misinformation are relying on intuition or gut feelings (i.e., heuristics), the selective processing account for susceptibility to misinformation suggests that individuals engage with misinformation in a way that relies on their previous biases and perspectives (i.e., motivated reasoning). Other work related to social learning has suggested that social influence may impact beliefs about both concepts and people – individuals may learn their beliefs from trusted social referents. Guided by these theories, study 1 collected data from a balanced sample of participants (N=270) identifying as either Democrat, Republican, or Independent which were used to develop a structural equation model (SEM) that simultaneously examined the impacts of motivated reasoning (via latent variables of resistance to systems change and situational antipathy), socially influenced beliefs, and heuristic reliance on susceptibility to medical misinformation about gender affirming healthcare. Overall, the model demonstrated good fit while indicating that motivated reasoning and socially influenced beliefs played significant roles in susceptibility to medical misinformation. Two follow-up tests noted that model fit benefited from the removal of the heuristic reliance variable, and that party affiliation did not impact model fit but did impact patterns of responding. These results suggest that the strongest predictors of susceptibility to medical misinformation about gender affirming healthcare were motivated reasoning and social influence regardless of party affiliation. Drawing upon these models, study 2 recruited a balanced sample of participants (N=506) who self-identified as Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to complete a similar questionnaire assessing susceptibility to misinformation about vaccines and abortion. Two SEMs were constructed to examine susceptibility to medical misinformation about abortion and vaccines. Both models demonstrated excellent fit and suggested that the two strongest predictors of each form of medical misinformation were motivated reasoning and social influence. Follow-up analyses suggested that, while heuristic reliance did not significantly yield increased susceptibility to medical misinformation, the removal of the variable examining heuristic reliance did not impact model fit. Further, both models demonstrated configural and metric invariance, suggesting that not only does model fit remain the same regardless of political affiliation but that the patterns of responding remain the same as well. Results from this study may enhance understanding of factors that yield increased susceptibility to medical misinformation and disinformation, while also providing insight into means by which these pathways might be disrupted
Professional Learning Partnerships: An Exploratory Study into How Institutions of Higher Education Can Support PK–12 Educators
Get PDFDr. Jonathan Becker, a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Associate Professor in the School of Education (SOE), submitted a request for assistance from a Doctorate of Educational Leadership team at VCU. Dr. Becker was tasked with establishing a professional studies program that would offer non-credit bearing professional learning experiences to PK–12 educators. The VCU SOE wanted to learn how to design an accessible and relevant non-credit bearing program for PK–12 educators that maximized the value of the VCU SOE while generating revenue. To support the VCU SOE, the team conducted research using an exploratory sequential mixed methods model. The team gathered qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and then conducted a survey with educators to collect quantitative data. After data analysis, five distinct recommendations were provided to the VCU SOE, discussing themes such as building relationships, creating relevant professional learning experiences, and aligning internal resources