Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2016, American Culture Studies

While popular movies are often overlooked in film studies, the action-adventure genre in the 1980s has drawn considerable academic attention. The consensus among the literature is that a conservative backlash (spurred on by Ronald Reagan's two terms in office) against a resurgent equality movement gave rise to hypermasculine movies like First Blood and Predator and hypermasculine stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. While this still holds true, a closer look at the movies and the era reveals a much more nuanced picture. A thorough examination of the culture, the movies, and the male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—through the lens of affect theory, cinematography, and spectacle, among others—uncovers a number of significant cultural phenomena that have the potential to shape future academic work. This study not only elucidates and reconstructs the conception of filmic spectacle to include the male body on-screen, it also identifies two types of male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—the muscle-bound, aesthetically spectacular body and the lithe, kinesthetically spectacular body. Additionally, this study argues that filmic spectacle (as experienced by viewers) is actually made up of two discrete dimensions, a physical dimension composed of massive scale and explosions and a physiological one composed of affect and emotion. Unpacking spectacle in this way ultimately produces a number of new tools for film scholars while reimagining, in a significant way, American culture in the 1980s, the action-adventure movies of the decade, and the greater cultural currents in the Reagan era.

Committee: Theodore F. Rippey Ph.D. (Advisor); Thomas A. Mascaro Ph.D. (Other); Andrew E. Hershberger Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jeffrey A. Brown Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Aesthetics; American Studies; Cinematography; Comparative; Ethnic Studies; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Mass Media; Motion Pictures

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Integrated Biomedical Science Graduate Program

Glioblastoma multiform is one of the deadliest cancers known and represents approximately 40% of all primary brain tumors diagnosed. A major histopathological hallmark of these tumors is increased vascularity and micro-vascular proliferation. Work recently completed by our lab showed increased micro-vascular density (MVD) following oncolytic virus (OV) therapy. To this end we created a novel armed OV termed RAMBO (Rapid Anti-angiogenesis Mediated By Oncolytic virus) that contains the transgene econding Vasculostatin (Vstat120). Vstat120 is the extracellular fragment of BAI1 that is proteolytically processed at a conserved G protein coupled receptor proteolytic cleavage site (GPS), resulting in the release of secreted Vstat120. Our work with RAMBO, in two GBM mouse xenografts studies, showed a significant enhancement of survival compared to the control virus, HSVQ. Additionally, subcutaneous GBM xenografts treated with RAMBO had a significant reduction in tumor MVD and vessel perfusion. In 2007 Park et. Identified BAI-1 as a phagocytic receptor expressed on cells of a monocytic lineage. Additionally, a synthetic peptide with 5 Thrombospondin Type-1 repeats and an integrin RGD binding domain was able to inhibit BAI-1 phagocytosis of apoptotic bodies. Our results with RAMBO showed that conditioned medium (CM), derived from infected glioma cells, significantly inhibits N13 and BV2 murine microglia phagocytosis of carboxylate coated beads and microglia migration. In vivo FACS analysis of microglia and monocytes isolated from mice bearing U87Delta-EGFR intracranial gliomas treated with RAMBO, HSVQ or PBS revealed a significant increase in monocyte infiltration into tumors treated by HSVQ; while no change in microglia or monocyte infiltration was found for mice treated with RAMBO compared to PBS treated tumors. FACS analysis for monocyte activation markers Ly6-C, MHC-II, CD86, and CD206 revealed a significant increase in receptor expression levels for monocytes issoalted (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Blaveen Kaur PhD (Advisor); E.A. Chiocca MD, PhD (Committee Co-Chair); William Carson MD (Committee Member); James Waldman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Research; Immunology; Neurology; Oncology; Virology