Matching Items (6)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

153903-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In the nano-regime many materials exhibit properties that are quite different from their bulk counterparts. These nano-properties have been shown to be useful in a wide range of applications with nanomaterials being used for catalysts, in energy production, as protective coatings, and in medical treatment. While there is no shortage

In the nano-regime many materials exhibit properties that are quite different from their bulk counterparts. These nano-properties have been shown to be useful in a wide range of applications with nanomaterials being used for catalysts, in energy production, as protective coatings, and in medical treatment. While there is no shortage of exciting and novel applications, the world of nanomaterials suffers from a lack of large scale manufacturing techniques. The current methods and equipment used for manufacturing nanomaterials are generally slow, expensive, potentially dangerous, and material specific. The research and widespread use of nanomaterials has undoubtedly been hindered by this lack of appropriate tooling. This work details the effort to create a novel nanomaterial synthesis and deposition platform capable of operating at industrial level rates and reliability.

The tool, referred to as Deppy, deposits material via hypersonic impaction, a two chamber process that takes advantage of compressible fluids operating in the choked flow regime to accelerate particles to up several thousand meters per second before they impact and stick to the substrate. This allows for the energetic separation of the synthesis and deposition processes while still behaving as a continuous flow reactor giving Deppy the unique ability to independently control the particle properties and the deposited film properties. While the ultimate goal is to design a tool capable of producing a broad range of nanomaterial films, this work will showcase Deppy's ability to produce silicon nano-particle films as a proof of concept.

By adjusting parameters in the upstream chamber the particle composition was varied from completely amorphous to highly crystalline as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. By adjusting parameters in the downstream chamber significant variation of the film's density was achieved. Further it was shown that the system is capable of making these adjustments in each chamber without affecting the operation of the other.
ContributorsFirth, Peter (Author) / Holman, Zachary C (Thesis advisor) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
135382-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In competitive Taekwondo, Electronic Body Protectors (EBPs) are used to register hits made by players during sparring. EBPs are comprised of three main components: chest guard, foot sock, and headgear. This equipment interacts with each other through the use of magnets, electric sensors, transmitters, and a receiver. The receiver is

In competitive Taekwondo, Electronic Body Protectors (EBPs) are used to register hits made by players during sparring. EBPs are comprised of three main components: chest guard, foot sock, and headgear. This equipment interacts with each other through the use of magnets, electric sensors, transmitters, and a receiver. The receiver is connected to a computer programmed with software to process signals from the transmitter and determine whether or not a competitor scored a point. The current design of EBPs, however, have numerous shortcomings, including sensing false positives, failing to register hits, costing too much, and relying on human judgment. This thesis will thoroughly delineate the operation of the current EBPs used and discuss research performed in order to eliminate these weaknesses.
ContributorsSpell, Valerie Anne (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
155770-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Nanomaterials exhibit unique properties that are substantially different from their bulk counterparts. These unique properties have gained recognition and application for various fields and products including sensors, displays, photovoltaics, and energy storage devices. Aerosol Deposition (AD) is a relatively new method for depositing nanomaterials. AD utilizes a nozzle to accelerate

Nanomaterials exhibit unique properties that are substantially different from their bulk counterparts. These unique properties have gained recognition and application for various fields and products including sensors, displays, photovoltaics, and energy storage devices. Aerosol Deposition (AD) is a relatively new method for depositing nanomaterials. AD utilizes a nozzle to accelerate the nanomaterial into a deposition chamber under near-vacuum conditions towards a substrate with which the nanomaterial collides and adheres. Traditional methods for designing nozzles at atmospheric conditions are not well suited for nozzle design for AD methods.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software, ANSYS Fluent, is utilized to simulate two-phase flows consisting of a carrier gas (Helium) and silicon nanoparticles. The Cunningham Correction Factor is used to account for non-continuous effects at the relatively low pressures utilized in AD.

The nozzle, referred to herein as a boundary layer compensation (BLC) nozzle, comprises an area-ratio which is larger than traditionally designed nozzles to compensate for the thick boundary layer which forms within the viscosity-affected carrier gas flow. As a result, nanoparticles impact the substrate at velocities up to 300 times faster than the baseline nozzle.
ContributorsHoffman, Trent (Author) / Holman, Zachary C (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
135508-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Neurological disorders are difficult to treat with current drug delivery methods due to their inefficiency and the lack of knowledge of the mechanisms behind drug delivery across the blood brain barrier (BBB). Nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising drug delivery method due to their biocompatibility and ability to be modified by

Neurological disorders are difficult to treat with current drug delivery methods due to their inefficiency and the lack of knowledge of the mechanisms behind drug delivery across the blood brain barrier (BBB). Nanoparticles (NPs) are a promising drug delivery method due to their biocompatibility and ability to be modified by cell penetrating peptides, such as transactivating transciptor (TAT) peptide, which has been shown to increase efficiency of delivery. There are multiple proposed mechanisms of TAT-mediated delivery that also have size restrictions on the molecules that can undergo each BBB crossing mechanism. The effect of nanoparticle size on TAT-mediated delivery in vivo is an important aspect to research in order to better understand the delivery mechanisms and to create more efficient NPs. NPs called FluoSpheres are used because they come in defined diameters unlike polymeric NPs that have a broad distribution of diameters. Both modified and unmodified 100nm and 200nm NPs were able to bypass the BBB and were seen in the brain, spinal cord, liver, and spleen using confocal microscopy and a biodistribution study. Statistically significant differences in delivery rate of the different sized NPs or between TAT-modified and unmodified NPs were not found. Therefore in future work a larger range of diameter size will be evaluated. Also the unmodified NPs will be conjugated with scrambled peptide to ensure that both unmodified and TAT-modified NPs are prepared in identical fashion to better understand the role of size on TAT targeting. Although all the NPs were able to bypass the BBB, future work will hopefully provide a better representation of how NP size effects the rate of TAT-mediated delivery to the CNS.
ContributorsCeton, Ricki Ronea (Author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Sirianni, Rachael (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
135541-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
There is growing interest in intranasal delivery of therapeutics because of direct nose-to-brain pathways which are able to bypass biological barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), that have historically limited our ability to effectively deliver drugs to the central nervous system (CNS). Since these pathways were first discovered, there

There is growing interest in intranasal delivery of therapeutics because of direct nose-to-brain pathways which are able to bypass biological barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), that have historically limited our ability to effectively deliver drugs to the central nervous system (CNS). Since these pathways were first discovered, there has been significant preclinical success in delivering a wide range of therapeutics to the CNS with additional growing efforts to further improve delivery through nanoparticle drug delivery systems. Here we sought to improve intranasal delivery of DiR, a lipophilic small molecule cyanine dye, to the CNS by surface modifying a poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticle with a short peptide derived from the rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG). The specific aims of this thesis were to evaluate administration route-dependent delivery of RVG nanoparticles to the CNS, and to identify anatomical transport pathways by which nanoparticles facilitate transport of small lipophilic molecules. Route-dependent delivery kinetics and distribution were studied by administering DiR loaded nanoparticles to healthy Balb/C mice. Specific tissues were homogenized and the fluorescent intensity of DiR was measured and compared to control tissue spiked with known amounts of dye. While bioavailability of DiR after intranasal administration was near 0% with minimal exposure to peripheral organs, quick and efficient delivery to the CNS was still observed. CNS delivery after intranasal administration was rapid with peak concentrations at 30 minutes post-administration followed by broad clearance by 2 hours. Regional differences of delivery of DiR to the CNS demonstrated engagement of direct nose-to-brain transport pathways with high delivery being observed to the olfactory bulb, brain stem, and trigeminal nerve. RVG modification however presented only modest targeting benefits. In conclusion, the biodistribution of DiR after intranasal administration of DiR loaded nanoparticles showed high potential for the direct nose-to-brain delivery while limiting peripheral exposure of lipophilic small molecule drugs.
ContributorsChung, Eugene Paul (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Sirianni, Rachael (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
132413-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability, with approximately 1.7 million incidents reported annually. Following a TBI, patients are likely to sustain sensorimotor and cognitive impairments and are at an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases later in life. Despite this, robust therapies that treat TBI neuropathology

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability, with approximately 1.7 million incidents reported annually. Following a TBI, patients are likely to sustain sensorimotor and cognitive impairments and are at an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases later in life. Despite this, robust therapies that treat TBI neuropathology are not available in the clinic. One emerging therapeutic approach is to target epigenetic mediators that modulate a variety of molecular regulatory events acutely following injury. Specifically, previous studies demonstrated that histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) administration following TBI reduced inflammation, enhanced functional outcomes, and was neuroprotective. Here, we evaluated a novel quisinostat-loaded PLA-PEG nanoparticle (QNP) therapy in treating TBI as modeled by a controlled cortical impact. We evaluated initial pharmacodynamics within the injured cortex via histone acetylation levels following QNP treatment. We observed that QNP administration acutely following injury increased histone acetylation specifically within the injury penumbra, as detected by Western blot analysis. Given this effect, we evaluated QNP therapeutic efficacy. We observed that QNP treatment dampened motor deficits as measured by increased rotarod latency to fall relative to blank nanoparticle- and saline-treated controls. Additionally, open field results show that QNP treatment altered locomotion following injury. These results suggest that HDACi therapies are a beneficial therapeutic strategy following neural injury and demonstrate the utility for nanoparticle formulations as a mode for HDACi delivery following TBI.
ContributorsMousa, Gergey (Author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Newbern, Jason (Committee member) / Sirianni, Rachael (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05