Matching Items (397)
ContributorsWard, Geoffrey Harris (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-18
Description
Controlled release formulations for local, in vivo drug delivery are of growing interest to device manufacturers, research scientists, and clinicians; however, most research characterizing controlled release formulations occurs in vitro because the spatial and temporal distribution of drug delivery is difficult to measure in vivo. In this work, in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of local drug delivery is performed to visualize and quantify the time resolved distribution of MRI contrast agents. I find it is possible to visualize contrast agent distributions in near real time from local delivery vehicles using MRI. Three dimensional T1 maps are processed to produce in vivo concentration maps of contrast agent for individual animal models. The method for obtaining concentration maps is analyzed to estimate errors introduced at various steps in the process. The method is used to evaluate different controlled release vehicles, vehicle placement, and type of surgical wound in rabbits as a model for antimicrobial delivery to orthopaedic infection sites. I are able to see differences between all these factors; however, all images show that contrast agent remains fairly local to the wound site and do not distribute to tissues far from the implant in therapeutic concentrations. I also produce a mathematical model that investigates important mechanisms in the transport of antimicrobials in a wound environment. It is determined from both the images and the mathematical model that antimicrobial distribution in an orthopaedic wounds is dependent on both diffusive and convective mechanisms. Furthermore, I began development of MRI visible therapeutic agents to examine active drug distributions. I hypothesize that this work can be developed into a non-invasive, patient specific, clinical tool to evaluate the success of interventional procedures using local drug delivery vehicles.
ContributorsGiers, Morgan (Author) / Caplan, Michael R (Thesis advisor) / Massia, Stephen P (Committee member) / Frakes, David (Committee member) / McLaren, Alex C. (Committee member) / Vernon, Brent L (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
African Swine Fever (ASF), endemic in many African countries, is now spreading to other continents. Though ASF is capable of incurring serious economic losses in affected countries, no vaccine exists to provide immunity to animals. Disease control relies largely on rapid diagnosis and the implementation of movement restrictions and strict eradication programs. Developing a scalable, accurate and low cost diagnostic for ASF will be of great help for the current situation. CIM's 10K random peptide microarray is a new high-throughput platform that allows systematic investigations of immune responses associated with disease and shows promise as a diagnostic tool. In this study, this new technology was applied to characterize the immune responses of ASF virus (ASFV) infections and immunizations. Six sets of sera from ASFV antigen immunized pigs, 6 sera from infected pigs and 20 sera samples from unexposed pigs were tested and analyzed statistically. Results show that both ASFV antigen immunized pigs and ASFV viral infected pigs can be distinguished from unexposed pigs. Since it appears that immune responses to other viral infections are also distinguishable on this platform, it holds the potential of being useful in developing a new ASF diagnostic. The ability of this platform to identify specific ASFV antibody epitopes was also explored. A subtle motif was found to be shared among a set of peptides displaying the highest reactivity for an antigen specific antibody. However, this motif does not seem to match with any antibody epitopes predicted by a linear antibody epitope prediction.
ContributorsXiao, Liang (Author) / Sykes, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Zhao, Zhan-Gong (Committee member) / Stafford, Phillip (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Opioid use in the United States is skyrocketing. Overdose deaths have increased 433% in
the last decade and will continue climbing. In addition to the mortality caused by illicit
opioid misuse, morbidity rates have also risen. People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)
demonstrate higher rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis C Virus
(HCV), Endocarditis, Persistent Abscesses, Staphylococcus Aureus (S. aureus, Staph)
and other skin infections. This thesis serves as (1) a systematic review of the differences
in health conditions experienced by PWID and (2) an examination of the trends in skin
and soft tissue infection from a small sample in Phoenix, Arizona. The author argues that
PWID suffer from an increased rate of comorbid conditions associated with substance
use. Targeted social work interventions could be useful in reducing the rates of disease
and their impact on the individual and community.
the last decade and will continue climbing. In addition to the mortality caused by illicit
opioid misuse, morbidity rates have also risen. People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)
demonstrate higher rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis C Virus
(HCV), Endocarditis, Persistent Abscesses, Staphylococcus Aureus (S. aureus, Staph)
and other skin infections. This thesis serves as (1) a systematic review of the differences
in health conditions experienced by PWID and (2) an examination of the trends in skin
and soft tissue infection from a small sample in Phoenix, Arizona. The author argues that
PWID suffer from an increased rate of comorbid conditions associated with substance
use. Targeted social work interventions could be useful in reducing the rates of disease
and their impact on the individual and community.
ContributorsCohen, William H (Author) / Mendoza, Natasha (Thesis advisor) / Wolfersteig, Wendy (Committee member) / McLoone, Claire (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
ContributorsBolari, John (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-10-04
ContributorsOftedahl, Paul (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-09-29
Description
In the years following the HIV epidemic, much has changed in the way of public health, the social epidemic of stigma has remained. It is the assertion of the authors that stigma can be combatted through the propagation of accurate education and exposure to the lasting negative impacts of social stigma on persons living with HIV in the United States at present. Although individuals who are not apart of this community cannot truly understand the impacts of HIV-related stigma on those directly impacted by it, a sense of understanding and compassion may be elicited through the breakdown of social stigma into comprehensible components and the provision of stigma-inspired artwork. In addition to providing a background on the scientific basis of Human immunodeficiency virus and its spread, the authors have elected to utilize public engagement by means of an anonymous survey as well as personal interactions with HIV advocates to synthesize paintings. Responses were collected from approximately 300 survey participants via social media with no demographic information collected. It was the hope of the authors that the lack of identifying questions may prompt participants to answer freely and honestly to improve overall understanding of social perceptions of HIV and its related stigma. These paintings and resources deemed appropriate based on the results of the aforementioned survey are to be displayed on a webpage for easier access and engagement with a broader audience.Moreover, this webpage is intended to be maintained and utilized beyond the timeframe of this Undergraduate Honors Thesis for the intended purpose of promoting stigma-free HIV advocacy and education.
ContributorsRidgley, Nathan Laurence (Co-author) / Luigs, Stephanie (Co-author) / Jacobs, Bertram (Thesis director) / Salamone, Damien (Committee member) / Spencer, Glen (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Blood donations today undergo extensive screening for transfusion transmitted infections (TTI) since the discovery of the first infectious agent in the early 1900s. Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) is a serological test used widely in disease detection. NAT is known to rapidly and effectively detect pathogenic genomic material in blood by reducing the "window period" of infection. However, NAT produces false negative results for disease positive samples posing a risk of disease transmission. Therefore, NAT is used in conjunction with the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to mitigate these risks. However, the ELISA assay also poses the same risk as NAT. This study proposes immunosignaturing as an alternative serological test that may combat this risk and investigates whether it would be more effective than other standardized serological tests in disease detection. Immunosignaturing detects antibodies by utilizing a microarray of randomized peptide sequences. Immunosignaturing provides information about an individual's immune health from the pattern of reactivity of antibody-peptide binding. Unlike ELISA and NAT, immunosignaturing can be programmed to detect any disease and detect multiple diseases simultaneously. Using ELISA, NAT, and immunosignaturing, immune profiles of asymptomatic patients were constructed for 10 different classes of blood borne diseases. A pattern of infection was identified for each disease and the sensitivity and specificity of these assays were assessed relative to each other. Results indicate that immunosignaturing can be a viable diagnostic tool in blood testing. Immunosignatures demonstrated increased sensitivity and specificity compared to ELISA and NAT in discerning disease positive and negative samples within and across different classes of disease.
ContributorsSharma, Megumi (Author) / McFadden, Grant (Thesis director) / Nickerson, Cheryl (Committee member) / Green, Alex (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
A Review of the Current Understanding on Immune Cell Sensitivity to Variation in Energy Availability
Description
This study takes a broad look into the existing research on the relationship between two physiological topics, nutrition and immunity in vertebrates, specifically the mammalian and avian branches. This was achieved by critiquing available studies on different types of immune cells, and how variable energy availability, as well as specific pathogens, impact cell function. Notably, most studies examined individuals with compromised immune systems, which reveals an existing knowledge gap in the linkages between nutrition and immunity in healthy organisms. Links between immunity and nutrition were identified across the studies, with the three main energy molecules, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, implicated in functional roles as immune modulators. Stimulatory and inhibitory effects occur dependent on elevated and depleted nutrient levels, and multiple cell types are sensitive to changes in nutrient availability. Further studies should be conducted on healthy individuals of model species, as well as wildlife and other non-model species to identify and describe the effects of host nutritional status on the spread of pathogens and the implications at the population level for humans, domestic animals, and wildlife.
ContributorsViteri, Xela Amariana (Author) / Moore, Marianne (Thesis director) / Penton, Christopher (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
ContributorsMarshall, Kimberly (Performer) / Meszler, Alexander (Performer) / Yatso, Toby (Narrator) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-09-16