Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis And Assessment Of Radiotherapy-Enhancing Nanoparticles, Hayden Winter

Dissertations and Theses

Radiation Therapy (RT) is a common treatment for cancerous lesions that acts by ionizing matter in the affected tissue, causing cell death. The disadvantage of RT is that it is most often delivered via an external beam of radiation which must pass through healthy tissues to reach the target site, ionizing matter within healthy tissues as well. To address this drawback, techniques are being developed for increasing RT-induced cell death in a target tissue while minimizing cell death in surrounding tissues. This effect is known as radiation dose enhancement or RT enhancement.

The approach to RT enhancement studied in this …

Expanding The Versatility Of Nano Assembled Capsules As Platform Of Potential High Payload Mri Contrast Agents, Annah Farashishiko

Dissertations and Theses

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a powerful clinical modality in diagnostic medicine. It is non-invasive and offers high spatial and temporal resolution. The goal of molecular imaging is to reveal the pathophysiology underlying the observed anatomy and diagnose diseases. The detection of pathological biomarkers can lead to early recognition of diseases and improved monitoring for recurrence. Clinically available contrast agents are limited in their discrimination of contrast between tissues and they tend to have very high detection limits. Because biomarkers are very low in concentration there is a need for high payload deposition of contrast agent (CA) and targeted …

A Novel Approach To The Synthesis Of Silicon Nanowires, Joo Chick Chan

Dissertations and Theses

Contemporary VLS-SiNW synthetic methods employ CVD and laser ablation methods that produce single crystalline SiNW; which can be doped by co-flowing appropriate dopants, such as diborane (p-type) and phosphine (n-type). Not only are these gases toxic (non-green), but also the synthetic methods used are costly requiring elaborate instrumental assembly. This thesis presents a low-cost and "green" method in synthesizing and doping of SiNW in a glass tube. It was found that by selecting the appropriate metal catalyst, precursor reactants, and the reaction conditions both SiNW and carbon nanotube (CNT) can be synthesized on metallic (aluminum and copper), semiconducting (silicon) and …