Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development And Evaluation Of Chitosan Particle Based Antigen Delivery Systems For Enhanced Antigen Specific Immune Response, Bhanuprasanth Koppolu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Particle-based vaccine delivery systems are under exploration to enhance antigen-specific immunity against safe but poorly immunogenic polypeptide antigens. Chitosan is a promising biomaterial for antigen encapsulation and delivery due to its ability to form nano- and microparticles in mild aqueous conditions thus preserving the antigenicity of loaded polypeptides. The objective of this work is to develop a chitosan particle based antigen delivery system for enhanced vaccine response. Chitosan particle sizes, which ranged from 300 nm to 3 ìm, were influenced by chitosan concentration, chitosan molecular weight and addition rate of precipitant salt. The composition of precipitant salt played a significant …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Thinner Solid-State Nanopores, Denis Forbi Tita

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solid State nanopores that are fabricated by the ion beam sculpting process and electron beam drilling have shown great promise as a sensing device for DNA and protein molecules. Even though biological pores such as the alpha-Haemolysin have been in use for quite some time, the use of solid state Nanopores in single biomolecule detection has been on the rise since the mid 1990s. Solid State nanopores have an advantage over biological pores in that they are more robust, stable, and can be sculpted to any desired size for use in translocation experiments. One of the major challenges in Nanopore …

Aptamer-Based Spr Biosensor For Detection Of Avian Influenza Virus, Hua Bai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid and specific detection of avian influenza (AI) virus is urgently needed with the concerns over the outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in animal and human infection. Aptamers are artificial oligonucleic acid that can specifically bind to target molecules. They show comparable affinity for target virus and better thermal stability than monoclonal antibodies. Those advantages make aptamers promising candidates in diagnostic and detection applications. The goal of this research was to use DNA&ndashaptamer as the specific recognition element in a portable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor for detection of AI H5N1 virus in poultry.

A SPR biosensor was …

An Empirical Investigation Of Supply Chain Excellence In Healthcare, Brian Keith Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research is motivated by opportunities to improve the cost and quality of healthcare delivery through improved supply chain processes. This research assesses the quality of the healthcare supply chain and identifies factors that are driving supply chain excellence among organizations in the healthcare industry. The first objective of this research is to assess the state of quality measurement in the healthcare supply chain. The achievement of this first objective is presented in Chapter 3 of this dissertation in the form of a manuscript accepted for publication in The Quality Management Journal. The second research objective is to develop …