Targeted Delivery of Anesthetic Agents to Bone Tissues using Conductive Microneedles Enhanced Iontophoresis for Painless Dental Anesthesia

Pain management during dental procedures is a cornerstone for successful daily practice. In current practice, the traditional needle and syringe injection is used to administer local anesthesia. However, the appearance of long needles and the pain associated with it often leads to dental anxiety deterring timely interventions. Microneedles (MNs) have emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to hypodermic needles and shown to be effective in transdermal drug delivery applications. In this article, the potential use of MNs for local anesthesia delivery in dentistry is explored. The development of a novel conductive MN array that can be used in combination with iontophoresis technique to achieve drug penetration through the oral mucosa and the underlying bone tissue is presented. The conductive MN array plays a dual-role, creating micro-conduits and lowering the resistance of the oral mucosa. The reduced tissue resistance further enhances the application of a low-voltage current that is able to direct and accelerate the drug molecules to target the sensory nerves supplying teeth. The successful delivery of lidocaine using this new strategy in a clinically relevant rabbit incisor model is shown to be as effective as the current gold standard.     

Panorama of boron nitride nanostructures via lamp ablation

A diverse range of remarkable boron nitride (BN) nanostructures subsuming nano-horns, nano-rods, nano-platelets, and clusters of hollow nanospheres (nano-onions, arguably of greatest applied and fundamental interest) have been produced exclusively from crystalline BN precursor powder via lamp ablation. The procedure is safe, devoid of toxic reagents, simple, rapid and scalable—generating some genres of nanoparticles that had previously proved elusive. Product structure and composition were unambiguously assessed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy.

     

脱硫胶粉在乳化改性沥青中的应用

考察了不同规格胶粉及不同脱硫程度的脱硫胶粉对橡胶改性乳化沥青性能的影响,结果表明,采用100目胶粉即可制备出橡胶改性乳化沥青,但乳化沥青的性能较差;采用活化度为50%左右的100目脱硫胶粉制备乳化沥青时,脱硫胶粉的用量相比于胶粉可大幅提高;在通过外掺100目50%左右活化度的脱硫胶粉(质量分数15%,以沥青计,下同)和质量分数2%的苯乙烯-丁二烯-苯乙烯嵌段共聚物改性的乳化沥青中添加质量分数1%的丁苯胶乳,所制备橡胶改性乳化沥青无筛上剩余物,5 d储存稳定性为2.9%,蒸发残留物的25℃针入度、软化点和5℃延度分别为55 (0.1 mm)、64.5℃和22.5 cm,能够满足乳化改性沥青的技术指标要求。     

基于3D打印技术复制砂浆节理的剪切试验及峰值抗剪强度模型

为进一步研究节理三维形貌特征与节理峰值抗剪强度的关系,首先采用巴西劈裂试验获取了自然劈裂岩石表面,通过三维扫描技术获取了节理面形态的高精度点云,通过逆向建模得到了自然岩石表面的立体模型,结合3D打印技术制作出了与自然岩石表面一致的PLA模具,以3D打印获得的底模通过水泥砂浆浇筑了含有自然结构面形貌的相似节理面试样。PLA模具与复制材料差异较大,复制材料在凝结过程中不易与PLA模具黏结,进而使脱模过程较为方便,不会破坏节理面。同时PLA模具可重复进行相似材料复制工作,具有可重复使用的优点。然后进行了具有5组形貌面的20个水泥砂浆节理面在4种不同法向荷载情况下的结构面剪切试验,得到了结构面剪切位移-荷载曲线。研究了结构面峰值抗剪强度、峰值位移、剪切刚度影响因素。节理经过剪切后形貌面出现不同程度的磨损,其磨损范围与等效高差分布范围基本一致,并且在等效高差为剪断破坏模式且成片的区域磨损较为严重。在新粗糙度指标基础上提出了新的峰值抗剪强度模型,经试验对比显示出新模型的有效性。在新模型基础上提出了一个简化模型。对比发现新模型简化后其计算精度较新模型有所降低但由于所需参数减小计算较为方便,新模型简化结果精度虽然有所下降但是还是比Barton公式精度高。     

Effect of coupling agent content on properties of composites made from polylactic acid and chrysanthemum waste

Chrysanthemum flower is among one of the highly sought after and widely planted flower crops, in particular for cultural and religious ceremonies. However, the chrysanthemum stem and stalk have little value and usually discard as by‐product waste from floristry. The objective of this research is to investigate the potential value of utilizing chrysanthemum stem and stalk as reinforcing fillers for thermoplastic composites. In this study, 2‐mm thick composite sheet containing predefined formulations of polylactic acid (PLA), chrysanthemum waste filler (CWF) ranging from 15 to 60 phr, and maleated polyethylene (MAPE) coupling agent up to 5 phr were prepared with the aid of Haake internal mixer and compression molding. The effect of MAPE loading on tensile, thermal, and morphological properties of PLA/CWF composites was investigated. The findings revealed that PLA/CWF composite attained improved tensile modulus compared to the neat PLA, and the tensile modulus increases with higher concentration of CWF. However, both tensile strength and elongation at break reduces with increase loading of CWF. Overall, PLA/CWF composites with MAPE shows better performance compared to those without MAPE, where an optimum strength of 21.8 MPa can be achieved with 60 phr CW and 3 phr MAPE. The measured tensile strength is comparable to alternatives natural fiber thermoplastic composites demonstrating its potential to be used in non‐structurally demanding application. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 26:10–16, 2020. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Synthesis and Preliminary Evaluation of 11C-Labeled VU0467485/AZ13713945 and Its Analogues for Imaging Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtype 4

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) have five distinct subunits (M₁–M₅) and are involved in the action of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the central and peripheral nervous system. Attributed to the promising clinical efficacy of xanomeline, an M₁/M₄-preferring agonist, in patients of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, M₁- or M₄-selective mAChR modulators have been developed that target the topographically distinct allosteric sites. Herein we report the synthesis and preliminary evaluation of ¹¹C-labeled positron emission tomography (PET) ligands based on a validated M₄R positive allosteric modulator VU0467485 (AZ13713945) to facilitate drug discovery. [¹¹C]VU0467485 and two other ligands were prepared in high radiochemical yields (>30 %, decay-corrected) with high radiochemical purity (>99 %) and high molar activity (>74 GBq μmol⁻¹). In vitro autoradiography studies indicated that these three ligands possess moderate-to-high in vitro specific binding to M₄R. Nevertheless, further physiochemical property optimization is necessary to overcome the challenges associated with limited brain permeability.     

三维碗状结构CoS2/C复合材料的制备及其在超级电容器中的应用

以二氧化硅为硬模板,采用碳化和硫化工艺制备出具有三维碗状结构的CoS_2/C复合材料.利用XRD,Raman和XPS研究了所制备材料的相组成,晶体结构,元素组成和价态.利用SEM和TEM对其微观形貌进行了表征,并采用电化学工作站分析了CoS_2/C作为超级电容器电极材料的电化学性能.结果表明:三维碗状结构CoS_2/C复合材料具有优良的电化学性能,在1 A/g的电流密度下比容量可以达到466 F/g.将CoS_2/C和N-rGO分别作为正极和负极组装的水系非对称超级电容器器件的电压窗口可以拓宽到1.6 V.该器件在0.5 A/g的电流密度下能量密度可以达到13.6 wh/kg,功率密度达到374.5 w/kg.在3 A/g的电流密度下经过5000次循环充放电后容量保持率达到了87%.     

Fabrication and Thermal Dissipation Properties of Carbon Nanofibers Derived from Electrospun Poly(Amic Acid) Carboxylate Salt Nanofibers

Polyimides (PIs) possess excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability, and chemical resistance and can be converted to carbon materials by thermal carbonization. The preparation of carbon nanomaterials by carbonizing PI‐based nanomaterials, however, has been less studied. In this work, the fabrication of PI nanofibers is investigated using electrospinning and their transformation to carbon nanofibers. Poly(amic acid) carboxylate salts (PAASs) solutions are first electrospun to form PAAS nanofibers. After the imidization and carbonization processes, PI and carbon nanofibers can then be obtained, respectively. The Raman spectra reveal that the carbon nanofibers are partially graphitized by the carbonization process. The diameters of the PI nanofibers are observed to be smaller than those of the PAAS nanofibers because of the formation of the more densely packed structures after the imidization processes; the diameters of the carbon nanofibers remain similar to those of the PI nanofibers after the carbonization process. The thermal dissipation behaviors of the PI and carbon nanofibers are also examined. The infrared images indicate that the transfer rates of thermal energy for the carbon nanofibers are higher than those for the PI nanofibers, due to the better thermal conductivity of carbon caused by the covalent sp² bonding between carbon atoms.