Long-term sustained-released in situ gels of a water-insoluble drug amphotericin B for mycotic arthritis intra-articular administration: preparation,in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Amphotericin B (AMB) was often used in intra-articular injection administration for fungal arthritis, because it could often bring a satisfactory therapeutic efficacy and a minimum systemic toxic side effect. However, because of the multiple operations and the frequent injections, the compliance of the patients was bad. Therefore, to develop a long-term sustained-released preparation of AMB for mycotic arthritis intra-articular administration is of great significance. The purpose of present study was to develop a long-term sustained-released in situ gel of a water-insoluble drug AMB for mycotic arthritis intra-articular administration. Based on the evaluations of the in vitro properties of the formulations, the formulation containing 10% (w/w) ethanol, 15% (w/w) PG, 0.75% (w/w) HA, 5% (w/w) purified soybean oil, 0.03% (w/w) α-tocopherol, 15% (w/w) water and 55% (w/w) glyceryl monooleate was selected as a suitable intra-articular injectable in situ gel drug delivery system for water-insoluble drug AMB. Furthermore, the results of the in vivo study on rabbits showed that the selected formulation was a safe and effective long-term sustained-released intra-articular injectable AMB preparation. Therefore, the presented in situ AMB gel could reduce the frequency of the administration in the AMB treatment of fungal arthritis, and then would get a good patient compliance.     

Structure–phase state of the surface layers in rails subjected to differential hardening

A layer-by-layer analysis of the structures, the phase compositions, and the defect substructures of differentially hardened rails has been carried by optical and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the material volume of the rail head fillet is cooled faster than the volume located along the central axis.     

On the modeling of bending responses of graphene-reinforced higher order annular plate via two-dimensional continuum mechanics approach

This research presents bending responses of FG-GPLRC plates based upon higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) for various sets of boundary conditions. The rule of the mixture and modified Halpin–Tsai model are engaged to provide the effective material constant of the composite layers. By employing Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of the structure are derived and solved with the aid of the differential quadrature method (DQM). Afterward, a parametric study is done to present the effects of three kinds of FG patterns, weight fraction of the GPLs, radius ratio, and thickness to inner radius ratio on the bending characteristics of the FG-GPLRC disk. Numerical results reveal that in the initial value of the \(Zt/h\), using more GPLs for reinforcing the structure provides an increase in the normal stresses but this matter is inverse for the higher value of the \(Zt/h\). The results show that considering the smaller radius ratio is a reason for boosting the shear stresses of the structure for each \(Zt/h\). Another consequence is that for the negative value of \(Zt/h\), it is true that by increasing \(h/{R}_{i}\) , the normal stresses increases but if there is positive value for \(Zt/h\), the radial and circumferential stresses fall down by having an increase in the \(h/{R}_{i}\).

     

A review on ultrasonic spot welding of copper alloys

As a solid state joining process, ultrasonic spot welding has been proven to be a promising technique for joining copper alloys. However, challenges still remain in employing ultrasonic spot welding to join copper alloys. This article comprehensively reviews the current state of ultrasonic spot welding of copper alloys with a number of critical issues including materials flow, plastic deformation, temperature distribution, vibration, relative motion, vertical displacement, interface friction coefficient, online monitoring technique, coupled with the macrostructure and microstructure, the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. In addition, the future trends in this field are provided.     

Nanomaterials for radiotherapeutics-based multimodal synergistic cancer therapy

Over the past decade, numerous studies have attempted to enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy (external beam radiotherapy and internal radioisotope therapy) for cancer treatment. However, the low radiation absorption coefficient and radiation resistance of tumors remain major critical challenges for radiotherapy in the clinic. With the development of nanomedicine, nanomaterials in combination with radiotherapy offer the possibility to improve the efficiency of radiotherapy in tumors. Nanomaterials act not only as radiosensitizers to enhance radiation energy, but also as nanocarriers to deliver therapeutic units in combating radiation resistance. In this review, we discuss opportunities for a synergistic cancer therapy by combining radiotherapy based on nanomaterials designed for chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, gas therapy, genetic therapy, and immunotherapy. We highlight how nanomaterials can be utilized to amplify antitumor radiation responses and describe cooperative enhancement interactions among these synergistic therapies. Moreover, the potential challenges and future prospects of radio-based nanomedicine to maximize their synergistic efficiency for cancer treatment are identified.