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.     

Software assurance practices for mobile applications

Mobile software applications have to cope with a particular environment that involves small size, limited resources, high autonomy requirements, competitive business models and many other challenges. To provide development guidelines that respond to these needs, several practices have been introduced; however, it is not clear how these guidelines may contribute to solve the issues present in the mobile domain. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the mobile ecosystem challenges many of the premises upon which the proposed practices were designed. In this paper, we present a survey of the literature on software assurance practices for mobile applications, with the objective of describing them and assessing their contribution and success. We identified, organized and reviewed a body of research that spans in three levels: software development processes, software product assurance practices, and software implementation practices. By carrying out this literature survey, we reviewed the different approaches that researchers on Software Engineering have provided to address the needs that raise in the mobile software development arena. Moreover, we review the evolution of these practices, identifying how the constant changes and modernization of the mobile execution environment has impacted the methods proposed in the literature. Finally, we introduced discussion on the application of these practices in a real productive setting, opening an area for further research that may determine if practitioners have followed the proposed assurance paradigms.     

Is the List of Incomplete Open Cubes Complete?

Variations of Incomplete Open Cubes is the major project by the twentieth-century conceptual artist Sol LeWitt. In this paper we interpret the enumerative component of the project as embeddings of graphs. This formulation permits use of an algorithm to check the completeness of the list of the structures produced by the artist. Our conclusion is that the artist found the correct number of structures (that is, 122), but that his list contains a mistake in the presentation of a pair of incomplete cubes, a discovery that appears not to have been noted before.     

Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible hydroxyapatite coated ferrite

Ferrite particles coated with biocompatible phases can be used for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. We have synthesized substituted calcium hexaferrite, which is not stable on its own but is stabilized with small substitution of La. Hexaferrite of chemical composition (CaO)_0.75(La₂0₃)_0.20(Fe₂O₃)₆ was prepared using citrate gel method. Hydroxyapatite was prepared by precipitating it from aqueous solution of Ca(NO₃)₂ and (NH₄)₂HPO₄ maintaining pH above 11. Four different methods were used for coating of hydroxyapatite on ferrite particles. SEM with EDX and X-ray diffraction analysis shows clear evidence of coating of hydroxyapatite on ferrite particles. These coated ferrite particles exhibited coercive field up to 2 kOe, which could be made useful for hysteresis heating in hyperthermia. Studies by culturing BHK-21 cells and WBC over the samples show evidence of biocompatibility. SEM micrographs and cell counts give clear indication of cell growth on the surface of the sample. Finally coated ferrite particle was implanted in Kasaulli mouse to test its biocompatibility. The magnetic properties and biocompatibility studies show that these hydroxyapatite coated ferrites could be useful for hyperthermia.     

Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of chloride doped polyaniline

Chloride doped polyaniline conducting polymer films have been prepared in a protic acid medium (HCl) by potentiodynamic method in an electrochemical cell and studied by cyclic voltammetry and FTIR techniques. The FTIR spectra confirmed Cl^- ion doping in the polymers. The polymerization rate was found to increase with increasing concentration of aniline monomer. But the films obtained at high monomer concentration were rough having a nonuniform flaky polyaniline distribution. Results showed that the polymerization rate did not increase beyond a critical HCl concentration. Cyclic voltammetry suggested that, the oxidation-reduction current increased with an increase in scan rate and that the undoped polyaniline films were not hygroscopic whereas chloride doped polyaniline films were found to be highly hygroscopic.     

XMAC纵波时差高分辨率处理方法

在充分调研阵列声波测井分波提取方法的基础上，针对阿特拉斯公司的交叉多极子阵列声波测井（XMACⅡ）提供的单极波形信息，研究纵波时差提取及高分辨率处理方法。首先利用相关-互功谱法高精度地提取纵波时差，然后针对XMACⅡ仪器的接收阵列，研究组合子阵列的方法，形成共发射子阵列和共接收子阵列，最后利用子阵列对提取的纵波时差做高分辨率处理。处理现场实际测井资料，并将高分辨率处理成果与引进的eXpress软件处理成果、实测的国产高分辨率声波（纵波）测井曲线及岩心纵波时差对比分析，表明该方法提取的纵波时差曲线的纵向分辨率有很大提高，时差计算准确可靠，提取的单极纵波时差与国产高分辨率声波时差及岩心纵波时差的平均相对误差均小于7%。该方法具有较高的实用价值和广阔的应用前景。     

外源乙烯对黄瓜幼苗根系生长及内源多胺含量的影响

精确控制营养液溶氧浓度和外源乙烯浓度,研究了黄瓜幼苗根系在低氧水培时的生长情况以及PAs含量的变化。结果表明,外源乙烯对根际低氧逆境下黄瓜幼苗根系的生长有抑制作用,虽然根径增粗,含水量增加,但根系的总根数、总表面积、总体积、干重和鲜重都有所减少,随着乙烯浓度的增加,抑制作用增强;外源乙烯对根际低氧逆境下黄瓜幼苗根系PAs含量有着明显的拮抗作用,外源乙烯使根际低氧逆境下黄瓜幼苗根系的伤害症状加重。