Application of Pulsating Vacuum Cleaning Technology to Medical Devices Cleaning

This study aims to solve existing problems in cleaning medical devices, such as the cumbersome loading of minimally invasive surgical instruments, the incomplete cleaning of instruments with complex structures, and the low cleaning efficiency of ordinary instruments. A pulsating vacuum cleaning machine was combined with ultrasonic cleaning and boiling cleaning technology to clean various complex medical devices through a pressure pulsating process (i.e., repetitive pump-out and pumpin until the cleaning results meet the cleaning standards for medical devices). The cleaning results of spay washing, ultrasound cleaning and pulsating vacuum cleaning were compared among four groups of medical devices, including silica gel hoses, chamber instruments, whole box of minimally invasive instruments and surgical instruments. The amount of protein residues was tested using the spectrophotometric method. The testing results revealed that the loading capacity of a pulsating vacuum cleaning machine is 3–4 times as much as that of an ordinary spray cleaning machine, without manual placement and connection operation required, which reduced the workload of pretreatment. The protein residue after cleaning meets the requirements of the YY/T0734 standard for the cleaning effect of medical devices. Pulsating vacuum cleaning technology has an overall better loading capacity, when compared to spay washing and ultrasound cleaning, and this can make up for the shortcomings of commonly used cleaning machines, such as the low cleaning efficiency and unsatisfactory cleaning results of medical devices with complex structures.

The Effect of pH and Sodium Caseinate on the Aqueous Solubility, Stability, and Crystallinity of Rutin towards Concentrated Colloidally Stable Particles for the Incorporation into Functional Foods

Poor water solubility and low bioavailability of hydrophobic flavonoids such as rutin remain as substantial challenges to their oral delivery via functional foods. In this study, the effect of pH and the addition of a protein (sodium caseinate; NaCas) on the aqueous solubility and stability of rutin was studied, from which an efficient delivery system for the incorporation of rutin into functional food products was developed. The aqueous solubility, chemical stability, crystallinity, and morphology of rutin (0.1–5% w/v) under various pH (1–11) and protein concentrations (0.2–8% w/v) were studied. To manufacture the concentrated colloidally stable rutin–NaCas particles, rutin was dissolved and deprotonated in a NaCas solution at alkaline pH before its subsequent neutralisation at pH 7. The excess water was removed using ultrafiltration to improve the loading capacity. Rutin showed the highest solubility at pH 11, while the addition of NaCas resulted in the improvement of both solubility and chemical stability. Critically, to achieve particles with colloidal stability, the NaCas:rutin ratio (w/w) had to be greater than 2.5 and 40 respectively for the lowest (0.2% w/v) and highest (4 to 8% w/v) concentrations of NaCas. The rutin–NaCas particles in the concentrated formulations were physically stable, with a size in the range of 185 to 230 nm and zeta potential of −36.8 to −38.1 mV, depending on the NaCas:rutin ratio. Encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of rutin in different systems were 76% to 83% and 2% to 22%, respectively. The concentrated formulation containing 5% w/v NaCas and 2% w/v rutin was chosen as the most efficient delivery system due to the ideal protein:flavonoid ratio (2.5:1), which resulted in the highest loading capacity (22%). Taken together, the findings show that the delivery system developed in this study can be a promising method for the incorporation of a high concentration of hydrophobic flavonoids such as rutin into functional foods.

An Innovative Formulation Based on Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Imatinib Delivery: Pre-Formulation, Cellular Uptake and Cytotoxicity Studies

Imatinib (IMT) is a tyrosine kinase enzyme inhibitor and extensively used for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). A nanostructured lipid carrier system (NLCS) containing IMT was developed by using emulsification–sonication methods. The characterization of the developed formulation was performed in terms of its particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, loading capacity, sterility, syringeability, stability, in vitro release kinetics with mathematical models, cellular uptake studies with flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy and cytotoxicity for CRL-1739 cells. The particle size, PDI, loading capacity and zeta potential of selected NLCS (F16-IMT) were found to be 96.63 ± 1.87 nm, 0.27 ± 0.15, 96.49 ± 1.46% and −32.7 ± 2.48 mV, respectively. F16-IMT was found to be stable, thermodynamic, sterile and syringeable through an 18 gauze needle. The formulation revealed a Korsmeyer–Peppas drug release model of 53% at 8 h, above 90% of cell viability, 23.61 µM of IC50 and induction of apoptosis in CRL-1739 cell lines. In the future, F16-IMT can be employed to treat GISTs. A small amount of IMT loaded into the NLCSs will be better than IMT alone for therapy for GISTs. Consequently, F16-IMT could prove to be useful for effective GIST treatment.

Iodine Immobilized UiO-66-NH2 Metal-Organic Framework as an Effective Antibacterial Additive for Poly(ε-caprolactone)

Iodine has been widely used as an effective disinfectant with broad-spectrum antimicrobial potency. However, the application of iodine in an antibacterial polymer remains challenging due to its volatile nature and poor solubility. Herein, iodine immobilized UiO-66-NH2 metal-organic framework (MOF) (UiO66@I2) with a high loading capacity was synthesized and used as an effective antibacterial additive for poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). An orthogonal design approach was used to achieve the optimal experiments’ conditions in iodine adsorption. UiO66@I2 nanoparticles were added to the PCL matrix under ultrasonic vibration and evaporated the solvent to get a polymer membrane. The composites were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, and static contact angle analysis. UiO-66-NH2 nanoparticles have a high iodine loading capacity, up to 18 wt.%. The concentration of iodine is the most important factor in iodine adsorption. Adding 0.5 wt.% or 1.0 wt.% (equivalent iodine content) of UiO66@I2 to the PCL matrix had no influence on the structure of PCL but reduces the static water angle. The PCL composites showed strong antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In contrast, the same content of free iodine/PCL composites had no antibacterial activity. The difference in the antibacterial performance was due to the different iodine contents in the polymer composites. It was found that MOF nanoparticles could retain most of the iodine during the sample preparation and storage, while there was few iodine left in the free iodine/PCL composites. This study offers a common and simple way to immobilize iodine and prepare antibacterial polymers with low antiseptic content that would reduce the influence of an additive on polymers’ physical properties.

Boswellia sacra Extract-Loaded Mesoporous Bioactive Glass Nano Particles: Synthesis and Biological Effects

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are being increasingly considered for numerous biomedical applications. The loading of natural compounds onto BGs to increase the BG biological activity is receiving increasing attention. However, achieving efficient loading of phytotherapeutic compounds onto the surface of bioactive glass is challenging. The present work aimed to prepare novel amino-functionalized mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) loaded with the phytotherapeutic agent Boswellia sacra extract. The prepared amino-functionalized MBGNs showed suitable loading capacity and releasing time. MBGNs (nominal composition: 58 wt% SiO2, 37 wt% CaO, 5 wt% P2O5) were prepared by sol-gel-modified co-precipitation method and were successfully surface-modified by using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). In order to evaluate MBGNs loaded with Boswellia sacra, morphological analysis, biological studies, physico-chemical and release studies were performed. The successful functionalization and loading of the natural compound were confirmed with FTIR, zeta-potential measurements and UV-Vis spectroscopy, respectively. Structural and morphological evaluation of MBGNs was done by XRD, SEM and BET analyses, whereas the chemical analysis of the plant extract was done using GC/MS technique. The functionalized MBGNs showed high loading capacity as compared to non-functionalized MBGNs. The release studies revealed that Boswellia sacra molecules were released via controlled diffusion and led to antibacterial effects against S. aureus (Gram-positive) bacteria. Results of cell culture studies using human osteoblastic-like cells (MG-63) indicated better cell viability of the Boswellia sacra-loaded MBGNs as compared to the unloaded MBGNs. Therefore, the strategy of combining the properties of MBGNs with the therapeutic effects of Boswellia sacra represents a novel, convenient step towards the development of phytotherapeutic-loaded antibacterial, inorganic materials to improve tissue healing and regeneration.

Determination of loading capacity index of a continuous miner in soft rock roadway and virtual test method

To improve the loading efficiency and reduce energy consumption of a continuous miner in soft rock roadway, a seven-arm star wheel designed with Gaussian fitting method was proposed, and a coal loading model of the continuous miner star wheel loading mechanism was reconstructed with EDEM software. The loading capacity of the seven-arm star wheel and the three-arm star wheel of the EML340 continuous miner at different working speeds were studied respectively. The scientific and reasonable identification index was formulated and the index evaluation system of loading star wheel was established. It has been found that the performance of the loading star wheel is a collection of various identification indicators, the coal returning mass reducing the loading efficiency and increasing unnecessary energy consumption, therefore, it is difficult to identify by a single index. Loading coal and rock by the star wheel is a process that consumes energy and pays attention to output, therefore, the identification index should include two kinds of efficiency parameters and energy parameters. Rake coal torque and loading specific energy consumption have reflected the degree of energy utilization, which can be comprehensively used for preliminary design of the star wheel. The performance parameters such as loading power and loading efficiency are reliable indicators for designing and performance evaluation of the star wheel. Based on the statistical analysis of the test data, compared with the three-arm star wheel of the EML340 continuous miner, the loading efficiency of the seven-arm star wheel has been significantly improved. The loading power for coal loading has been reduced by 46%. The feasibility of the Gaussian design method of loading star wheel has been verified.

Dual-Responsive Alginate Hydrogel Constructed by Sulfhdryl Dendrimer as an Intelligent System for Drug Delivery

Intelligent stimulus-triggered release and high drug-loading capacity are crucial requirements for drug delivery systems in cancer treatment. Based on the excessive intracellular GSH expression and pH conditions in tumor cells, a novel glutathione (GSH) and pH dual-responsive hydrogel was designed and synthesized by conjugates of glutamic acid-cysteine dendrimer with alginate (Glu-Cys-SA) through click reaction, and then cross-linked with polyethylene glycol (PEG) through hydrogen bonds to form a 3D-net structure. The hydrogel, self-assembled by the inner disulfide bonds of the dendrimer, is designed to respond to the GSH heterogeneity in tumors, with a remarkably high drug loading capacity. The Dox-loaded Glu-Cys-SA hydrogel showed controlled drug release behavior, significantly with a release rate of over 76% in response to GSH. The cytotoxicity investigation indicated that the prepared DOX-loaded hydrogel exhibited comparable anti-tumor activity against HepG-2 cells with positive control. These biocompatible hydrogels are expected to be well-designed GSH and pH dual-sensitive conjugates or polymers for efficient anticancer drug delivery.

Advances in Anti-Tumor Nanomedicine based on Functional Metal Organic Frameworks beyond Drug Carriers

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted widespread interest due to the unique properties including tunable porous structure, high drug loading capacity, structural diversity, and outstanding biocompatibility. MOFs have been extensively...