Behavior of oil-based modeling clay at medium strain rates

The modeling clay is an oil-based soft, flowable, and pliable material made from waxes and oils. Besides its primary use for making sculptures, the modeling clay is commonly used to evaluate bulletproof vests and simulate metal manufacturing processes by conformation. In ballistic tests, the clay is used to retain the deformation of the rear face of body armors; and in the study of metal forming processes, it is used as a physical model to provide information on the plastic flow. However, its mechanical dynamic behavior is not entirely understood. In this study, Plastilina Roma No. 1 modeling clay was mechanically characterized using the power-law constitutive model at medium strain rates [Formula: see text]. The material parameters were determined using a penetration model based on the Cavity Expansion Theory and an inverse technique involving the comparison of the model with experimentation. The optimum set of constitutive parameters was found by reducing the difference of the calculated penetration profile and the measurements from a drop test. This optimization process was programmed on the MATLAB–Simulink environment. The determined material parameters were validated by comparing the results from a computational model with three test set-ups. Finite element model results show good concordance with experimental measurements.

Chitosan-Coated 5-Fluorouracil Incorporated Emulsions as Transdermal Drug Delivery Matrices

The purpose of the present study was to develop emulsions encapsulated by chitosan on the outer surface of a nano droplet containing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as a model drug. The emulsions were characterized in terms of size, pH and viscosity and were evaluated for their physicochemical properties such as drug release and skin permeation in vitro. The emulsions containing tween 80 (T80), sodium lauryl sulfate, span 20, and a combination of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and T20 exhibited a release of 88%, 86%, 90% and 92%, respectively. Chitosan-modified emulsions considerably controlled the release of 5-FU compared to a 5-FU solution (p < 0.05). All the formulations enabled transportation of 5-FU through a rat’s skin. The combination (T80, PEG) formulation showed a good penetration profile. Different surfactants showed variable degrees of skin drug retention. The ATR-FTIR spectrograms revealed that the emulsions mainly affected the fluidization of lipids and proteins of the stratum corneum (SC) that lead to enhanced drug permeation and retention across the skin. The present study concludes that the emulsions containing a combination of surfactants (Tween) and a co-surfactant (PEG) exhibited the best penetration profile, prevented the premature release of drugs from the nano droplet, enhanced the permeation and the retention of the drug across the skin and had great potential for transdermal drug delivery. Therefore, chitosan-coated 5-FU emulsions represent an excellent possibility to deliver a model drug as a transdermal delivery system.

Development and Evaluation of a Human Skin Equivalent in a Semiautomatic Microfluidic Diffusion Chamber

There is an increasing demand for transdermal transport measurements to optimize topical drug formulations and to achieve proper penetration profile of cosmetic ingredients. Reflecting ethical concerns the use of both human and animal tissues is becoming more restricted. Therefore, the focus of dermal research is shifting towards in vitro assays. In the current proof-of-concept study a three-layer skin equivalent using human HaCaT keratinocytes, an electrospun polycaprolactone mesh and a collagen-I gel was compared to human excised skin samples. We measured the permeability of the samples for 2% caffeine cream using a miniaturized dynamic diffusion cell (“skin-on-a-chip” microfluidic device). Caffeine delivery exhibits similar transport kinetics through the artificial skin and the human tissue: after a rapid rise, a long-lasting high concentration steady state develops. This is markedly distinct from the kinetics measured when using cell-free constructs, where a shorter release was observable. These results imply that both the established skin equivalent and the microfluidic diffusion chamber can serve as a suitable base for further development of more complex tissue substitutes.