Publications

Purpose The cooling process of polymer components fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS) plays a vital role in determining the crystallinity, density and the resultant properties of the produced parts. However, the control and optimization of the cooling process remains challenging. The purpose of this paper is to therefore investigate the cooling process of the SLS fabricated polyamide 12 (PA12) components through simulations. This work provides necessary fundamental insights into the possibilities for optimization and control of this cooling process for achieving desired properties. Design/methodology/approach The thermal properties of the PA12 powder and SLS fabricated PA12 components including density, specific heat and thermal conductivity were first determined experimentally. Then, the finite element method was used to optimize a container (a cuboid aluminum box where PA12 parts are built by the SLS) geometry in which the SLS parts can cool down in a controlled manner. Also, the cooling parameters required for maximum temperature homogeneity and minimum cooling time were determined. Findings Two different approximations in the finite element (FE) model were used and compared. It was found that the approximation which considers powder as a solid medium with porous material properties gives better results as compared to the approximation which treats powder as a collection of air and particles with solid material properties. The results also showed that the geometry of the containers has an important influence on the cooling process of the SLS fabricated PA12 components regarding temperature homogeneity and cooling time required. A container with a small width, long length and high height tends to result in a more homogenous temperature distribution during the cooling process. Originality/value Thermal constants of PA12 powder and parts were accurately determined as a starting point for numerical simulations. The FE model developed in this work provides useful and necessary information for the optimization and control of the cooling process of the SLS fabricated PA12 components and can thus be used for ensuring high-quality products with desired component properties.

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

In recent studies we found that the topical effectiveness of acyclovir (ACV) formulations was a single-valued function of C-the target site free drug concentration. The topical efficacy was the same when the therapy was initiated 0, 1, or 2 days after intracutaneous herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) inoculation in hairless mice. The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that the topical effectiveness of cidofovir (HPMPC) would not be a single valued function of C and that it would be dependent upon when the therapy was initiated relative to the time of viral infection. Formulations of HPMPC and ACV in 95% DMSO as a vehicle were used. Hairless mice intracutaneously infected with HSV-1 were used, and 20 microL of the test formulation was topically applied twice a day. In protocol A, the treatment was continued until the fourth day after virus inoculation, whereas in protocol B the treatment was terminated on the day of virus inoculation. Treatment was initiated on various days ranging from day -6 to day 4, and the lesions were scored on day 5. Treatment of ACV according to protocol A proved efficacious whether started as early as 6 days before virus inoculation or later, whereas the efficacy of ACV was annihilated if applied following protocol B. For HPMPC, on the other hand, the in vivo efficacies were found to be strongly dependent on how early the therapy was initiated, and significant efficacy was observed even when the treatment was terminated on the day of virus inoculation. This difference was attributed to the virus-independent intracellular phosphorylation of HPMPC and slow clearance of its metabolites from the cell. It was also noted that, similar to ACV, for HPMPC the topical efficacy is likely to be a function of C for a fixed protocol. However, unlike for ACV, for HPMPC the efficacy was not a single-valued function of C.

Compounds that can specifically downmodulate the CD4 receptor in PBMC have broad-spectrum anti-HIV activity against primary isolates and act synergistically when used in conjunction with currently available antiretroviral drugs. They deserve further study as potential candidate anti-HIV drugs.

Abstract For Abstract see ChemInform Abstract in Full Text.

Limited information is available on the activity of antiretroviral drugs against human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) strains to guide their use in treatment or prophylaxis. We evaluated the antiviral activity of 16 approved drugs and one experimental drug, AMD3100, against two wild-type HIV-2 (ROD and EHO) isolates, two strains of SIV (mac251 and B670), and two strains of simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) that contain the reverse transcriptase (RTSHIV) or envelope glycoprotein (SHIV89.6) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in a SIV(mac239) background. Drug susceptibility was measured conventionally by the MT-4/MTT assay, and results were analysed as fold changes in 50% effective concentration (EC50) relative to the EC50 for HIV-1 (IIIB). The nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) zidovudine, lamivudine, stavudine, didanosine, zalcitabine and abacavir as well as the nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor tenofovir retained full activity against all six viruses except for SIV and SHIV89.6 that showed low-level resistance to didanosine. The protease inhibitors (PIs) ritonavir, indinavir, saquinavir and nelfinavir were found to be active against some HIV-2 or SIV strains. However, a significant reduction in susceptibility was seen with indinavir against SHIV89.6 (3.3-fold), and with amprenavir against HIV-2(ROD) (8.8-fold). All viruses except for RTSHIV showed a >200-fold decrease in susceptibility for the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) nevirapine, delavirdine and efavirenz, indicating high-level resistance. AMD3100, a CXCR4 antagonist, was active against HIV-2 and SHIV89.6, a finding consistent with the use of the CXCR4 co-receptor by these isolates, but was inactive against SIV strains. In contrast, enfuvirtide (T-20) was active against SHIV89.6 but had reduced inhibitory activity against both HIV-2 and SIV strains predicting little therapeutic value against these viruses. These findings support the use of NRTIs, tenofovir, but not NNRTIs, for treating HIV-2-infected persons or for prophylaxis against HIV-2 and SIV. The clinical significance of the low-level resistance of HIV-2 and SIV to some PIs is unclear. Co-receptor antagonists such as AMD3100 show promising anti-HIV-2 therapeutic modalities. Both AMD3100 and enfuvirtide could be used for prophylaxis against SHIV89.6.

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.