Low-Temperature Meltable Elastomers Based on Linear Polydimethylsiloxane Chains Alpha, Omega-Terminated with Mesogenic Groups as Physical Crosslinkers: A Passive Smart Material with Potential as Viscoelastic Coupling. Part I: Synthesis and Phase Behavior.

Physically crosslinked low-temperature elastomers were prepared based on linear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastic chains terminated on both ends with mesogenic building blocks (LC) of azobenzene type. They are generally (and also structurally) highly different from the well-studied LC polymer networks (light-sensitive actuators). The LC units also make up only a small volume fraction in our materials and they do not generate elastic energy upon irradiation, but they act as physical crosslinkers with thermotropic properties.

Self-assembled polymeric chelate nanoparticles as potential theranostic agents.

Improvements in cancer diagnostics and therapy have recently attracted the interest of many different branches of science. This study presents one of the new possible approaches in the diagnostics and therapy of cancer by using polymeric chelates as carriers. Graft copolymers with a backbone containing 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid chelating groups and poly(ethylene oxide) hydrophilic grafts are synthesized and characterized.

Polymer conjugates of acridine-type anticancer drugs with pH-controlled activation.

Acridines are potent DNA-intercalating anticancer agents with high in vivo anticancer effectiveness, but also severe side effects. We synthesized five 9-anilinoacridine-type drugs and their conjugates with biocompatible water-soluble hydrazide polymer carrier. All of the synthesized acridine drugs retained their in vitro antiproliferative properties.

Comparison of three therapeutic regimens using nonsteroidal antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Three therapeutic regimens using nonsteroidal antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis were compared in an open long-term cross-over trials. Voltaren 100 mg suppositories or Naprosyn 500 mg suppositories were introduced every evening at bed-time, and Naprosyn tablets were administered twice in a day, in the morning and at night. Each drug was administered for one month and every patient was treated with all three drugs in succession.

Experience with high doses of ibuprofen in the long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Ibuprofen (Brufen) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug well-established in the symptomatic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In view of its exceptionally good tolerance it has become fashionable to prescribe increasingly large doses for severe cases or in those patients unable to tolerate other anti-rheumatic compounds. This study illustrates the sustained therapeutic benefit and almost complete lack of toxicity in fify-nine rheumatoid patients treated with up to 1,600 mg ibuprofen daily over six months.

[Management of para-articular cysts in progressive chronic polyarthritis].

Peri-articular cysts complicating rheumatoid arthritis give rise to a difficult therapeutic problem. The origin of these cysts is discussed with particular reference to Baker's cyst. In principle, treatment is identical with that used in chronic joint effusions.

[Comparison of the effects of niflumic acid and aloxiprin in patients with progressive chronic rheumatoid arthritis in a double blind trial].

The effects of niflumic acid (trifluoro-methyl-3-phenylamino-2-nicotinic acid) and of aloxiprin (aluminium acetyl-salicylate) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis were compared in a double-blind cross-over trial. Check-up examinations prior to the institution and after the termination of the therapy, as well as after individual treatment periods of two weeks with alternating sequential administration of the two drugs, were carried out with a standardized method. The assessment included subjective (pain intensity) and objective criteria (Lansbury's index), as well as laboratory results (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, uricaemia).