Influence of glass composition on the properties of glass polyalkenoate cements. Part IV: influence of fluorine content.

The influence of fluorine content of the glass in a series of glasses based on: 4.5SiO2-3.0Al2O3-1.5P2O5-(5.0-X)CaO-XCaF2 was investigated on their cement formation with poly(acrylic acid). Increasing the fluorine content of the glass was found to reduce the glass transition temperature, as a result of fluorine replacing bridging oxygens by non-bridging fluorines. Working and setting times of the cement pastes reduced with increasing fluorine content of the glass. Compressive strength and Young's moduli increased with fluorine content initially and then remained approximately constant. Fracture toughness, toughness and un-notched fracture strength were not significantly influenced by fluorine content. The results are consistent with fluorine simultaneously disrupting the glass network and reducing the basicity of the glass.

Influence of glass composition on the properties of glass polyalkenoate cements. Part II: influence of phosphate content.

The influence of phosphate content of the glass on the formation of glass polyalkenoate cements was investigated. Glasses were synthesised based on (4.5 - 2X)SiO2-3.0 Al2O3-(3.0 - X)CaO-(1.5 + X)P2O5-2.0 CaF2 and X was varied from -1.5 to 0.8. The setting and working time of the cement pastes increased with the phosphate content of the glass (X). Increasing the phosphate content resulted in an initial increase in compressive strength followed by a sharp reduction in strength. Young's modulus and un-notched fracture strength exhibited a maximum at intermediate phosphate contents. Fracture toughness reduced at high phosphate contents, whilst toughness increased. Phosphate in the glass is thought to aid glass degradation by providing additional phosphorus-oxygen bonds for hydrolysis, but may also reduce the amount of aluminium released by reducing the susceptibility of aluminium-oxygen-silicon bonds to acid hydrolysis. The released phosphate may also compete with the carboxylate groups in the polysalt matrix cement for cations inhibiting the crosslinking reaction.

Influence of glass composition on the properties of glass polyalkenoate cements. Part I: influence of aluminium to silicon ratio.

Hydrolysis of aluminium-oxygen-silicon bonds is thought to be the first step in the setting reaction of polyalkenoate cements and the aluminium to silicon ratio of the glass is widely believed to be a dominant factor determining cement properties. The properties of glass polyalkenoate cements based on the generic glass composition (6 + X)SiO2 x (4 - X)Al2O31.5P2O5 x 4CaOCaF2 with varying aluminium to silicon ratio were studied. Setting and working times of the cement pastes, compressive strength, un-notched fracture strength, Young's modulus, fracture toughness and toughness were evaluated for the cements. In contrast to previous studies the aluminium to silicon ratio was not found to influence the cement properties significantly. The high phosphorus content of the glasses studied is thought to reduce the influence of the aluminium to silicon ratio of the glass, as a result of phosphorus locally charge balancing four coordinate aluminium ions in the glass network, as well as providing an additional mechanism of degradation in the form of hydrolysable phosphorus-oxygen bonds.

Edinburgh drug users: are they injecting and sharing less?

OBJECTIVE: To describe epidemiological trends in injecting and equipment sharing among a sample drawn from a drug-using population with a high rate of HIV infection. DESIGN: A structured interview was administered prior to treatment to cross-sectional samples of drug users over the period 1988-1991. Reports of injecting, sharing and HIV infection were compared annually. SETTING: Lothian Health Board's Community Drug Problems Service is a secondary level service offering harm reduction and treatment of dependency. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 734 consecutively referred drug users resident in Edinburgh. Re-referrals in the same calendar year were excluded. MEASURES: History of injecting and sharing, recent injecting and sharing, HIV testing history, drugs used in previous month and substitute prescription status. RESULTS: Large reductions in the frequency of injecting were found over the 4 years even among those who were not receiving oral substitutes. More participants in latter years were receiving prescriptions combining opioids and benzodiazepines. Fewer of those interviewed latterly had ever shared injecting equipment. Among recent injectors just as many share equipment as previously. HIV prevalence did not vary significantly over the period. An HIV prevalence of 19% was reported among recent injectors. CONCLUSIONS: Edinburgh's drug users are engaging in far safer drug-taking behaviour than previously. Levels of HIV in this population suggest that the epidemic is being contained. A small number persist in high risk drug-related activities. Further investigation of the characteristics of these individuals and the need to develop novel methods of influencing their behaviour are recommended.

A study of experimental endocarditis in pigs.

In a proposed study of fibrinolytic therapy in experimental streptococcal endocarditis, this disease was induced in pigs by preinoculation damage to the aortic valve; the technique of this is described. If untreated, the disease runs a protracted course, similar to that in man. Fibrinolytic activity, normally low in the pig, can be increased by stress, by urokinase, by plasmin and briefly by streptokinase if supplemented by human plasminogen. The proposed experiments were abandoned in pigs, chiefly because of technical difficulties in obtaining frequent samples of blood and maintaining infusions. In experiments on the response of ADP-induced aggregation of pig platelets to prostacyclin, they were found to be about 10 times more resistant than human platelets. It is suggested that this resistance to prostacyclin, together with their usually low state of systemic fibrinolytic activity, may explain the susceptibility of pigs to bacterial endocarditis.

Fibrinolytic therapy in bacterial endocarditis: experimental studies in dogs.

An investigation was undertaken to assess the value of adding streptokinase therapy to standard penicillin treatment of artificially induced infective endocarditis due to Streptococcus sanguis. In pigs a low-grade infection could be induced which closely simulated streptococcal endocarditis in man, but for technical reasons this model proved unsatisfactory for further experimentation. In dogs the induction of S. sanguis endocarditis produced a more severe illness with a short natural history. Dogs were divided into two groups, one treated with penicillin alone, the other with penicillin and streptokinase. A five-day course, in which twice daily injections of an acylated streptokinase-plasminogen complex were given, caused a substantial reduction in the size of vegetations and possibly a higher proportion of cures and less damage to the valves. Infarction of the brain, almost certainly due to embolism, was significantly greater in the streptokinase treated group, but the same was not true of the kidneys. The possible value of such treatment for certain kinds of bacterial endocarditis in man, especially in the right side of the heart, is discussed.