In situ growth of CoNi bimetallic alloys inside polyetheretherketone-derived hierarchical porous carbon as a broadband and efficient electromagnetic wave absorber.

Both morphological structure and chemical composition are the important factors that determine the electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption properties of EMW absorbers. Herein, hierarchical porous carbon (HPPC) was synthesized by using polyetheretherketone (PEEK) as the starting material via the salt template method combined with KOH activation. Then, taking advantage of the hierarchical porous characteristics of the carbon, a novel EMW absorber (HPPC/CoNi) was synthesized by in situ growth of CoNi bimetallic alloys inside the above porous carbon. The as-synthesized HPPC/CoNi exhibits excellent EMW absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of -65.56 dB at 2.00 mm and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.92 GHz at 1.80 mm. The superior EMW absorption property is ascribable to the multiple reflection/scattering induced by the hierarchical porous structure of HPPC, dielectric loss, magnetic loss, and good impedance matching. The results show that HPPC/CoNi is a potential EMW absorber with characteristics of ultra-light weight, ultrathin thickness, broad bandwidth, and strong absorption.

Application of Porous Polyetheretherketone Scaffold/Vancomycin-Loaded Thermosensitive Hydrogel Composites for Antibacterial Therapy in Bone Repair.

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been widely used in bone repair, but it often fails due to bacterial infection. Herein, a high-strength porous polyetheretherketone scaffold (ps-PK) loaded with antibacterial drug-loaded hydrogel strategy is proposed. The prepared ps-PK possesses high porosity (30.8-64.7%) and the compression modulus is between 0.4 and 0.98 GPa. The interconnected pore-type structure endows it with a drug loading capacity. Poly(D,L -lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-b-Poly(ethylene glycol)-b-Poly(D,L -lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) thermoresponsive hydrogels loaded with vancomycin are used as the drug sustained-release system. The vancomycin-loaded hydrogels in the solution state at a low temperature are filled into a porous polyetheretherketone scaffold (ps-PK-VGel) and formed a gel state after implantation in vivo. The antibacterial rate of ps-PK-VGel against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in vitro is 99.7% and histological observation in vivo demonstrates that the ps-PK-VGel shows obvious antibacterial activity. Given its excellent antibacterial ability and mechanical properties, the porous PEEK scaffold composite drug-loaded thermosensitive hydrogel has great potential in bone repair surgery applications.

Therapeutic effect of Qinglong tail-wagging acupuncture method in knee osteoarthritis and its influence on inflammatory factors.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored and analyzed the healing effect of Qinglong tail-wagging acupuncture method in therapy of knee osteoarthritis and its influence on inflammatory factors. METHODS: 93 elderly patients with acute onset of knee osteoarthritis that hospitalized from March 2017 to June 2019 were admitted and randomly separated into observation group (n=48) and control group (n=45) in line with the method of random data form. The control group was given conventional electro-acupuncture, and the observation group was treated with the qinglong tail-waving acupuncture method. The clinical efficacy, pre- and post-VAS score, Lequesne and WOMAC indexes, and changes in serum inflammatory factor levels pre-and-post treatment were compared between the two sets of subjects. RESULTS: The overall response rate of clinical treatment in observation group was remarkably higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Besides, the VAS, Lequesne as well as WOMAC scores of two groups after treatment were significantly reduced than those in pre-treatment (P < 0.05), and the indexes in observation group were remarkably lower than those in control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the serum IL-6, NO and TNF-α concentration of the two sets of subjects in post-treatment reduced significantly than that in pre-treatment (P < 0.05), and the serum IL-6, NO and TNF-α concentration in observation group were remarkably decreased than those in control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The acupuncture method of Qinglong tail-wagging has good healing effect on remedy of elderly knee osteoarthritis. The curative method is able to improve the patients' function of knee joint and reduce the concentration of serum inflammatory factor in patients with knew osteoarthritis.