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The panel of experts has a held a discussion on effectiveness and tactics of glycemic control by pre-mixed insulin preparations in T2DM. Special attention was paid to the aspects of treatment with Humalog Mix 50, including indications and contraindications, potential for the achievement of therapeutic goals and optimization of patient monitoring.

Abstract: Current developments in calcium phosphate cement (CPC) technology concern the use of ready-to-use injectable cement pastes by dispersing the cement powder in a water-miscible solvent, such that, after injection into the physiological environment, setting of cements occurs by diffusion of water into the cement paste. It has also been demonstrated recently that the combination of a water-immiscible carrier liquid combined with suitable surfactants facilitates a discontinuous liquid exchange in CPC, enabling the cement setting reaction to take place. This paper reports on the use of these novel cement paste formulations as a controlled release system of antibiotics (gentamicin, vancomycin). Cement pastes were applied either as a one-component material, in which the solid drugs were physically dispersed, or as a two-component system, where the drugs were dissolved in an aqueous phase that was homogeneously mixed with the cement paste using a static mixing device during injection. Drug release profiles of both antibiotics from pre-mixed one- and two-component cements were characterized by an initial burst release of ∼7–28%, followed by a typical square root of time release kinetic for vancomycin. Gentamicin release rates also decreased during the first days of the release study, but after ∼1week, the release rates were more or less constant over a period of several weeks. This anomalous release kinetic was attributed to participation of the sulfate counter ion in the cement setting reaction altering the drug solubility. The drug-loaded cement pastes showed high antimicrobial potency against Staphylococcus aureus in an agar diffusion test regime, while other cement properties such as mechanical performance or phase composition after setting were only marginally affected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The current efficiency of monolithic (including two-layer) radiant porous burners is less than 25% and here we introduce a novel structure for effective preheating and radiation routing to increase the efficiency. This recovers the flue gas heat to increase the inlet air temperature and raises the flame temperature locally above the adiabatic temperature (superadiabatic flame) for the fuel-lean conditions. The heat from the superadiabatic region is then extracted and conducted through embedded, high-thermal conductivity radiation corridors and is radiated, at a higher temperature than the flue gas, to the target. The analyses of local thermal non-equilibrium among the gas phase, two-layer porous solid, preheating heat exchanger, and radiant corridor are presented for the zeroth-order reaction of premixed methane/air. Radiant burner efficiency over 45% is predicted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) are highly valuable materials for filling bone defects and bone augmentation by minimal invasive application via percutaneous injection. In the present study some key features were significantly improved by developing a novel injectable ready-to-use calcium phosphate cement based on water-immiscible carrier liquids. A combination of two surfactants was identified to facilitate the targeted discontinuous exchange of the liquid for water after contact with aqueous solutions, enabling the setting reaction to take place at distinct ratios of cement components to water. This prolonged the shelf life of the pre-mixed paste and enhanced reproducibility during application and setting reactions. The developed paste technology is applicable for different CPC formulations. Evaluations were performed for the formulation of an α-TCP-based CPC as a representative example for the preparation of injectable pastes with a powder-to-carrier liquid ratio of up to 85:15. We demonstrate that the resulting material retains the desirable properties of conventional CPC counterparts for fast setting, mechanical strength and biocompatibility, shows improved cohesion and will most probably show a similar degree of resorbability due to identical mineral structure of the set products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]