Preparation of Gelatin/Polycaprolactone Electrospun Fibers Loaded with Cis-Platinum and Their Potential Application for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Although the development of nanomaterials for cancer therapy has received much attention in recent years, prostate cancer still remains one of the most troubling cancers in males. In this work, biomimetic polycaprolactone (PCL)/gelatin (GT)/cis-platinum (CDDP) (PG@CDDP) fibrous films were developed via electrospinning technology. The microstructure and chemical properties of PG@CDDP fibers are investigated. It is found that the microscopic morphology and diameter of PG@CDDP fibers are changed compared to those of the PG fibers. The Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction demonstrate that CDDP is successfully incorporated into the fibers. The human prostate cancer cells in vitro to electrospun films (PG and PG@CDDP) were evaluated based on initial cell response and cell viability. The density, elongation, and viability of adhered cancer cells significantly reduce with an increased concentration of CDDP in PG fibers. Thus, the developed PG@CDDP fiber matrix has great potential as candidate scaffolds for the treatment of prostate cancer

On time integration in the XFEM

The extended finite element method (XFEM) is often used in applications that involve moving interfaces. Examples are the propagation of cracks or the movement of interfaces in two-phase problems. This work focuses on time integration in the XFEM. The performance of the discontinuous Galerkin method in time (space-time finite elements (FEs)) and time-stepping schemes are analyzed by convergence studies for different model problems. It is shown that space-time FE achieve optimal convergence rates. Special care is required for time stepping in the XFEM due to the time dependence of the enrichment functions. In each time step, the enrichment functions have to be evaluated at different time levels. This has important consequences in the quadrature used for the integration of the weak form. A time-stepping scheme that leads to optimal or only slightly sub-optimal convergence rates is systematically constructed in this work. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd