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The stress-strain characteristics of soil depend primarily on the previous stress history and stress path, thus related to both the stress magnitude and direction. To have a better understanding of the response of soft clay under heart-shaped stress paths, 18 cyclic hollow cylinders tests were performed on undisturbed Hangzhou soft clay under different cyclic stress ratios, deviatoric consolidation ratios (K0), and loading frequencies. The result shows that as the vertical dynamic stress amplitude, K0 value, and loading frequency increase, the degradation index gradually decreases. Moreover, the degradation index of the soil under the cyclic torsion shear (CTS) test is always higher than that under the cyclic triaxial (CT) test. The increase in the amplitude of the cyclic stress ratio (CSR), K0 value, and the decrease in the loading frequency will promote the initial accumulative plastic strain and accelerate the failure rate of the soil sample; it shows that the effects of cyclic stress ratio amplitude, deviatoric consolidation ratios K0, and loading frequency on the accumulative plastic deformation of soil cannot be ignored. On the basis of the test results, a logarithmic relationship between the degradation index and the loading frequency is determined. A new empirical formula of accumulative plastic strain degradation of soft clay has been established, and its accuracy has been further verified by test data. The research results can provide theories for predicting and calculating the long-term settlement and deformation of clay foundation.

Kai Zhang,1 Yanling Zhuang,2 Jiwen Li,1 Xiaochang Liu,3,4 Shaoheng He4 1College of Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Cangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Humanities and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Cangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China; 4Translational Medicine Research Centre, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiaochang LiuSchool of Pharmacy, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-24-62216610Fax +86-24-62214089Email liuxiaochang1991@163.comIntroduction: Hypertension is a major health problem worldwide and is typically treated using oral drugs. However, the frequency of oral administration may result in poor patient compliance, and reduced bioavailability owing to the first-pass effect can also prove problematic.Methods: In this study, we developed a new transdermal-drug-delivery system (TDDS) for the treatment of hypertension using atenolol (ATE) based on poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-decorated three-dimensional (3D) flower-like MoS2 nanoparticles (PAA-MoS2 NPs) that respond to NIR laser irradiation. The PAA-modified MoS2 NPs were synthesized and characterized using attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction measurements, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and the sedimentation equilibrium method. The drug-loading efficiency and photothermal conversion effect were also explored.Results: The results showed that the colloidally stable PAA-MoS2 NPs exhibited a high drug-loading capacity of 54.99% and high photothermal conversion ability. Further, the capacity of the PAA-MoS2 NPs for controlled release was explored using in vitro drug-release and skin-penetration studies. The drug-release percentage was 44.72 ± 1.04%, and skin penetration was enhanced by a factor of 1.85 in the laser-stimulated group. Sustained and controlled release by the developed TDDS were observed with laser stimulation. Moreover, in vivo erythema index analysis verified that the PAA-MoS2 NPs did not cause skin irritation.Discussion: Our findings demonstrate that PAA-MoS2 NPs can be used as a new carrier for transdermal drug delivery for the first time.Keywords: transdermal drug delivery, poly(acrylic acid), atenolol, MoS2 nanoparticles