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Objective: The national population-based colorectal cancer screening programme in Hungary was initiated in December 2018. We aimed to evaluate the current programme and investigate the costs and benefits of potential future changes to overcome the low coverage of the target population. Methods: We performed an economic evaluation from a healthcare payer perspective using an established micro-simulation model (Microsimulation Screening Analysis-Colon). We simulated costs and benefits of screening with fecal immunochemical test in the Hungarian population aged 50–100, investigating also the impact of potential future scenarios which were assumed to increase invitation coverage: improvement of the IT platform currently used by GPs or distributing the tests through pharmacies instead of GPs. Results: The model predicted that the current screening programme could lead to 6.2% colorectal cancer mortality reduction between 2018 and 2050 compared to no screening. Even higher reductions, up to 16.6%, were estimated when tests were distributed through pharmacies and higher coverage was assumed. This change in the programme was estimated to require up to 26 million performed fecal immunochemical tests and 1 million colonoscopies for the simulated period. These future scenarios have acceptable cost-benefit ratios of €8000–€8700 per life-years gained depending on the assumed adherence of invited individuals. Conclusions: With its limitations, the current colorectal cancer screening programme in Hungary will have a modest impact on colorectal cancer mortality. Significant improvements in mortality reduction could be made at acceptable costs, if the tests were to be distributed by pharmacies allowing the entire target population to be invited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypropylene (PP)/lignin blends were prepared in a wide composition range (0–70 vol%) from a PP homopolymer and two lignosulfonates of different compositions by homogenization in an internal mixer and compression molding. Thermodynamic considerations and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMTA) were used for the estimation of interactions and miscibility, while mechanical properties were characterized by tensile testing. Local deformations were followed by acoustic emission measurements, and structure was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the structure of the blends form during processing by the breakup of large lignin particles which soften at the high temperature of processing. Weak interactions develop between PP and lignin, since lignin molecules interact with each other strongly and prevent the mixing of the two components. Dispersed structure forms in the entire composition range studied, co-continuous structure cannot develop at all. Interfacial adhesion can be improved through the addition of a maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) coupling agent. Depending on the strength of interfacial adhesion the blends fail either by debonding or by the fracture of lignin particles. Although coupling improves the strength of the blends, deformability is very small especially at larger lignin contents hindering practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]