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A common source of concern about digital pathology (DP) is that limited resolution could be a reason for an increased risk of malpractice. A frequent question being raised about this technology is whether it can be used to reliably detectThe method we propose is based on the Warthin-Starry (W-S) silver stain which allows faster detection of HP in virtual slides. A software tool, based on regular expressions, performed a specific search to select 679 biopsies on which a W-S stain was done. From this dataset 185 virtual slides were selected to be assessed by WSI and compared with microscopy slide readings. To determine whether HP infections could be accurately diagnosed with machine learning. AI was used as a service (AIaaS) on a neural network-based web platform trained with 468 images. A test dataset of 210 images was used to assess the classifier performance.In 185 gastric biopsies read with DP we recorded only 4 false positives and 4 false negatives with an overall agreement of 95.6%. Compared with microscopy, defined as the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of HP infections, WSI had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. The ROC curve of our AI classifier generated on a testing dataset of 210 images had an AUC of 0.938.This study demonstrates that DP and AI can be used to reliably identify HP at 20X resolution.

Background Recent reports showed that the protective effect of flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening was maintained up to17 years, although differences were reported by sex. Objective To assess long-term reduction of colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality after a single FS screening. Design Parallel randomized controlled trial. (ISRCTN registry number: 27814061). Setting 6 centers in Italy. Participants Persons aged 55 to 64 years expressing interest in having FS screening if invited, recruited from 1995 to 1999 and followed until 2012 (incidence) and 2014 to 2016 (mortality). Intervention Eligible persons were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to either the once-only FS screening group or control (usual care) group. Measurements Incidence and mortality rate ratios (RRs) and rate differences. Results A total of 34 272 persons (17 136 in each group) were included in the analysis; 9911 participants had screening in the intervention group. Median follow-up was 15.4 years for incidence and 18.8 years for mortality. Incidence of CRC was reduced by 19% (RR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.71 to 0.93]) in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, comparing the intervention with the control group, and by 33% (RR, 0.67 [CI, 0.56 to 0.81]) in the per protocol (PP) analysis, comparing participants screened in the intervention group with the control persons. Colorectal cancer mortality was reduced by 22% (RR, 0.78 [CI, 0.61 to 0.98]) in the ITT analysis and by 39% (RR, 0.61 [CI, 0.44 to 0.84]) in the PP analysis. Incidence of CRC was statistically significantly reduced among both men and women. Colorectal cancer mortality was statistically significantly reduced among men (ITT RR, 0.73 [CI, 0.54 to 0.97]) but not among women (ITT RR, 0.90 [CI, 0.59 to 1.37]). Limitation Self-selection of volunteers from the general population sample targeted for recruitment may limit generalizability. Conclusion The strong protective effect of a single FS screening for CRC incidence and mortality was maintained up to 15 and 19 years, respectively. Primary funding source Italian Association for Cancer Research, Italian National Research Council, Istituto Oncologico Romagnolo, Fondo "E. Tempia," University of Milan, and Local Health Unit ASL-Torino.

Chitosan is a biopolymer with unequalled properties such as biodegradability, nontoxicity, and antimicrobial activity. It is a carbohydrate polymer derived from the deacetylation of the chitin component of the shells of crustacean; hence, it is a renewable material widely available as a byproduct of the food industry. Owing to its extremely interesting properties, chitosan has been extensively applied to textile fibers to confer various functional properties such as • antimicrobial activity with a green chemistry approach for aesthetic, hygienic, and medical applications; • antifelting properties for wool fabrics; • increasing uptake of ionic dyes in dyeing processes; • removal of dyes and other organic pollutants from wastewaters; • removal of heavy metal ions from contaminated wastewaters. A fundamental problem that arises in order to obtain durable chitosan coatings on textiles is due to the low wash fastness of the biopolymer; hence, thermal treatments or cross-linking agents are needed to obtain strong bonding with the fibers. Wet thermal curing involves energy consumption and possible fiber degradation, whereas the most of cross-linking agents such as dialdehydes are toxic. Therefore, many research works were aimed to investigate safer grafting methods with physical means such as UV irradiation or with green chemicals.

The topic of the present study was the antibacterial finishing of cotton fabrics by ultraviolet grafting of chitosan biopolymer on fiber surface. A first part, carried out at laboratory level, deals with the optimization of process parameters, followed by a deep characterization of treated samples, revealing the effectiveness of the treatment. Therefore, the applied method was carefully monitored, laboratory apparatus were used and just samples of small surface were prepared by UV-grafting of pure chitosan in inert atmosphere, on dried samples, as recommended for radical curing. To test the feasibility of the proposed treatment even at semi-industrial level, in the second step of the study larger fabric samples were impregnated by foulard with a commercial chitosan solution and then were irradiated, both dried and wet, with an high power UV lamp, in air. Moreover, samples add-on was significantly reduced in order to hold down the finishing cost. White and dyed samples were treated and evaluated in terms of conferred antibacterial activity, yellowing or color changes and final hand. Eventually, treatment fastness to domestic laundering was tested. Obtained results confirmed the previous laboratory results: a strong antibacterial activity with good washing fastness was achieved by irradiation of the samples even wet and in air. It was obtained with a chitosan add-on percentage lowered till 0.3 wt% with a negligible affection of color or hand properties of the fabric.

High amounts of short fiber by-products not suitable for spinning are produced from silk manufacturing. These high protein content materials (about 94% wt) are suitable as a source of purified fibroin for biopolymer applications. An application not yet thoroughly studied is the use of fibroin solutions as a functional textile auxiliary for permanent finishing of wool garments. The aim of this work was to obtain sheath/core bicomponent fibers by coating wool fibers with thin films of silk fibroin. A polyfunctional chemical to graft fibroin onto the wool fiber surfaces without damaging the physical and chemical properties was searched to obtain wash-resistant finishing. Bifunctional as well as trifunctional epoxides were investigated. The finishing of wool with fibroin confers to the fabric innovative shine and handfeel effects, associated with an improvement of shrink resistance (antifelting) properties. The best operating conditions to obtain wool fabrics with homogeneous fibroin coating were determined.

The substances responsible for the yellowing of wool treated with nitric acid are two amino acid constituents of the fibre: tryptophan and tyrosine. Nitric acid penetrates the fibres and carries out electrophilic aromatic substitution on the two above-mentioned amino acid residues, producing different colour yields. The intensity of yellowing depends in various ways on the treatment conditions (time, temperature, nitric acid concentration, agitation, and liquor ratio). Yellowing evaluation shows abnormal yellowing depending on acid concentration in the range 5.6-5.9 M. Working in this region makes it possible to use the chromatic reaction in order to show the damage done to wool fibres by the oxidising agents utilised in normal antifelting treatments. Wool damage by the oxidants is usually evaluated by dyeing methods based on different affinity of damaged fibres. By contrast, the xanthoproteic reaction yields chromogens as a function of the accessibility of tryptophan and tyrosine residues for the action of nitric acid on damaged fibres, and can be used for assessing the degree of antifelting treatment and its possible unevenness through the development on the treated wool of a yellow coloration more intense than on untreated wool.

A chitosan-coated cotton gauze was prepared by UV-curing and tested as adsorbent to remove copper (II) and chromium (VI) ions from water solutions. The adsorbent characterization was carried out by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in Attenuated Total Reflection (FTIR-ATR). Adsorption of copper and chromium ions onto the gauze was tested in batch process at different experimental conditions. The effects of pH, temperature, contact time and metal ion concentration were investigated. The optimum adsorption took place at pH 3 for Cr(VI) and pH 5 for Cu(II) ions respectively, while the temperature did not affect the adsorption process. Pseudo-first and pseudo-second order models were used to investigate the adsorption kinetics which was found very fast and better described by the pseudo-second order model for both metal ions. The adsorption of Cr(VI) ions was satisfactory described by the Langmuir isotherm, while that of Cu(II) ions showed a better agreement with the Freundlich model. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Communicable diseases can be transmitted by contaminated water. Water decontamination process is fundamental to eliminate microorganisms. In this work, cotton gauzes were coated with chitosan using an UV-curing process or cationized by introduction of quaternary ammonium groups and tested, in static and dynamic conditions, as water filter for biological disinfection against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Both materials showed good antibacterial activity, in static assessment, instead in dynamic conditions, chitosan treated gauze showed a high antimicrobial efficiency in few seconds of contact time. This composite could be a good candidate for application as biological filter. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

The aim of this work was the study of the surface modification of cotton fibers to confer hydro and oil repellency to the fabrics. A surface treatment not involving the bulk of the fibers was chosen, so fabrics can maintain comfort properties. Moreover the study focused on an economical and environmental friendly process, in order to obtain an effective treatment with good fastness to washing. A modified silica based film was applied on fibers surface by sol–gel, comparing laboratory grade reagents with a commercial product as precursors and optimizing process parameters. From obtained results sol–gel can be indicated as a promising process to confer an effective and durable finishing to cotton fibers with low add-ons. Long impregnation times can significantly improve the treatment fastness, while ironing the washed samples can restore, at least partially, hydro and oil repellency lost after the washing. Obtained results were supported by a deep surface characterization of untreated, treated and washed samples. The best results were obtained using the commercial product as the only precursor. This is interesting for an industrial application, due to the low cost of this product if compared with the laboratory grade reagents investigated. Some applications of finished textiles can be for household use, technical garments, umbrellas or outdoor textiles.

The use of antimicrobial compounds in textiles has grown dramatically over the last decades. The potential application field is wide. It ranges from industrial textiles exposed to weather such as awnings, screens and tents; upholstery used in large public areas such as hospitals, hotels and stations; fabrics for transports; protective clothing and personal protective equipment; bed sheets and blankets; textiles left wet between processing steps; intimate apparel, underwear, socks and sportswear. Another large field of application is in filtration and disinfection of air and water for white rooms, hospitals and operating theatres, food and pharmaceutical industries, water depuration, drinkable water supplying and air-conditioning systems. The present chapter is a review of recent research works related to antimicrobial finishes for textile materials. Several examples of antimicrobial treatments (e.g. traditional pad-dry-cure technique, exhaustion bath, encapsulation, electrospinning, cross-linking, etc.) were reported. The antimicrobial agents were divided by their origin from synthesis or from natural sources. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), Triclosan, metals (including metal oxides and salts), polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB), N-halamines and conjugated polymers (i.e. polypyrrole) were listed as synthetic biocides in textile applications. Extracts from plants (e.g. aromatic compounds, essential oils and dyes), antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and chitosan were considered among natural-based biocides.

The use of UV-absorbers in the dyeing of polyester to improve lightfastness is well known. In analogous manner, in this study the effect of ultraviolet (UV) absorbers on light fastness of acrylic yarns dyed in conventional dyeing process has been investigated. Under optimised dyeing conditions, the samples were dyed with a selection of basic dyes. Consequently, the samples were post-treated with five types of UV-absorbers. Regarding the photo-fading, the postdyeing treatment was evaluated from the reflection spectra in terms of the L, a, b, color coordinates and by measuring the difference ΔE between untreated and treated samples. Samples were subjected to Xenotest and FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, while the morphological structure of the dyed fibres was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After the treatment, the acrylic fibres did not present any structural modifications and the specimens showed optimal values of light fastness.

Applications in the textile field of sol-gel processes were widely investigated since coatings of fabrics by materials of nanometric size obtained by sol-gel methods represent a functional surface modification attracting even more attention. However, few experiences of the use of nanostructured coatings are reported for leather finishing. In the experiments reported in the present chapter, a nabuk leather was finished by a sol-gel process to confer hydro and oil-repellency. The silica component could act as a protective coating, improving the rubbing performance of the substrate and conferring a certain grade of hydrorepellency, while the oil repellency was due to a fluorocarbon component. The coatings were applied at low add-on of finishing agent with the aim to keep possibly unvaried the esthetic and hand characteristics of the original leather. Contact angle and sorption time measurements of water and oil drops were carried out on the treated samples and compared with the untreated one. A similar comparison was made by testing color fastness to rubbing and change of esthetic appearance. Finally, chemical surface characterization was carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared in Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) analysis.

In this work, various textile fabrics were coated with silicone and fluorocarbon-based resins by photo-curing using ultraviolet irradiation. A great number of large fabric samples were impregnated by padding with commercial finishing agents and then irradiated in air with a high power, semi-industrial UV source. The add-on of various finishing agents was kept low to reduce the treatment cost. White and dyed samples of different textile composition were treated and evaluated in terms of conferred repellency, yellowing, or color changes. Most relevant process parameters were investigated, utilizing the thermal process normally adopted at industrial level as reference. The results were statistically evaluated by ANOVA using Minitab 16 software, in order to identify the most influential parameters and to evaluate the real possibility of replacing the thermal treatment with UV curing.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiations can act in different ways on the functionalization of textiles, through pre- or posttreatments, in order to modify their behavior in dyeing and finishing processes. In cotton fiber, unlike the wool, the UV absorption is not due to any of the structural groups of the normal cellulosic chains and can only be attributed to "impurities" or "faults" bearing carbonyl and/or carboxyl groups. In fact, UV irradiation coupled with mild oxidation can improve some properties of the cotton fibers such as pilling resistance, water swelling, and dyeability. Therefore, the process of differential dyeing with direct and reactive dyes assisted by UV irradiation was studied and interesting differential chromatic effects were obtained by a UV post-treatment capable to fade dyeing. On the other hand, the surface modification of cotton fabrics by UV curing and UV grafting with suitable chemicals was pursued to obtain finishing treatments able to confer oil and/or water repellency. Finally, antimicrobial finishing by chitosan UV grafting was proposed as valid environmental friendly method to confer a satisfactory washing-resistant antimicrobial activity to cotton fabrics even with low polymer add-on

The surface of cotton (COT) and polyester (PET) fabrics was modified to create a water-repellent finishing by depositing a modified silica-based film using the sol-gel technique. TEOS (tetraethoxysilane)-based physically modified sols with 2% and 11% on weight fabric (o.w.f.) of hydrophobic additives were tested. N-propyltrimethoxysilane (C3), hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (C16) and 1H,1H,2H,2H-fluorooctyltriethoxysilane (FOS) were investigated as additives. Furthermore, a low-temperature plasma pre-treatment was used to activate the COT and PET fabric surface to improve the sol-gel coating adhesion, resistance to abrasion and fastness to washing stresses. A complete chemical/morphological (Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy) and physical characterization (abrasion and air permeability test) of treated samples was carried out. High values of θ (around 140°) on PET and COT samples were obtained with all additives used (C3, C16 and FOS) even at a low concentration (2%). Due to plasma pre-treatment, interesting water-repellent properties were achieved for PET (θ = 148°) treated with TEOS/FOS molar ratio 0.63 and for COT (θ = 140°) with TEOS/C16 molar ratio 0.63. The enhanced coating adhesion, due to plasma surface activation, was confirmed by abrasion and washing tests.

The purpose of this research work was to develop a textile finish based on the radical UV-curing of chitosan on textiles to confer antimicrobial properties. Chitosan is a biopolymer with unique properties such as biodegradability, non-toxicity, antimicrobial activity. In this work cotton or silk fabrics and synthetic filter fabrics were impregnated with an acid solution of chitosan added of the photoinitiator in the proper amount and cured at room temperature by exposure to UV lamp. Process conditions such as percentage add-on, dilution, chitosan-fabric contact time, irradiation time and power, were optimized. The antimicrobial activity of finished fabrics was tested according to ASTM E 2149-01 standard test performed with Escherichia Coli ATCC 8739. Moreover dyeing test with Turquoise Telon dye were carried out to evaluate the treatment homogeneity while the amino group content was determined by ninhydrin assay. Moreover on cotton and silk fabrics the treatment fastness to domestic laundering was tested, according to UNI EN ISO105-C01. Obtained results showed a strong antimicrobial activity conferred by the treatment, homogeneous on fabric surface. It is evident already at low add-on, without affecting the hand properties of natural fabrics and the filtration characteristics of the synthetic filter fabrics. Finally, washing fastness was better for samples prepared with a better penetration of chitosan inside the fibers.

In this study, cotton, polyester and polyamide fabrics were treated by radical or cationic ultraviolet curing of different commercial products conferring water and oil repellency. Moreover, radical ultraviolet curing of chitosan was applied to confer antimicrobial properties. The advantages of this technology are well known making it very interesting for industrial applications: energy savings, low environmental impact, simple, cheap and small equipment, high treatment speed. The polymerization was controlled through weight gain and gel content measurements, while the properties of hydro and oil repellency were determined in terms of contact angle, moisture adsorption and water vapor permeability. The polymer distribution on fabric surfaces was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. However the fabrics treated with chitosan were subjected to the standard test for determining the antimicrobial activity. Finally the finished cotton samples were subjected to washing fastness tests.

Dyeing processes of various yarns (wool, cotton, polyester, nylon 6 and acrylic) were studied with the aim to substitute some auxiliary agents with ethanol at low concentration. The results observed in isothermal dyeing showed a favorable effect of alcohol addition, at about 1–3% v/v, on the dye uptake, with some differences depending on fiber nature and dye class. This effect was correlated with contact angle measurements of water-ethanol solutions on the mentioned yarns, which confirmed a lower surface tension in the same concentration range. Then, laboratory tests with dye triads at programmed temperature were carried out comparing the results of standard dyeing recipes with those obtained by replacing wetting, retardant and leveling agents with ethanol. Good color imitations were generally shown with respect to standard processes. A wetting effect of ethanol was shown for all the tested yarns and dye classes, while in wool dyeing with acid, pre-metallized and reactive dyes, ethanol was suitable to replace also leveling and retarding agents. Light and wash fastnesses were also compared. Finally the environmental benefits arising from chemical substitution of auxiliary agents with ethanol were highlighted and the cost of alcohol introduction was compared with the cost saving of auxiliary substitution. A positive economic balance was obtained.

The application of enzymes in the wool dyeing process is an important research goal in order to reduce the environmental impact and costs of this finishing process. The work has focused on the possibility of reducing the temperature of conventional dyeing, using an enzymatic pretreatment with a neutral protease to improve the diffusion of the dye into the fibers. After the identification of the optimal dyeing process, the study goes on transferring the method to an industrial application. For this reason the influence of a leveling agent added to the dyeing bath was considered and further tests with an industrial dyeing recipe were performed. In order to evaluate possible fiber damage, samples treated with enzyme were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and analyzed by gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Moreover, the variation of tensile strength and elongation of dyed samples were determined. In addition, color fastness to domestic laundering, perspiration and rubbing were carried out. Finally, color measurements and fiber section analysis were performed. The results show the possibility, thanks to the pretreatment with the investigated enzyme, to obtain a homogeneous and solid dyeing on fibers maintaining good mechanical properties, already working at 85°C instead of 98°C currently used in industry.

Conventional wool dyeing methods are based on long times at high temperatures. These are energy intensive and can even damage the fibers, thus changing the desired fiber characteristics. In this work, enzyme pretreatment in combination with lower temperatures was used to reach exhaustion values comparable to those obtained with the standard procedure at 98 degrees C. Kinetic runs carried out on wool yarn at different temperatures confirmed the possibility of obtaining more than 90% of bath exhaustion by dyeing at 85 degrees C due to the pretreatment with a proteolytic enzyme. At the same temperature, without enzymatic pretreatment, just 77% of bath exhaustion can be reached. The enzyme action on the dyeing kinetics was investigated through calculation of dye absorption rate constants according to the diffusion-limited kinetic model proposed by Chrastil. Dynamometric measurements on the yarn dyed at 98 degrees C showed a 25% loss of tensile strength and 50% loss of elongation, while at lower temperature the values were better even after enzyme pretreatment, in agreement with the results of scanning electron microscopy analysis. A temperature of 85 degrees C with enzyme pretreatment was found to be optimal taking into account satisfactory washing, perspiration and light fastness values.

An atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) for continuous treatment of polymeric films and textile materials was investigated to characterize its thermal, hydrodynamic and chemical features. The operative variables of the plasma jet equipment are: gas flow rate and composition, electrical power to the plasma generator and fabric velocity. A diagnostic evaluation of the equipment was carried out to improve the treatment homogeneity and generate an effective feedback for scale-up. The cross profile of gas temperature and velocity, the fabric temperature and concentration transitory in the gas system generated by a reverse step of oxygen were determined. These measurements showed that the original prototype configuration required a better gas distribution to fully demonstrate its potentiality to functionalize textiles. The surface modifications induced by plasma were detected by processing wool fabrics and by evaluating the treatment benefit on dyeing.

Keratin proteins are the major component of hair, feathers, wool and horns and represent an important source of renewable raw materials for many applications. Regenerated keratin has useful properties such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. Moreover, keratin materials can absorb heavy metal ions, formaldehyde and other VOCs. In this work, regenerated keratin was blended with aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in different proportion in order to improve its processability. Keratin/PEO nanofibres were produced by electrospinning the blend aqueous solutions. The chemical, physical and rheological characteristics of the blend solutions were correlated with morphology, structural, thermal and mechanical properties of the electrospun mats.

Total organic carbon (TOC) removal from Methylene Blue aqueous solutions in the presence of coal fly ash was experimented comparing adsorption alone with oxidation potentially catalyzed by ash carried out with oxygen or ozone-enriched oxygen flow. The experiments were performed in continuous stirred tank reactor with fixed amounts of ash and dye solution, while gaseous flow was continuously bubbled in the solution. The results of TOC removal from 20 mg/L Methylene Blue aqueous solution showed that in the case of adsorption alone the removal yield rose from 62 to 90% increasing ash dosage from 4.0 to 8.0 g/L. However, in oxygen flow only the removal with 4.0 g/L increased up to 72% and attained about 80% with ozone-enriched oxygen, yielding the best final values of TOC removed per unit mass of ash of 2.19 and 2.38 mg/g, respectively. The kinetic results have been satisfactorily fitted by a pseudo-second-order model yielding a kinetic constant which strongly increased in adsorption alone increasing ...

Anti-felting properties of knitted wool fabrics treated with chitosan were investigated, by both a laboratory scale treatment and a semi-industrial application. The influence of oxidative wool pre-treatments was analysed. The distribution of chitosan on treated wool fibres was also assessed using both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods. The study provided shrinkage data perfectly comparable with those obtained by the currently used shrinkproofing processes, but with two important advantages: the total absence of chlorine in the process and the complete biodegradability of chitosan. The semi-industrial treatment showed the complete reproducibility of the laboratory scale results, giving rise to the possibility of an industrial adaptation of the process.

Background & Aims: We conducted a study to estimate population coverage and detection rate (DR) achievable through different strategies of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Methods: A population-based multicenter randomized trial comparing 3 strategies was used: (1) biennial immunologic fecal occult blood test (FIT), (2) "once only" sigmoidoscopy (FS), and (3) "once only" colonoscopy (TC). A random sample of men and women, aged 55 to 64 years, was drawn from general practitioners' (GP) rosters. Eligible subjects, randomized within GP, were mailed a personal invitation. Nonresponders in groups 2 and 3 were invited again at 12 and 24 months. Screenees with "high-risk" distal polyps (villous component >20%, high-grade dysplasia, CRC, size ≥10 mm, >2 adenomas) at FS, or with positive FIT, were referred for TC. Results: The attendance rate was 32.3% (1965/6075) for FIT, 32.3% (1944/6018) for FS, 26.5% (1597/6021) for TC. FIT detected 2 patients with CRC (0.1%) and 21 with an advanced adenoma (1.1%). The corresponding figures were as follows: 12 (0.6%) and 86 (4.5%) patients, respectively, for FS; 13 (0.8%) and 100 (6.3%) patients, respectively, for TC. To detect 1 advanced neoplasm, it would be necessary to invite 264 people with FIT, 60 with FS, 53 with TC. FS would have detected 27.3% of the proximal advanced neoplasms detected at TC. Assuming the same participation rate at TC as at FS, 48 TCs would be necessary to detect 1 additional advanced neoplasm missed by FS. Conclusions: When participants are offered 1 screening test, participation is lower in a TC than in an FS program. However, DR of advanced neoplasia is higher with TC.

Cotton fabrics were water-repellent-finished by radical ultraviolet curing of silicone and urethane acrylates with different formulations. The fabrics were impregnated with undiluted resins and with toluene solutions or water emulsions. Moreover, cationic ultraviolet-curable systems were also investigated, such as an epoxy-functional polysiloxane and mixtures of an epoxy resin with hydroxyl-containing silicone additives. The gel content and polymerization yield were considered for the ultraviolet-curing process evaluation. Water-resistance properties were determined in terms of the contact angle, wettability, moisture adsorption, and water vapor permeability measurements, whereas the morphology and surface composition of treated fabrics were examined with scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

The modification of the surface energy of textile fibers to improve functional properties such as the wettability was reviewed. This modification can be achieved by physical or chemical methods or by the combination of both. Applications of plasma treatment to improve the wettability of natural and synthetic fibers were considered and some methods of wettability measurement were mentioned. Subsequently the methods aimed to confer water and oil repellency were discussed and the treatment by UV curing of fluorochemicals was explained in detail. Finally the sol-gel techniques useful to modify the surface properties of textiles were introduced and the results of water and oil repellency achievable by sol-gel were presented

Coating the fibre surface by in situ oxidative chemical polymerisation of polypyrrole (using FeCl(3) as oxidant) is a readily industrial applicable way to give electrical properties to wool with good ageing stability [1], although pre-treatments are required to avoid damage of the cuticle surface due to the acidic condition of the process. FT-IR and EDX analysis reveal that organic sulphonates and sulphates, used as dopants, are absorbed by wool, while chlorine ions are preferably embedded on the polypyrrole layer. The resulting electrical conductivity seems mainly due to the presence of chlorine as counter-ion of polypyrrole; nevertheless, the presence of arylsulphonate in the polymerisation bath increases the electrical conductivity of the coating layer.

Air plasma treatment at low pressure was applied to modify the surface of a cellulose film with the aim to improve its wettability, dyeability and adhesion properties. The contact angles of different polar liquids on the treated films show an exponential decay with treatment time at a given power; the power–time reciprocity is followed. The calculated surface tension values exponentially rise to the same maximum value with a decrease of the polar fraction. ATR-FTIR analyses suggest that a cellulose dehydration takes place rather than a surface oxidation. The plasma treatment improves also the cellophane dyeability with typical dyes for cellulose fibers: the results of dye uptake follow the same trend as the surface energy. The bond strength of lap joints of cellophane with LLDPE film shows a strong improvement of the adhesion depending on the duration and the power of treatment. The whole results are consistent with ablation effects like those observed with air corona treatment rather than oxygen plasma.

The chemical polymerization of pyrrole was studied with the aim of defining the best operating conditions for obtaining conductive fabrics of synthetic fibers. Ammonium persulfate was chosen as the oxidant, and various dopants were tested. Among these, naphtalene-2,6-disulfonic acid disodium salt enabled the lowest surface resistivity to be reached. Hence, several kinetic runs were performed to explain the influence of some operating conditions as oxidant concentration and temperature. A pseudo-first-order kinetic equation was derived, and the reaction rates were found to be practically unaffected by the presence of the textile substrate. Pyrrole polymerization was faster than adsorption of the monomer, suggesting the hypothesis of fast polymerization outside the fibers followed by adsorption onto the fiber surface. The surface coating of polypyrrole was evidenced by microscopic observation of the fiber cross sections. ©2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 4121–4126, 2006

The process of silk weighting with methacrylamide (MAA) initiated by ammonium persulfate was studied to optimize the operating conditions to obtain high yields of grafted monomer. The influence of MAA concentration, liquor ratio, concentration of initiator, contact and heating time, acidification, and swelling agents were considered, and optimum operating conditions were outlined. Moreover, various monomethacrylates and dimethacrylates were grafted onto silk as alternative to methacrylamide. Most of these showed graft yields higher than MAA in the same operating conditions and some were found suitable for silk weighting since the weighted fibers show soft hand and good dyeing behavior. DSC and TGA analyses of grafted silk enabled to evaluate the influence of various monomers on the thermal behavior of the weighted fibers. Moreover, on the basis of DSC data, a correlation between the calculated enthalpy of grafted polyMAA and monomer content was studied. The molecular structure of silk grafted with methacrylic monomers was finally characterized by FTIR analysis. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 4039–4046, 2007

The acrylation of polybutadienes was performed by reaction of acrylic acid with epoxy, epoxy-hydroxyl functionalized and hydroxyl-terminated oligomers. Some epoxy-functionalized oligomers were previously obtained by epoxidation of a liquid 1,4-polybutadiene. The properties of the acrylated products were affected by the oligomer type and the reaction procedure. The UV-curing of these products was studied by FTIR and thermal analyses, which showed the amorphous and rubbery nature of the resulting films. In some cases, the double bonds conversion was increased by a thermal post-curing, but the adhesion properties were strongly reduced. The swelling of the UV-cured films was studied by varying the solvent polarity. The mixtures of some polybutadiene-acrylates with a typical epoxy-acrylic resin gave highly cross-linked films showing a flexibilizing effect due to the polybutadiene oligomers which can act as reactive diluents.

The maleinization of liquid polybutadienes with different microstructures was studied in two solvents: o-xylene and decahydronaphtalene. The concentration of maleic anhydride versus time was determined by gas chromatographic analysis. The results obtained in o-xylene were processed according to a first-order model, hence the kinetic constants and estimated activation energy values showed a solvent effect with respect to the bulk reaction. Moreover, the model was improved by taking into account that at 140 °C, the kinetic curves reached after some time a final constant yield depending on microstructure and maleic anhydride concentration. On the other hand in decahydronaphtalene at 130 °C, the reaction was very fast with very high yields. Nevertheless, in the range from 150 to 180 °C, the amount of linked anhydride in the final products did not exceed 11% (w/w) probably because of a decarboxylation of the maleinized products favoured by decahydronaphtalene.

A polyether, moisture curable, polyurethane resin was used as an adhesive on plastic and aluminium substrates, in order to investigate the influence of the surface properties on adhesion. The curing kinetics of the adhesive, in controlled temperature and humidity conditions, was evaluated and an elastomeric product was obtained after curing. The surface properties of the cured resin and of the different substrates (PPO/PA6 blend, polypropylene and aluminium) were evaluated and compared by using a contact angle technique. Adhesion measurements were performed using single-lap joints; the strength values obtained were correlated to the structure of the adhesive and to the surface treatments performed on the substrates.

The capillary rise method was applied to evaluate the improvement in water uptake of polyester and acrylic fabrics obtained by plasma treatment. Power, exposure time and gas type (nitrogen, air and oxygen) were considered as plasma variables. After plasma treatment, fabric samples were tested through capillary rise of water. The processing of a set of height absorption values vs. time, until equilibrium is reached, allows characterisation of the wettability of samples by three parameters. The influence of plasma variables on these parameters was studied.

Coal fly ash was characterized at first in batch adsorption with acid and basic dyes. Good results of removal were obtained, although strongly dependent on initial dye concentration, ash dosage, and above all on pH of the solution. The maximum adsorption capacities per g of fly ash were 410 mg of Acid Blue 25 and 142 mg of Basic Blue 9, both with an ash dosage of 2 g/L at pH 11 after a contact time of 1 h. However, increasing the ash dosage to 20 g/L and contact time to 24 h, the maximum adsorption capacity of Basic Blue 9 raised 187 mg/g fly ash at pH 11, but this value was lowered to 8.4 mg/g at pH 7. Afterwards, flow experiments were carried out in semi-batch mode with a fixed amount of ash and continuous flow of dye solution in continuous stirred tank reactor, to determine the exhaustion curves of fly ash. The best fit of the results was obtained by a sigmoidal function referable to the breakthrough curve model of Yoon-Nelson. Successively, to reduce the alkali leaching by solution flow, in a semi-pilot scale plant, a continuous stream of dye solution was mixed in stirred tank reactor with a continuous ash slurry supply, and the resulting slurry was decanted in a settling tank to obtain a clarified supernatant stream outlet. In this last equipment, the optimum conditions were investigated to obtain the highest yields of dye removal from solutions at low concentrations (5–20 mg/L) such as those occur in rinsing waters arising from dyeing processes.

Conventional cordectomy by means of a laryngofissure is one of the therapeutic options for treatment of early glottic cancer. To improve the poor voice quality related to this kind of operation, many authors have developed different techniques to repair the mucosal defect. We analyzed voice quality acoustically and compared it after cordectomy alone and after cordectomy with the reconstruction of the vocal cord in a group of 14 patients affected by T1 glottic carcinoma. All the patients underwent postoperative speech therapy. Three patients who underwent cordectomy with reconstruction showed the presence of diplophonia, while two patients without reconstruction showed the presence of bitonality. The differences of the acoustic parameters (jitter, shimmer, harmonic-to-noise ratio) between the two groups of patients were not statistically significant. Reconstruction of the vocal cord does not seem to improve voice quality after cordectomy even in combination with postoperative speech therapy.

Thermal degradation of modern and ancient linen fabrics was investigated by DSC and FTIR analysis in order to find a possible correlation between thermal behaviour and the age of linen. A similar p...

The aim of the work was to improve wool’s dyeability using acid dye through a simple pretreatment with ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Different radiation doses were investigated using both a laboratory UV lamp and a semi-industrial apparatus. UV-treated fabrics were characterized in terms of morphological, chemical and physical properties by SEM, FTIR-ATR spectra, water contact angle measurements, bursting and pilling test. The pre-treated samples were then dyed with an acid dye at different dyeing temperatures to compare the results with the untreated fabric. Final bath exhaustion reached, kinetic curves and colour measurements were evaluated. Moreover, the colour levelness of the dyeings obtained on fabrics with and without irradiation was assessed. Finally, dyeing fastness to washing and rubbing were determined according to ISO standard methods.

Experiments were conducted to investigate the ultraviolet irradiation of wool fabric as a pretreatment for differential dyeing. Wool fabric was irradiated using a medium-pressure mercury lamp in order to obtain, on the irradiated area, increased dye uptake under the same dyeing conditions as untreated wool. The chemical modification of the fibre surface as a result of ultraviolet irradiation was confirmed by an increase in metal ion absorption and hydrophilicity, in agreement with Fourier Transform-infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectra, although scanning electron microscopy showed that the fibre morphology was unaffected. A selection of 1:1 metal-complex dyes was used to show the maximum colour difference between irradiated and untreated areas of the fabric. The experiments focused on two effects: a double face with the same shade but different depths (greater depth on the treated side), and a double face with different shades. The latter effect was achieved by dyeing the irradiated fabrics with mixtures of acid and metal-complex dyes. Rubbing and washing fastness evaluations at 50 °C confirmed that the dyeings after irradiation with the selected 1:1 metal-complex dyes scored identically to conventional dyeings.

The possibility of reducing the use of auxiliaries in conventional cellulose acetate dyeing with Disperse Red 50 using ultrasound technique was studied as an alternative to the standard procedure. Dyeing of cellulose acetate yarn was carried out by using either mechanical agitation alone, with and without auxiliaries, or coupling mechanical and ultrasound agitation in the bath where the temperature range was maintained between 60 and 80 °C. The best results of dyeing kinetics were obtained with ultrasound coupled with mechanical agitation without auxiliaries (90% of bath exhaustion value at 80 °C). Hence the corresponding half dyeing times, absorption rate constants according to Cegarra–Puente modified equation and ultrasound efficiency were calculated confirming the synergic effect of sonication on the dyeing kinetics. Moreover the apparent activation energies were also evaluated and the positive effect of ultrasound added to mechanical agitation was evidenced by the lower value (48 kJ/mol) in comparison with 112 and 169 kJ/mol for mechanical stirring alone with auxiliaries and without, respectively. Finally, the fastness tests gave good values for samples dyed with ultrasound technique even without auxiliaries. Moreover color measurements on dyed yarns showed that the color yield obtained by ultrasound-assisted dyeing at 80 °C of cellulose acetate without using additional chemicals into the dye bath reached the same value yielded by mechanical agitation, but with remarkably shorter time.