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Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied to investigate the morphological and topographical surface modifications induced by radiofrequency cold plasma processing of poly (ethyleneterephthalate) textiles. Surface effects are analysed in low-pressure air plasma for different plasma exposure times. The results show a progressive degradation of the surface with increasing roughness. The analysis suggests that modification of the surface during textile treatment may be ascribed to a plasma-induced physical process. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

BACKGROUND We evaluated the feasibility of measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a gynecologic oncology clinic by using an instrument that is nonspecific for cancer patients. Our aim was to study whether the HRQOL perception of cancer patients differed from general population norms for the same age and gender and if it varied across cancer type, cancer status, age, health care setting, and reason for the encounter. METHODS Participants in this study included 115 women between the ages of 21 and 83 years who were referred to a university hospital for ovarian, endometrial, and cervical carcinoma. They completed the SF-36 questionnaire. Mean results for the entire sample, for different disease status (primary vs. progressive/recurrent disease), and reason for encounter (surgery, preoperative, postoperative, palliative chemotherapy, and follow-up) were compared with age-specific expected mean values for each SF-36 scale, based on published Italian reference values for the healthy population. RESULTS Patients' attitude to the questionnaire was generally good. Mean values on the SF-36 scales varied. Role (Physical and Emotional) scales showed the highest differences from the expected age-specific values in all situations. Patients with primary disease showed little or no differences for the other six scales from the expected values, whereas a significant 10-point mean decrease in every SF-36 scale was recorded for patients with progressive/recurrent disease. A biologic interaction among cervical carcinoma, age, and disease status was found in multivariate models, showing worst scores for patients with progressive/recurrent cervical carcinoma on almost all scales. CONCLUSIONS Administration of generic HRQOL questionnaires in specialist health care delivery settings is feasible and well accepted and may help physicians and nurses to look beyond “what's wrong” in their patients. Cancer 2002;95:2500–7. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10993

Experimental results are reported showing that the photocatalytic oxidation of aromatic compounds containing an electron-donor group (EDG) gives rise mainly to ortho- and para-monohydroxy derivatives while in the presence of an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) all the monohydroxy derivatives are obtained.

Various preparations of nanostructured TiO2 starting from Ti(iso-OC3H7)4 or TiCl4 are reported. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, specific surface area and porosity determinations, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. 4-Nitrophenol photodegradation in aqueous medium was employed as a probe reaction to test the photoactivity of the catalysts. The photoactivity of some samples derived from Ti(iso-OC3H7)4 was found comparable with that of commercial powders. Calcination after the hydrolysis process was necessary to achieve crystallization of the particles before using them as photocatalysts for the reaction studied. The samples deriving from TiCl 4 were the most photoactive among the home-prepared catalysts, and neither filtration nor calcination was needed to obtain a highly photoactive anatase phase.

Knowledge of the optical properties of photocatalytic suspensions is vital for a correct comparison of their energetic efficiency. In this work, the determination of both absorption and scattering coefficients of aqueous suspensions of commercial TiO2 powders irradiated by monochromatic light was carried out by measuring only one quantity—the transmitted photon flow—as a function of the catalyst mass and by applying an asymptotic form of the Kubelka–Munk solution of the radiative transfer equation. Applying a nonlinear fitting procedure the evaluation of the actual values of absorption and scattering coefficients was carried out. The limit for optically thick media of the Kubelka–Munk equation is shown to assume the form of a standard Lambert–Beer absorption formula. The determination of absorbed photon flow was then used to determine the quantum yield value for the phenol photocatalytic oxidation reaction. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006