Psycho-oncological support for breast cancer patients: A brief overview of breast cancer services certification schemes and national health policies in Europe.

Psycho-oncology addresses the psychological, social, behavioural, and ethical aspects of cancer. Identification and proper management of the patients' psychosocial needs, as well as the needs of their caregivers and family are essential for a person-centred concept of breast cancer care. The aim of this overview is to describe how psychosocial support in breast cancer is incorporated in cancer-related policy documents, such as national cancer plans and breast cancer care certification schemes.post-print163 K

Sustainable polyethylene fabrics with engineered moisture transport for passive cooling

Polyethylene (PE) has emerged recently as a promising polymer for incorporation in wearable textiles owing to its high infrared transparency and tuneable visible opacity, which allows the human body to cool via thermal radiation, potentially saving energy on building refrigeration. Here, we show that single-material PE fabrics may offer a sustainable, high-performance alternative to conventional textiles, extending beyond radiative cooling. PE fabrics exhibit ultra-light weight, low material cost and recyclability. Industrial materials sustainability (Higg) index calculations predict a low environmental footprint for PE fabrics in the production phase. We engineered PE fibres, yarns and fabrics to achieve efficient water wicking and fast-drying performance which, combined with their excellent stain resistance, offer promise in reducing energy and water consumption as well as the environmental footprint of PE textiles in their use phase. Unlike previously explored nanoporous PE materials, the high-performance PE fabrics in this study are made from fibres melt spun and woven on standard equipment used by the textile industry worldwide and do not require any chemical coatings. We further demonstrate that these PE fibres can be dry coloured during fabrication, resulting in dramatic water savings without masking the PE molecular fingerprints scanned during the automated recycling process

Comparison of the size selectivity of diamond (PA) and square (PE) mesh codends for deepwater crustacean species in the Antalya Bay, eastern Mediterranean

WOS: 000268054800003P>The aim of this study was to compare selectivity results of currently used 44 mm nominal polyamide (PA) diamond mesh- and alternatively suggested 40 mm nominal polyethylene (PE) square mesh- codends in the deepwater crustacean trawl fishery in the Antalya Bay, eastern Mediterranean. Selectivity experiments were carried out during targeted trawling of four commonly harvested crustacean species: giant red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea, 'blue and red' shrimp Aristeus antennatus, rose shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris, and pandalid shrimp Plesionika martia. A conventional bottom trawl of 600 meshes around the fishing circle was operated onboard a commercial stern trawler between 6 and 18 June 2007. Depth of the fishing area varied between 441 and 630 m. Data were collected using the covered codend technique, and analyzed using a logistic equation with maximum likelihood for individual and pooled hauls. The commercially used trawl codend was unable to release immature crustaceans. Selectivity parameters of the three species of crustaceans were distinctly lower when collected with the polyamide diamond mesh than with the polyethylene square mesh, except in the case of giant red shrimp for which values were similar. However, the present and previous results show that in square mesh codends, mesh sizes must be more than 40 mm in order to keep catches clear of specimens below minimum landing sizes or 50% sexual maturity sizes of crustaceans in the Mediterranean. This study suggests that regulating mesh size by requiring square mesh openings during deep water crustacean trawling of the eastern Mediterranean is essential for the release of immature individuals.Istanbul University Research FundIstanbul University [614/15122006, 2007/BYP/1176, 2007/BYP/1177]The authors would like to extend thanks to the captain and the crew of the fishing vessel "Taktak" for their help in the sea trip, and to JAI Editor Prof. Dr D. Schnack and anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions. This study was financed by the Istanbul University Research Fund, Projects No: 614/15122006, 2007/BYP/1176 and 2007/BYP/1177

Electrorheological behavior of biodegradable modified corn starch/corn oil suspensions

In this study, an electrorheological (ER) effect of the suspensions containing both native starch (S) and modified starch (MS) particles in corn oil (CO) under various externally applied electric field strengths (E) are reported. To prepare an ER active material, biodegradable starch was partially hydrolyzed and converted to its Li-salt. Both biopolymers (S and MS) were characterized by FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, SEM, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), TGA and conductivity measurements. Suspensions of S and MS particles were prepared in CO at concentrations ranging from 5% to 40% by mass. Effects of various parameters such as sedimentation stability, particle size, dispersed particle concentration, electric field strength, shear rate, frequency and temperature onto ER activity of suspensions were investigated. Further, creep behaviors of S/CO and MS/CO suspensions were also investigated. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.National Council for Scientific Research: 107T628The authors thanks to TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey ) for the financial support of this work (Project No: 107T628)