Effect of sepiolite treatments on the oxidation of sepiolite/natural rubber nanocomposites prepared by latex compounding technique

Latex compounding technique is an economic and ecosustainable alternative to melt mixing for preparing nanocomposites in which fillers are directly mixed with natural rubber in the latex aqueous dispersion. Clay minerals are excellent potential fillers to be used in masterbatches prepared exploiting this technique, but their presence is associated to the occurrence of oxidative degradation phenomena of natural rubber. In this work, by exploiting a combination of high- and low-resolution 13C and 1H Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance techniques, with the support of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and thermal analyses, we characterized for the first time the oxidation phenomena occurring in sepiolite/natural rubber masterbatches obtained by the latex compounding technique. Oxidized species were identified and quantified and the dynamic properties, molecular weight and thermal stability of the rubber were characterized. Moreover, the dependence of degradation phenomena on the filler treatment and on the masterbatch work-up procedure was assessed, identifying freeze-drying as the method able to effectively protect the rubber from oxidation

Validity and reliability of the checklist of non-verbal pain indicators in Albanian. First step

Background: in Albania non ci sono strumenti affidabili per valutare la presenza di dolore nei pazienti non-verbalizzanti. L'obiettivo del nostro studio era di fornire una validazione linguistica della checklist in albanese per gli indicatori di dolore non verbale (CNPI). Metodi: dopo la traduzione inversa, abbiamo usato la versione albanese in uno studio trasversale per verificare sia l'affidabilità che la validità di questo strumento in contesti clinici. La Visual Analog Scale è stata adottata come gold standard. Sono stati usati anche il kappa di Cohen e il coefficiente di correlazione di Pearson. La validità costruttiva del CNPI è stata stabilita mediante l'analisi fattoriale esplorativa (EFA) e la coerenza interna è stata misurata dall'alfa di Cronbach. Risultati: è stata ottenuta una versione in lingua albanese con 7 voci. Il coefficiente di Pearson mostrava una forte correlazione a riposo (T0 = .88) e durante il movimento (T1 = .87). È stato trovato un basso livello di concordanza per la voce 1 (lamenti vocali - non verbale) e la voce 5 (strofinamento) (accordo moderato). Per tutti le altre voci c'era un alto livello di accordo, tranne che per il punto 7. I valori del coefficiente di Pearson indicano che esiste una modesta correlazione tra i due strumenti nella misurazione a T0 (.5229), che tuttavia aumenta quando il punteggio viene registrato a T1 (.6214). L'alfa di Cronbach a T0 era .93 e a T1 era .87. L'EFA è risultato con una soluzione a 2 fattori in T0 e una soluzione a 3 fattori in T1. Conclusioni: il CNPI è uno strumento di valutazione semplice e breve con la possibilità di facilitare l’attenzione per sensibilizzare lo staff al dolore nei pazienti non verbalizzanti.Background: in Albania there are no reliable tools to assess the presence of pain in non-verbal patients. The objective of our study was to provide a linguistic validation of the Checklist Non-verbal Pain Indicators (CNPI) in Albanian. Methods: after the back-translation, we used the Albanian version in a cross-sectional study to verify both the reliability and the validity of this instrument in clinical settings. The Visual Analog Scale was adopted as gold standard. Cohen's kappa and the Pearson correlation coefficient were also used. Construct validity of the CNPI was established by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and internal consistency was measured by Cronbach’s alpha. Results: an Albanian version with 7 items was obtained. The Pearson coefficient showed a strong correlation at rest (T0= .88) and during movement (T1= .87). A low level of agreement was found for Item 1 (Vocal Complains – non-verbal) and Item 5 (Rubbing) (moderate agreement). For all the other items there was a high level of agreement, except for Item 7. The Pearson coefficient values indicate that there is a modest correlation between the two instruments in the measurement at T0 (.5229), which however increases when scoring is registered at T1 (.6214). The Cronbach’s alpha at T0 was .93 and at T1 was .87. EFA resulted with a 2-factor solution at T0 and a 3-factor solution at T1. Conclusions: the CNPI is a simple and short assessment tool with the potential to facilitate alertness to make the staff aware of pain experience in non-verbal patient