OBJECTIVES Good wettability of maxillofacial prosthetic materials is important so that a lubricating layer is formed with supporting tissues thus reducing patient discomfort. The purpose of the study was to surface modify an experimental silicone rubber material in order to improve wettability. METHODS Samples of experimental silicone rubber were surface modified by first argon plasma treatme...

In nonequimolar solutions of a cationic and an anionic surfactant, vesicles bearing a net charge can be spontaneously formed and apparently exist as thermodynamically stable aggregates. These vesicles can associate strongly with polymers in solution by means of hydrophobic and/or electrostatic interactions. In the current work, we have investigated the rheological and microstructural properties...

Pulmonary surfactant contains homeostatic and antimicrobial hydrolases. When Mycobacterium tuberculosis is initially deposited in the terminal bronchioles and alveoli, as well as following release from lysed macrophages, bacilli are in intimate contact with these lung surfactant hydrolases. We identified and measured several hydrolases in human alveolar lining fluid and lung tissue that, at the...

The electrosorption behaviour of non-ionic surfactant: N-decanoyl-N-methylglucamine on mercury electrode in 1 mol dm−3 NaClO4 solution was determined. The values of the relative surface excess were determined on the basis of double layer differential capacity. A set of parameters of maximal adsorption and the constants of Frumkin, modified Flory-Huggins and virial adsorption isotherms were obta...

A ntenatal corticosteroids, postnatal surfactant treatment, and new strategies for respiratory care have modified the clinical presentation, lung outcome, and survival of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. These changes over the last 10-20 years have resulted in a large population of ELBW survivors that have clinical courses that are quite different from those observed before the genera...