Nowadays, effect pigments are widely used in many printing industries. The colorful effects produced by light scattering of these types of pigments add an additional value to the prints and enhances the overall quality of color appearance. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality enhancement of printed specialty papers with various effect pigments in combination with offset inks. Four different effect pigments were used (one luster pigment-EP1, two interference pigments-EP2, EP3, and one multicolor pigment-EP4) as well as two types of paper substrates (film synthetic paper and wood-free paper). The effect pigments were overprinted on dried CMYK offset prints on both paper substrates. The following analysis were performed: scanning electron microscopy analysis of effect pigment particles, contact angles of papers and offset prints, Fourier transform infrared spectrocopy (FTIR), principal components analysis (principal components analysis (PCA)), and flop index analysis of overprinted effect pigments, and paper and print gloss. The results of the experiment indicate that effect pigments behaved differently on different printing substrates. From the FTIR and PCA, it was found that the different composition of effect pigments differently influence the behavior of these particles on the final prints. Effect pigments overprinted on offset CMYK inks on both paper substrates enhance print gloss, except interference pigment EP2 on film synthetic paper. It was also found that the ink color has the most pronounced influence on flop index, followed by the paper type and the type of effect pigment. Higher flop index was obtained at wood-free paper, especially by overprinted pigment EP2.

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The use of endoprosthetics for hip-and knee-joint replacements is currently the most common and successful method in orthopaedic surgery to treat degenerative joint disease, for relieving pain and for correcting deformities. Cobalt-chromiummolybdenum alloys, titanium alloys, trabecular tantalum, Biolox ceramics, UHMWPE polyethylene and PMMA bone cement are the most common biomaterials used in endoprosthetics. The published results of long-term investigations demonstrate excellent clinical results for at least 15 years after TJR implantation surgeries. Using new, improved surgical methods as well as new, improved implants made of advanced biomaterials, better clinical results are expected. While these surgeries have positive outcomes, approximately 10 % of implants fail prematurely. Aseptic loosening and periprosthetic joint infection are the main causes of failure for joint arthroplasty. The Orthopedic Clinic Ljubljana performs between 80 and 100 revision surgeries of knee and hip endoprostheses per year. The most common causes for revision surgeries are aseptic loosening and implant infection. For all treated patients the clinical course of treatment including X-ray documentation is precisely followed. The retrieved endoprostheses are sent for bacteriological analysis, and afterwards are preserved for further investigations. The surface and microstructure analyses of retrieved hip and knee endoprostheses were performed in cooperation with IMT Ljubljana using advanced analytical and integrated electron spectroscopy techniques. Two new and two retrieved endoprostheses were studied. The surface chemistry and microstructures of both the new and used titanium alloys and CoCrMo alloys used for hip and knee endoprostheses were determined using SEM (morphology), EBSD (phase analysis), and AES and XPS (surface chemistry). The SEM SE and BE images revealed their microstructures, while the EBSD provided the phases of the materials. During the production of hip and knee endoprostheses, these materials are subject to severe thermomechanical treatments and physicochemical processes that are decisive for CoCrMo alloys. The AES and XPS results showed that thin oxide films on a) Ti6Al4V are a mixture of primarily TiO2 with a small amount of Al2O3, while the V is depleted, b) Ti6Al7Nb is a mixture of primarily TiO2 with a small amount of Al2O3 and Nb2O5, and c) the CoCrMo alloy is a mixture of primarily Cr2O3 with small amounts of Co and Mo oxides. Keywords: biomaterials, knee and hip endoprosthesis, microstructure, surface chemistry, SEM, EDS, EBSD, AES and XPS Endoprotetika kol~nega in kolenskega sklepa (TEP) je dandanes uveljavljena in uspe{na metoda zdravljenja napredovanih degenerativnih sprememb teh sklepov za laj{anje bole~in in za odpravljanje deformacij. Prav v zadnjih letih se uveljavljajo nove operativne metode, izbolj{ani implantati iz novej{ih, vse bolj{ih materialov. Hitrej{a je tudi pooperativna rehabilitacija teh bolnikov. Najpogostej{i biomateriali, ki se uporabljajo za izdelavo kol~nih in kolenskih endoprotez, s...

We investigated the printability of fibrous synthetic papers with ultraviolet (UV) inkjet technology. Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) color fields were printed on two types of fibrous synthetic papers using two different wide-format UV inkjet printers. Spectrophotometric and densitometric measurements were performed on CMYK color fields with different ink coverages, along with a microscopic analysis of unprinted paper, black prints with 100% ink coverage, and a print mottle of magenta and black prints. Colorimetry and optical densities of the CMYK prints were qualitatively and quantitatively compared. Color deviations in CMYK prints were affected by paper type and were dependent on the UV inkjet printer used.

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