The increasing interest in karate has also attracted the attention of researchers, especially in combining the equipment used by practitioners with technology to prevent injuries, improve technical ...skills and provide appropriate scoring. Contrary to the sport of taekwondo, the development of a smart body protector in the sport of karate is still a niche field to be researched. This study focused on developing piezoresistive, textile-based pressure sensors using piezoresistive film, conductive fabric as well as different bonding materials and methods. Primarily, small-scale sensors were produced using ultrasonic welding, hot press welding and oven curing. These were characterized using a universal testing machine and specific conditioning and data-acquisition hardware combined with custom processing software. Large-scale sensors were then manufactured to be placed inside the karate body protector and characterized using cyclic testing. The conditioning circuit allows flexible gain adjustment, and it was possible to obtain a stable signal with an output of up to 0.03 V/N, an adequate signal for the tested force range. The transfer function shows some drift over the cycles, in addition to the expected hysteresis and slight nonlinearity, which can be compensated for. Finally, the configuration with the best results was tested in real practice tests; during these tests the body protector was placed on a dummy as well as on a person. The results showed that the piezoresistive textile-based pressure sensor produced is able to detect and quantify the impact of even light punches, providing an unobtrusive means for performance monitoring and score calculation for competitive practice of this sport.
ObjectiveThis case study examines the enabling factors, strengths, challenges and lessons learnt from Timor-Leste (TLS) as it sought to maintain quality essential health services (EHS) during the ...COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA qualitative case study triangulated information from 22 documents, 44 key informant interviews and 6 focus group discussions. The framework method was used to thematically examine the factors impacting quality EHS in TLS.SettingNational, municipal, facility levels in Baucau, Dili and Ermera municipalities in TLS.ResultsBased on the TLS National Health Statistics Reports, a reduction in outpatient, emergency department and primary care service delivery visits was observed in 2020 when compared with 2019. However, in contrast, maternal child health services simultaneously improved in the areas of skilled birth attendants, prenatal coverage and vitamin A distribution, for example. From the thematic analysis, five themes emerged as contributing to or impeding the maintenance of quality EHS including (1) high-level strategy for maintaining quality EHS, (2) measurement for quality and factors affecting service utilisation, (3) challenges in implementation of quality activities across the three levels of the health system, (4) the impact of quality improvement leadership in health facilities during COVID-19 and (5) learning systems for maintaining quality EHS now and for the future.ConclusionThe maintenance of quality EHS is critical to mitigate adverse health effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. When quality health services are delivered prior to and maintained during public health emergencies, they build trust within the health system and promote healthcare-seeking behaviour. Planning for quality as part of emergency preparedness can facilitate a high standard of care by ensuring health services continue to provide a safe environment, reduce harm, improve clinical care and engage patients, facilities and communities.
The present work studies the improvement of Methylene Blue (MB) from aqueous solutions by an electrocoagulation (EC)/banana peel (BP) adsorption coupling process. The kinetics of this coupling ...process was studied using different amounts of adsorbent material in order to identify the most appropriate dosage, for enhancing wastewater treatment. The influence of current density on the removal efficiency and energy consumption of the EC/BP coupling process was also determined.
The coupling between electrocoagulation and BP showed that the addition of an appropriate BP dosage resulted in the enhancement of the removal rate of dyes especially at lower current densities, and in a considerable reduction in the contact time compared to the conventional simple EC process and simple adsorption process, having achieved efficiency removal of approximately 99%.
Based on the high removal efficiency, short contact time and low energy consumption, the EC/BP coupling method could be recommended instead of the conventional simple EC.
Although the force/pressure applied onto a textile substrate through a uniaxial compression is constant and independent of the yarn direction, it should be noted that such mechanical action causes a ...geometric change in the substrate, which can be identified by the reduction in its lateral thickness. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the fabric orientation on both knitted and woven pressure sensors, in order to generate knowledge for a better design process during textile piezoresistive sensor development. For this purpose, these distinct textile structures were doped with different concentrations of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), using the screen-printing technique. The chemical and physical properties of these screen-printed fabrics were analysed using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Ground State Diffuse Reflectance and Raman Spectroscopy. Samples were subjected to tests determining linear electrical surface resistance and piezoresistive behaviour. In the results, a higher presence of conductive material was found in woven structures. For the doped samples, the electrical resistance varied between 105 Ω and 101 Ω, for the GNPs’ percentage increase. The lowest resistance value was observed for the woven fabric with 15% GNPs (3.67 ± 8.17 × 101 Ω). The samples showed different electrical behaviour according to the fabric orientation. Overall, greater sensitivity in the longitudinal direction and a lower coefficient of variation CV% of the measurement was identified in the transversal direction, coursewise for knitted and weftwise for woven fabrics. The woven fabric doped with 5% GNPs assembled in the weftwise direction was shown to be the most indicated for a piezoresistive sensor, due to its most uniform response and most accurate measure of mechanical stress.
In this paper, an industrial case study comparing the use of different needles in the production of hems in towels is presented. The study aims to assess the sewability of the fabrics, quantified by ...needle penetration forces. The market offers an interesting range of options for the needle, regarding the geometry of the needle point, surface finishing, and sizes. However, in practice, the choice is difficult, namely due to the lack of quantitative data that may support the empirical evaluation made by the sewing technicians. The work aims to assess how the needle type and size relate to the resulting needle penetration forces. Three terry fabric structures, produced by a home textiles manufacturer, were tested using needles of different sizes, points, and coatings. Needle penetration forces were measured on a sewability tester prototype, previously designed and developed, based on an instrumented overedge sewing machine. It was found that needle penetration forces present very significant differences with small size increments, needle coating also influences forces significantly, and different needle points produce only slight differences, significant only on some of the fabrics that were tested.
In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) model was applied for optimization of Basic Red 2 (BR2) removal using electrocoagulation/eggshell (ES) coupling process in a batch system. Central ...composite design was used to evaluate the effects and interactions of process parameters including current density, reaction time, initial pH and ES dosage on the BR2 removal efficiency and energy consumption. The analysis of variance revealed high R(2) values (≥85%) indicating that the predictions of RSM models are adequately applicable for both responses. The optimum conditions when the dye removal efficiency of 93.18% and energy consumption of 0.840 kWh/kg were observed were 11.40 mA/cm(2) current density, 5 min and 3 s reaction time, 6.5 initial pH and 10.91 g/L ES dosage.
Mucositis is a clinically important gastrointestinal inflammatory infirmity, generated by antineoplastic drugs cytotoxic effects. The inflammatory process caused by this disease frequently leads to ...derangements in the alimentary tract and great malaise for the patient. Novel strategies are necessary for its prevention or treatment, as currently available treatments of mucositis have several limitations in relieving its symptoms. In this context, several research groups have investigated the use of probiotic bacteria, and in particular dairy bacterial strains. Compelling evidences reveal that milk fermented by certain probiotic bacteria has the capacity to ameliorate intestinal inflammatory disorders. In addition, innovative probiotic delivery strategies, based on probiotics incorporation into protective matrices, such as whey proteins, were able to increase the therapeutic effect of probiotic strains by providing extra protection for bacteria against environmental stresses. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the role of the whey protein isolate (WPI), when added to skim milk fermented by
BL23 (
BL23) or by
CIRM-BIA138 (
138), as a protective matrix against
stress challenges. In addition, we investigated the therapeutic effect of these fermented beverages in a murine model of mucositis induced by 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). Our results demonstrated that milk supplementation with 30% (w/v) of WPI increases the survival rate of both strains when challenged with acid, bile salts, high temperature and cold storage stresses, compared to fermented skim milk without the addition of WPI. Moreover, treatment with the probiotic beverages prevented weight loss and intestinal damages in mice receiving 5-FU. We conclude that the presence of WPI maximizes the anti-inflammatory effects of
BL23, but not for
138, suggesting that whey protein enhancement of probiotic activity might be strain-dependent.
The removal of Acid Black 1 (AB1) and Basic Red 2 (BR2) from aqueous solutions via an electrocoagulation (EC)/Moringa oleifera seeds (MOS) adsorption coupling process by using aluminum and stainless ...steel electrode in a batch reactor is described in this study. The influences of the operational parameters, i.e. current density, MOS dosage, and dye initial concentration, on degree of color removal were studied, and the unit energy demand, the unit electrode material demand, and the charge loading were calculated and discussed. The amounts of adsorbent and energy consumption were considered as main criteria of process evaluation, and ideal conditions were chosen. The addition of an appropriate MOS dosage (0.6 g/L for AB1 and 5 g/L for BR2) resulted in faster decolorization of dyes especially at lower current densities and was simultaneously accompanied by a significant reduction in contact time compared to the conventional simple EC process. The coupling process achieved degree of removals above 99.3% and 94% for AB1 and BR2, respectively. The EC/MOS coupling technique could be recommended to replace the conventional simple EC because of its high degree of removal, short contact time, and low energy consumption.
This research study focuses on the application of conductive ink by the screen printing technique to evaluate the potential of creating printed electrodes and to investigate the effect of washing ...upon electrical resistance and flexibility. Two conductive inks were applied by a conventional screen printing method on four different textile substrates, 100% cotton, 50%/50% cotton/polyester, 100% polyester and 100% polyamide. The inks were also applied on a multifibre fabric. Atmospheric plasma treatment was applied to improve the adhesion to the samples, and the resistance values were compared with those of non‐treated samples. The values were measured before and after cleaning and washing tests, which were performed to simulate domestic treatment for garments to predict the behaviour of the inks after normal usage of the fabrics. Comfort properties like stiffness of the fabrics were also evaluated after five and 10 washing cycles. It was observed that PE 825 ink forms a thicker film on the fabric surface, contributing to the loss of flexibility of the textile. However, PE 825 ink also produced the best results in terms of durability and lower values of resistance. Polyamide fabrics lost their conductive property after five washing cycles due to weak bonding between the ink and the fibres, whereas cotton fibres provided the best results.
The continuous proliferation of intestinal stem cells followed by their tightly regulated differentiation to epithelial cells is essential for the maintenance of the gut epithelial barrier and its ...functions. How these processes are tuned by diet and gut microbiome is an important, but poorly understood question. Dietary soluble fibers, such as inulin, are known for their ability to impact the gut bacterial community and gut epithelium, and their consumption has been usually associated with health improvement in mice and humans. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that inulin consumption modifies the composition of colonic bacteria and this impacts intestinal stem cells functions, thus affecting the epithelial structure.
Mice were fed with a diet containing 5% of the insoluble fiber cellulose or the same diet enriched with an additional 10% of inulin. Using a combination of histochemistry, host cell transcriptomics, 16S microbiome analysis, germ-free, gnotobiotic, and genetically modified mouse models, we analyzed the impact of inulin intake on the colonic epithelium, intestinal bacteria, and the local immune compartment.
We show that the consumption of inulin diet alters the colon epithelium by increasing the proliferation of intestinal stem cells, leading to deeper crypts and longer colons. This effect was dependent on the inulin-altered gut microbiota, as no modulations were observed in animals deprived of microbiota, nor in mice fed cellulose-enriched diets. We also describe the pivotal role of γδ T lymphocytes and IL-22 in this microenvironment, as the inulin diet failed to induce epithelium remodeling in mice lacking this T cell population or cytokine, highlighting their importance in the diet-microbiota-epithelium-immune system crosstalk.
This study indicates that the intake of inulin affects the activity of intestinal stem cells and drives a homeostatic remodeling of the colon epithelium, an effect that requires the gut microbiota, γδ T cells, and the presence of IL-22. Our study indicates complex cross kingdom and cross cell type interactions involved in the adaptation of the colon epithelium to the luminal environment in steady state. Video Abstract.
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