Recently, natural dyes are becoming more important because they are considered environmentally friendly. However, the reduction in pollution is not only the main aspect that makes them interesting. ...New properties such antibacterial, sun protection, etc., can be added to the material dyed with them. In this work we consider different teas, the red one, the black and the green tea. Tea is commonly known all over the world ant they are considerably appreciated by their antioxidant properties. In this work the antioxidant effect of tea extracts has been determined and cotton fabrics were dyed. Previously, fabrics were treated with chitosan as a natural and not pollutant mordant. The effectiveness of dyeing cotton with tea extracts has been objectively studied by the K/S value and the chromatic values CIELab. Furthermore, the ultra violet (UV) protection has been determined as the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF). Having dyed cotton with the tea extracts and analysing the results, no relationship was found between antioxidant effect and the dyeing yield nor the UPF. The same kind of tea offered fabrics with different colours depending on the extraction method. Some samples showed reddish hue and others a greenish one but it was not directly related to red or green tea. We could conclude that the final colour is more influenced by the way the extraction has been performed than by the kind of tea used. Regarding the UPF, it has been demonstrated that the effectiveness depends on the method used and the level of protection is considerably increased although there are two kinds of tea which show higher results.
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•Cotton fabrics colour dyed with tea depends on the tea extraction procedure.•Antioxidant effect does not match UV protection from the dyed fabric.•UV protection factor on dyed fabrics is not independent on the nature of tea.
Retinoblastoma (Rb1) has been described as an essential player in white adipocyte differentiation in mice. No studies have been reported thus far in human adipose tissue or human adipocytes. We aimed ...to investigate the possible role and regulation of RB1 in adipose tissue in obesity using human samples and animal and cell models. Adipose RB1 (mRNA, protein, and activity) was negatively associated with BMI and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) while positively associated with the expression of adipogenic genes (PPARγ and IRS1) in both visceral and subcutaneous human adipose tissue. BMI increase was the main contributor to adipose RB1 downregulation. In rats, adipose Rb1 gene expression and activity decreased in parallel to dietary-induced weight gain and returned to baseline with weight loss. RB1 gene and protein expression and activity increased significantly during human adipocyte differentiation. In fully differentiated adipocytes, transient knockdown of Rb1 led to loss of the adipogenic phenotype. In conclusion, Rb1 seems to play a permissive role for human adipose tissue function, being downregulated in obesity and increased during differentiation of human adipocytes. Rb1 knockdown findings further implicate Rb1 as necessary for maintenance of adipogenic characteristics in fully differentiated adipocytes.
The hydrophilicity of fibers is directly related to the comfort of a fabric and represents one of the most important aspects of a textile. Therefore, polyester (PES) modification has focused on an ...increase in moisture content and a subsequent improvement of the user’s experience. Based on the glycerol hygroscopic properties, the main objective has been the enhancement of the hydrophilicity of polyester by glycerol treatments. Furthermore, microwave irradiation and alkaline treatment have been applied, in order to increase glycerol adhesion. Treated PES samples were characterized by performing moisture content, negative ion, water diffusion and water vapor resistance analyses. The effect of different treatment conditions such as bath ratio (1/10 or 1/15), temperature (40, 60 or 100 °C), time (2 or 5 min) and microwave radiation intensity (300 or 500 W) was evaluated. The moisture content of treated PES results indicated that by decreasing the bath ratio and increasing the time and temperature the moisture gain can reach almost 14%, which can be easily related to increases in the weight of the fiber. The treatment with alkali was done and led to the highest moisture increase. Treatment with 500 W microwave irradiation led to higher glycerol retention after rinsing. Different experimental conditions were applied to the glycerol-treated PES fabrics, and a clear improvement in moisture content was obtained increasing the comfort. The results were compared with the ones obtained for cotton and wool, where the moisture is higher than non treated PES.
The use of Microcapsules has increased in the textile sector. They have been applied as a possible means of introducing new products to textiles, such as insect repellents, antibiotics, skin ...moisturizers, etc. Microencapsulation technology has improved the fragrance durability on fabrics. Historically, the durability of the fragrance was poor, especially once the fabric had been washed. Microcapsules have been used in textiles for many years, however their previous characterization, adhesion behaviour and permanence on the fabrics are not well known. Nowadays the majority of textile industries are not able to characterize commercial products, or to study the process of adhering the microcapsule to the fibre’s surface nor their functionality. Thus, the characterization of microencapsulated fabrics with different active core and the knowledge of the various application processes becomes a major challenge in the field of microcapsules use. There are various industrial processes to apply microcapsules, but determining optimal amounts of products, temperature, conditions and other process variables are an important challenge for the textile sector in order to achieve the highest depositions and retention of microcapsules. This work is focused on determining and quantifying presence fragrance microcapsules when applied onto fabrics by padding and by bath exhaustion and determining which method is the most effective. Consequently, diverse analysis techniques such as microscopy (SEM), spectroscopy FTIR and XPS have been used. We concluded that proposed techniques seem to be useful to compare fabrics treated with microcapsules. Results demonstrate that padding application gives better yields than bath exhaustion.
Natural dyes represent an emerging trend in the textile industry and eco-fashion due to the increasing awareness of the sustainability concept, which must be applied to the surrounding environment. ...In the light of the stated problem, the search for alternative sources of dyes, revealed the new, eco-friendly, biodegradable, non-carcinogenic and sustainable colorant matter, the algal biomass. In the present work, the suitability and viability of printing cotton fabrics with pigments obtained from the red macroalgae Gracilaria sp., has been investigated. For this aim, phycoerythrin, the red pigment, was extracted from fresh algal biomass, and used in a laboratory pigment-printing process, employing a natural and synthetic printing paste, for process efficiency comparison. The color values and the rubbing and laundering fastness of the printed substrates were evaluated. Results show that a light pink color can be obtained when applying both tested printing processes, and in terms of color fastness, both printing pastes show good behavior. In conclusion, the algal pigments show a high printing capacity on cotton substrates, either when employing the synthetic conventional paste and; moreover, when applying the more sustainable and eco-friendly natural paste.
La realidad social, en constante proceso de cambio, exige al sistema educativo un esfuerzo por actualizar las respuestas educativas frente a la mejora de la convivencia. Es en este contexto en el que ...la mediación ha dejado ver sus potencialidades educativas, ya que influye sobre la mejora del individuo, de las relaciones interpersonales y del clima escolar. No obstante, son escasas las investigaciones orientadas a conocer el impacto de la misma. En este artículo presentamos un estudio dirigido a conocer la valoración de la mediación atendiendo a las opiniones del alumnado de cinco centros educativos de secundaria de Valencia y cuatro de Castellón. Asimismo, se pretende detectar si existen diferencias significativas entre las valoraciones ofrecidas en ambas provincias. Para el logro de estos objetivos se ha recogido información de 1043 estudiantes a través de un cuestionario elaborado ad hoc. Mediante un estudio descriptivo-inferencial destacamos como resultado el gran acuerdo que existe por parte del alumnado participante en valorar de forma muy positiva la mediación. Como aspectos mejorables, se detecta la necesidad de difundir en los centros la información sobre sus servicios de mediación, formar en mediación a todo el alumnado y ampliar las funciones de la mediación a aquellos conflictos más relacionados con las tareas de enseñanza y aprendizaje y con las relaciones entre el alumnado y el profesorado. Finamente, se observa que, en general, la satisfacción sobre la mediación es menor en Valencia que en Castellón. En conclusión, el estudio refleja que la mediación escolar es considerada como ventajosa para el alumnado y como una oportunidad que le facilita la gestión de sus propios conflictos, si bien hay aspectos en los que se debe trabajar para la mejora de la convivencia y la configuración de una ciudadanía democrática.
Different studies have shown insufficient blood pressure (BP) control in hypertensive patients. Multiple factors influence hypertension management, and the quality of primary care is one of them. We ...decided therefore to evaluate the effectiveness of a quality improvement plan directed at professionals of Primary Health Care Teams (PHCT) with the aim to achieve a better control of hypertension. The hypothesis of the study is that the implementation of a quality improvement plan will improve the control of hypertension. The primary aim of this study will be to evaluate the effectiveness of this plan.
multicentric study quasi-experimental before - after with control group. The non-randomised allocation of the intervention will be done at PHCT level.
18 PHCT in the Barcelona province (Spain).
all patients with a diagnosis of hypertension (population based study).
patients with a diagnosis of hypertension made later than 01/01/2006 and patients younger than 18 years.
a quality improvement plan, which targets primary health care professionals and includes educational sessions, feedback to health professionals, audit and implementation of recommended clinical practice guidelines for the management of hypertensive patients.
age, sex, associated co-morbidity (diabetes mellitus type I and II, heart failure and renal failure). The following variables will be recorded: BP measurement, cardiovascular risk and antihypertensive drugs used. Results will be measured before the start of the intervention and twelve months after the start of the study. Dependent variable: prevalence of hypertensive patients with poor BP control.
Chi-square test and Student's t-test will be used to measure the association between independent qualitative and quantitative variables, respectively. Non-parametric tests will be used for the analysis of non-normally distributed variables. Significance level (alpha) will be set at < 0.05. Outcomes will be analysed on an intention-to-treat basis.
The implementation of a quality improvement plan might benefit the coordination of different professionals of PHCTs and may also improve blood pressure control.
This protocol has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov with the ID number MS: 1998275938244441.
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a quality improvement (QI) plan aimed at primary healthcare teams (PHCTs) to optimise hypertension control and to compare it with ...standard clinical care.MethodsDesign Multicentric, non-randomised, quasi-experimental controlled intervention study.Setting 5 PHCTs in the intervention and 13 in the standard care group in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Participants This is a population-based study in which all patients over 18 years of age with a diagnosis of hypertension before 1 January 2006 were included (n=9877 in the intervention group and n=21 704 in the control group).Intervention A QI plan that targeted primary care professionals. The plan included training sessions, implementation of recommended clinical practice guidelines for the management of hypertensive patients and audit and feedback to health professionals.Main outcome measure Prevalence of hypertensive patients with an adequate blood pressure (BP) control.ResultsThe adjusted difference between intervention and standard care groups in the odds of BP control was 1.3 (95% CI 1.1 to 1.6, p=0.003). Results of the mixed model on repeated measures showed that, on average, an individual in the intervention group had an increase of 92% in the odds of BP control (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.7 to 2.1).ConclusionsThe implementation of a QI plan can improve BP control. This strategy is potentially feasible for up-scaling within the existing PHCTs.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov MS: 1998275938244441.
This study examines the results of evaluating a Catalan training program for practitioners working with survivors of gender-related violence. Considering the lack of scientific evidence previously ...shown by studies on this topic, this article aimed to triangulate the participants’ self-perception with their assessment of knowledge and competencies in tackling digital gender-related violence before and after the training. To do so, a pre-test and post-test case-based design was employed to identify and measure the participants’ improvement in self-perceived knowledge and their effective gain in knowledge and skills to address this kind of violence. Considering the contributions of a feminist evaluation approach, we also included in our evaluation the analysis of classroom interactions and the participants’ responses. The results overall demonstrate that the incorporation of assessment criteria from the feminist evaluation methodology increased the reliability of evaluation criteria. In addition, it also enabled us to identify the need to continue developing training programs that empower participants and prevent women and LGBTQI+ people from disengaging from digital spaces.
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