Efficacy and functionality of silver-coated textiles in patients with atopic eczema

BACKGROUND: Microbial skin colonization with Staphylococcus aureus is known to play an important role in atopic eczema (AE). Recently, an antibacterial effect of silver-coated textiles on S. aureus colonization has been demonstrated. OBJECTIVES: To investigate clinical efficacy and functionality of silver-coated textiles in AE, a multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted. PATIENTS/METHODS: From November 2001 to August 2002, 68 consecutive outpatients clinically diagnosed with generalized AE were included in the study. Inclusion criteria were the clinical diagnosis of AE with a moderate severity as measured by the scoring of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) index with at least 20. Patients were instructed to wear either silver-coated (verum, 35 patients + 2 dropouts) or cotton garments (placebo, 22 patients + 9 dropouts) directly on the skin for 2 weeks. Only basic skin care and ongoing therapy with topical steroids or oral antihistamines was permitted. Clinical severity was assessed using the 'SCORAD' before, during and at the end of study. Quality of life (QOL), wearing comfort (WC) and functionality (FU) of study clothes were measured in parallel. Patients documented their subjective and objective symptoms daily. RESULTS: In the verum group, eczema improved significantly after 1 week with further enhancement until the end of study (P = 0.03 and P < 0.001). Silver-coated textiles were comparable to cotton in WC and FU. Pruritus and self-assigned skin condition improved significantly more than with placebo (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, silver-coated textiles are able to improve objective and subjective symptoms of AE significantly within 2 weeks, showing a good wearing comfort and functionality comparable to cotton.     

A Review of Impact of Textile Research on Protective Face Masks

COVID-19, classified as SARS-CoV-2, is causing an ongoing global pandemic. The pandemic has resulted in the loss of lives and has caused economic hardships. Most of the devices used to protect against the transmission of the novel COVID-19 disease are related to textile structures. Hence, the challenge for textile professionals is to design and develop suitable textile structures with multiple functionalities for capturing viruses, passivating them, and, at the same time, having no adverse effects on humans during the complete period of use. In addition to manufacturing efficient, biocompatible, and cost-effective protective face masks, it is also necessary to inform the public about the benefits and risks of protective face mask materials. The purpose of this article is to address the concerns of efficiency and efficacy of face masks by primarily reviewing the literature of research conducted at the Technical University of Liberec. The main focus is on the presentation of problems related to the specification of aims of face mask applications, mechanisms of capture, durability, and modes of sterilization. The recommendations, instead of conclusions, are addressed to the whole textile society because they should be leading players in the design, creation, and proper treatment of face masks due to their familiarity with the complex behavior of textile structures and targeted changes of structural hierarchy starting from polymeric chains (nano-level) and ending in planar textile structures (millimeter level) due to action by mechanical, physical and chemical fields. This becomes extremely critical to saving hundreds of thousands of lives from COVID-19.     

Dimethylthiourea, an unexpected hazard for textile workers

Our patient was a 24-year-old female textile cutter who had a conjunctivitis and an erythematous itching dermatitis of the eyelids, nasal mucous membranes, and the corners of the mouth. The patch tests with the standard series and a pharmaceutical test battery were negative. Further epicutaneous testing revealed a strong positive reaction to the textile cutting patterns she handled, which were duplicated by diazo processing. Specifically, the contact dermatitis reaction was caused by dimethylthiourea, an additive in diazo-sensitized paper.     

Skin–textile friction and skin elasticity in young and aged persons

Background/purpose: The mechanical properties of human skin are known to change with ageing, rendering skin less resistant to friction and shear forces, as well as more vulnerable to wounds. Until now, only few and contradictory results on the age-dependent friction properties of skin have been reported. This study has investigated in detail the influence of age on the friction of human skin against textiles.
Methods: In vivo skin-friction measurements on a force plate were combined with skin analyses concerning elasticity, hydration, pH value and sebum content. Thirty-two young and 28 aged persons rubbed their volar forearm in a reciprocating motion against various textiles on the force plate, using defined normal loads and sliding velocities, representing clinically relevant contact conditions.
Results: Mean friction coefficients ranged from 0.30 ± 0.04 (polytetrafluoroethylene) to 0.43 ± 0.04 (cotton/polyester). No significant differences in the friction properties of skin were found between the age groups despite skin elasticity being significantly lower in the aged persons. Skin hydration was significantly higher in the elderly, whereas no significant differences were observed in either skin pH value or sebum content.
Conclusion: Adhesion is usually assumed to be the dominant factor in skin friction, but our observations imply that deformation is also an important factor in the friction of aged skin. In the elderly, lower skin elasticity and skin turgor are associated with more pronounced skin tissue displacements and greater shear forces during frictional contact, emphasizing the importance of friction reduction in wound-prevention programmes.     

Medical textiles in orthopedics: An overview

The use of textile in the medical field is not new; this has given rise to a new branch known as medical textiles. These are being used to repair or replace various other musculoskeletal tissues. The most common uses of biomaterials are to create aseptic conditions for protection, general health care, and hygiene including bedding and clothing, surgical gowns, face masks, head and shoe covers, sterilization wraps, suture anchors, fiber cast and braces/orthotics. These are also used as materials for preparation of wipes, swabs, wound dressings, bandages, gauzes, plasters, pressure garments, orthopedic belts and for new applications, such as heart valves, vascular grafts, artificial veins, artificial ligaments, artificial joints, artificial skin, and artificial cartilage. The truth is that nowadays the use of biomedical textiles is more rampant than anyone realizes. Commonly used materials for preparation of biomedical textiles includes Cotton, Nylon, Silk, Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, Polyester, Polypropylene, Poly tetra-fluoro ethylene, Polyether ether ketone, and Polyether ketone. These are prepared from various monomers in varying proportions as per the requirement of the material to be used. Various methods are used in their preparation like Braiding, Knitting, and Weaving, which helps in the development of certain kinds of materials with different specificity and character. Other important measures in the preparation of the medical textile include Denier (the filament counts in multifilament fibers), Tenacity (the strength per denier) and Heat shrink (the amount of shrinkage at a particular time and temperature).     

Do Textiles Impact DXA Bone Density or Body Composition Results?

External artifacts can confound dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements. It is often accepted that garments free of metal do not affect DXA results; however, little data exist in this regard. It is plausible that some textiles absorb radiation and thereby alter DXA results. We hypothesized that some dense or synthetic textiles, for example, reflective materials, might alter DXA-measured bone and soft tissue mass. Hologic and GE Lunar spine phantoms and a Bioclinica prototype total body phantom were imaged on a GE Lunar iDXA and Prodigy densitometer. Each phantom was scanned 10 times to establish mean values. Subsequently, 2 layers of various fabrics were placed over the entire top surface of the phantom, and 10 scans were performed without repositioning. Samples of natural, synthetic, or embellished fabric (including those with reflective material) and of varying thickness were used. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare the means between bare phantom and textile-covered phantom. Significant differences were demonstrated often, depending on the scanner, phantom, and textile used. A polyester fabric with reflective strip consistently altered measurements. For example, this fabric increased measured mean lumbar spine bone mineral density and total body bone mineral content by 0.008?g/cm² and 3.6?g, respectively (p?<?0.01). Similarly, mean total body fat decreased (?173 g) and lean mass increased (+213 g; p?<?0.01). Fat and lean mass were also affected by metallic thread, wool, blend denim, and shiny polyester (p?<?0.05), and lean mass was affected by cotton denim and sweatshirt material (p?<?0.0003). In conclusion, textiles can affect DXA-measured bone mineral density and body composition results. Even small amounts of reflective material could alter mass measurements by ~25% of the least significant change. Clothing made of dense textiles (e.g., wool and denim) or those with reflective material and metallic thread should be avoided during DXA scanning.     

Associations of blood pressure and arterial compliance with occupational noise exposure in female workers of textile mill

Background There are few studies on the arterial compliance of noise exposure. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between hearing loss, blood pressure and arterial compliance of female workers who exposed to occupational noise in a textile mill.Methods The noise levels in the workplace were measured with a HS6288 sound level meter. Cumulated noise exposure (CNE) was calculated according to the noise intensity and the exposure period. Hearing ability and arterial compliance were measured in 618 noise exposed workers. The database was set up with EpiData and the statistical analysis was performed with SAS software 9.1.3. Results The noise levels were 80.1dB(A) to 113.5dB(A), of which the levels at 92.5% of the noise monitoring sites were over the national standard. The incidence of high frequency hearing loss (HFHL) was 24.43% and language frequency hearing impairment (LFHI) was 0.81%. The incidence of hypertension was 7.93%. Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the high frequency hearing loss group were significantly higher than those in the normal hearing group (P&lt;0.05), while C(1) (large artery compliance) and C(2) (small artery compliance) were significantly lower (P&lt;0.05). The high frequency hearing threshold (HFHT) of the hypertension group was significantly higher than in the normal blood pressure group (P&lt;0.05), while C(1) and C(2) were significantly lower (P&lt;0.05). C(1) and C(2) had a negative correlation with HFHT, SBP, DBP, mean of arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP) and pulse rate (PR) (P&lt;0.05). The multiple regression analyses showed that blood pressure and PR were the main influencing factors on C(1) and C(2). LFHT was an influence on C(2) and HFHT on C(1).Conclusions Textile mill noise pollution is very serious and has an obvious influence on worker’s auditory function. The female workers with low artery compliance or with high blood pressure might be suffering from hearing loss; those with noise induced hearing loss might be suffering from hypertension if she is constantly exposed to loud industrial noise.     

Effect of Structural Differences on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Integrated Woven Spacer Sandwich Composites

Three-dimensional integrated woven spacer sandwich composites have been widely used as industrial textiles for many applications due to their superior physical and mechanical properties. In this research, 3D integrated woven spacer sandwich composites of five different specifications were produced, and the mechanical properties and performance were investigated under different load conditions. XR-CT (X-ray computed tomography) images were employed to visualize the microstructural details and analyze the fracture morphologies of fractured specimens under different load conditions. In addition, the effects of warp and weft direction, face sheet thickness, and core pile height on the mechanical properties and performance of the composite materials were analyzed. This investigation can provide significant guidance to help determine the structure of composite materials and design new products according to the required mechanical properties.     

Green dyeing of modified cotton fabric with Acalypha wilkesiana leave extracts

Over the last few decades, a number of natural dyes have become non-toxic, eco-friendly and biocompatible substitutes of highly carcinogenic synthetic dyes. Herein, we selected the Acalypha wilkesiana (copper plant) as the source of a natural colorant for auxiliary-free dyeing of cotton, a way forward to eco-friendly dyeing. The bioactive phytochemical constituents of this plant include tannins, flavonoids, phlobatanins, cardiac glycosides, saponins, alkaloids, terpenes and steroids. Both the aqueous and methanol extracts of copper leaf were extracted and applied to unmodified and modified cotton fabrics with the percentage shade depths of 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 4%, 5% and 6% both at pH 4 and 7. The cationized samples rendered substantial improvement in color strength (K/S) values as compared to un-cationized ones. Aqueous and methanolic extracts offered very similar K/S values on cationized samples. Without using any metallic salts as mordants, the color fastness properties like rubbing fastness, washing fastness were also slightly improved due to greater dye fixation on cationized samples compared to uncationized ones. In conclusion, the aqueous extract exhibited dye fixation and color fastness properties comparable to methanolic extract at pH 4 and 7. Thus, it suggested the avoidance of toxic organic solvent for extraction and auxiliary chemicals in subsequent dyeing, a step towards eco-friendly sustainable dyeing.