Volume 10, Issue 3

Despite the beneficial effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin, radiation can cause sunburn, skin aging, allergies and even skin cancer. Textiles can provide effective protection against such damage. Unlike cosmetics, using textiles to protect the skin has only recently been researched. The design and modification of fabrics leading to a high protection against UV radiation is a relatively new application. It is important to consider the kinds of textiles to be used because most of the garments worn during summer, the time of highest exposure, are light and colourless materials that provide the lowest protection. Here, we report the synthesis and characterisation of nanosized zinc oxide particles known to absorb UV light. Sol-gel-based inorganic-organic hybrid polymers were modified with these particles and applied to cellulosic cotton (100%) and cotton/polyester (65/35%) fabrics. These modified inorganic-organic hybrids polymers were based on 3-GPTMS. The complete finishing sol prepared in this work has a marked long stability. The effectiveness of the novel finishing was determined by UV-visible spectroscopy to evaluate the UV protection factor. The influences of the finishing for general textile properties such as tensile strength, elongation, air permeability, degree of whiteness, wear resistance, stiffness and the durability of the treatments were investigated.

This investigation addressed the role of nonionic surfactants on the sorption of C.I. Reactive Blue 217 by cellulose fibres, focusing on the influence of the surfactant concentration and type on the spectroscopic properties of this dye. It was found that surfactants in dyeing baths change the spectroscopic properties of dye solutions, resulting in the decomposition of aggregates and agglomerates to form a surfactant-dye complex. The surfactants in baths counteract the aggregating action of sodium chloride. The performed studies concerned the sorption kinetics of dye from dyeing baths containing various surfactants and their influence on the exhaustion coefficients of the dye. Changes in the electrokinetic potential of the dyeing bath were also examined. It was found that nonionic surfactants retard the sorption processes of dye from the dyeing bath, improving dyeing quality.

In single needle lockstitch sewing machines, the needle thread consumption of 10 normal stitches for a fabric with a particular number of layers at a particular stitches per unit length is manually measured kept as a reference value. If the value of needle thread consumed per stitch is very small, the length of thread consumed per 10 stitches is used as a comparing value. The actual thread consumed for every 10 stitches is measured online by a rotary optical encoder sensor by converting the angular movement into the linear movement of the thread and continually compared with the reference value. If the online measured length is more or less a buzzer sounds to indicate the variation. The counting of every stitch formed is undertaken by a proximity sensor by sensing the protrusion in the hand wheel of the machine, which rotates once for every rotation.

The aging population is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century and so is the subsequent increase in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The state-of-the-art treatment for cardiovascular stenosis is an angioplasty in combination with stenting of the affected artery. Stents can be either laser cut out of a tube or an interwoven such as a braided structure. Furthermore, there are two groups of stents regarding their expansion behaviours: balloon expandable and self-expandable. Within this paper, a new approach to braiding stent-like structures out of a novel shape memory polymer fibre will be discussed. Furthermore, the heat treatment of the stent structure will be investigated to improve its characteristics such as radial stiffness.

This research work concerns analysing the results of tests performed using apparatus for the contactless measurement of human body (Anthroscan 3D VITUS Smart). The applicability of measurement types in clothing design was the criterion of its selection. Traditional ways of measurements use an engaging and laborious manual method. However, 3D scanning of the human body surface can provide more measurements in a significantly shorter amount of time in comparison with the manual method. Moreover, new technologies of the 3D complete body scanning make possible to gain the 3D image of the human body surface. In this paper, we describe the analysis of the human body using a 3D scanner owned by the Textile Research Institute.

This article analyses the net income earned in the years 2005-2009 by companies in the textile and clothing sector, which are listed on the XETRA DAX in Frankfurt, Germany and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, China.