Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

Computerized machine knitting offers an attractive fabrication technology for incorporating wearable assistive devices into garments. In this work, we utilized, for the first time, whole-garment knitting techniques to manufacture a seamless fully knitted pneumatic bending actuator, which represents an advancement to existing cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques. Various machine knitting parameters were investigated to create anisotropic actuator structures, which exhibited a range of bending and extension motions when pressurized with air. The functionality of the actuator was demonstrated through integration into an assistive glove for hand grip action. The achieved curvature range when pressurizing the actuators up to 150 kPa was sufficient to grasp objects down to 3 cm in diameter and up to 125 g in weight. This manufacturing technique is rapid and scalable, paving the way for mass-production of customizable soft robotics wearables

Highly Stretchable Textile Knitted Interdigital Sensor for Wearable Technology Applications

Abstract Wearable technology applications have experienced remarkable development and advancements, with soft and stretchable strain sensors playing a significant role in this progress. Despite the promising potential of combed‐shaped interdigital capacitive strain sensors in wearable electronics, several challenges exist, including limited stretchability, universal mass fabrication, and seamless integration into diverse clothing parts. This study presents a textile knitted interdigital capacitive sensor that incorporates stretchable conductive yarn, produced using textile twisting technology, to achieve stretchability and adaptability, allowing seamless conformation to human body movements and textile materials. The fabrication process involves embedding the interdigital electrodes and interconnections directly into the fabric through textile knitting technology, ensuring robust integration. Furthermore, this work presents opportunities for commercializing the stretchable interdigital strain sensor through a low‐cost and mass production strategy. Electromechanical characterization demonstrates exceptional performance with high stretchability (≈230%), excellent linearity (R2 = 0.997), a gauge factor (GF) of −0.68 representing relative capacitance change, and a rapid response time of 66 ms. To validate the usability of sensors in wearable technology, a knee brace application is employed to investigate capacitance changes during walking and cycling exercises. This approach will accelerate the accessibility of wearable stretchable interdigital sensors for all

Frequency of azole resistance in clinical and environmental strains of Aspergillus fumigatus in Turkey: a multicentre study

Objectives Aspergillus fumigatus causes several diseases in humans and azole resistance in A. fumigatus strains is an important issue. The aim of this multicentre epidemiological study was to investigate the prevalence of azole resistance in clinical and environmental A. fumigatus isolates in Turkey. Methods Twenty-one centres participated in this study from 1 May 2018 to 1 October 2019. One participant from each centre was asked to collect environmental and clinical A. fumigatus isolates. Azole resistance was screened for using EUCAST agar screening methodology (EUCAST E.DEF 10.1) and was confirmed by the EUCAST E.DEF 9.3 reference microdilution method. Isolates with a phenotypic resistance pattern were sequenced for the cyp51A gene and microsatellite genotyping was used to determine the genetic relationships between the resistant strains. Results In total, resistance was found in 1.3% of the strains that were isolated from environmental samples and 3.3% of the strains that were isolated from clinical samples. Mutations in the cyp51A gene were detected in 9 (47.4%) of the 19 azole-resistant isolates, all of which were found to be TR34/L98H mutations. Microsatellite genotyping clearly differentiated the strains with the TR34/L98H mutation in the cyp51A gene from the strains with no mutation in this gene. Conclusions The rate of observed azole resistance of A. fumigatus isolates was low in this study, but the fact that more than half of the examined strains had the wild-type cyp51A gene supports the idea that other mechanisms of resistance are gradually increasing