Carbonized Jute Sorbent for Oil Cleanup

Over 90 million tons of textile waste is produced every year. A large share of waste comes from the goods made of cellulose fibers. Recently, special attention has been directed towards the use of textile cellulose waste for clean-up of oil spills. The major problem relies on their relatively small oil capacity and complex separation of individual cellulose fibers from the treated spills. In an attempt to overcome this drawback, a non-woven sorbent based on recycled jute fibers obtained from the carpet industry was manufactured. Improvement of porosity and hydrophobicity/oleophilicity of the sorbent was achieved by carbonization process in an inert atmosphere. FESEM analysis revealed the fiber reduction of almost 40% induced by fiber degradation while EDX analysis confirmed the increase in the carbon content by 75% after carbonization. Oil capacity in water medium, buoyancy, oil retention and reusability of non-carbonized and carbonized sorbents were evaluated by testing four different oils (crude oil, diesel oil, two motor oils). After carbonization process, the oil sorption capacity was doubled in comparison with noncarbonized sorbent independent of oil viscosity. Carbonized sorbent not only remained afloat after 24 h of staying in water, but it sorbed a negligible amount of water unlike non-carbonized sorbent. in addition to good buoyancy, oil retention on carbonized sorbents ranged from 64-80% after 30 min of draining. Larger uptake was achieved with oils of higher viscosity, but their retention was worse. Oil sorption capacity after 5 repeated sorption/desorption trials was significantly larger in the case of carbonized sorbent since it retained 80-88% of its initial oil sorption capacity depending on tested oil

Prepoznavanje faza koje sadrže Fe u mikrostrukturi livene legure AA6026 i njihova evolucija tokom postupka homogenizacije

The Fe-bearing intermetallic phases present in the as-cast AA6026 alloy and their evolution during homogenization treatments at 480-550°C were investigated using optical microscopy, SEM, and TEM techniques in combination with EDS analysis. In addition to the α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si phase with dendritic morphology, two types of plate-like Fe-bearing microconstituents were revealed in the microstructure of the as-cast alloy. The EDS microanalysis and electron diffraction showed that one set of platelets represented thin sections of α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si microconstituent. The other set of plate-like microconstituents was identified as a tetragonal, silicon-rich δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 phase. The formation of the δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 phase was attributed to the chemical composition of the alloy. During homogenization, the metastable δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 transformed into the α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si phase and fragmented. The dendritic α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si microconstituents underwent fragmentation. However, while the α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si microconstituents preserved a b.c.c. crystal lattice throughout the process, the product of the transformation of the δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 phase exhibited primitive cubic lattice.Ispitivanje prisustva faza koje sadrže Fe u mikrostrukturi livene legure AA6026, kao i njihova evolucija tokom postupaka homogenizacije na temperaturama od 480-550 °C, sprovedena su korišćenjem optičke mikroskopije, skenirajuće elektronske mikroskopije (SEM) i transmisione elektronske mikroskopije (TEM) u kombinaciji sa analizom EDS-a. Osim faze α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si sa dendritskom morfologijom, identifikovane su dve vrste pločastih mikrokonstituenata koji sadrže Fe u mikrostrukturi livene legure. EDS mikroanaliza i elektronska difrakcija pokazali su da jedan skup ploča predstavlja samo tanke sekcije mikrokonstituente α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si. Drugi skup pločastih mikrokonstituenata identifikovan je kao četvrtasta, silicijumom bogata faza δ-Al4 (Fe,Mn)Si2 . Formiranje faze δ-Al4 (Fe,Mn)Si2 povezano je sa hemijskim sastavom legure. Tokom homogenizacije, metastabilna faza δ-Al4 (Fe,Mn)Si2 transformisala se u fazu α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si i fragmentirala. Dendritski mikrokonstituenti α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si takođe su fragmentirali. Međutim, dok su mikrokonstituenti α-Al(Fe,Mn)Si sačuvali kubnu kristalnu rešetku tipa b.c.c. tokom procesa, proizvod transformacije faze δ-Al4 (Fe,Mn)Si2 pokazao je prostu kubnu rešetku

The antimicrobial activity of triangular silver nanoplates on cotton fabric pretreated with chitozan

Triangular silver nanoplates are a type of most-studied noble-metal nanostructures over the past decade, owing to their special structural architecture, outstanding plasmonic features across both visible and IR regions, and catalytic properties for a wide range of applications. Herein, we used these nanoparticles to deposit on cotton (Co) fabric pretreated with biopolymer chitosan (CHT) and investigated their antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial efficiency of the coated fabrics was evaluated toward Gram-negative bacteria E. coli, Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and fungus C. albicans. It was found that deposited silver nanoparticles imparted excellent antimicrobial properties to Co fabric

Impedance analysis of milk quality using functionalized polyamide textile-based sensor

Present paper demonstrates design and characterization of a textile based microfluidic chip sensor for the detection of milk adulteration through measuring the real part of the impedance and impedance phase angle. Polyamide (PA) based textile fabric was chemically functionalized with polyaniline and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (PANI/TiO2) nanocomposite and embedded in the microfluidic chip. Prototyping of microfluidic chip was performed by xurography and hot lamination using polyvinyl chloride foils. Morphological and chemical properties of fabricated textile-based PA-PANI/TiO2 chip sensor were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Quality of milk was accessed with fabricated textile sensor using cow and goat milk samples. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was applied to detect the change in resistance and phase angle of pure and diluted milk. The developed PA-PANI/TiO2 chip sensor acted as a variable resistor that was able to identify adulterations and spoilage of the milk samples with sensitivity of 0.06 degrees of phase angle variation per % of water dilution. Our work promises that application of textile electronics could be efficiently exploited for food safety, point-of-care and environment monitoring applications

Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of silver-based nanoparticles in situ synthesized on cotton fabric using walnut leaf

U ovom radu je ispitana mogućnost in situ sinteze nanočestica na bazi srebra primenom ekstrakta lista oraha, na pamučnoj tkanini prethodno modifikovanoj limunskom kiselinom. Tokom sinteze su formirane sferne nanočestice prečnika oko 60 nm, koje su ravnomerno raspoređene po površini pamučnih vlakana. Prisustvo nanočestica na bazi srebra je obezbedilo odličnu antimikrobnu aktivnost prema bakterijama Staphylococcus aureus i Escherichia coli, kao i kvascu Candida albicans. Tekstilni nanokompozitni materijal nije citotoksičan prema ćelijama zdravih keratinocita kože (HaCaT linija) i zdravih fibroblasta (MRC-5 linija), što omogućava njegovu bezbednu primenu za medicinske potrebe.This study discusses the possibility to utilize walnut leaf extract for in situ synthesis of silver-based nanoparticles on cotton fabric previously modified with citric acid. Synthetized spherical nanoparticles with an average diameter of 60 nm were evenly distributed over the surface of cotton fibers. The presence of silver-based nanoparticles provided excellent antimicrobial activity against bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and yeast Candida albicans. The textile nanocomposite did not show any cytotoxicity towards healthy skin keratinocytes cells (HaCaT line) and healthy fibroblast cells (MRC-5 line). Thus, it could be considered as a safe for potential medical applications

Quality of facility-based maternal and newborn care around the time of childbirth during the COVID-19 pandemic: online survey investigating maternal perspectives in 12 countries of the WHO European Region

Background Multi-country studies assessing the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as defined by WHO Standards, are lacking. Methods Women who gave birth in 12 countries of the WHO European Region from March 1, 2020 - March 15, 2021 answered an online questionnaire, including 40 WHO Standard-based Quality Measures. Findings 21,027 mothers were included in the analysis. Among those who experienced labour (N=18,063), 41·8% (26·1%- 63·5%) experienced difficulties in accessing antenatal care, 62% (12·6%-99·0%) were not allowed a companion of choice, 31·1% (16·5%-56·9%) received inadequate breastfeeding support, 34·4% (5·2%-64·8%) reported that health workers were not always using protective personal equipment, and 31·8% (17·8%-53·1%) rated the health workers’ number as “insufficient”. Episiotomy was performed in 20·1% (6·1%-66·0%) of spontaneous vaginal births and fundal pressure applied in 41·2% (11·5% -100%) of instrumental vaginal births. In addition, 23·9% women felt they were not treated with dignity (12·8%-59·8%), 12·5% (7·0%-23·4%) suffered abuse, and 2·4% (0·1%-26·2%) made informal payments. Most findings were significantly worse among women with prelabour caesarean birth (N=2,964). Multivariate analyses confirmed significant differences among countries, with Croatia, Romania, Serbia showing significant lower QMNC Indexes and Luxemburg showing a significantly higher QMNC Index than the total sample. Younger women and those with operative births also reported significantly lower QMNC Indexes. Interpretation Mothers reports revealed large inequities in QMNC across countries of the WHO European Region. Quality improvement initiatives to reduce these inequities and promote evidence-based, patient-centred respectful care for all mothers and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond are urgently needed. Funding The study was financially supported by the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy. Study registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04847336This research was funded by the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste Italy

Regional differences in the quality of maternal and neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: Results from the IMAgiNE EURO study

Objective: To compare women's perspectives on the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) around the time of childbirth across Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS-II) regions in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Women participating in the cross-sectional IMAgiNE EURO study who gave birth in Portugal from March 1, 2020, to October 28, 2021, completed a structured questionnaire with 40 key WHO standards-based quality measures. Four domains of QMNC were assessed: (1) provision of care; (2) experience of care; (3) availability of human and physical resources; and (4) reorganizational changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequencies for each quality measure within each QMNC domain were computed overall and by region. Results: Out of 1845 participants, one-third (33.7%) had a cesarean. Examples of high-quality care included: low frequencies of lack of early breastfeeding and rooming-in (8.0% and 7.7%, respectively) and informal payment (0.7%); adequate staff professionalism (94.6%); adequate room comfort and equipment (95.2%). However, substandard practices with large heterogeneity across regions were also reported. Among women who experienced labor, the percentage of instrumental vaginal births ranged from 22.3% in the Algarve to 33.5% in Center; among these, fundal pressure ranged from 34.8% in Lisbon to 66.7% in Center. Episiotomy was performed in 39.3% of noninstrumental vaginal births with variations between 31.8% in the North to 59.8% in Center. One in four women reported inadequate breastfeeding support (26.1%, ranging from 19.4% in Algarve to 31.5% in Lisbon). One in five reported no exclusive breastfeeding at discharge (22.1%; 19.5% in Lisbon to 28.2% in Algarve). Conclusion: Urgent actions are needed to harmonize QMNC and reduce inequities across regions in Portugal. © 2022 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.Funding text 1: This work was supported by the Ministry of Health, Rome - Italy, in collaboration with the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste - Italy. This study was supported by Portuguese fundings through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP, in the scope of the projects EPIUnit - UIDB/04750/2020, ITR - LA/P/0064/2020, and HEILab - UIDB/05380/2020, and by the European Social Fund (ESF) and FCT (SFRH/BPD/117597/2016; RC postdoctoral fellowship). We are grateful to the women who dedicated their time to complete the survey, to Associação Portuguesa pelos Direitos da Mulher na Gravidez e Parto (APDMGP) for support with survey dissemination and to nurse Louise Semião for assistance provided in back-translation of the questionnaires. Special thanks to the IMAgiNE EURO study group for their contribution to the development of this project and support for this manuscript.; Funding text 2: This work was supported by the Ministry of Health, Rome ‐ Italy, in collaboration with the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste ‐ Italy. This study was supported by Portuguese fundings through FCT ‐ Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP, in the scope of the projects EPIUnit ‐ UIDB/04750/2020, ITR ‐ LA/P/0064/2020, and HEILab ‐ UIDB/05380/2020, and by the European Social Fund (ESF) and FCT (SFRH/BPD/117597/2016; RC postdoctoral fellowship). We are grateful to the women who dedicated their time to complete the survey, to Associação Portuguesa pelos Direitos da Mulher na Gravidez e Parto (APDMGP) for support with survey dissemination and to nurse Louise Semião for assistance provided in back‐translation of the questionnaires. Special thanks to the IMAgiNE EURO study group for their contribution to the development of this project and support for this manuscript. ; Funding text 3: IMAgiNE EURO project was supported by the Ministry of Health, Rome ‐ Italy, in collaboration with the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste ‐ Italy. This study was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; European Social Fund (ESF) Funding informatio

Ultra-Fast Oleophobic-Hydrophilic Switching Surfaces for Anti-Fogging, Self-Cleaning, and Oil-Water Separation

Smooth copolymer–fluorosurfactant complex film surfaces are found to exhibit fast oleophobic–hydrophilic switching behavior. Equilibration of the high oil contact angle (hexadecane = 80°) and low water contact angle (110°), which, when combined with the inherent ultrafast switching speed, yields oil–water mixture separation efficiencies exceeding 98%