<i>Inocybe aeruginascens</i> Babos dans les dunes entre Dunkerque et Nieuwpoort

From 1979 onwards, Inocybe aeruginascens Babos was observed in the coastal sand dunes of Belgium and adjacent France. The occurrence of the species seems to be related to a subtile and unstable balance between several contrasting ecological parameters

Assessment of sensorial comfort of fabrics for protective clothing

Protection and comfort are important issues for protective clothing and an appropriate protection is most of the times detrimental for overall clothing comfort. The tactile or sensorial comfort is related to the mechanical interaction between the garment and the human body. Fabric Hand and Fabric Touch are two crucial elements that express how consumers experience textiles by touching them with the fingers and respectively by wearing them. Both subjective and objective methods are used to assess the fabric hand and touch. Within the ongoing CORNET project Touché both subjective methods (e.g. blind tests, questionnaires) and innovative instruments (e.g. FTT, TSA) are employed for assessment of fabric hand and touch. The Fabric Touch Tester (FTT) enables fast and simultaneous assessment of 13 physical fabric indices (e.g. bending, compression, friction, roughness and thermal conductivity) and uses these indices to predict comfort primary indexes such as smoothness, softness, warmness, total hand and total touch. It could be therefore a promising, very fast selection method of fabrics that will eventually lead to clothing with high sensorial comfort. Fabrics with similar weight and thickness were tested aiming at identifying possible significant differences between the samples

International survey of cochlear implant candidacy

BACKGROUND: The goal of this work was to determine international differences in candidacy based on audiometric and speech perception measures, and to evaluate the information in light of the funding structure and access to implants within different countries. METHOD: An online questionnaire was circulated to professionals in 25 countries. There were 28 respondents, representing the candidacy practice in 17 countries. RESULTS: Results showed differences in the funding model between countries. Unilateral implants for both adults and children and bilateral implants for children were covered by national funding in approximately 60% of countries (30% used medical insurance, and 10% self-funding). Fewer countries provided bilateral implants routinely for adults: national funding was available in only 22% (37% used medical insurance and 41% self-funding). Main evolving candidacy areas are asymmetric losses, auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders and electro-acoustic stimulation. For countries using speech-based adult candidacy assessments, the majority (40%) used word tests, 24% used sentence tests, and 36% used a mixture of both. For countries using audiometry for candidacy (70-80% of countries), the majority used levels of 75-85 dB HL at frequencies above 1 kHz. The United Kingdom and Belgium had the most conservative audiometric criteria, and countries such as Australia, Germany, and Italy were the most lenient. Countries with a purely self-funding model had greater flexibility in candidacy requirements

Results of the SHAPE project

The overall objective of SHAPE project (Adapted Performance Sportswear) is to develop comfortable and well-fitted sportswear for athletes whose body shapes differ from the average population. Body measurements of professional cyclists and rowers were extracted from 3D scans and compared with average Belgian population. Variation of body measurements and skin-sportswear interface pressure upon rowing and cycling postures was additionally investigated. Significant differences were found between rowers and average Belgian males. Rowing and cycling postures had significant influence on most body measurements and pressure. Fit of prototypes developed based on SHAPE-body sizing charts was positively validated by male rowers. Large number of cyclists critically evaluated their present outfit including fit and comfort. Two prototypes were designed according to individual needs of Gsport cyclists and their functionality, comfort and fit were positively evaluated

Sur les pelouses à Thérophytes des dunes de la côte ouest de la Belgique, en particulier le <i>Tortulo-Phleetum arenarii</i>

The study deals with the dry grassland plant communities of the sanddunes of the western Belgian coast, in particular the Tortulo-Phleetum arenari . A description of the structure of vegetation correlated with synecology and syndynamics is given, using the Braun-Blanquet approach. The synsystematic position of the recognized entities in discussed

Effect of biaxial stretch and domestic washing on air permeability of elastic knitted fabrics for sportswear

This paper introduces a non-automatic device to apply biaxial stretch and investigates the effect of biaxial stretch and domestic washing on air permeability of polyamide-elastane knitted fabrics for sportswear. Air permeability of the selected fabrics significantly increased upon biaxial stretch, regardless the fabric type and stretch level (5% or 10%) applied. Generally, air permeability of relaxed fabrics decreased due to slight shrinkage that occurred upon washing, but domestic washing was not found to have a statistical significant influence on air permeability of the selected fabrics. The manual device proposed applies stretch in one or two directions, it is robust and easy to handle, and fabric preparation is quite straightforward. The fabric holder used in this study is particularly suited to the head of the air permeability tester and the level of stretch applied depends on type of fabric