Analysis of hybrid woven fabrics with shape memory alloys wires embedded

Until recently, Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) were predominantly developed for applications in the biomedical and engineering industry, and only a limited number of applications in textiles are known. Fabrics made of natural fibres (e. g. cotton, flax and their mixtures) present many advantages, such as wearing comfort, but they are subject to creasing. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of compensating for this disadvantage by using SMAs to create aesthetic low crease flax/cotton fabrics. Body Temperature SMAs (BT SMA) that regain their (straight) form when they are subject to human body temperature were used for this purpose. Clothing and bed sheeting are potential applications of these hybrid structures, which become wrinkle-free when they are exposed to the heat of the body, a hair dryer or that generated by an electrical current. The materials selected to achieve this purpose were the following: (1) textile yarns (e. g. single cotton or flax/cotton yarns, two-fold flax yarns and two types of loop fancy yarns) and (2) BT SMA wires of 300 mu m diameter. A power weaving loom and a hand-weaving shuttle loom were used to embed the SMA wires, and four types of hybrid fabrics were produced. The thickness, wrinkle recovery, dimensional stability as well as the cohesion of the SMA wires in the woven fabric were tested. All the tests were performed before and after a washing cycle for both the hybrid and reference fabrics. An increase in thickness was noticed after washing, and the recovery time after crushing varied according to the type of fabric. The slippage of SMA wires from the fabrics was noticed for all the samples, which was dependent on the type of yarns used, their linear density and the weaving process

Modeling reinforcement structures in textile aimed at biomechanical purposes

While sporting, muscles, tendons and the body in general come under extreme loads which may lead to wrong movements and injuries which impact the performance or lead to mandatory rest. As athletes often wear compression garments, we investigate how reinforcement structures such as elastic bands, yarns or fabric strips with a given pretension, or rigid structures can be added to compression garments to prevent incorrect sport movements. This paper discusses how an existing simulation tool (DySiFil) can be adapted to be able to extract supportive forces and pressures and validates the findings for the case of overextension of the fingers and the thumb

Common Dermatoses in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a chronic, debilitating syndrome, consisting of intrusive thoughts- which are experienced as inappropriate by the patient and are producing anxiety- and compulsions, defined as repetitive behaviours produced to reduce anxiety. While patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder typically have xerosis, eczema or lichen simplex chronicus, as a result of frequent washing or rubbing their skin, several other disorders which are included in the group of factitious disorders have also been associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. A close collaboration between the dermatologist and the psychiatrist is therefore mandatory in order to achieve favourable outcomes for these patients. The aim of the article is to present the most frequent dermatological disorders associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and to look over some of the rare ones

From 3D scan to body pressure of compression garments

Human bodies come under loads in sports. For safety or other purposes, athletes wear compression garments to help avoid wrong postures or movement. We assessed anthropometrics of elite rowers, and found significant differences with the general population, indicating compression garments would behave differently for the athletes. By combining 3D scanning technique and FEM modelling software, we were able to predict compression garment performance on part of the athlete bodies . Abaqus Explicit solver was applied to simulate movement of athletes actually putting on a compression garment, and to track stress distribution during the process

Security needs among teachers

AbstractAccording to the major theories of motivation, the security need is placed among the basic human necessities. The article presents a research on teachers’ security needs in terms of protection. The study tries to assess important features of motivation of school and high school teachers. The focus is on security needs (or protection needs). Some correlations with other manifest or latent characteristics of the teachers were also made. The dynamics of the security needs was observed and several conclusions were drawn

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

Pathological Skin Picking: Case Presentation and Review of the Literature

Pathological skin picking is a condition in which patients induce skin lesions through repetitive, compulsive excoriations of normal skin or skin with minor surface irregularities and they admit their role in the production of the lesions, but are unable to stop their behavior. Psychiatric comorbidities most often associated with skin picking include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, mood disorders, body dysmorphic disorders, trichotillomania and compulsive-buying disorder. We report the case of a 17 year old female patient who addressed the dermatology department of our hospital with an eruption consisting of erythematous papules and plaques. The local examination revealed several clues of paramount importance in drawing the final conclusion and the psychiatric examination helped establish the diagnosis of pathological skin picking in a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Genital Male Piercings

Body piercing has been practiced for thousands of years all over the world for beautification, religion, initiation rites or status reasons. Genital piercings also have a significant background and have been practiced for enhancing sexual pleasure, chastity, shocking or as a protest against a conservative society. As the popularity of genital piercings increased in the last years, the number of complications is also on the rise. It is therefore important for the medical professionals to have at least basic knowledge regarding this practice, as it might be required in the management of unpredictable complications