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Utilization of Cotton Spinning Mill Wastes in Yarn Production

Efficient use of natural resources and utilization of recoverable wastes are getting more and more important day by day since recovering wastes have both economic and environmental benefits. As the source material costs constitute the majority of the yarn production costs, decreasing raw material costs provide considerable advantages for spinners. From the point of textile manufacturing, various production wastes can be reused in textile industry. In each step, from ginning (for cotton fibers) to end product formation, recyclable/recoverable waste materials are generated. However, mainly polyester products are recycled (r-PET) and used again in textile industry by 100% or in blends with other man-made or natural fibers. Compared to research on r-PET, recovered cotton fibers inspired interest recently. The main objective of this study is to fill the gap in the literature via investigating the properties of the yarns produced with recovered cotton wastes, generated in different sources. For this purpose, spinning mill waste types were selected. In this experimental study, different waste types (card waste, blowroom waste, and fabric waste) and blending ratios were used. As a conclusion, the effect of waste type and blend ratio on the physical and mechanical properties of the yarns and the fabrics, produced with virgin and waste cotton fibers, were analyzed

Transgenerational effect of the endocrine disruptor vinclozolin on male spermatogenesis

The current study was designed to examine the actions of a model endocrine disruptor on embryonic testis development and male fertility. Pregnant rats (F0) that received a transient embryonic exposure to an environmental endocrine disruptor, vinclozolin, had male offspring (F1) with reduced sper-matogenic capacity. The reduced spermatogenetic capacity observed in the F1 male offspring was transmitted to the subsequent generations (F2–F4). The administration of vinclozolin, an androgen receptor antagonist, at 100 mg/kg/day from embryonic day 8–14 (E8–E14) of pregnancy to only the F0 dam resulted in a transgenera-tional phenotype in the subsequent male offspring in the F1–F4 generations. The litter size and male/female sex ratios were similar in controls and the vinclozolin generations. The average testes/body weight index of the postnatal day 60 (P60) males was not significantly different in the vinclozolin-treated generations compared to the controls. However, the testicular spermatid number, as well as the epididymal sperm number and motility, were significantly reduced in the vinclozolin generations compared to the control animals. Postnatal day 20 (P20) testis from the vinclozolin F2 generation had no morphological abnormalities, but did have an increase in spermatogenic cell apoptosis. Although the P60 testis morphology was predominantly normal, the germ cell apoptosis was significantly increased in the testes cross sections of animals from the vinclozolin generations. The increase in apoptosis was stage-specific in the testis, with tubules at stages IX–XIV having the highest increase in apoptotic germ cells. The tubules at stages I–V also had an increase in apoptotic germ cells compared to the control samples, but tubules at stages VI–VIII had no increase in apoptotic germ cells. An outcross of a vinclozolin generation male with a wild-type female demonstrated that the reduced spermatogenic cell phenotype was transmitted through the male germ line. An outcross with a vinclozolin generation female with a wild-type male had no phenotype. A similar phenotype was observed in outbred Sprague Dawley and inbred Fisher rat strains. Observations demonstrate that a transient exposure at the time of male sex determination to the antiandrogenic endocrine disruptor vinclozolin can induce an apparent epigenetic transgenerational phenotype with reduced spermatogenic capacity

Virtual Reality for Anxiety Disorders

Virtual reality is a relatively new exposure tool that uses three-dimensional computer-graphics-based technologies which allow the individual to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual environment by misleading their senses. As virtual reality studies have become popular in the field of clinical psychology in recent years, it has been observed that virtual-reality-based therapies have a wide range of application areas, especially on anxiety disorders. Studies indicate that virtual reality can be more realistic than mental imagery and can create a stronger feeling of ԰resenceԻ that it is a safer starting point compared to in vivo exposure; and that it can be applied in a more practical and controlled manner. The aim of this review is to investigate exposure studies based on virtual reality in anxiety disorders (specific phobias, panic disorder and agoraphobias, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia), posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder

Improving Blood Pressure Control Through Blood Pressure Measurement in an Ambulatory Urban Family Medicine Clinic

Aim Statement: To increase the percentage of patients over the age of 18 with BP controlled to a goal of \u3c140/90 from a baseline of 58% to 68% by April 2020

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Subtype- and Sex-specific Associations with Genetic Variants in the PSMA6/PSMC6/PSMA3 Gene Cluster

BackgroundThe ubiquitin proteasome system plays an exceptional biological role in the antigen processing and immune response and it could potentially be involved in pathogenesis of many immunity-related diseases, including juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).MethodsThe PSMB5 (rs11543947), PSMA6 (rs2277460, rs1048990), PSMC6 (rs2295826, rs2295827), and PSMA3 (rs2348071) proteasomal genes were genotyped on JIA subtype- and sex-specific association; plasma proteasome levels was measured in patients having risk and protective four-locus genotypes and eventual functional significance of allele substitutions was evaluated in silico.ResultsLoci rs11543947 and rs1048990 were identified as disease neutral and other loci as disease susceptible (p < 0.05). The rs2277460, rs2295826, and rs2295827 loci had the strongest association with oligoarthritis [odds ratio (OR) = 2.024, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.101–3.722; OR = 2.371, 95% CI 1.390–4.044; OR = 2.183, 95% CI 1.272–2.737, respectively), but the rs2348071 locus was associated with polyarthritis in females (OR = 3.438, 95% CI 1.626–7.265). A strong (p < 0.001) association was detected between the rs2277460/rs2295826/rs2295827/rs2348071 four-locus genotypes and the healthy phenotype when all loci were homozygous on common alleles (OR 0.439, 95% CI 0.283–0.681) and with the disease phenotype when the rs2348071 and the rs2295826 and/or rs2295827 loci were represented by risk genotypes simultaneously (OR 4.674, 95% CI 2.096–10.425). Rarely observed in controls, the double rs2277460/rs2348071 heterozygotes were rather frequent in affected males and more strongly associated with polyarthritis (p < 0.05). Haplotypes carrying the rare rs2295826/rs2295827 and rs2277460 alleles showed a strong (p < 0.001) association with oligo- and polyarthritis, respectively. The plasma proteasome level was found to be significantly higher in females having four-locus risk genotypes compared with protective genotypes (p < 0.001). Sequence affinity to transcription factors and similarity to splicing signals, microRNAs and/or hairpin precursors potentially depend on allele substitutions in disease susceptible loci.ConclusionWe demonstrate for the first time evidence of a sex-specific association of PSMA6/PSMC6/PSMA3 genetic variants with subtypes of JIA and plasma proteasome concentrations. Theoretical models of the functional significance of allele substitutions are discussed