IN-SITU SYNCHROTRON X-RAY AND MICRO-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF NONWOVEN ARAMIDS: DEFORMATION MECHANISMS

Nonwoven materials have attracted much interest in the industry due to their high surface area, high porosity, and low cost. However due to the complexity of deformation mechanisms in these materials, controlling the mechanical properties has been challenging. Therefore, it is important to establish the fundamental understanding of the relationship between the microstructure and the macroscopic behavior. Motivated by this, mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of aramid nonwovens as a function of areal weight were reported using several analytical tools. The initial fiber orientation alignment was found significantly different within the nonwoven types according to XRD patterns. Fiber orientation evolution under both monotonic tensile and stress relaxation tests was tracked using in-situ X-ray diffraction. As the strain increased, fiber alignment along the loading direction was observed in all three types of nonwovens. Results suggested that the areal weight is not necessarily a predictor of the mechanical properties of aramid nonwovens as the fiber alignment plays a vital role in the performance of these materials

MXene Composite and Coaxial Fibers with High Stretchability and Conductivity for Wearable Strain Sensing Textiles

The integration of nanomaterials with high conductivity into stretchable polymer fibers can achieve novel functionalities such as sensing physical deformations. With a metallic conductivity that exceeds other solution-processed nanomaterials, 2D titanium carbide MXene is an attractive material to produce conducting and stretchable fibers. Here, a scalable wet-spinning technique is used to produce Ti3C2Tx MXene/polyurethane (PU) composite fibers that show both conductivity and high stretchability. The conductivity at a very low percolation threshold of ≈1 wt% is demonstrated, which is lower than the previously reported values for MXene-based polymer composites. When used as a strain sensor, the MXene/PU composite fibers show a high gauge factor of ≈12900 (≈238 at 50% strain) and a large sensing strain of ≈152%. The cyclic strain sensing performance is further improved by producing fibers with MXene/PU sheath and pure PU core using a coaxial wet-spinning process. Using a commercial-scale knitting machine, MXene/PU fibers are knitted into a one-piece elbow sleeve, which can track various movements of the wearer's elbow. This study establishes fundamental insights into the behavior of MXene in elastomeric composites and presents strategies to achieve MXene-based fibers and textiles with strain sensing properties suitable for applications in health, sports, and entertainment

The relationship between glomerular IgG staining and poor prognostic findings in patients with IgA nephropathy: the data from TSN-GOLD working group

Background Galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) has an increased tendency to form immunocomplexes with IgG in the serum, contributing to IgAN pathogenesis by accumulating in the glomerular mesangium. Several studies showed that glomerular IgG deposition in IgAN is an important cause of mesangial proliferation and glomerular damage. This study aims to determine the association of the positivity of IgG and the intensity of IgG staining with a poor renal prognosis. Methods A total of 943 IgAN patients were included in the study. Glomerular IgG staining negative and positive patients were compared using Oxford classification scores, histopathological evaluations, proteinuria, eGFR, albumin, blood pressures. IgG positive patients were classified as (+), (++), (+++) based on their staining intensity, and the association with the prognostic criteria was also evaluated. Results 81% (n = 764) of the patients were detected as IgG negative, while 19% (n = 179) were positive. Age, gender, body mass index, blood pressure, proteinuria, eGFR, uric acid values were similar in IgG positive and negative patients who underwent biopsy (p > 0.05). Intensity of glomerular IgG positivity was not found to be associated with diastolic and systolic blood pressure, urea, uric acid, age, eGFR, albumin, proteinuria (p > 0.05 for all, r = - 0.084, r = - 0.102, r = - 0.006, r = 0.062, r = 0.014, r = - 0.044, r = - 0.061, r = - 0.066, r = 0.150, respectively). There was no difference for histopathological findings between IgG (+), IgG (++), IgG (+++) groups (for all, p > 0.05). Conclusion Glomerular IgG negativity and positivity detected by routine IFM in IgAN patients is not associated with poor renal prognostic risk factors

Trends of primary glomerular disease in Turkey: TSN-GOLD registry report

Background Although several renal biopsy registry reports have been published worldwide, there are no data on primary glomerular disease trends in Turkey. Methods Three thousand eight-hundred fifty-eight native kidney biopsy records were assessed in the Turkish Society of Nephrology Primary Glomerulopathy Working Group (TSN-GOLD) Registry. Secondary disease and transplant biopsies were not recorded in the registry. These records were divided into four periods, before 2009, 2009 to 2013, 2013-2017, and 2017-current. Results A total of 3858 patients (43.6% female, 6.8% elderly) were examined. Nephrotic syndrome was the most common biopsy indication in all periods (58.6%, 53%, 44.1%, 51.6%, respectively). In the whole cohort, IgA nephropathy (IgAN) (25.7%) was the most common PGN with male predominance (62.7%), and IgAN frequency steadily increased through the periods (x 2 = 198, p 65 years), and there was no trend in this age group. An increasing trend was seen in the frequency of overweight patients (x 2 = 37, p < 0.0001). Although the biopsy rate performed with interventional radiology gradually increased, the mean glomeruli count in the samples did not change over the periods. Conclusions In Turkey, IgAN is the most common primary glomerulonephritis, and the frequency of this is increasing

Trends of primary glomerular disease in Turkey from 2009 to 2017: A regional registry report from TSN-Gold working group

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