A multifunctional cotton fabric using TiO2 and PCMs: introducing thermal comfort and self-cleaning properties

The development of materials with multiple functionalities is a market imperative that places new challenges on textile processing. Whatever the application, the goal is always to achieve the best performance with the simplest and most economically attractive process, without forgetting the sustainability issues. The purpose of this study is to establish the conditions to obtain by a simple method a cotton material with comfort, self-cleaning properties and antimicrobial activity. For that, microcapsules of phase change materials (PCMs) and TiO2 nanoparticles (NP) were applied conjugated and resulting fabrics were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), contact angle and scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalysis (SEM/EDS). The self-cleaning properties of treated fabrics were also analyzed based on the photocatalytic ability of coated fabrics capability to decomposition of methyl orange (MO) under solar simulator irradiation [1] [1]and assessment of degradation of coffee, red wine and curry stains [2]. The comfort properties were assessed according DSC and Alambeta analysis. Moreover, incorporating TiO2 NP in the finishing formulation also was assessment the bacterial inhibition on the treated fabrics.CNPq-Brazil (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brasil / National Council of Scientific and Technological Development – Brazil) for the doctoral scholarship (233550/2014-3). Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 by FCT and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects and safety of rituximab in systemic sclerosis: An analysis from the European Scleroderma Trial and Research (EUSTAR) group

Objectives: To assess the effects of Rituximab (RTX) on skin and lung fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) belonging to the European Scleroderma Trial and Research (EUSTAR) cohort and using a nested case-control design. Methods: Inclusion criteria were fulfilment of American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for SSc, treatment with RTX and availability of follow-up data. RTX-treated patients were matched with control patients from the EUSTAR database not treated with RTX. Matching parameters for skin/lung fibrosis were the modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS), forced vital capacity (FVC), follow-up duration, scleroderma subtype, disease duration and immunosuppressive co-treatment. The primary analysis was mRSS change from baseline to follow-up in the RTX group compared with the control group. Secondary analyses included change of FVC and safety measures. Results: 63 patients treated with RTX were included in the analysis. The case-control analysis in patients with severe diffuse SSc showed that mRSS changes were larger in the RTX group versus matched controls (N=25; -24.0±5.2% vs-7.7±4.3%; p=0.03). Moreover, in RTX-treated patients, the mean mRSS was significantly reduced at follow-up compared with baseline (26.6±1.4 vs 20.3±1.8; p=0.0001). In addition, in patients with interstitial lung disease, RTX prevented significantly the further decline of FVC compared with matched controls (N=9; 0.4±4.4% vs-7.7±3.6%; p=0.02). Safety measures showed a good profile consistent with previous studies in autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Conclusions: The comparison of RTX treated versus untreated matched-control SSc patients from the EUSTAR cohort demonstrated improvement of skin fibrosis and prevention of worsening lung fibrosis, supporting the therapeutic concept of B cell inhibition in SSc

Scleromyxedema with Subcutaneous Nodules: Successful Treatment with Thalidomide and Intravenous Immunoglobulin

Scleromyxedema is a rare cutaneous mucinosis, usually presenting with generalized papular eruption and sclerodermoid induration, monoclonal gammopathy and systemic manifestations. An atypical clinical presentation with cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules has been reported rarely. In recent years, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) appears to be the therapy of choice for scleromyxedema. Treatment experiences in atypical manifestations with mucinous nodules are limited to sporadic reports. We report the case of male patient with atypical scleromyxedema without underlying paraproteinemia, presenting with generalized papular and sclerodermoid skin eruption and multiple nodular mucinous lesions on the fingers and face as well as on the eyelids, and associated systemic symptoms. Complete regression of all cutaneous lesions and extracutaneous symptoms with sustained remission was achieved by combined treatment with thalidomide and IVIg

The influence of corona treatment and impregnation with colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles on biodegradability of cotton fabric

This study discusses the effect of corona pre-treatment at atmospheric pressure and subsequent loading of colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles on the biodegradation behavior of cotton fabric. Biodegradation performance of the control and finished samples was evaluated by standard soil burial tests in predetermined periods of 3, 9 and 18 days. Color and breaking strength measurements were utilized for assessment of biodegradation progress. Morphological and chemical changes induced by biodegradation were analysed by SEM and FT-IR analyses, respectively. Colorimetric, morphological and chemical changes induced by the biodegradation process were slightly less prominent on corona pre-treated cotton fabric impregnated with TiO2 nanoparticles compared to corona treated and control cotton fabric. Although the breaking strength of all samples significantly decreased after 18 days of soil burial, this decline was the least evident on the sample impregnated with TiO2 nanoparticles. However, taking into account the extent of these differences, the influence of TiO2 nanoparticles on biodegradation rate of cotton fabric, which underwent a combined treatment corona/impregnation with TiO2 nanoparticles, could be considered as insignificant. These results confirm that chemical modification of cotton fabrics with plasma and subsequent loading of TiO2 still maintained sustainability of cellulose fibres

The Strange Case of Yugoslav Feminism: Feminism and Socialism in ‘the East’

The text counters the prevailing idea that there was no feminism in the socialist Eastern bloc, carefully presenting a peculiar case of Yugoslav feminism which grew out of socialist political and cultural framework. Yugoslavia was the country where the organization of the singular feminist event in the Eastern world, the conference “Comrade Woman – The New Approach?” (1978), took place. The text traces the ideas on emancipation and liberation which appeared in Yugoslav scientific and literary journals, immediately after the “Comrade Woman” and until the late 1980s, before the proclaimed fall of the Iron Curtain. The written material is grouped into three sections, according to how the so called woman’s question was elaborated. By re-reading this material, the text examines if feminism was legitimized within the dominant socialist discourse, or whether it was purely translated as something externally Western. The aim of the text is to describe how scholars and activists portrayed emancipation and liberation at that very time: to see if they negotiated or failed to negotiate Western definitions and Eastern realities. In that sense, given material is not used to simply reinforce or refute the claim that feminism was an imported Western (i.e. capitalist) product that had no place interfering with the development. of socialism. It also urges us to re-consider the common knowledges we have, in order to see how they become situated as commo