Research and analysis of user needs for smart clothing for the elderly

Following the principle of “people-oriented”, we explore the user needs of smart clothing for the elderly and provide reference for the development of such clothing. The target consumers of smart clothing for the elderly are divided into two categories: The elderly and the young, and the needs of elderly users are investigated by means of literature analysis and interviews. The study showed that the needs of elderly users for senior smart clothing can be divided into five areas: Physiological, psychological, aesthetic, functional and consumer; the younger group is generally willing to buy senior smart clothing for the elderly and wants functional design to focus on physiological monitoring technology and aesthetic design to focus on loose fit design and dark shades of colour matching. The findings of the study will help companies to improve their design solutions and promote the healthy development of the senior clothing market

On dual performance of protective clothing composites with different air gaps under hot steam exposure

Thermal protective clothing (TPC) may actually have a dual impact on human skin since it not only resists heat and mass transfer from thermal environment, but also imposes thermal hazard through thermal stored energy discharge. The air gap entrapped clothing is an important factor influencing heat and mass transfer properties. This study used several indices to qualitatively explore the impacts of air gap size and its position on the dual performance of protective textile composites. The theoretical heat and mass transfer across an air gap was also analyzed. The results demonstrated that with the increasing of air gap size, heat transmission through textile composites during both exposure and cooling periods decreased, and the 2nd and 3rd degree burn time increased. The thermal protective performance was more affected by an inner air gap rather than by a middle air gap. However, the thermal-hazardous performance caused by the stored energy discharge was more affected by a middle air gap. Empirical models were successfully established to predict the energy absorption of the skin throughout the test. Results from this study could provide proper guidance for researchers and designers to develop new protective materials to prevent burn injuries

A novel personal cooling system (PCS) incorporated with phase change materials (PCMs) and ventilation fans: An investigation on its cooling efficiency

Personal cooling systems (PCS) have been developed to mitigate the impact of severe heat stress for humans working in hot environments. It is still a great challenge to develop PCSs that are portable, inexpensive, and effective. We studied the performance of a new hybrid PCS incorporating both ventilation fans and phase change materials (PCMs). The cooling efficiency of the newly developed PCS was investigated on a sweating manikin in two hot conditions: hot humid (HH, 34 °C, 75% RH) and hot dry (HD, 34 °C, 28% RH). Four test scenarios were selected: fans off with no PCMs (i.e., Fan-off, the CONTROL), fans on with no PCMs (i.e., Fan-on), fans off with fully solidified PCMs (i.e., PCM+Fan-off), and fans on with fully solidified PCMs (i.e., PCM+Fan-on). It was found that the addition of PCMs provided a 54∼78 min cooling in HH condition. In contrast, the PCMs only offered a 19–39 min cooling in HD condition. In both conditions, the ventilation fans greatly enhanced the evaporative heat loss compared with Fan-off. The hybrid PCS (i.e., PCM+Fan-on) provided a continuous cooling effect during the three-hour test and the average cooling rate for the whole body was around 111 and 315 W in HH and HD conditions, respectively. Overall, the new hybrid PCS may be an effective means of ameliorating symptoms of heat stress in both hot-humid and hot-dry environments

Highly Thermal-Wet Comfortable and Conformal Silk-Based Electrodes for On-Skin Sensors with Sweat Tolerance

Noninvasive and seamless interfacing between the sensors and human skin is highly desired for wearable healthcare. Thin-film-based soft and stretchable sensors can to some extent form conformal contact with skin even under dynamic movements for high-fidelity signals acquisition. However, sweat accumulation underneath these sensors for long-term monitoring would compromise the thermal-wet comfort, electrode adherence to the skin, and signal fidelity. Here, we report the fabrication of a highly thermal-wet comfortable and conformal silk-based electrode, which can be used for on-skin electrophysiological measurement under sweaty conditions. It is realized through incorporating conducting polymers poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) into glycerol-plasticized silk fiber mats. Glycerol plays the role of tuning the mechanical properties of silk fiber mats and enhancing the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS. Our silk-based electrodes show high stretchability (>250%), low thermal insulation (∼0.13 °C·m2·W-1), low evaporative resistance (∼23 Pa·m2·W-1, 10 times lower than ∼1.3 mm thick commercial gel electrodes), and high water-vapor transmission rate (∼117 g·m-2·h-1 under sweaty conditions, 2 times higher than skin water loss). These features enable a better electrocardiography signal quality than that of commercial gel electrodes without disturbing the heat dissipation during sweat evaporation and provide possibilities for textile integration to monitor the muscle activities under large deformation. Our glycerol-plasticized silk-based electrodes possessing superior physiological comfortability may further engage progress in on-skin electronics with sweat tolerance.Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)National Research Foundation (NRF)Submitted/Accepted versionX.C. would like to thank the financial support from the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s office, Singapore, under its NRF Investigatorship (NRF-NRFI2017- 07) and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) under its AME Programmable Funding Scheme (project no. A18A1b0045). K.-Q.Z. acknowledges the financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0204600), the Natural Science Foundation of China (51873134), the Natural Science Foundation for Key Program of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (17KJA540002). Y.C. and N.Z. are grateful for the support from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the use of A*STAR Computational Resource Centre, Singapore (ACRC) and National Supercomputing Centre, Singapore (NSCC). Q.L. acknowledges the financial support from the China Scholarship Council (No. 201706920057)

Heterogeneity in the expression and subcellular localization of POLYOL/MONOSACCHARIDE TRANSPORTER genes in <i>Lotus japonicus</i>

<div><p>Polyols can serve as a means for the translocation of carbon skeletons and energy between source and sink organs as well as being osmoprotective solutes and antioxidants which may be involved in the resistance of some plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. Polyol/Monosaccharide transporter (PLT) proteins previously identified in plants are involved in the loading of polyols into the phloem and are reported to be located in the plasma membrane. The functions of PLT proteins in leguminous plants are not yet clear. In this study, a total of 14 putative <i>PLT</i> genes (<i>LjPLT1</i>-<i>14</i>) were identified in the genome of <i>Lotus japonicus</i> and divided into 4 clades based on phylogenetic analysis. Different patterns of expression of <i>LjPLT</i> genes in various tissues were validated by qRT-PCR analysis. Four genes (<i>LjPLT3</i>, <i>4</i>, <i>11</i>, and <i>14</i>) from clade II were expressed at much higher levels in nodule than in other tissues. Moreover, three of these genes (<i>LjPLT3</i>, <i>4</i>, and <i>14</i>) showed significantly increased expression in roots after inoculation with <i>Mesorhizobium loti</i>. Three genes (<i>LjPLT1</i>, <i>3</i>, and <i>9</i>) responded when salinity and/or osmotic stresses were applied to <i>L</i>. <i>japonicus</i>. Transient expression of GFP-LjPLT fusion constructs in Arabidopsis and <i>Nicotiana benthamiana</i> protoplasts indicated that the LjPLT1, LjPLT6 and LjPLT7 proteins are localized to the plasma membrane, but LjPLT2 (clade IV), LjPLT3, 4, 5 (clade II) and LjPLT8 (clade III) proteins possibly reside in the Golgi apparatus. The results suggest that members of the <i>LjPLT</i> gene family may be involved in different biological processes, several of which may potentially play roles in nodulation in this nitrogen-fixing legume.</p></div

Comparison of the 14 LjPLT proteins.

<p>Schematic alignment of the deduced protein sequences (boxes) of LjPLT1 to LjPLT14 based on the positions of intron (arrows) in these genes. Grey boxes (I–XII) indicate the positions of transmembrane helices as predicted by the HMMTOP software package. Thin lines show small gaps in the sequences. Numbers of amino acids encoded by the different exons are indicated (white).</p