Effects of atmospheric pressure plasma on dye uptake by the surface of wool

A woven pure wool fabric has been exposed to atmospheric pressure plasma for 30 seconds using a pilot-scale. commercial machine. X-ray photoelectron spectral data revealed large increases in oxygen and nitrogen. and a large reduction in carbon. on the surfaces of the plasma-treated fibres. A CIN ratio of 3.55 for plasma-treated wool was consistent with removal of the covalently-bound fatty acids from the surface of the cuticle cells. resulting in exposure of the proteinaceous epicuticle. Dye staining experiments revealed that the back of the fabric had received the same, uniform level of treatment as the face, despite the fact that only the face had been directly exposed to the plasma. Dyes (1 % oww) were applied to fabric at 50°C (liquor ratio =40: 1) and pH values from 3 to 6. The relatively low temperature of 50°C was selected in order to accentuate the effects of plasma on the rate of dye uptake. Under these conditions, dye was adsOibed onto the fibre surfaces, with very little penetration into the fibres. Effects of the plasma treatment on the rate of dyes adsorption were dyespecific. No significant effects of plasma on the rate of dye uptake were observed with relatively hydrophobic dyes, but hydrophilic dyes were adsorbed more rapidly by the plasmatreated fabric. It would appear that for more hydrophobic dyes, hydrophobic effects are more important for the adsorption of dyes by the plasma-treated fibres, even though these fibres were quite hydrophilic. On the other hand. it is concluded that for more hydrophilic dyes, electrostatic effects are more important for adsorption by the plasma-treated fibre.

Effect of atmospheric plasma treatment on pad-dyeing of natural dyes on wool

Plasma treatment is an emerging surface modification technique that alters dye uptake of wool without using chemicals or water for pre-treatment. Padding is an established continuous dyeing technique known for its efficient use of water, time and energy. This study combined these two techniques for colouration of wool fabric using two natural dyes derived from the Acacia plant family. The investigation focused on the effects of plasma treatment and obtaining unique patterning effects. Helium (100%) and a mixture of helium and nitrogen (95%/5%) were used as the plasma gases under atmospheric conditions. Plasma treated wool fabric was padded with the above natural dyes. Copper sulphate and ferrous sulphate were applied on the dyed fabric as mordant yielding neutral shades of beige and grey respectively. Up to a 30% enhancement of dye adsorption on plasma treated wool substrate was observed as compared to untreated sample for both gases used. This higher adsorption indicates the hydrophilic character of the natural dyes used. Key performance parameters such as fastness to washing, rubbing and light were tested and found to be satisfactory. A single process tone-on-tone pattern was achieved by controlling the plasma exposure of treated area. This study concluded that a merger of natural dyes with modern plasma treatment and padding techniques for wool colouration was feasible.

Influence of atmospheric helium plasma on the surface energy of jute fibres and the performance of resulting composites

In this work, an atmospheric pressure glow discharge helium plasma treatment was employed to modify the surface properties of jute fibres. The resulting bio-composites showed an increase in flexural properties and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) compared to composites produced using untreated jute fibres. To understand the reason behind the ILSS improvement, the acid–base properties of jute fibres were determined by contact angle analysis using the capillary rise method. The results were fitted further to van Oss–Chaudhury–Good (vOCG) and Chang–Qin–Chen (CQC) models to determine the Lifshitz–van der Waals (LW) and acid–base components of surface energy. Surface energy determined by the vOCG model revealed that plasma treatment of jute fibre resulted in a 22% increase in total surface energy, a 19% increase in the LW component and a 24% increase in the acid–base component of surface energy. The increase in the acid–base component is due to the significant increase (69%) in the electron-accepting (γ+S) parameter. On the other hand, the CQC model clearly indicates an amphoteric nature of the fibre surface based on opposite signs of the acid and base principal values (PSa and PSb). Overall, the results indicated that increases in both LW and acid–base components were responsible for improvement in the properties of the composites.

Immune biomarkers in the spectrum of childhood noncommunicable diseases

A biomarker is an accurately and reproducibly quantifiable biological characteristic that provides an objective measure of health status or disease. Benefits of biomarkers include identification of therapeutic targets, monitoring of clinical interventions, and development of personalized (or precision) medicine. Challenges to the use of biomarkers include optimizing sample collection, processing and storage, validation, and often the need for sophisticated laboratory and bioinformatics approaches. Biomarkers offer better understanding of disease processes and should benefit the early detection, treatment, and management of multiple noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This review will consider the utility of biomarkers in patients with allergic and other immune-mediated diseases in childhood. Typically, biomarkers are used currently to provide mechanistic insight or an objective measure of disease severity, with their future role in risk stratification/disease prediction speculative at best. There are many lessons to be learned from the biomarker strategies used for cancer in which biomarkers are in routine clinical use and industry-wide standardized approaches have been developed. Biomarker discovery and validation in children with disease lag behind those in adults; given the early onset and therefore potential lifelong effect of many NCDs, there should be more studies incorporating cohorts of children. Many pediatric biomarkers are at the discovery stage, with a long path to evaluation and clinical implementation. The ultimate challenge will be optimization of prevention strategies that can be implemented in children identified as being at risk of an NCD through the use of biomarkers.

High-resolution monitoring of atmospheric pollutants using a system of low-cost sensors

Increased levels of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere have contributed to an increase in mortality and morbidity in communities and are the main contributing factor for respiratory health problems in the population. Currently, PM concentrations are sparsely monitored; for instance, a region of over 2200 square kilometers surrounding Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, is monitored using ten sensor stations. This paper proposes to improve the estimation of PM concentration by complementing the existing high-precision but expensive PM devices with low-cost lower precision PM sensor nodes. Our evaluation reveals that local PM estimation accuracies improve with higher densities of low-precision sensor nodes. Our analysis examines the impact of the precision of the lost-cost sensors on the overall estimation accuracy.

Concentrations of major grass group 5 allergens in pollen grains and atmospheric particles : implications for hay fever and allergic asthma sufferers sensitized to grass pollen allergens

Background

Grass pollen allergens are the most important cause of hay fever and allergic asthma during summer in cool temperate climates. Pollen counts provide a guide to hay fever sufferers. However, grass pollen, because of its size, has a low probability of entering the lower airways to trigger asthma. Yet, grass pollen allergens are known to be associated with atmospheric respirable particles.
Objective

We aimed (1) to determine the concentration of group 5 major allergens in (a) pollen grains of clinically important grass species and (b) atmospheric particles (respirable and nonrespirable) and (2) to compare the atmospheric allergen load with clinical data to assess different risk factors for asthma and hay fever.
Methods

We have performed a continuous 24 h sampling of atmospheric particles greater and lower than 7.2 μm in diameter during the grass pollen season of 1996 and 1997 (17 October 1996–16 January 1997) by means of a high volume cascade impactor at a height of about 15 m above ground in Melbourne. Using Western analysis, we assessed the reactivity of major timothy grass allergen Phl p 5 specific monoclonal antibody (MoAb) against selected pollen extracts. A MoAb-based ELISA was then employed to quantify Phl p 5 and cross-reactive allergens in pollen extracts and atmospheric particles larger and smaller than 7.2 μm.
Results

Phl p 5-specific MoAb detected group 5 allergens in tested grass pollen extracts, indicating that the ELISA employed here determines total group 5 allergen concentrations. On average, 0.05 ng of group 5 allergens were detectable per grass pollen grain. Atmospheric group 5 allergen concentrations in particles > 7.2 μm were significantly correlated with grass pollen counts (rs = 0.842, P < 0.001). On dry days, 37% of the total group 5 allergen load, whereas upon rainfall, 57% of the total load was detected in respirable particles. After rainfall, the number of starch granule equivalents increased up to 10-fold; starch granule equivalent is defined as a hypothetical potential number of airborne starch granules based on known pollen count data. This indicates that rainfall tended to wash out large particles and contributed to an increase in respirable particles containing group 5 allergens by bursting of pollen grains. Four day running means of group 5 allergens in respirable particles and of asthma attendances (delayed by 2 days) were shown to be significantly correlated (P < 0.001).
Conclusion

Here we present, for the first time, an estimation of the total group 5 allergen content in respirable and nonrespirable particles in the atmosphere of Melbourne. These results highlight the different environmental risk factors for hay fever and allergic asthma in patients, as on days of rainfall following high grass pollen count, the risk for asthma sufferers is far greater than on days of high pollen count with no associated rainfall. Moreover, rainfall may also contribute to the release of allergens from fungal spores and, along with the release of free allergen molecules from pollen grains, may be able to interact with other particles such as pollutants (i.e. diesel exhaust carbon particles) to trigger allergic asthma.

The spectrum and the spectre of the public self : persona studies

One of the most intriguing elements of the study of celebrity is the complex relationship between the renowned individuals that have celebrity status and the populace. In past work, I have identified how celebrities “embody” audiences producing a kind of audience-subjectivity that is both collective and individual. If our media systems are producing slightly different collective configurations and quite different ways in which individuals exhibit and share, this relationship between the individual and the collective so foregrounded by celebrity culture may be differently constituted. This presentation will look at how the celebration of the self is played out now across culture in variations of the social and para-social structures of celebrity culture, in professional settings and what would be seen as forms of online leisure and recreational activities. In one sense, this is the spectre of celebrity that has now been virtualised by individuals and their forms of public display. In another sense, we now have a very diverse range and spectrum of public personalities which demands a more extensive analysis of the constitution of public persona, where the embodiment of collectives and the articulation of identity forms for different purposes and objectives produce via a series of micro-publics a substantially different public sphere.