scholarly journals Natural Dyeing of Cellulose and Protein Fibers with the Flower Extract of Spartium junceum L. Plant

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4091
Author(s):  
Zorana Kovačević ◽  
Ana Sutlović ◽  
Ana Matin ◽  
Sandra Bischof

In this study, the natural dye was extracted from Spartium junceum L. (SJL) flowers and applied on cellulose (cotton) and protein (wool) fabric. Fabrics were pre-mordant with alum prior to the dyeing process. Considering the global requirements on zero waste and green policy, the dyeing process was intended to be as much as possible environmentally friendly but still effective. Therefore, mordant concentration was optimized due to the reduction of the negative impact. The efficiency of the dyeing process was investigated by examination of fabrics’ color characteristics and colorfastness to washing properties. In this paper, we have proved that the extracted dye from Spartium junceum L. is an acidic dye (mordant dye) which is more applicable for the treatment of wool fabrics. In this paper, it was proved that phytochemicals responsible for coloring are part of the flavonoids group. The UV absorption spectra of extracted dye show 4 bands in the region of λmax 224, 268, 308 and 346 nm which are ascribed to bands characteristic for flavonoids. Wool fabric pre-mordant with 3% alum and dyed shows great chromatic (C*) properties where C* value is in a range from 47.76 for unwashed samples to 47.50 for samples after 5 washing cycles and color hue (h°) is in a range 82.13 for unwashed samples to 81.52 for samples after 5 washing cycles. The best result regarding the colorfastness properties is shown by the wool sample treated with 3% alum after 5 washing cycles (total difference in color (Delta E*) = 0.87). These results confirm that metal (Al) from alum mordant make strong chemical bonds with wool substrate and dye since Delta E* values decrease in comparison to Delta E* values of the cotton samples treated the same way. The results revealed it is possible to reduce the concentration of mordant up to 3% and obtain satisfactory results regarding the colorfastness. Nevertheless, future research will go in the direction of replacing synthetic mordant with a more environmentally friendly one.

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. e8-e16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelica Tiotiu

Background: Severe asthma is a heterogeneous disease that consists of various phenotypes driven by different pathways. Associated with significant morbidity, an important negative impact on the quality of life of patients, and increased health care costs, severe asthma represents a challenge for the clinician. With the introduction of various antibodies that target type 2 inflammation (T2) pathways, severe asthma therapy is gradually moving to a personalized medicine approach. Objective: The purpose of this review was to emphasize the important role of personalized medicine in adult severe asthma management. Methods: An extensive research was conducted in medical literature data bases by applying terms such as “severe asthma” associated with “structured approach,” “comorbidities,” “biomarkers,” “phenotypes/endotypes,” and “biologic therapies.” Results: The management of severe asthma starts with a structured approach to confirm the diagnosis, assess the adherence to medications and identify confounding factors and comorbidities. The definition of phenotypes or endotypes (phenotypes defined by mechanisms and identified through biomarkers) is an important step toward the use of personalized medicine in asthma. Severe allergic and nonallergic eosinophilic asthma are two defined T2 phenotypes for which there are efficacious targeted biologic therapies currently available. Non-T2 phenotype remains to be characterized, and less efficient target therapy exists. Conclusion: Despite important progress in applying personalized medicine to severe asthma, especially in T2 inflammatory phenotypes, future research is needed to find valid biomarkers predictive for the response to available biologic therapies to develop more effective therapies in non-T2 phenotype.


Author(s):  
Landiswa Seteni ◽  
Pierre Joubert ◽  
Manilall Dhurup

Over the past decade, South African organisations have had to cope with an ever-increasing rate of local and global changes. There have been considerable and ongoing socio-political changes, resulting from new government regulations. Most organisations have experienced some type of downturn, whether due to external business factors or poor internal performance. A typical response to organisational decline is retrenchment. Our study sought to explore employees’ perceptions of the effects of retrenchment on job stress and organisational commitment in a mining company. The study was located within a quantitative research paradigm. Four research hypotheses were posited and data was collected in one region from a sample of 400 surface mining employees, including management, administrators, engineers and artisans. The results showed that the effects of retrenchment did not have a negative impact on job stress (time stress and anxiety). This may be due to the fact that the mining company in question had a planning and consultation process in place for the employees prior to the retrenchment process. The results also showed that job stress (time stress and anxiety) was negatively associated with organisational commitment. To conclude this article we discuss the implications of our findings, outline the limitations of our study and make recommendations for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles James ◽  
Catherine Walshe ◽  
Katherine Froggatt

Abstract Background The knowledge about the experience of informal caregivers who provide care to people with moderate to advanced dementia in a domestic home setting is limited. A consequence of long hours of caregiving in addition to dealing with normal challenges of daily living is their experience of a poor quality of life. Some of their experiences may be described in terms of a feeling of powerlessness to make changes during care provision. This feeling may also suggest an experience of moral distress. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise qualitative evidence relating to these experiences. Methods This review adopts a narrative synthesis approach. A search will be conducted for studies written in the English language in the bibliographic databases MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Academic Search Complete covering periods from 1984 to present. Included studies will be qualitative or mixed-methods designs. The search terms will be related to dementia and caregivers, and the process will be focused on dementia at the moderate to the advanced stages within the domestic home setting. Reference lists of included papers will also be searched for additional relevant citations. Search terms and strategies will be checked by two independent reviewers. The identification of abstracts and full texts of studies will be done by the author, while the quality and the risk of bias will also be checked by the two independent reviewers. Discussion Psychological distress is cited as an experience reported within informal caregiving. For the caregiver, it is associated with a negative impact on general health. To date, no synthesis exists on the specific experience of informal caregiving for people with moderate to advanced dementia within the domestic home setting. This review considers that variation of accounts contributes to how the informal caregivers’ general experience is explored in future research. This may enable gaps in current knowledge to be highlighted within the wider context of caregiving in the domestic home setting. Systematic review registration This review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020183649).


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1271.1-1272
Author(s):  
S. Derham ◽  
J. Lewis ◽  
E. Dures ◽  
F. Cramp

Background:Adults with fibromyalgia frequently report symptoms of cognitive dysfunction, often referred to as fibrofog. However primary research exploring cognitive dysfunction in the lives of adults with fibromyalgia is very limited (Kravitz and Katz, 2015).Objectives:The aim of this review was to (i) synthesise the qualitative literature on the lived experiences of cognitive dysfunction in adults with fibromyalgia, (ii) develop common themes through thematic analysis and (iii) identify knowledge gaps to inform future research and clinical practice in this area.Methods:Seven electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Amed, Scopus and OpenGrey), reference lists of key articles and two high impact qualitative journals were searched from 1990 to November 2018. Articles were eligible for inclusion if they reported primary qualitative data exploring the experiences of cognitive dysfunction in adults with fibromyalgia. Included studies were appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist and extracted data analysed using narrative synthesis. SD conducted critical appraisal and data extraction on all included studies. FC, JL and ED reviewed five papers each. All papers were reviewed by two co-authors. Of the 1413 records identified, 15 studies were selected for inclusion.Results:These studies included 208 women and 22 men with fibromyalgia, aged 18 to 72 years and representing seven different countries. Duration of diagnosis was four months to 34 years. Fourteen studies used interviews and one used focus groups. None of the included studies focussed exclusively on cognitive function in adults with fibromyalgia. Three studies identified themes specific to cognitive dysfunction and fibromyalgia symptoms. The remaining 12 studies presented relevant data intertwined with the overall lived experiences of fibromyalgia.Cognitive dysfunction, as a part of fibromyalgia, was often unpredictable. Problems with memory and concentration that were most commonly reported were emotionally distressing and affected functional and vocational activities. Participants found communication effortful, with a negative impact on work, leisure and social activities. Stress, fear and worry around perceived cognitive changes were commonly expressed. Lost employment or changed work roles and relationships, due to cognitive difficulties, had negative impacts for many participants. The terms cognitive dysfunction and fibrofog were used interchangeably within the studies, but lacked common definition. This introduced uncertainty around whether participants and authors were describing the same phenomenon.Conclusion:Adults with fibromyalgia experience unpredictable and emotionally impactful difficulties related to cognitive dysfunction. Functional impact was broad-reaching, particularly around work ability and lost employment opportunities. It is unclear how cognitive symptoms in fibromyalgia related to co-morbid symptoms such as pain, fatigue and poor sleep. Further research focusing on the full impact of cognitive function on the lives of adults with fibromyalgia is recommended to inform clinical practice. Research to establish clarity of definition of the terms cognitive dysfunction and fibrofog within fibromyalgia is highly recommended.References:[1]Kravitz H, Katz R. Fibrofog and fibromyalgia: a narrative review and implications for clinical practice. Rheumatology International. 2015;35(7):1115-25.Acknowledgments:This work is supported by the National Institute for Heath Research [ICA-PCAF-2018-01-078 to SD]Disclosure of Interests:Sandra Derham: None declared, Jenny Lewis: None declared, Emma Dures Grant/research support from: Independent Learning Grant from Pfizer, combined funding for a research fellow from Celgene, Abbvie and Novartis, Paid instructor for: A fee from Novartis to deliver training to nurses., Fiona Cramp: None declared


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. S30-S37
Author(s):  
Sophie Biddle

Introduction: Active surveillance is a conservative management approach to treating prostate cancer involving regular testing and close monitoring by the health professional. The aim of this literature review is to establish whether men experience a psychological impact of active surveillance and what the prevalent effects might be. Method: The search was carried out in three databases: CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO. Articles published in English, from October 2015 to March 2018, which focused on the psychological impact of active surveillance, were included. Findings: A total of eight quantitative studies were included in this report. The review identified key psychological impacts of active surveillance, including anxiety, sub-clinical depression, illness uncertainty and hopelessness. Active surveillance was seen by some patients as a positive treatment approach that limited the side effects associated with active treatment. Conclusion: The evidence found a negative impact of active surveillance might be felt by men at any stage during treatment and at differing levels of severity. The article highlights key demographic areas, including ethnicity and age, for future research and recommends more qualitative studies are conducted.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Gradín ◽  
Olga Cantó ◽  
Coral del Río

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different dynamic characteristics of unemployment in a selected group of European Union countries during the current Great Recession, which had unequal consequences on employment depending on the country considered. Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows Shorrocks’s proposal of a duration-sensitive measure of unemployment, and uses cross-sectional data reported by Eurostat coming from European Labour Force Surveys. Findings – The results add some evidence on the relevance of incorporating spells’ duration in measuring unemployment, finding remarkable differences in unemployment patterns in time among European countries. Research limitations/implications – In this paper unemployment is analyzed for all the labor force. Future research should investigate patterns across specific groups such as young people, women, immigrants or the low skilled. Practical implications – It is generally accepted that the negative impact of unemployment on individual welfare can be very different depending on its duration. However, conventional statistics on unemployment do not adequately capture to what extent the recession is not only increasing the incidence of unemployment but also its severity in terms of duration in time of ongoing unemployment spells. The paper shows an easy and practical way to do it in order to improve the understanding of the unemployment phenomenon, using information usually reported by statistical offices. Originality/value – First, the paper provides a tool for dynamic analysis of unemployment based on reported cross-sectional data. Second, the paper demonstrates the empirical relevance of considering spells’ duration when assessing differences in unemployment across countries or in unemployment trends. This is usually neglected or only partially addressed by most conventional measures of unemployment.


Open Medicine ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Krawczyk ◽  
Dragan Simić ◽  
Svetlana Simić ◽  
Michał Woźniak

AbstractPrimary headaches are common disease of the modern society and it has high negative impact on the productivity and the life quality of the affected person. Unfortunately, the precise diagnosis of the headache type is hard and usually imprecise, thus methods of headache diagnosis are still the focus of intense research. The paper introduces the problem of the primary headache diagnosis and presents its current taxonomy. The considered problem is simplified into the three class classification task which is solved using advanced machine learning techniques. Experiments, carried out on the large dataset collected by authors, confirmed that computer decision support systems can achieve high recognition accuracy and therefore be a useful tool in an everyday physician practice. This is the starting point for the future research on automation of the primary headache diagnosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndal Hickey ◽  
Louise Hams ◽  
Lauren Kosta

PurposeThis paper examines the empirical research on police reassurance following a collective trauma event (CTE).Design/methodology/approachUsing a scoping review methodology, this paper sought to establish the extent, range and nature of published literature on policing responses to collective traumatic events, and to identify key features of this form of direct practice. Included papers needed to focus on police responses oeassurance with the public related to events (pre-or post) that could be regarded as collective trauma events by nature or scale. Searches were conducted using the Web of Science, SCOPUS and PsychINFO databases for literature published between January 2000 and December 2019.FindingsFourteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The key themes identified: (1) measuring the impact of reassurance and community policing; (2) community attitudes to policing and social disorder/critical events; (3) police workforce responses to traumatic events; and (4) interventions to support police to respond to their community.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research needs to examine the elements that create a robust organisational infrastructure that can withstand the demands of policing in ordinary and extraordinary times. Fundamental to the studies in this review is the relationship between the police agencies and the community. The nature of this relationship and how it can be strengthened to ameliorate the negative impact of CTEs in communities needs further exploration.Originality/valueThis paper provides important findings that can inform future reassurance policing practice and research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 130-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mohsin ◽  
Ummar Farooq ◽  
Zulfiqar Ali Raza ◽  
Muhammad Ahsan ◽  
Ali Afzal ◽  
...  

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