Search

PurposeThis study proposes a garment modularization model based on an interactive genetic algorithm. The suggested model consists of extraction and identification of parts and the determination and implementation of connections. Rules and corresponding mathematical equations have been formulated for the part's extractions from the discarded products and connections for the redesigned products.Design/methodology/approachSustainability entices scholars and practitioners while referring to reducing waste to control environmental degradation. One of the ways to safeguard natural resources is to increase the reuse of old or discarded products. The current study focuses on the redesign process to improve the reuse of products.FindingsThe intelligent system proposed based on the modularization techniques is expected to simplify and quantify the redesign process. The model can further help in the minimization of wastage and environmental degradation.Originality/valuePresently, manual decisions are taken by the designers based on their memory, experience and intuition to extract and join the parts.

Images can carry more information than words, but the data space of images format is much larger than the text format when they are containing the same information. Therefore, how to efficiently compress images to improve their storability and transmissibility is one of the key research issues in the field of computer vision. Through consulting the relevant literature, this paper analyzes the development process of the current image compression technology, and introduces traditional compression methods and deep learning compression methods, while focusing on the compression methods based on deep learning. Through comparative experiments, this paper analyzes the performance of various types of neural networks in image compression tasks, and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of various types of neural networks in compression tasks.

Climate warming leads to frequent extreme precipitation events, which is a prominent manifestation of the variation of the global water cycle. Using data of 1842 meteorological stations in the Huang-Huai-Hai-Yangtze River Basin and 7 climate models of CMIP6,the historical and future precipitation data were obtained using the Anusplin interpolation, BMA method, and a non-stationary deviation correction technique. The temporal and spatial variations of extreme precipitation in the four basins from 1960 to 2100 were analyzed. The correlation between extreme precipitation indices and their relationship with geographical factors was analyzed. The results show that: (1) in the historical period, CDD and R99pTOT showed an upward trend, with growth rates of 14.14% and 4.78%, respectively. PRCPTOT showed a downward trend, with a decreasing rate of 9.72%. Other indices showed minimal change. (2) Based on SSP1-2.6, the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme precipitation changed by approximately 5% at SSP3-7.0 and 10% at SSP5-8.5. The sensitivity to climate change was the highest in spring and autumn. The drought risk decreased and the flood risk increased in spring. The drought risk increased in autumn and winter, and the flood risk increased in the alpine climate area of the plateau in summer. (3) CDD, CWD, R95pD, R99pD, and PRCPTOT are affected by latitude. RX1day and RX5day are affected by longitude, and other indices are affected by longitude and latitude. The extreme precipitation index is significantly correlated with geographical factors, and areas above 3000 m above sea level are more sensitive to climate change.

The drilling and blasting method is widely used in tunnel engineering. The accompanying airblast may damage structures and annoy nearby occupants. The prediction of airblast overpressure (poa) outside the tunnel is necessary to improve the safety of blasting works. A study of propagation characteristics of airblasts induced by tunnel blasting was carried out through experimental and numerical studies. The results indicate that the distributions of the poa outside the tunnel were anisotropic, which does not conform to the decay law of an explosion in free-field. The propagation of airblasts induced by tunnel blasting is related to the airblast shape. The phenomenon that the poa along the axial direction of the tunnel was higher than along other directions can be explained by the numerical results of the process of airblasts. The airblasts outside the tunnel traveled as a spherical wave, but the pressure was not uniformly distributed. After an airblast plane wave with high speed and high pressure inside the tunnel was transmitted out of the tunnel, its inertia strengthened the pressure in the axial direction. The airblast outside the tunnel is related to the propagation distance Rout, the angle from the measurement to the tunnel axis α, and the pressure intensity p0 at the tunnel portal. Subsequently, an ellipsoidal contour curve of the poa outside the tunnel was plotted, and therefore a new prediction equation was validated by numerical results and field data. Finally, the newly proposed methodology guided the blast design.

In this study, the anisotropic properties, including strength, deformation, AE response, and failure pattern of Hunan shale were investigated under various confining pressures. The triaxial compression results showed that the anisotropic properties of the shale are significantly influenced by bedding orientation and confining pressure. The failure patterns of the shale with various bedding orientations can be divided into 5 types under different confining pressures. 3DEC was used to simulate the excavation of underground structures in anisotropic rock. Based on the analysis of deformation and relaxation zone thickness, the influence of the anisotropic properties of shale on the void behind the primary support and the heaving diseases of invert was discussed. Using the anisotropic shale with the same maturity as that of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, we hope that this work can have a great reference to the construction of such practical engineering.

Chongqing is a mountain city in western China, with complex geological environment, which brings many difficulties to the construction of large section underground projects. The construction experience of a large number of underground projects shows that ordinary engineering geological survey is difficult to meet the requirement of engineering design and construction. Therefore, on the basis of the initial survey, intensive drilling and coring work were carried out for the engineering area of the Guobo underground station with large cross-section to be built, and the basic mechanical, softening properties of the surrounding rock and in-situ stress field of the project area are obtained by laboratory tests. Based on the present experimental results and engineering experiences, it is proposed that the potential risks of Guobo station excavation include: ①bias pressure;②High in-situ stress;③Surrounding rock deterioration. The present study has practical significance for the design and construction of Guobo underground station, and it has certain reference value for the construction of underground projects in similar geological areas.

Three dimensional (3D) warp interlock fabric becomes a promising structure due to its good mechanical performances. However, its complex manufacturing process can cause severe yarn damage and affects its overall final performances. The current study addressed the effects weaving process and warp yarn ratios on the multi-filaments yarn degradations and its mechanical performances while 3D warp interlock fabric manufacturing. Four different 3D warp interlock variants having similar fabric architecture, and yarn densities but different warp yarns interchange ratios were manufactured using 930dTex high-performance multi-filament (Twaron® f1000). The multi-filaments yarns at different weaving processes were tested for their tensile properties. The results show that the average tensile strength of twisted yarns show a decrement of 5.68% as compared to the bobbin yarns. Meanwhile, warping process also showed a 16.11% maximum breaking load reduction as compared to the bobbin yarn. Besides, the tensile strength of binding yarn after weaving process for samples 3D-8/0, 3D-8/4, and 3D-8/8 was reduced by 12.79%, 5.22%, and 14.22% respectively as compared to the yarn after warping process. In conclusion, yarn degradation inside the 3D woven structure was affected not only by the various process parameters but also by the type of fabric architecture made with different warp yarn ratios. These phenomena ultimately bring a great influence both on the yarn and overall mechanical performance of the final products. For this, further studies are planned to investigate the multi-filaments yarn degradation effect on the ballistic performances fibrous material as it is directly linked to the yarn performance.

Rapid economic and social development has created significant ecological and resource problems in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, making it necessary to identify ways of implementing sustainable regional development. The interactions between water, energy, food, and ecology are characterized by a high degree of relevance and complexity. In studying the relationships between the four systems in depth and choosing representative indicators for each system, a comprehensive development model of the water-energy-food-ecology (WEFE) system in the BTH region has been established. The coupling coordination degree model was used to analyze the coupling synergy relationship between the WEFE systems in the BTH region from 2001 to 2020. The primary contributing elements determining the development of linked synergy in the WEFE system were investigated using a gray correlation model. According to the findings, Beijing’s total coupling coordination development level shows a gradual upward trend and is in excellent coordination; Hebei has progressed the most, experiencing a significant change from little coordination to good coordination; and Tianjin has had the least improvement, only improving from basic to good coordination. The exploitation of water resources and ecological protection of the environment are the aspects that have the greatest impact on the WEFE system. Additionally, the linked and synergistic growth of the WEFE system in the BTH region is significantly influenced by economic, social, and technological advancements in the industrial and agricultural sectors. The coupling coordination development of regional WEFE systems, which takes into consideration the synergistic optimization of many subsystems, is provided by this study as a scientific foundation.

Mouldability, along with other mechanical properties, is a very crucial material parameter in various technical textile applications, from composites to soft body armour products. Moreover, the mouldability and recovery behaviours of the material will be affected by various internal and external paramters before, during and after the forming process. The current research particularly tried to study the effects of blank-holder pressure (BHP) and the number of layers not only on the moulding characterstics but also on the recovery behaviour of plain woven p-aramid fabrics made from a high-performance yarn with a linear density of 930 dTex. Samples with various numbers of layers were arranged in the same orientation for the moulding process. The moulding approach utilised a specific moulding device in a low-speed forming process and a predefined semi-hemispherically shaped punch for all specimens.Various important dry textile material moulding characteristics and, most importantly, the moulding recovery properties, such as warp and weft direction drawing-in recovery, center high-point recovery, shear angle recovery etc. were investigated.

The shopping mall concept has emerged to provide unique mall facets to satisfy consumers that search for the ultimate shopping experience. Under one roof different sellers are assembled together with food outlets and entertainment to fulfill the requirements of consumers. Gradually an awareness of over-consumption has risen together which calls for reuse activities that reduce the consumption of new products. As an answer to the concept of a mall for sustainable practice, a recycling mall has been developed in Eskilstuna, Sweden. This study has been undertaken to understand the practice of the recycling mall and its encompassing reverse value chain activities. This is primarily done in two phases i.e., first to understand the backend operations by visiting collecting and sorting facilities and secondly to comprehend the perspectives of the management team by interviewing them. The findings from the current study suggest that the unique concept of recycling mall create a positive awareness among the customers to reuse, repair and redesign used products. An individual gets a unique experience to donate and purchase clothes, sports equipment, and construction material under one roof

Conductive elastic fabrics are desirable in wearable electronics and related applications. Highly elastic conductive polyamide/lycra knitted fabric was prepared using intrinsically conductive polymer poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) blended with polyelectrolyte poly (styrene sulfonate) (PSS) using easily scalable coating and immersion methods. The effects of these two methods of treatments on uniformity, electromechanical property, stretchability, and durability were investigated. Different grades of waterborne polyurethanes (PU) were employed in different concentrations to improve the coating and adhesion of the PEDOT:PSS on the fabric. The immersion method gave better uniform treatment, high conductivity, and durability against stretching and cyclic tension than the coating process. The surface resistance increased from ~1.7 and ~6.4 Ω/square at 0% PU to ~3.7 and ~12.6 Ω/square at 50% PU for immersion and coating methods, respectively. The treatment methods as well as the acidic PEDOT:PSS did not affect the mechanical properties of the fabric and the fabric show high strain at break of ~650% and remain conductive until break. Finally, to assess the practical applicability of the treated fabric for wearable e-textiles, the change in surface resistance was assessed by cyclically stretching 10 times at 100% strain and washing in a domestic laundry for 10 cycles. The resistance increases only by a small amount when samples were stretched cyclically at 100% strain and the samples show good durability against washing. Quality inspection and evaluation of functional or smart textile fabric surface by skin contact mechanics

This paper aims to predict the hand values (HVs) and total hand values (THVs) of functional fabrics by applying the fuzzy logic model (FLM) and artificial neural network (ANN) model. Functional fabrics were evaluated by trained panels employing subjective evaluation scenarios. Firstly, the FLM was applied to predict the HV from finishing parameters; then, the FLM and ANN model were applied to predict the THV from the HV. The estimation of the FLM on the HV was efficient, as demonstrated by the root mean square error (RMSE) and relative mean percentage error (RMPE); low values were recorded, except those bipolar descriptors whose values are within the lowermost extreme values on the fuzzy model. However, the prediction performance of the FLM and ANN model on THV was effective, where RMSE values of ∼0.21 and ∼0.13 were obtained, respectively; both values were within the variations of the experiment. The RMPE values for both models were less than 10%, indicating that both models are robust, effective, and could be utilized in predicting the THVs of the functional fabrics with very good accuracy. These findings can be judiciously utilized for the selection of suitable engineering specifications and finishing parameters of functional fabrics to attain defined tactile comfort properties, as both models were validated using real data obtained by the subjective evaluation of functional fabrics.

Subjective and objective evaluations of the handle of textile materials are very important to describe its tactile comfort for next-to-skin goods. In this paper, the applicability of artificial neu ...

The present paper aims to investigate the practice of upcycling and redesign. The study draws on the multiple organizations involved in the redesigning activities. The organizations selected for the study are located in the northern part of Romania. Semi-structured interviews along with direct observations were used to collect information. The paper provides practical insights to upcycling process.Various kinds of redesigned products are made out of consumer and industrial wastes such as redesigned clothes, accessories for ladies, handbags, ladies purses and office stationery. Upcycling is generally considered as economically non-feasible. However, this study has found contradictory results. The demand-based redesign activities can help an organization to earn a profit. Two out of three selected organizations are able to self-sustain. One of the organizations is newly entered into the Romanian used clothing markets and ables to compete with existing players. This study could be seen as one of the early attempts to empirically explore the practice of textile and accessories upcycling practice in Eastern Europe. The findings from the current case study can provide several useful insights for other similar companies to make redesign activities profitable.

The design of assembly line layout is one of the most important influential factors for the company's performance. The inappropriate arrangement of the order of workstations in the assembly line could cause the excessive movement of the material. In order to increase productivity and reduce production cost, a multi-objective optimization model with minimum the transfer distance of semi-finished products and the total area of assembly line was established in this paper. The Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II was applied to obtain the results of this model. The coding method, genetic operation and fitness function for three different kinds of sewing assembly line layouts (multi-line, U-shape two-line and U-shape three-line) were studied, while the workstations were organized in three ways: the order of processes, the type of machines, and the components of garment. The efficiency of the model was verified by the practice of sewing assembly lines for men's shirt. The layout schemes are compared with other algorithms. The results illustrated that NSGA-II algorithm is an effective tool to solve the sewing assembly line layout problem. The transfer distances of semi-finished products in the multi-line and U-shape (three-line) layouts arranged by garment components workstation layout were short. The multi-line layout arranged by the type of machines workstation layout occupied the smallest area. The model is suitable for solving the layout problem of the garment sewing workshop in practice, shortening the production cycle, and reducing the production cost. A variety of assembly line layout schemes are provided for apparel manufacturers in this paper. Apparel manufacturers can select the appropriate assembly line layout based on the actual conditions of the workshop and product.

Underground structures in earthquake-prone zones should be designed to withstand both static overburden pressures and earthquake shocks. This paper presents a case study on a large-span powerhouse cavern. With seismic data selected from past earthquake records, lab and in situ tests of the cavern’s geological and geomechanical conditions were performed to analyze the static and dynamic stability of the cavern through the continuum modeling approach. Performance analyses via both 2D and 3D modeling were carried out under seismic conditions and for selected design ground motions. The dynamic response of the surrounding rock mass and of the reinforcement system was detected. The results obtained will facilitate future stability analyses of large underground caverns constructed in the past on the basis of seismic design analyses and input data from post-earthquake records that were recently made available on the site.

For the past many decades’ enormous research has been done on mechanical and moulding properties of 2D woven and non-woven fabrics. The current paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the tensile, bending and moulding behaviours of 3D orthogonal warp interlock fabrics with different fabric densities. Four 3D warp interlock fabrics with different areal density made from 168Tex linear density p-aramid Kevlar yarn were manufactured on dobby loom in GEMTEX laboratory. Based on the investigation both fabric density and yarn density shows a significant effect on bending and tensile properties of the fabrics. The bending rigidity in the warp and weft directions become higher in preforms with denser weft and warp yarn densities respectively. In general, as the yarn density in the respective warp or/and weft direction increases, the maximum tensile load with maximum strain increases. Moreover, the fabric and yarn density has also shown a great impact on various mouldability characteristics of 3D warp interlock preforms while deformation. The study finally elucidated that, like other parameters, fabric and the yarn density of 3D warp interlock influenced greatly the tensile, bending and moulding properties where those parameters should be considered carefully while applying in various technical textile applications i.e., soft body armour.

Although an increasing number of researches regarding inter-organizational supply chain collaboration (SCC) were conducted, the resource sharing (RS) in SCC is still an under-explored subject. Many RS models are successfully applied in various industries for improving the efficiency of manufacturing. Meanwhile, due to the demand of higher flexibility in the garment production recently, RS has become a novel method in order to optimize the industrial organization. This study explored the feasibility of applying RS in the manufacturing stage of garment supply chain. A KPI based on extended ANP approach was designed to evaluate overall performance of different RS scenarios. Furthermore, a simulation-based heuristic was developed to generate and optimize RS scenario. Finally, experiments based on a discrete-event simulation model of garment production were conducted to examine the performance of all RS scenarios. By comparing the outputs of RS scenario and traditional scenario, the simulation shows that garment manufacturers could get great benefits by applying RS. We also found that the opener garment manufacturers towards RS, the more benefits they can obtain.

Significant efforts have been made so far to improve the overall performance of female soft body armor. However, still designing female soft body armor which accommodates the bust area for different women morphological differences with good comfort, fitness, and better ballistic protection is in its great demand. This research paper presents an efficient reverse engineering approach (2D-3D-2D pattern generation) for developing appropriate 2D patterns from 3D female adaptive virtual mannequin for female soft body armor seamless front panel. The method was mainly used to attain the required bust volume in the pattern by eliminating the involvement of darts and another design element. Before the process, using computer-aided design (CAD), parameterization has been applied to develop a female model with an adaptive bust from a scanned body. The method starts with identifying the different strategic anthropometric points on the front body side contours of adaptive mannequin using specific 90B size bust cup. Based on these points, delimiting of the outer contour of the pattern has been done. Later, horizontal (weft) and vertical (warp) projection grids in front of the virtual mannequin were marked to generate block pattern using curve measurement from the body couture, while during projection, an accurate measurement using precise projection system and bust points has been considered. Finally, the material deformation has been also analyzed using classical 3D-to-2D flattened pattern. The result shows that the new flattened pattern reveals better shape to accommodate the deformation with low distortion throughout the fabric surface while flattening. This will later greatly help to keep similar fabric distribution throughout the panel and give better ballistic protection, fit-ensured, and good comfort for the wearer.

In this study, effects of different stitching parameters on formability behaviour of multi-layerd para-armide panels were investigated. Different stitching pattern namely, Uni-axial longitudinal, Bi-axial straight, Uni-axial-diagonal, Bi-axial-diagonal, Edge stitch and Unstitched were used for binding different layers. Stitch length and gap parameters were also considered while formability using different values. Diamond quilted stitched with less stitch gap and short stitch length shows severe surface wrinkling and stitch thread breakage, whereas unstitched layers show a better deformability without wrinkling and stitch thread breakage. Similarly, diamond quilted stitched shows a very less drawing-in values both in warp and weft directions. As stitch density increases, the drawing-in measurement value reduced due the formation of more rigid layer to resist the deformation. Unstitch and diamond quilted preform possess the highest and least deformation recovery percentage respectivly. Moreover, deformation recovery percentage of the layers become very less as the stich gap and stitch length reduced.

Sensory investigations of the functional textiles could be an alternative for the quality inspection and control of the products. The purpose of this research is to use subjective evaluation technique for assessing the tactile comfort of some functional textile fabrics based on AATCC Evaluation procedure 5-2011. Blind subjective evaluations and visual subjective evaluations were performed for sensory investigation. Ten fabric-skin-contact and comfort-related sensory properties were used to evaluate the handle of the functional textile fabrics. The reliability of the sensorial data obtained by subjective tests was evaluated using statistical data analysis techniques. A minimum and maximum consensus distances recorded were 0.58 and 1.61, respectively, using a descriptive sensory panel analysis and proves the consistency and similar sensorial perception between panelists. The Pearson correlation coefficient between panelists was up to 96% and hence a strong agreement between the panelist’s judgment. The results allowed to consider the subjective evaluation using a panel of experts could be validated in the case of functional fabrics. For functional textiles, additional visual subjective evaluation should be considered to have a similar human perception in addition to blind subjective evaluation.

Electroluminescence (EL) is the property of a semiconductor material pertaining to emitting light in response to an electrical current or a strong electric field. The purpose of this paper is to de ...

With the rapid increase of personalized garment requirements, intelligent garment design has attracted more and more attention. The study reported in this paper concentrates on the modularized design method of garments in order to provide theoretical support for intelligent garment design. The proposed modularized design method consists of composition and transformation of garment parts as well as their configuration and connection. There are two categories of garment parts: essential parts and non-essential parts, each of which is determined by their key design attributes. Rules of transformation for garment parts were analyzed by classification of transformation rules. Binary decision variables were introduced to decide if garment parts should be selected. A mathematical model was developed to analyze constraints of garment parts connection.

In many textile applications stitching process is one of the widely used methods to join the multi-layer fabric plies not only due to its easy applicability and flexible production but also provide structural integrity throughout-the-thickness of materials. In this research, the influences of stitching pattern on various molding characteristics of multi-layer 2D para-aramid plain woven fabrics while deformation was investigated. The fabrics were made of high performance fiber with 930dtex yarn linear density and fabric areal density of 200gm/m2. First, different stitch pattern (orientation) was applied for joining the mentioned multi-layered fabrics keeping other stitching parameters such as stitch gap, stitch thread tension, stitch length, stitch type, stitch thread type etc. constant throughout the study. Then, a pneumatic based molding device with a low speed forming process specially designed for preforming of textile with a predefined hemispherical shape of punch. The result shows that stitching pattern is one of the parameter that influences the different molding behavior and should be consider while molding stitched multi-layer fabrics.

A novel magnetic Cd(II)-imprinted fluorescent CdTe quantum dot (Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP) was synthesized through chemical etching strategy without the use of functional monomer and cross-linkers, and was used as an adsorbent for the removal of Cd(II) from water. Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP not only shows much higher adsorption capacity and selectivity for Cd(II) than the non-imprinted counterpart (Fe3O4@CdTe), but also exhibits good photoluminescence and magnetism. The adsorption capacities of Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP and Fe3O4@CdTe for Cd(II) ions are 17.57 and 8.03 mg/g, respectively. The studies of adsorption kinetics show that the adsorption rate of Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP is fast, and the adsorption process fits well with a pseudo-second-order model. Moreover, the progress of the adsorption of Cd(II) ions on Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP can be monitored according to color change of Fe3O4@CdTe-IIP because of its fluorescent recovery.

Two sets of compound woven fabrics containing three layers of simple woven fabrics were manufactured (five samples made of cotton yarns and five samples with one-third hybrid cotton/silver yarns). The thermal resistance and water vapor permeability of all the fabrics were measured and compared. It should be noted that the small dissimilarity in the thickness of the manufactured fabrics was due to the movement of the yarns through the thickness in the relaxing state of the fabrics. However, they were designed in a way to have the same thickness on the weaving loom. The results stated that the thermal resistance of asymmetric fabrics for both sets of fabrics (with and without silver) was different regarding which exterior face (face or back) was in contact with the hot plate (20°C). It should be noted that the fabric is not symmetric through its thickness due to the dissimilarity of weave pattern of the layers or the orientation of silver yarns. It affirms that the internal voids of each ply (which is correlated to the wave pattern) play a significant role in thermal resistance of the manufactured compound woven fabrics. As a result, the asymmetry of a compound woven fabric throughout the thickness makes it a potential fabric to be applied as double-face fabric for different climate conditions as the order of the layers changed the thermal resistance of the compound fabric due to the porosity of each ply. Furthermore, a reduction was observed in thermal resistance for the fabrics with silver presence (~40%) while the other parameters remained unchanged (e.g. yarn density, fabric structure, and fabric porosity). The reason is correlated to the high conductivity of silver as conductive materials improve the heat transfer of the fabrics. Moreover, the influence of silver presence on water vapor permeability was not significant although the water vapor permeability was slightly increased for the fabrics having silver in their structures.

The material forming capability becomes one of the most important characteristic of textile performance in the manufacturing of three-dimensional (3D) components to fit a 3D surface in various technical applications. In this study, different forming characteristics of 3D warp interlock fabrics in dry fabric condition were investigated. 3D warp interlock architecture with different areal density from same para-aramid yarn with a linear density of 168dtex were systematically designed and produced on automatic dobby loom with standard atmospheric conditions. The approach utilizes a low speed forming process with a predefined hemispherical shape of punch for the analysis of different forming behaviour of the fabrics specimen. The same blank-holder pressure was chosen for all the samples for better comparisons. Among several forming properties, some important characteristics have been observed, measured and analysed for a better understanding of the material forming behaviour of the different samples specimen. The research results with independent warp and weft yarn densities show a significant impact on the forming behaviours 3D warp interlock fabric. Moreover, the result of the investigation also will give a better understanding on different forming behaviours of 3D warp interlock fabric with various densities while applying in different textile application including women soft body armour.

The article Tactile Comfort Prediction of Functional Fabrics from Instrumental Data Using Intelligence Systems, written by Melkie Getnet Tadesse, Yan Chen, Lichuan Wang, Vincent Nierstrasz, and Carmen Loghin, was erroneously originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 15 February 2019 without open access. After publication this was corrected and the copyright of the article changed in April 2019 to © The Author(s) 2019 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The original article has been corrected.

An epicanthal fold is common in the eyelids of Orientals, weakening the aesthetic appearance of blepharoplasty. Many techniques have been designed to eliminate the epicanthal fold and create a beautiful palpebral fissure with less scarring produced in the medial canthus. However, many of these procedures were designed to correct the epicanthus completely and create an out-type of palpebral fold, which leaves a minor scar in the epicanthus and an unnatural eye appearance. Thus, based on dynamic mechanisms, a beautiful design of the epicanthus, and a double fold in most Asian people, a new modified Z-plasty procedure combined with blepharoplasty to create an in-type of palpebral fissure was performed for 873 patients in our hospital from September 2006 to November 2010. The procedure showed good and natural results in most Asian patients. No recurrence of the epicanthal fold and no scarring of the medial canthus were found during a 6-month follow-up period. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Hydrated zirconium oxide (ZrO(OH) 2 ) nanoparticles were modified with graphite oxide (GO) (denoted herein as GO–ZrO(OH) 2 ) by hydro-thermal co-precipitation reaction, and were used for the simultaneous removal of As(III) and As(V) from drinking water. The GO–ZrO(OH) 2 nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transformer infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Zeta-potential, and specific surface area analysis. The size of ZrO(OH) 2 particles in GO–ZrO(OH) 2 is below 5 nm, and the specific surface area of GO–ZrO(OH) 2 is about 4 times that of ZrO(OH) 2 nanoparticles. The GO–ZrO(OH) 2 nanocomposites showed high adsorption capacity in a wide pH range, and the monolayer adsorption amounts calculated based on the Langmuir adsorption model were 95.15 and 84.89 mg/g for As(III) and As(V), respectively, which are 3.54 and 4.64 times that of ZrO(OH) 2 nanoparticles. The high adsorption capacity is attributed to good dispersion of ZrO(OH) 2 nanoparticles in the GO substrate. The GO–ZrO(OH) 2 nanocomposites can simultaneously remove As(III) and As(V) in water. Moreover, GO–ZrO(OH) 2 showed good anti-interference ability to co-existing anions, and exhibited excellent recyclability. The experimental results suggest that GO–ZrO(OH) 2 is a promising adsorbent for the removal of arsenic from drinking water.

One of the challenges in smart textiles is to develop suitable multifunctional materials that can address simultaneously several characteristics such as durability, stretchability, lightweight, and conductivity. Conductive polymers which showed success in different technological fields like polymer solar cells and light emitting diodes are promising in many smart textile applications. In this work, we treated a common polyamide/lycra knitted fabric with PEDOT:PSS for stretchable e-textiles. PEDOT:PSS, with DMSO as a conductivity enhancer and different ratios of water-based polyurethane dispersions as a binder, was applied to the fabric with simple immersion and coating applications. The effect of different application methods and binder ratio on the surface resistance of the fabric was monitored with four point probe electrical surface resistance measurement systems. Samples prepared by immersion technique are more uniform and have higher conductivity than those prepared by a coating technique. SEM images showed that PEDOT:PSS is incorporated into the structure in the immersion method while in the coating it is majorly present on the surface of the fabric. The tensile measurement showed that the acidic PEDOT:PSS and polyurethane dispersion coating has no adverse effect on the tensile strength of the fabric. The coated samples can be stretched up to 700% while still reasonably conductive. The resistance increases only by a small amount when samples were stretched cyclically by stretching 100%. Generally, samples prepared by the immersion method maintained better conductivity while stretching than those by a coating method. The washing fastness of the samples was also assessed.

When developing mass customized products, human perception on products, including consumer’s and design expert’s perception, should be integrated into the process of design. So in this paper, we originally propose a fashion decision support system for supporting designer’s work. In this system, we first characterize and acquire fashion expert perception and consumer perception on human body shapes. Next, these perceptual data are formalized and analyzed using the intelligent techniques, such as fuzzy set theory, decision tree, and fuzzy cognitive map. The complex relations between these perceptions as well as the physical measurements of body shapes are modeled, leading to the criteria which will permit to determine if a new design style is feasible or not for a given fashion theme. The proposed system is aimed to support customized design and mass market selection in practice.

This paper presents a method permitting to determine the relationship between body measurements and human perception on morphology of body shapes, expressed by a set of emotional descriptors and fashion themes. It can be integrated into current garment CAD system for providing personalized design support. Two procedures of sensory evaluation have been used. The first one aims at evaluating abstract fashion themes by means of emotional descriptors. In this procedure, the evaluators, including fashion designers and consumers, will give relevancy degrees between fashion themes and emotional descriptors. A fuzzy cognitive map is introduced to represent the corresponding results. It can be considered as a conceptual model characterizing the cognition level of evaluators on abstract fashion themes. The other procedure aims at evaluating the previous emotional descriptors on human body shapes according to the corresponding body measurements. A set of decision trees have been established to model the relation between the emotional descriptors and the human body measurements. It can be considered as a empirical model obtained from learning data.

This paper presents a model characterising the relation between emotional descriptive keywords describing human body shapes and concrete body measurements. Three procedures have been proposed for building this model. In the first procedure, the experts generate a list of emotional descriptors describing human body shapes and then evaluate a set of virtual human bodies of different shapes using these descriptors. Next, two algorithms of decision tree (CART and fuzzy-ID3) have been applied for modelling the relation between each emotional descriptor and the ratios of relevant body measurements. In the second procedure, the experts evaluate the relationship between these concrete emotional descriptors and a number of abstract fashion themes such as ‘sporty’ and ‘attractive’ without taking into account any specific human body shape. This conceptual relationship given by different experts is modelled using a fuzzy cognitive map. In the third procedure, the two previous models are combined using the fuzzy relation operations. Using this combined model, garment designers can quickly identify personalised and variable body shapes, expressed by a set of concrete and abstract keywords, from human body measurements. These keywords will be further integrated into an expert knowledge base of garment design for developing personalised new products.