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Hospital isolation gowns are increasingly competitive, with brands and manufacturers contesting consumer preferences. The textile materials in contact with the skin can acquire secretions and multiresistant microorganisms, causing discomfort and health risks, respectively. A new nanofibrous substrate-polypropylene grafted with l-Cys-was developed with an increased crystallinity, providing its surface with -SH hooks necessary to efficiently cross-link the antimicrobial peptide Cys-LC-LL-37 in order to protect against nosocomial pathogens and their spread to community. Furthermore, this application does not require environmental control of humidity, and it is not susceptible to enzyme and microorganism degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past years the textile industry has witnessed new advances in the area of textile fiber chains engineering, which allow the modification of the structure of such chains so as to produce polymers responsive to changes in the environment, thus capable of attaching to cells and bioactive molecules. On the other hand, following our society's trend towards higher hygiene standards, the research and development of antimicrobial textiles has shown a remarkable increase. Applications of such textiles can nowadays be found in underwear, sportswear, home furnishing, protective clothing, wound-dressings and in microbial infection high risk settings, such as health care institutions. The present research aims at the development of a strong, durable and washable antimicrobial L-Cysteine (L-Cys)-functionalized cotton by means of a covalent mechanism. The covalent binding of L-Cys onto cellulosic fibers was assessed by Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Antimicrobial assays showed that the functionalized cotton yielded strong microbial killing rates, exhibiting inhibition ratios of 89 and 83% against K. pneumoniae and S. aureus, respectively. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the covalent modification of cotton fabrics with L-Cys adding antimicrobial properties to cotton fibers and thus open the door to a world of applications in the area of increased risk microbial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a heterogeneous group of rare diseases characterized by the proliferation of neoplastic mast cells that almost always involves bone marrow [[1]]. This patient had more than 20% of bone marrow mast cells, so the mastocyte component of his disease is also consistent with mast cell leukemia, aleukemic variant. The c-KIT mutation causing human mastocytosis is resistant to STI571 and other KIT kinase inhibitors; kinases with enzymatic site mutations show different inhibitor sensitivity profiles than wild-type kinases and those with regulatory-type mutations. [Extracted from the article]