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Background: Fragrance allergens (FAs) refer to these volatile or semi-volatile fragrance compounds that can induce sensitization, and they are widely used in household goods. Objective: In this work, a method combining solid-liquid extraction (SLE) and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been developed and applied in the analysis of 19 FAs (including hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, and phenols) in paper household goods. Method: The samples (infant or personal paper hygiene products) were cut into small pieces and underwent SLE with methanol as solvent. The supernatant was taken, and ultrapure water, sodium chloride, and trichloromethane (extractant) were added, which was mixed with vortex. After centrifugation, the bottom chloroform layer was taken for GC-MS detection. Results: Under optimized conditions, a good linearity was achieved (r≥0.9985) in the range of 0.01-128.0 mg/kg with relative standard deviations lower than 15%. The method showed limits of detection (LODs) within the range of 0.96-12.0 mg/kg and recoveries from 70.6% to 128.9%, except furfuryl alcohol with low recoveries (53.8-64.6%). Twenty kinds of paper household goods samples were analyzed by this method; nine FAs were detected. The linalool detected in one sample was more than 10 mg/kg, and the contents of other analytes in this sample and all analytes in other samples were less than 10 mg/kg. Conclusions: The performance evaluation of the method met the requirements of the analysis of trace components. The established method was successfully applied to the detection of FAs in paper household goods samples. The proposed method could provide a basis for the establishment of relevant detection standards in the future. Highlights: The LODs were found between 0.96 and 12.0 mg/kg. A simple, economical, and sensitive method was established for the determination of 19 FAs in paper household goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, conventional lightweight paper panels and paper tubes are analysed with respect to their suitability as furniture materials. In order to meet the growing demand of furniture industries to build light furniture, these two materials were tested and found to be suitable for creating very light constructions. Furthermore, increasing consumer demand to include sustainable materials in furniture-making is met by these two products. Joints between the two materials were developed and evaluated. It could be determined that specific adaptations are necessary in order to use paper materials for building furniture. The results of this study are a useful basis for developing construction principles between similar materials with other dimensions, e.g., for architecture. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

By zooming in on the Girl's Own Paper (GOP), this essay demonstrates how the production and dissemination of shared domestic cultures are directed at adolescent girls through esthetic practices of furnishing and decorating the home. The essay aims to contextualize the role of household art in the relationship between female adolescence and bourgeois domestic interiors in fin de siècle Britain. The relationship reveals three important aspects of domestic cultures: household art, do-it-yourself crafts, and material collecting. First, the GOP advises adolescent girls to read and interpret the language of household art through selection and placing, which, in turn, facilitates the construction of the textuality of interior furnishings. The GOP's esthetic theory, an integral part of educating and improving girls' taste, functions to enhance their room-layout skills and also construct their architectural identities. Second, adolescent girls are credited with the active role of young home-makers in the GOP. The practice of amateur upholstery shapes female youth's artistic self-expression and manifests their autonomous control over the making of home-crafted objects. And thirdly, the act of collecting furniture pieces and decorative items functions to address the various components of a room alongside contemporary social concerns about good taste. The accumulation of artifacts allows girls to achieve a sense of materiality and ownership contained within the domestic sphere. Home decoration in general provides a focal point for understanding how the familial space becomes the site of adolescent girls' artistic labor and household elegancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User interfaces to control networked household appliances are often inadequate. Either they are too simplistic or they are too complex and complicated relying on a PC-based interface. Therefore, a user interface that supports complex functionalities and is easy to use is required. In this article digital pen and paper are presented as a suitable interface. Digital pens are only marginally larger than their traditional counterparts, and digital paper is ordinary paper with an almost invisible unique pattern printed on it. Pen and paper are well known to users and thus an important barrier to the acceptance of networked appliances is removed. The approach is integrated with an Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) gateway, thus allowing for flexibility with respect to the protocol used to communicate with the appliance. It is also shown how the approach can be applied to other appliances in and beyond the home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With people's concern for health and the development of medical technology, medical products for children are gradually appearing in pharmacies and online stores. However, the appearance of most children's household medical products tends to meet the needs of adults, which leads to low acceptance of medical products. This study aimed to explore 10- to 16-year-old children's visual and tactile perception of different materials by researching the relationship between the psychological quantities of visual and tactile perception and the physical quantities of the material surface. Based on the theory of kansei engineering, we measured the physical quantities of nine materials used in insulin syringe products and administered a perceptual questionnaire test for children. By correlating subjective perceptions with the physical attributes of the materials' surfaces, we determined a strong correlation between the visual and tactile psychological properties and the properties of the materials' surfaces. Children clearly perceive materials, and materials with lower roughness can elicit calmness, while materials with higher gloss elicit negative emotions. This paper establishes an evaluation model and provides a scientific selection method for surface materials in different children's household medical products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science research suggests that in our current affluent societies, individuals are accustomed to frequently replacing their household goods. However, some still try to keep their objects for a long time. How do they come to be concerned about products' lifespan? This paper draws on a powerful method already explored in the literature on consumption: the diachronic approach through individual life trajectories. Analyzing interviews conducted with 60 individuals seeking to make their objects last, this biographical approach allows identifying some factors that explain people's propensity to make objects last. This paper shows that the tendency to keep objects for a long time can come from the familial milieu, just as it can happen later, in connection with personal events—advancement in the life cycle, bifurcations in the personal course, or interactions with public discourses and objects' breakdowns. Finally, it demonstrates that biographical events can also have a one‐time influence on products' careers in the households, without changing the individual's relationship to objects' lifespan—these can be personal or more historical and exceptional events, such as lockdown during the COVID‐19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the investigation and development of multifunctional textiles have become a necessity for the textile and apparel industries. Therefore, this paper explores an innovative approach to enhancing the functional properties of cotton (cellulosic) fabric by integrating advanced technologies to impart oleophobic/hydrophobic, flame-retardant, and antibacterial characteristics. The methodology involves systematically applying chemical treatments utilizing a layer-by-layer finishing technique to achieve the desired multifunctionality in cotton fabric. Silver nanoparticles and a phosphorus-nitrogen-based synergistic flame-retarding agent were employed to finish the fabric. Performance testing encompasses evaluating bacterial reduction, contact angle measurements, water absorption properties, flame-retardant capabilities, and Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI). Characterization techniques such as FTIR, SEM, and EDX analysis, were carried out to assess structural and chemical modifications of the material. The results illustrate a notable transformation of the cellulosic fabric, showcasing enhanced resistance to bacterial attack, improved stain resistance, and heightened flame-retardant performance, without compromising its color indices and air permeability. The fabric retains these multifunctional attributes even after 20 cycles of laundering, which confers durability. The implications of this research extend the application of conventional cotton fabric in diverse sectors, including apparel, home furnishings, and industrial textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigated Perception of working class women on utilization of wood cutting for creative home furnishings for economic development. Six research questions were raised and Four hypotheses were formulated and tested. The population for this study comprised working class women in Okuku, Osun state. 200 working class women were used as sample. Questionnaire and score card were used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results of the study revealed that majority of the respondents have high level of awareness on utilization of wood cuttings for creative home furnishing for homes, also durability, budget, comfort, aesthetic and styles, among others have influence on utilization of wood cuttings for creative home furnishing. Creative furnishings are perceived as having the potential to add value, economics benefits, durable and aesthetic appeal to living spaces. Hypothetically, there is significant relationship between the potential economic benefits, factors that influence utilization of wood cutting for creative home furnishing and perception of working)class women towards creative home furnishing made from wood cutting (p=0.000), also there is no statistically significant correlation between challenges faced and the perception of working-class women towards creative home furnishing made from wood cutting (P>0.089). The study concluded that there was acceptability of utilization of wood cuttings for creative furnishing for economic developments and promotion of creativity. It was recommended that the use of creative furnishing from wood cuttings by the entrepreneurs will help to create more employment opportunity among the youth and elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper explores the ways in which home is experienced by children within post-separation families, who spend time within more than one parental home. To do so it draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen young adults looking back on their childhood experiences. It argues that for these young people, home is a complex achievement, created and constrained, in part, through emotional encounters with domestic objects, interiors and furnishings. Resonating with previous studies which have emphasised the entanglement of family and home(un)making practices, it finds that children's family relationships are produced, communicated and undermined through the 'stuff' within their homes, creating feelings of inclusion and exclusion from their domestic environments. This paper, therefore, argues that domestic materialities are a significant means through which the (re)-and-(un)making of familial relationships in post-separation is performed; building on recent work within the emerging field of family geographies which has drawn attention to the importance of everyday materialities in the doing of family. Conclusions are thus drawn which suggest the value of such an approach to the interdisciplinary literature on post-separation and calls for more research into the various spatialities and materialities of the post-separation family are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]