Design, Fabrication, and Evaluation of 3D Biopotential Electrodes and Intelligent Garment System for Sports Monitoring.

This study presents the development and evaluation of an innovative intelligent garment system, incorporating 3D knitted silver biopotential electrodes, designed for long-term sports monitoring. By integrating advanced textile engineering with wearable monitoring technologies, we introduce a novel approach to real-time physiological signal acquisition, focusing on enhancing athletic performance analysis and fatigue detection. Utilizing low-resistance silver fibers, our electrodes demonstrate significantly reduced skin-to-electrode impedance, facilitating improved signal quality and reliability, especially during physical activities. The garment system, embedded with these electrodes, offers a non-invasive, comfortable solution for continuous ECG and EMG monitoring, addressing the limitations of traditional Ag/AgCl electrodes, such as skin irritation and signal degradation over time. Through various experimentation, including impedance measurements and biosignal acquisition during cycling activities, we validate the system's effectiveness in capturing high-quality physiological data. Our findings illustrate the electrodes' superior performance in both dry and wet conditions. This study not only advances the field of intelligent garments and biopotential monitoring, but also provides valuable insights for the application of intelligent sports wearables in the future.

A Study about Perceptions of Kimono among College Students and Kimono Enthusiasts: Is It Difficult to Move in a Kimono?

Background: Kimono is being reevaluated for its sustainability aspects, such as having fewer offcuts in the production process due to its structural differences from Western-style clothes and its high reusability due to the adaptability to individuals' body shapes. On the other hand, once a common attire for daily wear in Japan, kimono has transitioned to being worn only on special events and the kimono-related industry has also shrunk. To stimulate demand for kimono, it is essential to familiarize younger generations with its potential as daily wear. Methods: A questionnaire survey on perceptions of kimono was conducted among two groups in Japan: 211 college students and 50 kimono enthusiasts. The questionnaire included demographic questions and psychometric scales, primarily focusing on their kimono experiences, challenges associated with wearing kimono, their perceptions of kimono and Western-style clothes, and their attitudes towards kimono. Results: The results revealed that a majority of students had worn kimono before, though they found it difficult to move while wearing it. In contrast, kimono enthusiasts evaluated it as easier to move, hard to become disheveled, and casual. They also rated the ease of wearing Western-style clothes lower compared to students, and this tendency intensified with the length of enthusiast experience. Furthermore, the findings indicated that enthusiasts regarded the kimono more as daily wear compared to students, while still deriving enjoyment from it as formal attire in special events. Conclusions: These results suggest that the cognition that Western-style clothes are easy to move and kimono is not may change with experiences. Therefore, providing opportunities for people in Japan to acquire how to wear kimono in comfortable ways possibly impacts their perceptions of kimono.

Tourism influences escape behavior of lizards in relationship with human clothing color.

Increased tourism pressure modifies animal behavior, including alterations in anti-predator responses and foraging activity. In areas with high tourist presence, animals may become accustomed to increased human activity and adjust the intensity of some defensive responses. An animal's anti-predation ability is usually estimated by measuring its Alert Initiation Distance (AID) and Flight Initiation Distance (FID). Both indexes are affected by multiple factors including the color of the observer's clothing. Animal behavior is also influenced by human presence, and individuals may become accustomed to increased human presence, e.g. in tourist areas. In this study, we analysed the escape behavior of the endemic Cyprus rock agama (Laudakia cypriaca) in relation to the observers clothing color. Our results showed that AIDs and FIDs of agamas in tourist areas were significantly shorter than those in non-tourist areas. Moreover, in non-tourist areas, AIDs and FIDs of agamas were significantly longer when the observer wore red clothes, compared to green and grey clothes. Our results may be helpful in planning research taking into account various colored clothing based on expected reptilian reactions. Furthermore, our results may determine the proximity at which humans interact with animals, considering clothing color, to prevent negative impacts especially on rare and protected lizard species.

Comparative study of optimal compression pressure between conventional Barton's dressing and prefabricate garment in parotidectomy patients.

Excessive compression after parotidectomy can lead to flap necrosis, while inadequate pressure can cause fluid accumulation. This study aimed to determine the optimal pressure and compression properties of different types of dressings. Initially, pressure measurements were taken for conventional Barton's dressing and a pre-fabricated facial garment. In the subsequent phase, patients were randomly assigned to receive one of three types of pressure dressings: conforming bandage Barton's dressing, elastic bandage Barton's dressing or pre-fabricated facial garment. The dressing types were randomly crossed over the following day. The mean pressure exerted by conventional Barton's dressing and the pre-fabricated facial garment was 15.86 and 14.81 mmHg, respectively. There was no significant difference in the proportion of optimal pressure among the three types of pressure dressing (p-values of 0.195, 0.555 and 0.089 at pre-auricular, angle of mandible and post-auricular sites, respectively). The pre-auricular area demonstrated the highest proportion of optimal pressure, while suboptimal pressure was noted at the angle of the mandible and post-auricular area. Dressing types had no effect on pressure stability (p = 0.37), and there was no significant difference in patient preference (p = 0.91). Conforming bandage Barton's dressing, elastic bandage Barton's dressing and pre-fabricated facial garment exhibit comparable compressive properties, with no significant difference in patient preference and pressure stability.

Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress.

Eyed needles are among the most iconic of Paleolithic artifacts, traditionally seen as rare indicators of prehistoric clothing, particularly tailoring. However, recent finds across Africa and Eurasia show that other technologies like bone awls also facilitated the creation of fitted garments. Nonetheless, the advent of delicate eyed needles suggests a demand for more refined, efficient sewing. This refinement may signify two major developments: the emergence of underwear in layered garment assemblages, and/or a transition in adornment from body modification to decorating clothes, as humans covered themselves more completely for thermal protection. Archaeological evidence for underwear is limited, but the Upper Paleolithic saw an increase in personal ornaments, some sewn onto clothing. Eyed needles may mark a pivotal shift as clothes acquired the social functions of dress, decoupling clothing from climate and ensuring its enduring presence.

Prevalence and barriers to early initiation of breastfeeding among urban poor full-time readymade garments working mothers: a mixed-methods study in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Early initiation of breastfeeding is the initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth, which plays a significant role in a born baby's growth and survival, however its prevalence and predictors among urban full-time readymade garments (RMG) working mothers are not investigated. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence and factors affecting early initiation of breastfeeding among urban RMG working mothers. METHODS: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was conducted between March 2023 and December 2023 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 452 full-time female RMG workers were included for the quantitative study. Qualitative study was carried out among 30 full-time female RMG workers, four female physicians who were employed in the RMGs, four RMG factory managers, and four local pediatricians. RESULTS: The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding was 40% among the women. It was significantly associated with various factors, including socio-cultural barriers, the advanced age of the mother (AOR 3.93, 95%CI 1.18, 13.04), lack of education (AOR 6.86, 95%CI 1.11, 42.49), lack of awareness, and cultural practices such as initiating goat milk and honey instead of breast milk. The absence of colostrum feeding (AOR 8.96, 95%CI 4.30, 18.70) and pre-lacteal feeding (AOR 0.06, 95%CI 0.03, 0.11) were significant baby feeding practice-related barriers to early initiation of breastfeeding. Maternal health factors, notably post-delivery sickness, cesarean delivery, and lack of breastmilk production, were revealed as a significant hindrance to the early initiation of breastfeeding explored from qualitative analysis. In addition, RMG factory-related factors that significantly affect early initiation of breastfeeding include a strong focus on production, a busy schedule, and a lack of initiative regarding the early initiation of breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding among RMG working women is poor. This study emphasizes the need for interventions that address specific challenges of early initiation of breastfeeding faced by working mothers in RMG sectors, including improved lactation education, increased awareness to mitigate cultural barriers, RMG factory-based initiatives to empower female workers early initiation of breastfeeding, and preparing early initiation of breastfeeding -friendly post-cesarean unit at the health care facility.

Paleoproteomic identification of the species used in fourteenth century gut-skin garments from the archaeological site of Nuulliit, Greenland.

Until recently, the identification of the species of origin for skin and fur materials used in the production of archaeological clothing has been based on the analysis of macro- and microscopic morphological features and on the traditional knowledge of Indigenous groups. This approach, however, is not always applicable due to the deterioration of the archaeological objects. Paleoproteomics was used as an alternative approach to identify the species of origin of fifteen samples of various tissues from approximately 600-year-old garments found in Nuulliit, northern Greenland. Proteomics revealed that a limited group of marine and terrestrial mammals were used for clothing production. The results obtained from the analysis of multiple types of clothing and elements, such as sinew thread and gut skin, suggest that their applications were based on their properties. When conclusive assignment of a sample to a species via proteomics was not possible, the observation by transmitted light microscopy of feather and hair micromorphology, if not affected by diagenesis, was used to improve the identification. The proteomic characterization of animal materials used for clothing production in the Nuulliit archaeological context provides an insight into the practical knowledge and the strategies adopted by the local Indigenous community to exploit natural resources.

Influence of compression garments on proprioception: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Compression garments (CGs) are commonly used in rehabilitation and sports contexts to enhance performance and speed up recovery. Despite the growing use of CGs in recent decades, there is no unanimous consensus on their overall influence on joint proprioception. In this current meta-analysis, we aim to fill this knowledge gap by assessing the impact of CGs on joint proprioception. We conducted a literature search across seven databases and one registry. Ultimately, we included 27 studies with 671 participants. The meta-analysis revealed that wearing CGs resulted in a significant reduction in absolute error during joint position sensing (Hedges' g: -0.64, p = 0.006) as compared to no CGs. However, further analyses of variables such as constant error (p = 0.308), variable error (p = 0.541) during joint position sense tests, threshold to detect passive motion (p = 0.757), and active movement extent discrimination (p = 0.842) did not show a significant impact of CGs. The review also identified gaps in the reporting of certain outcomes, such as parameters of CGs, reporting of performance, individual-reported outcomes, and lack of placebo comparators. Consequently, this review provides guidelines for future studies that may facilitate evidence-based synthesis and ultimately contribute to a better understanding of the overall influence of CGs on joint proprioception.

A novel garment transfer method supervised by distilled knowledge of virtual try-on model.

Garment transfer can wear the garment of the model image onto the personal image. As garment transfer leverages wild and cheap garment input, it has attracted tremendous attention in the community and has a huge commercial potential. Since the ground truth of garment transfer is almost unavailable in reality, previous studies have treated garment transfer as either pose transfer or garment-pose disentanglement, and trained garment transfer in self-supervised learning, However, these implementation methods do not cover garment transfer intentions completely and face the robustness issue in the testing phase. Notably, virtual try-on technology has exhibited superior performance using self-supervised learning, we propose to supervise the garment transfer training via knowledge distillation from virtual try-on. Specifically, the overall pipeline is first to infer a garment transfer parsing, and to use it to guide downstream warping and inpainting tasks. The transfer parsing reasoning model learns the response and feature knowledge from the try-on parsing reasoning model and absorbs the hard knowledge from the ground truth. The progressive flow warping model learns the content knowledge from virtual try-on for a reasonable and precise garment warping. To enhance transfer realism, we propose an arm regrowth task to infer exposed skin. Experiments demonstrate that our method has state-of-the-art performance in transferring garments between persons compared with other virtual try-on and garment transfer methods.

The importance of male underwear in cases of alleged sexual assault.

The potential evidential value of male underwear in cases of alleged sexual assault is often overlooked. Male underwear can be a critical item in the investigation of alleged sexual assaults. Body fluids/DNA, which may transfer to the penis during sexual contact, may in turn transfer to the inside front of the underwear, and persist for months or years, provided the underwear are not washed. Here, we demonstrate how the case circumstances drive the sampling strategy of male underwear, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the forensic analysis. Sampling considerations including recovery methods and sampling sequence are discussed, and a methodical examination strategy of male underwear is proposed. To highlight the pertinence of male underwear to the investigation of alleged sexual assaults, three real-life cases are discussed, in which male underwear were examined for multiple body fluids/DNA, and the findings obtained proved evidentially significant. The different cases demonstrate the versatility of male underwear examination in situations, where different body fluids and DNA may transfer based on the specific allegation, and emphasize how targeted sampling can allow the scientist to assess the probability of the findings based on two competing propositions. Accurate sampling strategies are imperative for robust probability assignment in evaluative reporting of scientific findings.

Negotiating vulnerability and attractiveness through dress.

BACKGROUND: The ageing female body is particularly exposed to the social gaze. While it should remain fit and durable as well as attractive and desirable, there is the danger of ridicule through supposedly too youthful or too outlandish performance. Women's clothing practices can conform to social expectations, can circumvent them, can actively protest against them, and possibly change social demands. In every part of the process, i.e., the experience of bodily changes, the experience of social expectations, consumer choices, the practices of clothing and reactions to clothing choices, the body and getting dressed becomes a site of new feelings of vulnerability. OBJECTIVE: This article asks how these vulnerabilities are presented in the clothing practices of older women, are expressed in the materiality of clothes and in the practices of getting dressed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from a study that followed a situational analysis methodology and used semi-structured interviews and photo elicitation, were re-examined through the lens of vulnerability. RESULTS: Different aspects to vulnerability are presented in this article. Interviewees had to come to terms with bodily changes and made arrangement to the way they dressed that in turn could collide with subjective and social expectations of normative femininity. In this process of acquiescing, new vulnerabilities were produced; however, interviewees developed clothing strategies that provided them with experiences of their own attractiveness. They also had to adapt to changing circumstances to present themselves as fashionable and attractive due to age. CONCLUSION: Practitioners can address feelings of vulnerabilities when talking about gendered clothing practices, for example through biographical work.

Opinions regarding equine veterinarian attire and attributes: results of a horse owner survey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential equine clients' perceptions of equine veterinarians based on attire. SAMPLE: 763 horse owners/lessees. METHODS: Participants were invited to complete a survey shared mainly via equestrian social media pages between August and October 2022.1-3 Survey participants were shown pictures of a male veterinarian and a female veterinarian in 7 outfits ranging from casual to business attire and were asked to score the veterinarian on 7 traits: easygoing attitude, friendliness, compassion, trustworthiness, professionalism, competence, and cost of services. The survey asked which of the traits were most valued in an equine veterinarian, as well as whether various aspects of appearance including tattoos, piercings, and hair dyed a nonorganic color were acceptable for equine veterinarians. RESULTS: Of the 2,655 individuals who opened the survey, 763 responses were included. Respondents were predominantly female (743/763 [97.4%]) from rural areas (493/763 [64.6%]). Only 37.1% (283/763) of respondents agreed that what a veterinarian wears influences their confidence in them. The highest-ranked traits in an equine veterinarian were knowledge/competency (mean ± SD, 1.46 ± 0.98), followed by trustworthiness (2.34 ± 1.08) and compassion (3.50 ± 1.20), with coveralls and scrubs being the preferred attire clients associated with these attributes (with the exception of compassion, for which polo shirt/jeans was the preferred attire). T-shirt/jeans was consistently ranked lowest by respondents in association with these attributes, except in the area of compassion, where polo shirt/black pants was ranked lowest. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our findings suggested the attire and appearance of equine veterinarians can impact client perceptions, with veterinarians wearing scrubs and coveralls associated with higher competency and trustworthiness.

Qualitative classification of waste garments for textile recycling based on machine vision and attention mechanisms.

The increasing volume of garment waste underscores the need for advanced sorting and recycling strategies. As a critical procedure in the secondary usage of waste clothes, qualitative classification of garments categorizes post-consumer clothes based on types and styles. However, this process currently relies on manual labor, which is inefficient, labor-intensive, and poses risks to workers. Despite efforts to implement automatic clothes classification systems, challenges persist due to visual complexities such as similar colors, deformations, and occlusions. In response to these challenges, this study introduces an enhanced intelligent machine vision system with attention mechanisms designed to automate the laborious and skill-demanding task of garment classification. Initially, a waste garment dataset comprising approximately 27,000 garments was curated using a self-developed automatic classification platform. Subsequently, the proposed attention method parameters were selected, and a series of benchmarks were conducted against state-of-the-art methods. Finally, the proposed system underwent a two-week online deployment to evaluate its running stability and sensitivity to similar colors, deformation, and occlusion in industrial production settings. The benchmarks indicate that the proposed method significantly improves classification accuracy across various models. The visualization interpretation of Grad-CAM reveals that the proposed method effectively handles complex environments by directing its focus toward garment-related pixels. Notably, the proposed system elevates classification accuracy from 68.28 % to human-level performance (>90 %) while ensuring greater running stability. This advancement holds promise for automating the classification process and potentially alleviating workers from labor-intensive and hazardous tasks associated with clothes recycling.

Experimental and Theoretical Predictions of Static Plantar Pressure of Socks with Different Stitch Lengths.

BACKGROUND: Socks are mainly used to give the foot more comfort while wearing shoes. Stitch density of the knitted fabric used in socks can significantly affect the sock properties because it is one of the most important fabric structural factors influencing the mechanical properties. Continuous plantar pressures can cause serious damage, particularly under the metatarsal heads, and it is deduced that using socks redistributes and reduces peak plantar pressures. If peak pressure under the metatarsal heads is predicted, then it will be possible to produce socks with the best mechanical properties to reduce the pressure in these critical areas. METHODS: Plain knitted socks with three different stitch lengths (high, medium, and low) were produced. Static plantar pressure measurements by the Gaitview system were accomplished on ten women and then compared with the barefoot situation. Also, the peak plantar pressure of three types of socks under the metatarsal heads are theoretically predicted using the Hertz contact theory. RESULTS: Experimental results indicate that all socks redistribute the plantar pressure from high to low plantar pressure regions compared with barefoot. In particular, socks with high stitch length have the best performance. By increasing the stitch length, we can significantly reduce the peak plantar pressure of the socks. Correspondingly, the Hertz contact theory resulted in a trend of mean peak pressure reductions in the forefoot region similar to the socks with different stitch densities. CONCLUSIONS: The theoretical results show that by using the Hertz contact theory, static plantar pressure in the forefoot region can be well predicted at a mean error of approximately 9% compared with the other experimental findings.

Comparison Between a Single-Lead ECG Garment Device and a Holter Monitor: A Signal Quality Assessment.

Wearable electronics are increasingly common and useful as health monitoring devices, many of which feature the ability to record a single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). However, recording the ECG commonly requires the user to touch the device to complete the lead circuit, which prevents continuous data acquisition. An alternative approach to enable continuous monitoring without user initiation is to embed the leads in a garment. This study assessed ECG data obtained from the YouCare device (a novel sensorized garment) via comparison with a conventional Holter monitor. A cohort of thirty patients (age range: 20-82 years; 16 females and 14 males) were enrolled and monitored for twenty-four hours with both the YouCare device and a Holter monitor. ECG data from both devices were qualitatively assessed by a panel of three expert cardiologists and quantitatively analyzed using specialized software. Patients also responded to a survey about the comfort of the YouCare device as compared to the Holter monitor. The YouCare device was assessed to have 70% of its ECG signals as "Good", 12% as "Acceptable", and 18% as "Not Readable". The R-wave, independently recorded by the YouCare device and Holter monitor, were synchronized within measurement error during 99.4% of cardiac cycles. In addition, patients found the YouCare device more comfortable than the Holter monitor (comfortable 22 vs. 5 and uncomfortable 1 vs. 18, respectively). Therefore, the quality of ECG data collected from the garment-based device was comparable to a Holter monitor when the signal was sufficiently acquired, and the garment was also comfortable.

Impact of cost sharing on quality improvement and profits under uncertain demand: The case of a textile and garment supply chain.

The study explores the strategic pricing and quality improvement decisions under uncertain demand in a three-layer textile and garment supply chain. According to whether the fabric manufacturer (FM) invests in quality or not and whether the garment manufacturer (GM) or garment retailer (GR) is willing to share the costs or not, five game models are constructed to investigate the impact of different members' cost sharing on the optimal decisions and profits. By conducting a theoretical and numerical analysis, we find that: (1) The GM's or GR's cost sharing plays a positive effect on the quality improvement, as for whose cost sharing performs better in improving the quality depending on the proportion of cost sharing, and the quality improvement is highest with both members share the costs simultaneously. (2) The FM receives the highest profit when both members share the costs simultaneously, however, whose cost sharing is more profitable for the FM is also related to the proportion of cost sharing; in short, the FM always benefits from the cost sharing, no matter one member does this or two members do this. (3) The GM (GR) gains the highest profit when only the GR (GM) shares the costs, and the results indicate that if one member has shared the costs, whether the other member engaging in cost sharing could benefit the former depending on their proportions. Specifically, when the GM (GR) chooses to share the costs and the proportion is relatively low, the GR(GM) joining in cost sharing is beneficial to the former; otherwise, is harmful.

COMBAT-C: COntrol of Major Bleeding by Application of Tourniquets over Clothing.

INTRODUCTION: External bleeding is the leading cause of preventable trauma-related death. In certain circumstances, tourniquet application over clothing may be necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of tourniquets over different clothing setups. METHODS: Three windlass tourniquets (CAT, SAMXT, SOFTT-W) were applied over nine different clothing setups and without clothing on the Hapmed™ Tourniquet Trainer. We compared each tourniquet in each clothing setup to the tourniquet trainer that was not dressed, and we compared the three tourniquets within each clothing setup concerning blood loss, applied pressure and application time. Regression analysis of the effect of thickness, mean weight, mean deformation, application time, and applied pressure on blood loss was performed. RESULTS: Although blood loss was significantly greater in the CAT and SAMXT tourniquets when they were applied over leather motorcycle trousers, the overall findings showed that the clothing setups significantly reduced or did not affect blood loss. The mean blood loss was the lowest with CAT and the highest with SOFTT-W. The measured mean pressures were lower than 180 mmHg in four out of nine clothing setups with SOFTT-W, but CAT and SAMXT always exceeded this threshold. CAT had the fastest application time. Blood loss was significantly influenced by applied pressure and application time but was influenced to a far lesser degree by clothing parameters. CONCLUSION: The effects of the clothing setups were of little clinical relevance, except for leather motorcycle trousers. The effects of rugged protective equipment, e.g., hazard suits, are conceivable and need to be tested for specific garments with the tourniquet intended for use. No clothing parameter for predicting tourniquet effectiveness could be identified.

Acute and Acclimated Effects of Wearing Compression Garments on Balance Control in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Falls are very serious health concerns among older adults. Providing additional cutaneous and proprioceptive feedback to older adults may enhance their balance control and therefore reduce the incidents of falls. This study aimed to investigate the acute and acclimated effect of wearing waist-to-above-ankle compression garments (CGs) on balance control in community-dwelling older adults. Thirty-one older adults participated in the study. The Timed Up and Go, Berg Balance Scale, and the Fall Risk Test of the Biodex Balance System were used in a random order to examine balance control in three testing sessions 1 week apart. Results indicated wearing CGs had a significant impact on the Timed Up and Go test (p < .001), Berg Balance Scale (p = .001), and the Fall Risk Test (p = .001). For the Timed Up and Go test, participants exhibited significant improvement in both the acute (8.68 vs. 7.91 s) and acclimated effect (7.91 vs. 7.41 s) of wearing CGs. For the Berg Balance Scale, participants showed significant improvement after wearing CGs for 1 week in comparison to the no CGs condition (55.77 vs. 55.39 points). For the Fall Risk Test, participants showed a significant improvement in the acute effect of wearing CGs in comparison to the no CGs condition (1.55° vs. 1.31°). This exploratory study showed that wearing waist-to-above-ankle CGs provided a positive impact on balance control in healthy community-dwelling older adults. It lays the foundation for future studies with a larger sample size to investigate the potential benefits of wearing CGs in individuals with balance control deficits and/or other comorbidities.