Integrated cooling (i-Cool) textile of heat conduction and sweat transportation for personal perspiration management

Perspiration evaporation plays an indispensable role in human body heat dissipation. However, conventional textiles tend to focus on sweat removal and pay little attention to the basic thermoregulation function of sweat, showing limited evaporation ability and cooling efficiency in moderate/profuse perspiration scenarios. Here, we propose an integrated cooling (i-Cool) textile with unique functional structure design for personal perspiration management. By integrating heat conductive pathways and water transport channels decently, i-Cool exhibits enhanced evaporation ability and high sweat evaporative cooling efficiency, not merely liquid sweat wicking function. In the steady-state evaporation test, compared to cotton, up to over 100% reduction in water mass gain ratio, and 3 times higher skin power density increment for every unit of sweat evaporation are demonstrated. Besides, i-Cool shows about 3 °C cooling effect with greatly reduced sweat consumption than cotton in the artificial sweating skin test. The practical application feasibility of i-Cool design principles is well validated based on commercial fabrics. Owing to its exceptional personal perspiration management performance, we expect the i-Cool concept can provide promising design guidelines for next-generation perspiration management textiles.

CONGENITAL GENERALIZED LIPODYSTROPHY AND EXPERIMENTAL LIPOATROPHIC DIABETES IN RABBITS TREATED SUCCESSFULLY WITH FENFLURAMINE

ABSTRACT Lipoatrophic diabetes has been produced in rabbits by injection of a fraction prepared from the urine from patients with congenital generalized lipodystrophy. Both these conditions are considered to be hypothalamic syndromes. The animals, and a patient with congenital generalized lipodystrophy and latent diabetes were treated with the dopamine receptor blocker, pimozide, for 4 and 17 months, respectively. The results were discouraging even though the patient got a daily dose of 16 mg pimozide. Fenfluramine has a lowering effect on brain serotonin, and peripheral effects on glucose and triglyceride metabolism. This drug improved the general condition of the rabbits with lipoatrophic diabetes, as well as that of the patient with congenital generalized lipodystrophy. The rabbits became normoglycaemic and insulin sensitive. In the patient a normalization of the urinary excretion of the serotonin metabolite 5-OH-indole acetic acid was observed. His voracious hunger and profuse perspiration were reduced, the hyperkeratotic layer of the skin peeled off, and the pigmentations of the skin decreased. There was observed an improvement of ALAT and ASAT, normalization of the fasting blood glucose, and increased sensitivity to exogenous insulin. After 11 months of 200 mg fenfluramine daily addtitional administration of 2 g clofibrate per day produced normalization of the serum triglyceride concentration and a marked reduction of the resistance to insulin. Three more patients with congenital generalized lipodystrophy, two of whom have manifest diabetes, have now started treatment with fenfluramine and are improving. The rabbits got relapse of their lipoatrophic diabetes when the fenfluramine treatment was stopped. It is suggested that a disturbance in the serotonin metabolism of the central nervous system may be of pathogenetic importance in congenital generalized lipodystrophy.

Anaerobic vibrio-like organisms cultured from blood: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and Succinivibrio species

Two unusual anaerobic vibrio-like organisms were recovered from blood cultures of two patients. One isolate was identified as Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. It appeared to be the cause of a 24-h episode of fever, chills, and profuse perspiration. This is apparently the first documented report of human infection due to this organism. The second isolate was a Succinivibrio species. It has rarely been described as a cause of bacteremia. The clinical significance of the organism remains unclear.

Excretion of Radiocesium (137Cs) in Sweat from Humans

Sweat from the whole body was collected in five healthy unacclimatized male students during two consecutive periods of profuse sweating in a climatic chamber with a hot humid environment. In each subject one sweat collection experiment was performed before and another experiment about two weeks after an oral dose of 137Cs (160 nCi).Before the intake of the 137Cs oral dose the volunteers had a “natural” body burden in the same range as other Oslo-residents, whereas their mean body burden rose by a factor of approximately six, measured five days after the intake of the dose.The mean concentration of 137Cs in whole body sweat after the intake of the oral dose was about 10 times higher than the initial values.After the oral dose of 137Cs, the amount excreted through sweating was about 30 pCi 137Cs per hour. Thus, the present data show that the elimination of 137Cs through sweating might be considerable during prolonged periods of profuse perspiration. Consequently, this excretory pathway should not be neglected under conditions where heat, humidity and physical exertion pertain.There was no decrease in the concentration of 137Cs in whole body sweat from the first to the second period of sweat collection. Thus, the results give no support to the hypothesis of an “internal” contamination of the sweat of the initial stages of secretion.

Poisoning by 2-methylbutyraldehyde (isovaleraldehyde)

The toxic effects of 2-methylbutyraldehyde (isovaleraldehyde), arising from the accidental contamination of a laboratory atmosphere, are described in six out of a group of seven chemists. These were mainly tightness in the chest, irritation of the upper respiratory tract, cough, dyspnoea, marked loss of energy and weakness, dizziness, headaches, profuse perspiration, tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, anorexia, somnolence, sometimes insomnia, and in one case a partial pneumothorax.All recovered rapidly when removed from the exciting cause.