Garment smoothness appearance evaluation through computer vision

The measurement and evaluation of the appearance of wrinkling in textile products after domestic washing and drying is performed currently by the comparison of the fabric with the replicas. This kind of evaluation has certain drawbacks, the most significant of which are its subjectivity and its limitations when used with garments. In this paper, we present an automated wrinkling evaluation system. The system developed can process fabrics as well as any type of garment, independent of size or pattern on the material. The system allows us to label different parts of the garment. Thus, as different garment parts have different influence on human perception, this labeling enables the use of weighting, to improve the correlation with the human visual system. The system has been tested with different garments showing good performance and correlation with human perception. © The Author(s) 2012.Silvestre-Blanes, J.; Berenguer Sebastiá, JR.; Pérez Llorens, R.; Miralles, I.; Moreno Canton, J. (2012). Garment smoothness appearance evaluation through computer vision. Textile Research Journal. 82(3):299-309. doi:10.1177/0040517511424530S299309823López, F., Miguel Valiente, J., Manuel Prats, J., & Ferrer, A. (2008). Performance evaluation of soft color texture descriptors for surface grading using experimental design and logistic regression. Pattern Recognition, 41(5), 1744-1755. doi:10.1016/j.patcog.2007.09.011Villette, S. (2008). Simple imaging system to measure velocity and improve the quality of fertilizer spreading in agriculture. Journal of Electronic Imaging, 17(3), 031109. doi:10.1117/1.2956835Neri, F., & Tirronen, V. (2009). Memetic Differential Evolution Frameworks in Filter Design for Defect Detection in Paper Production. Studies in Computational Intelligence, 113-131. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01636-3_7Carfagni, M., Furferi, R., & Governi, L. (2005). A real-time machine-vision system for monitoring the textile raising process. Computers in Industry, 56(8-9), 831-842. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2005.05.010Wang, W., Wong, Y. S., & Hong, G. S. (2005). Flank wear measurement by successive image analysis. Computers in Industry, 56(8-9), 816-830. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2005.05.009Cho, C.-S., Chung, B.-M., & Park, M.-J. (2005). Development of Real-Time Vision-Based Fabric Inspection System. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 52(4), 1073-1079. doi:10.1109/tie.2005.851648Kawabata, S., Mori, M., & Niwa, M. (1997). An experiment on human sensory measurement and its objective measurement. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, 9(3), 203-206. doi:10.1108/09556229710168324Fan, J., Lu, D., Macalpine, J. M. K., & Hui, C. L. P. (1999). Objective Evaluation of Pucker in Three-Dimensional Garment Seams. Textile Research Journal, 69(7), 467-472. doi:10.1177/004051759906900701Fan, J., & Liu, F. (2000). Objective Evaluation of Garment Seams Using 3D Laser Scanning Technology. Textile Research Journal, 70(11), 1025-1030. doi:10.1177/004051750007001114Yang, X. B., & Huang, X. B. (2003). Evaluating Fabric Wrinkle Degree with a Photometric Stereo Method. Textile Research Journal, 73(5), 451-454. doi:10.1177/004051750307300513Kang, T. J., Kim, S. C., Sul, I. H., Youn, J. R., & Chung, K. (2005). Fabric Surface Roughness Evaluation Using Wavelet-Fractal Method. Textile Research Journal, 75(11), 751-760. doi:10.1177/0040517505058855Mohri, M., Ravandi, S. A. H., & Youssefi, M. (2005). Objective evaluation of wrinkled fabric using radon transform. Journal of the Textile Institute, 96(6), 365-370. doi:10.1533/joti.2004.0066Zaouali, R., Msahli, S., El Abed, B., & Sakli, F. (2007). Objective evaluation of multidirectional fabric wrinkling using image analysis. Journal of the Textile Institute, 98(5), 443-451. doi:10.1080/00405000701489156Yu, W., Yao, M., & Xu, B. (2009). 3-D Surface Reconstruction and Evaluation of Wrinkled Fabrics by Stereo Vision. Textile Research Journal, 79(1), 36-46. doi:10.1177/004051750809049

Bacterial cellulose-lactoferrin as an antimicrobial edible packaging

Bacterial cellulose (BC) films from two distinct sources (obtained by static culture with Gluconacetobacter xylinus ATCC 53582 (BC1) and from a commercial source (BC2)) were modified by bovine lactoferrin (bLF) adsorption. The functionalized films (BC+bLF) were assessed as edible antimicrobial packaging, for use in direct contact with highly perishable foods, specifically fresh sausage as a model of meat products. BC+bLF films and sausage casings were characterized regarding their water vapour permeability (WVP), mechanical properties, and bactericidal efficiency against two food pathogens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Considering their edibility, an in vitro gastrointestinal tract model was used to study the changes occurring in the BC films during passage through the gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, the cytotoxicity of the BC films against 3T3 mouse embryo fibroblasts was evaluated. BC1 and BC2 showed equivalent density, WVP and maximum tensile strength. The percentage of bactericidal efficiency of BC1 and BC2 with adsorbed bLF (BC1+bLF and BC2+bLF, respectively) in the standalone films and in inoculated fresh sausages, was similar against E. coli (mean reduction 69 % in the films per se versus 94 % in the sausages) and S. aureus (mean reduction 97 % in the films per se versus 36 % in the case sausages). Moreover, the BC1+bLF and BC2+bLF films significantly hindered the specific growth rate of both bacteria. Finally, no relevant cytotoxicity against 3T3 fibroblasts was found for the films before and after the simulated digestion. BC films with adsorbed bLF may constitute an approach in the development of bio-based edible antimicrobial packaging systems.The authors would like to acknowledge Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for the research grants: Jorge Padrão SFRH/BD/64901/2009, Sara Gonçalves SFRH/BD/63578/2009, João Pedro Silva SFRH/BPD/ 64958/2009, Ana Cristina Pinheiro SFRH/BPD/101181/2014. V. Sencadas thanks support from the COST Action MP1206: “Electrospun nano-fibres for bio inspired composite materials and innovative industrial applications” and MP1301: “New Generation Biomimetic and Customized Implants for Bone Engineering”. The authors would also like to thank the co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 e O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER Projects “BioHealth e Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124- FEDER-000027; “BioInd e Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes”, REF. NORTE-07- 0124-FEDER-000028; Strategic Project PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2014; Matepro eOptimizing Materials and Processes”, ref. NORTE-07- 0124-FEDER-000037; Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 and project ref. RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (project number FCOMP- 01-0124-FEDER-027462). Finally, the authors thank the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia for the strategic funding from the UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit

Cellulose nanofibrils and silver nanowires active coatings for the development of antibacterial packaging surfaces

An active ink composed of cellulose nanofibrils and silver nanowires was deposited on flexible and transparent polymer films using the bar coating process, achieving controlled thicknesses ranging from 200 nm up to 2 µm. For 350 nm thick coating on polyethylene terephthalate films, high transparency (75.6% transmittance) and strong reduction of bacterial growth equal to 89.3% and 100% was noted respectively against Gram-negative Escherichia Coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria using AATCC contact active standard test. Retained antibacterial activity was found with films produced by reverse gravure roll-to-roll process, showing the promising capability of this antibacterial solution to be deployed industrially. Finally, the same ink was also deposited on polylactic acid substrate to investigate barrier properties: for 350 nm thick coating, a reduction of 49% of oxygen transmission rate (dry conditions) and 47% reduction of water vapor transmission rate was noted, proving the enhanced barrier properties of the coatings