Iara Braga

Simulating Human Physiological Response with a Thermal Manikin Testing Different Non Active Medical Devices

The thermal insulation of a clothing system represents a quantitative assessment of the way cloth provides thermal barrier to the user. One of this clothing systems, the surgical gown used in the operating theatre, is considered as a non-active medical device and obeys the Medical Device Directive 93/43/EEC. New materials and gowns are being developed, fitting the level of the barrier function with the comfort issues and therefore the selection of the most suitable gown is vital. During the last 60 years, thermal manikins have been used to measure clothing insulation and to assess the thermal environment regarding comfort issues. The main goal of the present study is the comparison of the thermal insulation values during the objective evaluation using the dry thermal manikin with the results obtained using an Infra-Red camera ThermaCAM, monitoring the temperature development of different surgical gowns at a constant skin temperature of 33 °C in neutral environmental conditions.

Social aspects in denim production

Abstract The popular market in Brazil, specially the denim market, has been showing great economic movement in several Brazilian regions, mainly in the northeast [13]. Taking that in consideration, this study offers a survey of the main aspects of the domestic production of denim in the Northeast of Brazil, specifically the region of Agreste in the state of Pernambuco. This research applied a combination of bibliographic research and field observation in popular denim markets in the city of Toritama in the region of Agreste, Pernambuco. The purpose was to collect information to characterize methods of producing denim. The collected data demonstrate that despite the unfavourable social aspects of the informal mode of producing denim, this segment of the popular denim enterprise has shown a positive economic income, growth in productivity and expansion in trade.

Subjective evaluation of the comfort of popular denim: elaboration and validation of the the data

This work is financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme COMPETE and by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136.