Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine | Vision Improvement

 

Authored by Viviana Siddhi*

Mini Review

The happiness that we seek through accomplishments is more readily available to you when you let go of meeting outside expectations and begin to pay attention to what your mind, body and spirit actually need. You are likely to discover that the most important achievements of your life come relatively easily when you are truly taking care of yourself.

“Among the discoveries Dr. Bates made was how visual clarity changes – in the same person – from good to bad and back again, depending on that person’s physical and emotional state. He concluded that vision is not a static condition, but one that changes constantly.

Dr. Bates was the first ophthalmologist to make a scientific study of this phenomenon. His research shows how vision defects can be created and/or worsened by the stress of every-day situations. He also proved that these problems can be corrected by conscious and correct visual behavior [1].”

In the past I attended Meir Schneider’s workshop “Natural Vision Improvement” and later on I conducted several workshops “How to Improve Your Vision?”. In three months, my vision improved for one diopter. We must be conscious of doing eye exercises all the time. We should work on them in a way that makes them more alive. In every situation, there is a better way to use your eyes. There are many opportunities each day to practice new visual habits. I believe that you will find that even spending a few minutes daily with some of eye exercises will yield measurable results, in the form of diminished eye strain, clearer vision, and a greater ability to shift your focus without loss of clarity. It has been my experience that, when people do these vision improvement exercises correctly and regularly – mild vision problems improve rapidly, and poor vision improves noticeably over a longer period. We can see improvements in few months; however, it takes longer to stabilize these gains.

Poor vision, like most other sight problems, is caused by muscular imbalance and some nerve malfunction. It shows up at its worst in crossed eyes or double vision. In less severe cases, it may produce a slight blurring, headaches, or simply a feeling of strain. Even perfect vision is not perfect all the time.

“Before you undertake any techniques for acquiring perfect fusion, your eyes must be relaxed; so, first sun, palm, and do the long-standing swing. Do not attempt the fusion techniques at all when you are tired, ill, or under mental strain. When you undertake them, practice them in the order in which they appear bellow, progressing from easy to advance.

A. Sit facing a wall about six feet away, and hold a ruler or yardstick vertically, narrow edge forward, a foot from your nose.

B. Look up and down the stick three or four times, then up and down the wall the same number of times. As you scan the wall, the stick will seem to become two sticks separated by a space.

C. Alternate between stick and wall for three minutes at the start.

D. After a few days, lengthen the time and vary the distance from the wall.

Like all procedures for improving fusion – and sight in general – this technique should be practiced slowly, gently, in a state of relaxation [2].”

To prepare yourself for enjoyable, helpful experience, be sure you have all tight clothes loosened, and then get yourself in just as comfortable a position as you can. Close your eyes and inhale deeply and hold it for three seconds and then exhale slowly. Again,

breathe in deeply and exhale with a long, slow breath. Keep doing it several times. As you inhale, you bring more oxygen into your body, and as you exhale it causes your body to keep relaxing more and more. Now you can continue breathing easily and freely and can feel yourself becoming calmer and more peaceful. You are revealing signs that indicate you are moving into a very deep, peaceful state of relaxation, you can keep relaxing more peacefully, just happy to continue becoming calmer, more peaceful, and more at ease, continuing to breathe easily and freely. Rest the optic nerve, relax your nervous system and bring more circulation to your eyes. Your eyes need the conscious, active relaxations that comes with palming. It is impossible to palm too many times or for too long.

Simple instruction for palming:

A. Darken the room and sit at a table with a cushion on it. The point is to be able to hold your hands to your eyes without straining any part of your body and without putting pressure on your eyes and face.

B. Warm your hands by rubbing them together. Drop your shoulders and relax them.

C. Close your eyes. Lightly rest the heels of your hands on your cheekbones and cover your eyes with the palms of your hands. Your hands should not actually be touching your eyes.

D. Start to imagine an ever-deepening blackness.

Some people can improve their vision only with palming. The purpose of palming is to nurture your eyes in conscious way. It gives your eyes a rest in a way that even sleep does not. When you sleep, you are passive and are not in control of the visual images, mental activity, and rapid eye movement that occurs. When you palm, you are focusing on relaxing your body, and resting your eyes as they experience a complete absence of light. Palming is done with slow and deep breathing, relaxed shoulders, and completely relaxed hands. In some ways, palming is similar to energy massage or Reiki in that the heat and radiating energy of your hands can bring relief to tired and depleted eyes.

Palm at least 15-30 min several times per day. However much or little tension you have been able to release, continuing to practice palming will lead to a lifetime of healthier eyesight.

“Hypnosis is 90% belief, because the subject has to cooperate so much. Therefore, if the subject doesn’t believe that something can be fixed or accomplished using hypnosis, chances are, it won’t happen.

Be sure that your body language, vocal tone and attitude all reflect the possibility, probability and certainty of the suggestion you’re giving the subject, otherwise the subject will pick up on your incongruence [3].”

Trusting the process is essential. Healing work may cause temporary distressing symptoms that are all part of healing. The life-force and healing process work with complexity and wisdom that are beyond our conception or comprehension. Keep running the energy. Keep your breathing going. Connect your breathing to the sensations in your hands. The person in need of healing the eyes is a healer. The energy follows the natural intelligence of the body to do the necessary healing. Pay attention to body intelligence. With each breath you can track how the sensations in your hands change. As long as you are doing the breathing and connecting it to the energy, everything you try will work.

“We now stand on the brink of extraordinary breakthroughs in the art of hands-on healing. Human abilities that heretofore may well have been considered “science fiction” are in fact quite real and can withstand the rigors of scientific scrutiny [4].”

Each of our organs is specialized: it has its own particular function to perform and it can convey only its own particular type of sensation. In order to see clearly reality and truth, we need life experiences.

“The brain is capable of great things, but on condition that the solar plexus keeps it supplied with energy. The source, therefore, screen which manifests, expresses and publishes projected whatever the plexus feeds to it. The pictures projected onto the screen of the brain come from the plexus. Whether good or bad, they are all produced on the screen, just as at the cinema. The only difference is that, at the cinema, the masculine principle is the cameraman or his projector which projects the images onto the screen, and the screen represents the feminine principle, the matter onto which the spirit projects forces and energies [5].”

A number of factors can cause eyestrain, including, overuse from driving, reading, watching television, or working at a computer monitor. Air pollution and fatigue can also cause or aggravate eyestrain. When your eyes feel achy or strained, it is often a signal that you’re under stress and your whole body is tired. Other fatigue symptoms that usually accompany eyestrain include headaches, irritability, and tension in the back of the neck and shoulders.

Self-help techniques and acupressure points for relieving eyestrain can help you feel better when you are weary, overworked, or tense. Wash your hands with soap and water to prevent eye infections before you begin any eyes’ routine. Concentrate on breathing slowly and deeply throughout all of self-acupressure massage points. Deep breathing increases circulation to every part of your body, washes away tension, relieves depression, and infuses your body with vitality.

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Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Animal Husbandry & Dairy Science | Effects of Herbal-Plant Supplementation During Pregnancy on Ewes’ Blood Parameters and Lambs’ Birth Weight

 

Authored by AO Hendawy*

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of dietary supplementation of Nigella sativa seeds and Zingiber officinale powder on blood hematological parameters, biochemical parameters, and oxidative stress markers in pregnant ewes as well as on lambs’ birth weight. Fifteen pregnant crossbred ewes aged 3-5 years old weighing an average of 48.5±2.03 Kg, 8 weeks before expected calving date, were randomly divided into 3 groups: one control and 2 experimental groups. Ewes in the control group were fed basal diet only, while ewes in experimental groups were fed basal diet supplemented with Nigella sativa seeds or Zingiber officinale powder at a concentration of 5 g a day/animal until parturition. Blood samples were withdrawn biweekly until parturition. Counts of white blood cells were lower in Nigella sativa seeds treated animals compared with ewes in other groups. Total protein and glucose levels increased (P < 0.05) in ewes fed herbal plants compared with the control while cholesterol and triglyceride levels decreased (P < 0.05) in the treated animals compared with the control. Dietary supplementation with medicinal plants reduced malondialdehyde concentration while total antioxidant capacity increased; however, this increase was not significant (P < 0.05). There was an insignificant improvement in lambs’ birth weight of the treated animals compared with the control group. Use of medicinal plants as feed additive to ewes’ diet may improve blood biochemical parameters and reduce oxidative stress at late gestation period. These effects are likely to enhance animal performance. Larger number of replicates on the tolerance levels of Nigella sativa seeds and Zingiber officinale concentrations in the dietary treatment of ewes should be further studied.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Birth weight; Ewe; Nigella sativa; Zingiber officinale

Introduction

The ban set on antibiotics use to reduce energy loss and enhance productivity in livestock industry forced those concerned with animal production to search for safer and better alternatives [1,2]. In recent years, herbal plants have gained much attention as alternative growth promoters to antibiotic. Various medicinal plants and their extracts have been used as feed additives due to their various health-promoting effects such as being anti-oxidative, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and growth-promoting [3-5]. Previous studies have reported that medicinal plants and their extracts may be included in ruminant diets to improve nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, immune function, milk production, and composition [6,7].

Nigella sativa is a small aromatic black seed slightly smaller than the sesame seed. It is commonly known as black seed and belongs to the botanical family of the Ranunculaceae, which grows in countries bordering the Mediterranean basin and other places of similar climates [8-10]. This herb has long been used in traditional medicine due to its amazing pharmacological properties, and it also enjoys a rich historical and religious background [11]. Nigella sativa seeds contain many active components includingthymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, dithymoquinone, nigellone, melanthin, nigilline nigelamine, damascenone, p-cymene, and pinene, in addition to a large number of minerals (e.g., calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, cobalt, and zinc) and vitamins such as A, B, C, D and E [12-14]. Seeds of Nigella sativa represent a major source of fixed and essential oils, proteins, saponins, polyphenols, alkaloids, and flavonoids. Previous reports suggest that thymoquinone (an alkaloid), nigellone (a carbonyl polymer of thymoquinone) and fixed oils are the most active component ingredients in Nigella sativa [8-15]. Nigella sativa seeds have many beneficial properties as antitumor, antidiabetic, anti-asthmatic antihypertensive, antioxidative, antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal and anthelminthic), anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, diuretic, carminative, laxative, antimicrobial and antineoplastic activity [9,16,17].

Zingiber officinale is a rhizome (ginger root) that is widely used as a spice and a herbal remedy for a large number of diseases for many years [18,19]. Zingiber officinale contains several active compounds such as gingerol, gingerdiol, and gingerdione [19]. These compounds possess strong antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti- cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-lipidemic, antifungal, and anti-stress activities [5,20,21].

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of Nigella sativa seeds and Zingiber officinale powder on blood hematological parameters, biochemical parameters, and oxidative stress markers in pregnant ewes as well as lambs birth weight. We hypothesized that ewes supplemented by herbal plants will exhibit better blood parameters and oxidative status compared with the control counterparts.

Materials and Methods

Animals and managements

All procedures were approved by The Ethics of Animal Experiments Committee, Damanhour University. The current study was carried out at the experimental farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University located in Al-Bostan. Fifteen pregnant crossbred (Rahmany × Balady) ewes, aged 3-5 years old and weighing an average of 48.5 ± 2.03 Kg, were divided into three groups; one control and two experimental groups. Ewes fed like those in our previous report [7]. Briefly, ewes in all groups were fed a basal diet comprising wheat straw and concentrate feed mixture of 55% yellow corn grain, 20% wheat bran, 12.5% cotton seed meal, 10% soy bean meal, 1% sodium chloride, 1.4% lime stone, and 0.1% avimix mineral mixture. Each 1 kg of avimix mineral mixture (AGRIVET) consisted of manganese sulphate (16.66 g), zinc sulphate (20 g), iron sulphate (10 g), potassium iodide (0.83 g), cobalt chloride (0.17 g), sodium selinite (0.066 g), and calcium carbonate (952.27 g). While the control group fed the basal diet only, the 2 experimental groups received 5 g/h/d of either Nigella sativa seeds or Zingiber officinale powder. Concentrate feed mixture was offered two times a day at a rate of 2.5% of animal weight while wheat straw and water were offered ad libitum. We analyzed wheat straw, concentrated feed mixture, Nigella sativa seeds and Zingiber officinale powder for moisture, ash, crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber and nitrogen free extract according to the Official Methods of AOAC [22]. Cell wall constituents were estimated according to the method described by Van Soest [23]. Non fibrous carbohydrates were calculated according to Calsamiglia [24]. (Table 1) presents data resulting from these analyses.

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Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Animal Husbandry & Dairy Science | Assessment on Livestock Production: Opportunities and Challenges to Livestock Household in Welkayt District

 

Authored by Haben Fesseha*

Abstract

Livestock production is contributing a great role in the livelihood of the rural community although is being challenged by various constraints. A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted on 183 individuals (96 farmers, 73 factory workers, 10 peasant association and 4 veterinarians) from November 2014 to April 2015 to assess the existing opportunities and challenges on livestock production in Welkayt district. Individuals were interviewed to obtain information related to marketing information, animal health service and breed status, feed availability and management system on livestock production. Accordingly, the presence of Welkayt Sugar Project, availability of productive breeds (Begait), and proximity to Sudan and Eretria borders for the international market are some of the identified opportunities for livestock development in the district. However, out of the 96 farmer participants indicated insufficient animal feed in the quantity and quality (45.8%), poor technology supply (43.8%) and poor veterinary service provision (41.7%) as the major challenges in the district. Similarly, veterinarian expertise respondents replied as there were insufficient drugs and equipment’s supply in the existing clinic in the district. During the interview all the respondents reflected that there is declining of grazing pasture from time to time. As a result, the animal owners used animal feeds originated from factories and concerning the perception of the respondents since they have a lack of knowledge on the health and feed management of animals’ continuous awareness creation and improvement of the existing breeds using artificial insemination (AI) should put in place.

Keywords: Challenge; Livestock; Opportunity; Production; Welkayt district.

Introduction

Ethiopia’s livestock population is the largest in Africa. Currently, Ethiopian is estimated to have about 56.71 million heads of cattle, 29.33 million heads of Sheep, 29.11 million heads of goats, and 56.87 million poultry [1]. The role played by livestock in the economy of Ethiopia, as in many developing countries, is varied but substantial. Livestock contribute to the production of food (meat, milk, eggs and blood), industrial raw materials (wool, hair, hides and skins), input for crop production (draught power and manure) and export earnings (live animals, skin and hides). They also generate cash income which can be used to purchase food grain, seeds, fertilizer and farm implements [2, 3].

The livestock sector in Ethiopia contributes 16.5% of the national GDP, and 47.7% of the agricultural GDP, 15% of the country’s export earnings and 30% of agricultural employment [1]. This livestock sector has therefore been contributing considerable portion and still promising to rally round the economic development of the country. Despite high livestock population and existing favourable environmental conditions, the current livestock output of the country is still very low. This is associated with a number of complex and inter-related factors such as inadequate feed and nutrition, widespread diseases, poor genetic potential, market problem, inefficiency of livestock development services with respect to credit, extension, marketing, and infrastructure [2, 4-6] and feed shortage in quantity and quality have been a critical problem in Ethiopian livestock production system [7, 8].

Similarly, the above challenges are also expected to exist in Tigray region and Welkayt District in particular. For instance, challenges such as lack of animal feed in quantity and quality (despite existing opportunities like by-products of Welkayt sugar project), breed improvement problems, marketing problems and lack of market-oriented animal keeping, and management and health status problems are some of the constraints for livestock development in the District. There are also opportunities in the District like economically important breed (Begait), feed availability from the sugar industry process, infrastructure development in the environment and market opportunities to the existing factories and export to Sudan and later Eretria. Thus, this study was conducted with the objective of assessing the challenges and opportunities of livestock production in Welkayt District

Materials And Methods

Study Area

A cross sectional study using questionnaire survey was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015 in western zone particularly in Welkayt. The district is situated at geographical coordination of 13044’38” North, 37019’28” East. The District is bordered by Kafta-Humera and Tahtay Adyabo (North), Tselemti and Asgede-Tsimbla (East), Tsegedie and Tselemti (South), Tsegedie and Kafta-Humera (West). The district possesses 28 sub-districts of which 14 are lowlands. The mean annual rainfall of the zone is 1600 mm and annual temperature ranges from 38º C to 40º C in the lowlands and 100 c to 220c in the mid high land and high land of the western zone [1].

Study Design and Method of data collection

Pre-tested questioner was used to obtain all required information. Five sub-districts (Tsebri, Kalema, Maygaba, Maychaa and Bet-Mulu) were selected purposively depend on livestock population of the sub-district and its proximity from the sugar factory. The farmers and sugar project staffs were selected using simple random sampling whereas peasant association officers and veterinarians were included purposively. A total of 183 individuals (96 farmers, 73 factory workers, 10 sub-districts administration officers and 4 veterinarians) were interviewed during the study in district.

Data Management and Statistical Analysis

Data collected from interviewers were stored on separate Microsoft excel spread sheet and coded properly and analyzed using STATA version 12. Descriptive statistics was used to illustrate the frequency and percentage of the variables.

Results

Socio-demographic status of respondents

A total of 183 individuals (96 farmers, 73 factory workers, 10 peasant association and 4 veterinarians) were interviewed in this study out of which 18% were females and 82% were males (Table 1). Among the farmer respondents, 65(67.7%) owned local breed cattle, and 11(11.5%) had cross breed cattle. Besides, 71(74.0%), 82(85.4%) and 19(19.8%) have replied as they owned goats, sheep and camels respectively [Table 2].

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Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Current Trends in Civil & Structural Engineering | Prediction of Compaction Parameters of Soil using Support Vector Regression

Authored by Arif Hasnat*

Abstract

Compaction parameters determination in the laboratory require considerable time and effort that can be saved by using empirical correlations at the early stages. This paper introduces some efforts to predict the compaction properties of soils using the index test results. Apart from the experimental result, the result from other literature have also been considered in the analysis here. Different statistical investigation such as histogram, ACF, PACF, kernel function, correlogram and cross correlogram are used to find the relationship of liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index with optimum moisture content and maximum dry density. Regression analyses are done with support vector machine algorithm. The best R squared value found from the predicted equation is 0.86 for optimum moisture content and 0.91 for maximum dry density.

Keywords: Prediction; Optimum moisture content; Maximum dry density; Compaction parameters; Support vector regression

Introduction

During the construction of earthworks, filed compaction is important process. Compaction is a dynamic process by means of which soil particles are brought closer together by providing compactive effort leading to an increase in shear strength, reduction of compression and soil permeability. The two parameters which are determined in the laboratory by conducting either standard proctor or modified proctor test are the determination of optimum moisture content (OMC) maximum dry unit weight (γdmax). These parameters are employed in the project specifications to monitor the relative compaction demands. The objective of this paper is to determine the correlations of index properties of soils with optimum moisture content and maximum dry density. Many research efforts have been conducted to correlate the soil index results with their compaction properties i.e. OMC and MDD mainly for clayey soils. Rowan & Graham [1] correlated gradation, specific gravity and shrinkage limit to compaction characteristics. Later Davidson and Gardiner omitted the specific gravity from the equation of Rowan & Graham [1] and included a plasticity index. Ramiah et al. [2] correlated only Liquid Limit with both OMC and MDD. Korfiatis & Manifopoulos [3] introduced four empirical factors in their correlation which was a function of the slope of the grain size curve correlating the MDD of granular soil to specific gravity and fine content of soils. Besides, according to Omar et al. [4], the most significant impact on the soil compaction properties is specific gravity. They studied the compaction characteristics of granular soils in the United Arab Emirates. on a data bank of 354 soil samples from different sources. In a few latest research’s efforts have been taken to create empirical models for the prediction of the compaction properties of ground grain soils. For finely grained soils, efforts have mainly been produced to correlate γdmax and OMC with either LL or PL in particular. Special emphasis has been given on compaction energy in a few studies.

Sivrikaya [5] correlated compaction characteristics of finegrained soils to their plastic limit (wP) as follows:

Sridharan & Nagaraj [6] developed the correlations given in Eq. 4 and Eq. 5

Gurtug &Sridharan [7] introduced CE in prediction of OMC and MDD shown in Eq. 6 and Eq. 7

Eq. 8 and Eq. 9 are found from Faizah K [8],

Mohd Ruslan [9] proposed Eq. 10 and Eq. 11

Noor et al. [10] added specific gravity in prediction of OMC and MDD shown in Eq. 12 and Eq. 13

In recent decades, modeling and problem of different geotechnical issues have been widely solved by artificial neural networks [11]. Gu¨naydın [12] used 126 test results of nine different soil types and used multi-linear regression method and ANNs method for the prediction of compaction parameters. Regression analysis and an estimated artificial neural network have shown powerful correlations (0.70–0.95) between soil classification and compaction parameters. There have been limited efforts to correlate − in combination with the PL or plasticity (PI)- γdmax and OMC with LL in the domain. Those works consist of these two parameters in combination (Eq. 8, 9, 10, 11) have relatively low R squared value. In this paper, the regression analysis is done with support vector machine algorithm and thus those error is reduced in a threshold limit. The original SVM algorithm was invented by Vladimir N Vapnik & Alexey Ya Chervonenkis [13]. In 1992, Bernhard E Boser, Isabelle M Guyon and Vladimir N Vapnik suggested a way to create nonlinear classifiers by applying the kernel trick to maximummargin hyper-planes. It is a very popular method and the aim of this model is to find a special straight line for discriminating different classes. For drawing a line between two classes, there are a lot of opportunities and Support Vector Machine (SVM) tries to find the ultimate line of both cases. A boundary line in which SVM is near is tried to be found to distinguish the binary classes from each other. After the boundary line is found, using training data, test data are classified according to which side of the border. The samples are moved to a higher dimensional space which cannot be linearly discriminated. It is now practiced in different field for linear and non-linear regression analysis. Osman Günaydın [14] shown that the compaction parameters can be predicted using support vector regression.

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Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Current Trends in Civil & Structural Engineering | Arable Land and Climate

 

Authored by Oleg Halidullin*

Opinion

https://thewaternetwork.com/_/sustainable-agriculture/article-FfV/new-app-to-assess-agricultural-soil-and-improveits- quality-x5x4qMoKZeUB0j_qvtTInA : The findings of the study indicate that bare soils, where no vegetation is allowed, except for crops, they are more prone to erosion by air and water, compaction and gradual deterioration. Such areas in the world are now about 11% of all land. Bare soils change the quality of water at the moments of its movement in the soil and after evaporation in the atmosphere. On such land, the natural function of water changes. Water changes its properties. Throughout the season, exposed soil, exposed to open solar heating, evaporates the moisture much faster. Evaporative intensification occurs after each natural and artificial irrigation. The path of its transformations is shortened, the variety of transformations disappears. The natural microflora and microfauna of the whole cultivated soil disappear, and with it all other living creatures (Figure 1).

The transfer of moisture from one subject of flora and fauna to another creates its own special environment in which a great many different fumes make up the very essence of the life of each area. Water, making a natural cycle on an uncultivated natural area, carries a great many vapors from a wide variety of sources into the atmosphere. Each element of the biota creates its own individual bouquet of exuded emissions and fumes, for example, odors, volatile production. These are the conditions over millions of years that created the water and climate of the Earth. The destruction of this idyll by arable land, landfills and ore landfills, reservoirs led to the creation of artificial fumes. Evaporation of water from technological and municipal processes gives an even greater increase. The total volumes of such vapors become prevailing over natural ones. Their quality, speed and volume create a new cycle of water, devoid of meaning and any norms. Hence natural disasters, as harbingers of global catastrophe.

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Iris Publishers- Open access Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology | Surface Modification of Cotton Fiber

 

Authored by Derseh Yilie limeneh*

Abstract

Cotton weather in the form of fiber or fabric, a natural cellulose material, is widely used in the textile industry for its excellent properties. However, its application in some fields is seriously restricted because of its poor ant pilling behavior, antibacterial and UV-protection, comfortably, tensile properties, softness properties, water repellence and wrinkle recovery, hydrophobic property, wicking properties and dye ability of cotton fabrics and to use it as nano particle. That is why the surface and chemical modification carried out through different methodology with chemicals used were of analytical reagent grade to achieve such important property of the cotton materials like super hydrophobic, good surface property of a cotton when it treat with weather plasma, nanoparticles coating, composite film and chemical treatments (3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane,bifunctional polysiloxanes, silane coupling agents vinyltriethoxysilane and aminopropyltriethoxysilane, chloropyrimidine compounds. All modification enhances the application of cotton material in different sectors.

Keywords: Hydrophobic property; Surface modification; Chemical modification; Wicking property; Functional property

Introduction

Cotton fiber is one of the most important natural fibers which provide a wide range of application in textile materials because of its easy availability, low density, light weight, low cost, and above all environment friendly characteristics. But the major problem of the cotton fiber is its lower flexibility and softness properties which limit an extended use of cotton as well as other fibers. By these modifications, some new moieties are introduced on the fiber backbone that can improve its properties. That is why the surface modification of cotton fiber was successfully carried out by condensation polymerization with 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTES) in an ethanol-water medium to enhance the tensile strength and softness properties of the cotton, by introducing a more flexible Si-O bond between the silane coupling agents and the cotton fiber was introduced by Mondal IH, et al. [1]. Other report in 2014 by Bhat, et al. [2] declare that effect of plasma treatments on the surface properties of textile fibers by using the radio frequency (RF)-generated plasma in terms of chemical interactions on the surface modification of cotton fabrics using a variety of gases and its effects on wetting and dyeing properties. Like other modification hydrophobicity of cotton can be done by Zhang M, et al. [3] in which the modification can effectively protect the cotton fabric from pollution, mildew and shrinkage which is greatly restrict the further application and development of cotton textile by treating cotton surface with zinc oxide film. Since highly hydrophobic natural textiles due their unique characteristics such as self-cleaning, anti-contamination and anti-sticking needed so fabrication of super hydrophobic cotton fabrics by a simple chemical modification using bifunctional polysiloxanes with various contents of functional groups can be demonstrated by Przybylak M. et al. [4]. Chemical treatment of the cotton fibers not only reduces their moisture absorption process but also functionalize a cotton fiber. Mondal IH, et al. [5] investigates the effect of silane treatment on the moisture resistance, swelling behavior, tensile strength, wrinkle recovery properties, thermal stability and surface morphology of cotton fibers. Much less has been reported on modification of cotton fiber by silane coupling agents. In investigation by Kongdee A, et al. [6] modification of Cotton Fibers with Sericin Using Non- Formaldehyde Released Cross linking Agents are done in which the cotton fibers were selected to keep moisture absorbency; they were modified with sericin for biomedical purposes.

Composite material with natural cellulosic fibers had attached a lot of attention due to their biodegradability, excellent mechanical property and high surface reactivity. But the one which is declared by Patino-ruiz D, et al. [7] can improve its application by modify cotton fibers with magnetite and magnetic core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Functional finishing of cotton fabrics using zinc oxide–soluble starch nanocomposites to impart antibacterial and UV-protection functions also be reported by Vigneshwaran N, et al. [8], which is better way to solve such a problem with cotton fabric. Cotton fiber easily unravel and the loose fiber ends form balls on the surface of fabric during the process of dyeing and finishing, wearing, and washing, which effects the handle, appearance, and wear ability of fabrics. For this Dong X, et al. [9] finds that the poor ant pilling behavior of cotton fabric with durable antipilling modification of cotton fabric with chloropyrimidine compounds. The effect of gamma radiation on the cotton fabric and compare the dye ability of gamma irradiated fabric with that of chemically mercerized fabric using reactive dye, reactive violet H3R is investigated by Zahid M, et al. [10] and the color strength values for the mercerized and the gamma irradiated cotton fabric show that the irradiated fabric had high color strength at 60 °C using dye bath of pH10 in the presence of 6 g/L of exhausting agent while dyeing for 40min. according to this work both mercerization and irradiation increased the surface area of fibers that substantially elevated the dyeing performance and fastness properties. The objective of this work is to investigate the functional modification of cotton fiber or fabrics.

Materials and Methods

For textile performance of functionalized cotton fiber with 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane

Cotton fiber sample with3-Glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane chemical were used to for the evaluation of textile performance of functionalized cotton fiber with 3-Glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane by Mondal IH, et al. [1]. Alkaline washing was applied for the removal of non-cellulose compounds before cotton fibers were dipped in silane solution, prepared by mixing GPTES with an ethanol/water mixture, in which evaluation of physical and chemical Properties such as Measurement of tensile strength (portable Electronic Single Yarn Strength Tester YG021J), moisture analyzers(moisture content), swelling behavior(dipping them in water, methanol, and carbon tetrachloride), wrinkle recovery angle (wrinkle recovery tester) of the functionalized and unmodified cotton fibers. Finally characterization of Unmodified and Surface Modified Cotton Fibers are done by using infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis, XRD analysis to determine the composition, microstructure and the surface morphology, thermal decomposition rate and the thermal stability, diffraction intensity respectively.

For surface modification of cotton fabrics using plasma technology

The gray cotton fabric with different type of dyes (direct reactive and neutral) used were for the surface modification of cotton fabrics using plasma treatment with Bhat NV, et al. [2]. A sample of size 20cm times 20cm was inserted in the chamber and treated by plasma. The main gases, pressure were air and dichlorodifluoromethane (DCFM) and 20 Pascal was maintained during the plasma treatments. Gray, as well as desized, scoured, and bleached cotton, fabrics were used for further studies and subjected to plasma treatments the surface morphologies of treated fabrics were examined using a scanning electron microscope (model JEOL, JSM-5400), absorbency (AATCC 79-2000), contact angles (photographs of the water drops), wicking action (ISO 9073- 6:2000) and after dyeing of desized, scoured, and plasma-treated fabrics then the amount of dye absorbed by the sample, color strength using an ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometer and Nova Scan, Macbeth Color Eye 7000A equipment respectively.

For super hydrophobic cotton textile with robust composite film and flame retardancy

Zhang M, et al. [3], prepare zinc oxide film super hydrophobic cotton textile with robust composite film and flame retardancy by using cotton sample immersed in amine zinc oxide solution (zinc oxide added to ethanol in the presence of APDMS), would solidly stick to the cotton substrate via a chemical bonding of numerous amino and epoxy groups through then the dried was fluorinated using trimethethoxysilane solution. Ultimately the super hydrophobic cotton fabrics were obtained at ambient temperature and to enhance the mechanical stability, polystyrene was introduced to further decorate the super-hydrophobic cotton surface. Then the morphology of the cotton sample surface and zinc oxide was characterized with scanning electron microscope (FEI QUANTA200), transmission electrons microscope (JEOL JEM2100). The pure and amine-functionalized zinc oxide, elemental composition of the film on the sample surface, water contact angle, abrasion, thermo gravimetric analysis was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (MAGNA-IR560, Nicolet), X-ray photoelectrons spectroscopy (K-Alpha), contact meter(Powereach,JC2000C), Martindale ,thermo gravimetric analyzer CTA instrument) to measure abrasions as well as thermogravimetric used.

For fabrication of super hydrophobic cotton fabrics by a simple chemical modification

A cotton fabric with and two types of bifunctional polysiloxanes with different ratios of functional groups were used by Przybylak M. et al. [4] to fabrication of super hydrophobic cotton fabrics by a simple chemical modification and was performed by the onestep method via chemical treatment with solutions of bifunctional polysiloxanes or by the two-step method, which consisted of the introduction of silica sol at the first stage followed by the chemical modification. The durability of the hydrophobic properties of fabrics was determined by measurements of the WCA on the surface of fabrics after the modification and after one and ten washing. The analytical balance Ohaus, automatic video contact-angle testing apparatus ( Kruss model DSA 100), was used for determination of the amount of modifiers add-on and the analysis was carried out by employing the SEM-EDS technique to determine ultimate elements (Si,F, N and P) and water contact angles. Surface topography was carried out using a Hitachi S-3400 N scanning electron microscope.

For modification of cotton fiber with functionalized silane coupling agents vinyltriethoxysilane and aminopropyltriethoxysilane

Silane treatment of cotton fibers was carried out with vinyltriethoxysilane and aminopropyltriethoxysilane after cotton fibers were washed with 0.2% Na2CO3 solution at 75 ºC for 30 minutes then evaluation of physical properties such as tensile strength, moisture absorption, swelling capacity, wrinkle recovery angle, dyeing of raw and exhaustion of dye of silane modified cotton fibers was measured using a “Portable Electronic Single Yarn Strength Tester YG021J” and as a function of weight gain, treating them with water, methanol, and carbon tetrachloride, wrinkle recovery tester (Daiei Kagaku Seiki Ltd. Kyoto, JAPAN), dyeing machine (DYSIN, Taiwan, China), calorimetrically (Type-S104, No- 221, Spectrophotometer) then finally characterization of surface modified cotton fibers is conducted by Infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy analysis, Thermo gravimetric analysis, Energy dispersive X-ray analysis using Perkin Elmer Spectrum 100 infrared spectrometer, electron microscope (FEI Quanta Inspect, Model: S50, Kyoto, Japan) to observe the microstructure and the surface morphology, Seiko-Extar-TG/DTA-6300 (Seiko-Japan), solid state device (FEI Quanta Inspect, Model: S50).

For modification of cotton fibers with sericinusing nonformaldehyde released cross linking agents

Different chemicals and cotton fabric sample (30×40 cm2) was treated with finishing solutions, composed of glutaraldehyde, DMeDHEU and sericin and fabrics were padded through the finishing solutions without sericin added, and it was treated as control were done by Kongdee A, et al. [6] on modification of Cotton Fibers with Sericin Using Non-Formaldehyde Released Cross linking Agents then characterize and analyses treated cotton fabrics with A Vector 22 FTIR spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscopy (Jeol, JSM5410LV, Japan) as well as Data Color 650 spectrophotometer (USA) and after air drying, the color strength, and L- and b-values, of samples were measured using Data Color 650 spectrophotometer (USA) for measurement of Dyeing samples with acid dye.

For modification of cotton fibers with magnetite and magnetic core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles

David patino-ruiz et al., 2018, modification of cotton fibers with magnetite and magnetic core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles were declared by using different chemicals to synthesize magnetic nanoparticles according to the copricipitation methods and the magnetic core-shall mesoporous silica nanoparticles were synthesized adapted from previous report then the cotton fiber were cleaned and modified prior to nanoparticles deposition with PDDS and PSS and the deposition of magnetite and core-shall mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Finally different characterization of the modified sample is carried out like X-ray diffraction pattern using Bruker D8 Advance ECO powder diffract meter with Cu-Ka radiation. Vibrating sample magnometer by quantum design and TEM image were obtained from tecnai T12 sprite microscope also be used. Scanning electron microscope using EDX system, thermo-gravimetric using TA instrument, and Fourier transform spectroscopy in Nicolet magna 760 FTIR spectrometer were used under this work.

For functional finishing of cotton fabrics using zinc oxide–soluble starch nanocomposites

reagents were of analytical grade without further purification are used with cotton fabrics and soluble starch to synthesize nano- ZnO then characterize nano-ZnO using UV–visible spectrum in a Specord 50 ANALYTIKJENA® spectrophotometer, from 200 to 900 nm, Photoluminescence spectra were recorded in a Perkin Elmer LS55® Spectrofluorimeter using 90◦ illumination, the amount of soluble starch that was bound with the ZnO nanoparticles was obtained from a thermo-gravimetric, the x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of nano-ZnO was analyzed with a PANalytical X’pert PRO MPD® x-ray diffractometer, The nano-ZnO samples were mounted on specimen stubs and examined with a Philips® XL 30 scanning electron microscope (SEM). Coating of cotton fabrics with nano- ZnO then characterization of nano-ZnO coated cotton fabrics with elemental analysis like an atomic absorption spectrometer using an Avanta® PM unit, scanning electron microscopy, The antibacterial activity of cotton fabrics impregnated with nano-ZnO, evaluation was carried out with Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), a Grampositive bacterium and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 4352), a Gram-negative bacterium. The ability of a fabric to block UV light is given by the ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) values and UPF values are calculated according to AATCC test method.

For durable anti-pilling modification of cotton fabric with chloropyrimidine compounds

Plain woven and bleached cotton fabric and all the reagents used were analytically pure and used without any further purification. Stable and durable dispersed emulsions of chloropyrimidine compounds were prepared by the high shear emulsification method then preparation of Chloropyrimidine- Modified cotton fabric after making the cotton clean to make it free from any contamination. The control and modified cotton fabrics were dyed with reactive dyestuffs by an exhaustion method to observe the dyeing characteristics. Finally characterization antipilling behavior, surface morphology, FTIR spectra, XRD powder patterns, thermal stability, heat release property of modified and control cotton fabrics was evaluated by modified Martindale method ISO 12945-2: 2000, scanning electron microscope, FTIR instrument (Nicolet 5700, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., New York, NY, USA), Philips X’pert-pro MRD, Pyris Diamond TG-DTA thermal analyzer, FTT0001 Micro Calorimeter Combustion (MCC) instrument respectively. also washing durability, tensile properties, bending and surface friction properties test for the cotton samples was conducted according to the standard AATCC61-2006 method in the Wash Tec-P Fastness Tester, Instron 3365 Universal Testing Machine. Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric (Kato Tech Co., Ltd., Kyoto,Japan) accordingly. The colorfastness of rubbing and washing with soap was determined according to ISO 105-X16 and ISO 105-C10.

All the chemicals used were of analytical grade with pretreated plain weaved gray cotton sample then irradiation is done by expose cotton to absorbed doses of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 kGy using Cs- 137 gamma irradiator and mercerization was performed using different solutions of NaOH. For comparative study with gamma ray treatment after bleaching, mercerized fabric was dyed at various temperatures and subjected to CIE lab system for the evaluation of color strength to get optimum concentration of alkali for mercerization. Dyeing of the cotton fabric (mercerized or gamma irradiated) was performed using the exhaust method and the dyed fabrics (gamma irradiated or mercerized) were analyzed using Spectraflash SF600, finally evaluation of characteristics of fabrics like the color fastness to washing, light, and rubbing of the dyed fabrics. The ISO methods ISO105BO2 (for light fastness), ISO105- CO3 (for washing fastness), and ISO105X-12 (for rubbing fastness), ASTMD 5034 (tensile strength test), and ASTMD 1424(tear strength), weight loss percentage in calculation of the dyed fabrics were used by Zahid M, et al. [10].

Result and Discussion

For functionalized cotton fiber with 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane

Functionalized Cotton Fiber with 3-Glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane is due to monomer concentration on modification of cotton fiber results percent graft yield increased with an increase of silane concentration up to 400% for GPTES, with the increase of pH value up to 3.5 and ethanol/water ratio up to 40:60for GPTES and then decreased, with the increase of reaction temperature up to 30 °C for GPTES and then decreased with further increase of temperature. The dye exhaustion of the GPTES-modified cotton fiber was higher than that of unmodified washed cotton fiber and the dye exhaustion increased with an increase in the percent graft yield. The FTIR spectra of unmodified and silane-modified cotton fibers were mostly similar, except the new at 860 cm-1 and 1207 cm-1 for Si-OH symmetric stretch and Si-O-C bond, respectively. Surface roughness of the GPTES-modified cotton fiber is higher with a broad peaks and it became more amorphous as a consequence of further hydrolysis of the crystalline regions of cotton. The unmodified cotton fibers with silane coupling agents, there is a decrease of the swelling in the polar solvents and an increase in the non polar solvent. The thermal stability tensile strength, wrinkle recovery angle and flexibility of modified cotton fiber were higher than that of unmodified cotton fiber. Since the treated fiber sites are blocked the fiber changed to less affinity for moisture.

For surface modification of cotton fabrics using plasma technology

When the gray cotton fabric was treated in air plasma the weight loss is 1.12% for one minute of treatment, which is rather low but as the time of treatment was increased, the loss of weight started rising to 6% which is much higher than desized, scoured, and bleached samples. The morphology of treated surfaces look damaged or abraded due to etching. Crystalline index was increases from 0.3 to 0.6 and time of absorption decreased from 3600sec for the gray fabric to less than a few seconds when the plasma treatment was carried out for about eight minutes. Using air plasma lead to formation of C=O or C-N bonds or the breaking of CH bonds, which increased wet ability and wick ability as well as the enhancement in the surface roughness properties. When reactive and natural dye was used the color strength increased after the plasma treatment, whereas for the direct dye there was a decrease in the strength because of etching away of the amorphous regions during the plasma treatment. The SEM photomicrographs showed fibril-like formations on the surface and the contact angle decreased from 139° to that corresponding to the control fabric 122° after five washes and there is a loss in the tensile strength from 52 to 40MPa after treatment for eight minutes. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic there is incorporation of oxygen-containing moieties on the surface, as evidenced by the enhanced intensity of the peak at 285.6eV.Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance studies shows the spectra that the absorption bands due to O–H and C–H bonds are clearly seen at 3270 and 2925 per cm at these peaks decrease considerably on treatment with DCFM plasma. Similarly, the areas of absorption bands appearing at 1743 and 1422 per cm also decrease after the DCFM treatment. Thus it appears that O–H, C–H bonds in the cellulose are getting scissoned and H is being replaced with either F or Cl from the DCFM.

For super hydrophobic cotton textile with robust composite film and flame retardancy

Amine zinc oxide and ZnO-coated films is formed after fluorinations of the cotton surface. During covalent deposition, numerous embossment caused by ZnO at the submicron level had been emerging and creating a rough film on the fiber surface and the ZnO-coated textile transformed from super hydrophilic to super hydrophobic with a WCA of 158±1° after fluorination, show no obvious change on the size and morphology of the ZnO attached to the sample surface. The combination of roughness with ZnO and layer with lower surface energy is pivotal for achieving a super hydrophobic cotton fiber with polystyrene to decrease roughness. Since flammability of cotton in 18.3% is limited to industrial applications so the epoxy resin and APDMS treatment increase to 21%. Zinc oxide, coupling agent nano composite film show the most effective for flame retrardance and thermal stability than epoxy resin per fluorocarbon silane and polystyrene. The thermal degradation after 5min ultrasonic washing of cotton fiber treated with ZnO film without PS or epoxy resin is lower. The abrasion resistance test has been slightly damaged with a WCA of 145°, showing the outstanding abrasion resistance and supper hydrophobic durability. A chemical stability of the sample didn’t show visible change although both sample before and after PS treatment display excellent separation process.

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