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PurposeThe textiles industry is a substantial contributor to environmental impacts through the production, processing, use, and end-of-life of garments. Wool is a high value, natural, and renewable fibre that is used to produce a wide range of garments, from active leisure wear to formal wear, and represents a small segment of the global fashion industry. Woollen garments are produced by long, global value chains extending from the production of ‘greasy’ wool on sheep farms, through processing to garment make-up, retail, consumer use, and end-of-life. To date, there have been limited life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on the environmental impacts of the full supply chain or use phase of garments, with the majority of wool LCA studies focusing on a segment of the supply chain. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap via a cradle-to-grave LCA of a woollen garment.MethodsThis study investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil fuel energy, and water stress associated with the production, use, and end-of-life of a lightweight woollen sweater (300-g wool), together with inventory results for freshwater consumption and land occupation. Primary datasets were used for the wool production and wool processing stages, while primary datasets relating to consumer garment use were supplemented with literature data. Impacts were calculated and reported per garment wear event.Results and discussionImpacts per wear were 0.17 (± 0.02) kg CO2-e GHG, 0.88 (± 0.18) MJ fossil energy, and 0.96 (± 0.42) H2O-e water stress. Fossil fuel energy was dominated by wool processing, with substantial contributions of energy also arising from retail and garment care. Greenhouse gas emissions from wool production (farming) contributed the highest proportion of impacts, followed by lower contributions from processing and garment care. Contributions to water stress varied less across the supply chain, with major contributions arising from production, processing, and garment use.ConclusionsOpportunities to improve the efficiency of production, processing, and garment care exist, which could also reduce resource use and impacts from wool. However, the number of garment wear events and length of garment lifetime was found to be the most influential factor in determining garment impacts. This indicated that consumers have the largest capacity to influence the sustainability of their woollen garments by maximising the active garment lifespan which will reduce overall impacts.

Macrolide drugs are the treatment of choice for Rhodococcus equi infections, despite severe side-effects temporary anhidrosis as a. To better understand the molecular biology leading to macrolide induced anhidrosis, we performed skin biopsies and Quantitative Intradermal Terbutaline Sweat Tests (QITSTs) in six healthy pony-cross foals for three different timepoints during erythromycin administration—pre-treatment (baseline), during anhidrosis and post-recovery. RNA sequencing of biopsies followed by differential gene expression analysis compared both pre and post normal sweating timepoints to the erythromycin induced anhidrosis episode. After Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, 132 gene transcripts were significantly differentially expressed during the anhidrotic timepoint. Gene ontology analysis of the full differentially expressed gene set identified over-represented biological functions for ubiquitination and ion-channel function, both biologically relevant to sweat production. These same mechanisms were previously implicated in heritable equine idiopathic anhidrosis and sweat gland function and their involvement in macrolide-induced temporary anhidrosis warrants further investigation.

Why do people purchase objects that were once owned by celebrities, such as film stars or politicians, and also by despised individuals, such as serial killers and notorious dictators? The present studies examine three potential explanations: mere associations, market demands, and contagion (the belief that these objects contain some remnants of their previous owners). Results indicate that while market demands do play a role, contagion appears to be the critical factor affecting the valuation of celebrity possessions. Manipulating the degree of physical contact that a celebrity has with an object dramatically influences consumers’ willingness to purchase it, and individual differences in sensitivity to contagion moderate this effect. Additionally, the valuation of celebrity possessions is principally explained by measures of contagion, and subliminally activating the concept of contagion changes consumers’ willingness to purchase celebrity objects. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

This paper proposes a method for three-dimensional style modeling of loose sweaters. Through the correlation analysis of the three-dimensional human body and the classic sweater style, a style model was built on the three-dimensional human body model to realize efficient personalized sweater design and production. First of all, the design model was extracted from the human body model based on the characteristics of the ring-cutting algorithm. Secondly, the loose model of the sweater was established based on the chest, waist, and hip data of the human body. Subsequently, the feature line between the size information and style features was created, and curve interpolation values were combined with joint smoothing methods to generate a multi-faceted sweater style model. Finally, the mapping function was used to flatten the style model, the related styles were woven by operating the computer, and the suitability of the established sweater fabric was verified. The comparison results showed that the accuracy of the style construction of this model was improved. Through the analysis of experimental data, it can be proven that the method proposed in this paper can quickly and accurately establish a three-dimensional style model of a sweater, without the need for repeated measurements to make templates, thus saving development time.

Marketers are increasingly offering bundles that combine cross-category, seemingly unrelated items. This article examines the conditions under which framing a discount as savings on certain items of cross-category bundles is more effective for increasing bundle purchase. Three experiments show that the purchase of a cross-category bundle is more likely when the discount is framed as savings on the relatively hedonic component rather than as savings on the utilitarian component or on the total bundle. The authors explain the findings based on the notion that a discount provides a justification that increases the likelihood of hedonic purchases but has little impact on utilitarian consumption. The article concludes with a discussion of managerial implications of the findings.

Contagion is a form of magical thinking in which people believe that a person's immaterial qualities or essence can be transferred to an object through physical contact. Here we investigate how a belief in contagion influences the sale of celebrity memorabilia. Using data from three high-profile estate auctions, we find that people's expectations about the amount of physical contact between the object and the celebrity positively predicts the final bids for items that belonged to well-liked individuals (e.g., John F. Kennedy) and negatively predicts final bids for items that belonged to disliked individuals (e.g., Bernard Madoff). A follow-up experiment further suggests that these effects are driven by contagion beliefs: when asked to bid on a sweater owned by a well-liked celebrity, participants report that they would pay substantially less if it was sterilized before they received it. However, sterilization increases the amount they would pay for a sweater owned by a disliked celebrity. These studies suggest that magical thinking may still have effects in contemporary Western societies and they provide some unique demonstrations of contagion effects on real-world purchase decisions.

Nearly 30% of oil drilled globally is done offshore. Oil spillage offshore has far-reaching consequences on the environment, aquatic lives, and livelihoods as it was evident in the Deepwater Horizon and Bonga oil spills. A novel microwave in situ oil spill sensor was developed in this work. The device is comprised of two polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-encapsulated ultra-wideband underwater microwave trefoil antennas enclosed in a Faraday cage with one serving as the receiving antenna and the other as the transmitting antenna. Heavy aromatic-naphthenic Azeri crude oil was used as an inclusion in the seawater host medium. Substantial changes in the measured reflection (S11) and transmission (S21) coefficients were observed as the medium was adulterated with crude oil starting from 200 MHz to around 2500 MHz. The changes in the dielectric properties of the media resulted in changes in both the S11 and S21 signifying and detecting an occurrence of the oil spillage. Thus, by employing radio frequencies, oil spillage was detected using the in situ monitoring device in seawater.

Purpose A method for predicting the material consumption of a sweater is presented before it is knitted. It can be achieved with the five basic models combined with the parameters related to the dimensions of the knitting machine and needles. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Based on the parameters of the needle bar flat knitting machine, the sweater is modeled with five basic structures. The mathematical expression of each basic structure can be derived with corresponding parameters under some consumptions. In following, the predictive weight of the sweater can be formulated with the expression of the length of the basic structures and the linear density of the yarn. Findings To evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, experiments of three types of sweaters on four different knitting machines are carried out. The results show that the proposed method can achieve the performance with the bias values by percentage ranging from −1.54 to −2.84 percent. Research limitations/implications Due to the present limited research, more experiments could not be carried out. To improve the performance and robustness of the proposed method, statistical performance measures such as the statistical mean and variance in massive experiments will be studied in the further research. Practical implications The evaluation of the material consumption can be obtained before it is knitted with the known basic parameters related to the machine and yarn. Originality/value This paper derives the general expressions of five basic structures based on the corresponding parameters of knitting machine. The predictive weight of the sweater is expressed according to the above basic structures before the sweater is knitted.

Haptic information, or information attained through touch by the hands, is important for the evaluation of products that vary in terms of material properties related to texture, hardness, temperature, and weight. The authors develop and propose a conceptual framework to illustrate that salience of haptic information differs significantly across products, consumers, and situations. The authors use two experiments to assess how these factors interact to impair or enhance the acquisition and use of haptic information. Barriers to touch, such as a retail display case, can inhibit the use of haptic information and consequently decrease confidence in product evaluations and increase the frustration level of consumers who are more motivated to touch products. In addition, written descriptions and visual depictions of products can partially enhance acquisition of certain types of touch information. The authors synthesize the results of these studies and discuss implications for the effect of haptic information for Internet and other nonstore retailing as well as for traditional retailers.