Deformation Characteristics of Leather for Shoe Upper, Filled with Natural Minerals

A promising direction in the tanning industry is the use of natural minerals as environmentally friendly technologically efficient materials that are able to adjust and regulate the efficiency of formation of the dermis structure and the properties of finished leather. The use of finely-dispersed minerals promotes alignment of topographic areas in thickness, increases the yield of leather on the area by avoiding bonding structural elements of the dermis. Changes in the microstructure of the dermis, as a result of mineral filling, contribute to improvement of performance and hygienic properties of finished leather. And the study of the properties of the specified skins should be consistent with the features of operations on their cutting, shoe molding and shoe upper fixing preparations. The most important properties of leather materials, which largely determine the quality of basic technological operations of shoe manufacturing are the deformation properties. Lack of information about relaxation and deformation properties of the leather produced by the new technologies do not allow to predict their ability to form shapes and save it--indicates the relevance of this study. This paper analyzes relaxation and deformation characteristics of natural leather for shoe uppers, filled with natural minerals montmorillonite and zeolite, and the ability to predict their formation and preservation of shape in service. Features of deformation of the skin with mineral content were assessed by determining single-cycle characteristics when attaching to a complete test cycle ＂loading-unloading-rest＂ sample. Correlations of elastic and plastic （permanent） deformation have been established, kinetics of changes in linear characteristics of the samples after removal of the load has been investigated. Introduction of dispersions of mineral to the structure of the dermis contributes to the strength of semi-finished leather, increase of the uniformity of mechanical properties in the longitudinal and transverse directions and rise of shape stability index. It is shown that the direction of this study allows us to offer new competitive ecologically friendly materials to produce shoes.

Radix Panacis quinquefolii Extract Ameliorates Inflammatory Bowel Disease through Inhibiting Inflammation

Objective: To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Radix Panacis quinquefolii extract(RPQE) and its therapeutic effects on inflammatory bowel disease(IBD). Methods: The 72-hour post-fertilization zebrafish was used to generate the local and systematic inflammation models through tail-amputation and lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induction(100 μg/m L), respectively. The Tg(zlyz:EGFP) zebrafish was induced with 75 μg/m L 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid(TNBS) for establishing the IBD model. The tail-amputated, LPS-, and TNBS-induced models were subjected to RPQE(ethanol fraction, 10–20 μg/m L) administration for 12 and 24 h, respectively. Anti-inflammatory activity of RPQE was evaluated by detecting migration and aggregation of leukocytes and expression of inflammation-related genes. Meanwhile, TNBS-induced fish were immersed in 0.2%(W/V) calcein for 1.5 h and RPQE for 12 h before photographing to analyze the intestinal efflux efficiency(IEE). Moreover, the expression of inflammation-related genes in these fish was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: Subject to RPQE administration, the migration and aggregation of leukocytes were significantly alleviated in 3 zebrafish models(P<0.01). Herein, RPQE ameliorated TNBS-induced IBD with respect to a significantly reduced number of leukocytes, improved IEE, and inhibited gene expression of pro-inflammatory factors(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: RPQE exhibited therapeutic effects on IBD by inhibiting inflammation.