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Technical textiles for survival
No full textSurvival textiles may be divided into two groups, the first being for short-term protection against extreme external conditions, such as occur during accidents, or against direct bodily injury, including ballistic or knife threats. The second group is where the protection must be provided for a longer period and so industrial and medical protective clothing assemblies as well as firefighters’ suits are examples here.The underlying principles of fabric construction and garment design which have been found to optimize the level of protection on the one hand, coupled with the need to maximize comfort and minimize the often associated wearer stress, are outlined. Examples of currently available fabrics and personal protective clothing are presented together with related national and international standards which guarantee their desired levels of protection. Aftercare and cleansing requirements as well as future trends are also outlined
Influence of Mineral Admixtures on the Mechanical Properties of Fresh and Hardened Concrete
No full textThis research aims to investigate the effect of introducing different mineral admixtures on the mechanical properties of concrete. The research is focused on optimizing the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, looking in particular at how factors such as slump, unit weight, air entrancement, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity are affected by different mineral admixtures in a concrete mix. Different mineral admixtures are used, namely silica fume, limestone and ultra-fine gypsum, and for the tests each mineral admixture replaced 25 % of the cement. The paper also compares the performance of the fresh and hardened properties of concrete
Exploring the Nexus Between Tourism and Output in Cook Islands: An ARDL Bounds Approach
No full textTourism plays an important role in the development of Cook Islands. In this paper we examine the nexus between tourism and growth using quarterly data over the period 2009Q1–2014Q2 using the recently upgraded ARDL bounds test to cointegration tool, Microfit 5.01, which provides sample adjusted bounds and hence is more reliable for small sample size studies. We perform the cointegration using the ARDL bounds test and examine the direction of causality. Using visitor arrival and output in per capita terms as respective proxy for tourism development and growth, we examine the long-run association and report the elasticity coefficient of tourism and causality nexus, accordingly. Using unit root break tests, we note that 2011Q1 and 2011Q2 are two structural break periods in the output series. However, we note that this period is not statistically significant in the ARDL model and hence excluded from the estimation. Subsequently, the regression results show the two series are cointegrated. The long-run elasticity coefficient of tourism is estimated to be 0.83 and the short-run is 0.73. A bidirectional causality between tourism and income is noted for Cook Islands which indicates that tourism development and income mutually reinforce each other. In light of this, socio-economic policies need to focus on broad-based, inclusive and income-generating tourism development projects which are expected to have feedback effect
An investigation into the post impact and post indentation behavior of auxetic composites
No full textComposites have been extensively used in high performance structural applications due their lightweight and better strength to weight ratio. A common defect in angle ply laminates is caused by the low velocity impacts, due to their poor resistance to accidental impact by foreign objects, and also the defect is barely visible. Actually contact zone between the target and the penetrating object is relatively large and the whole structure is affected even well away from the impact point. This type of interaction can generate large delaminations, which can reduce the strength under compressive loading. At present, allowance for the delamination induced strength reduction is given by maintaining the strain limits to the structures that prevent the failure due to delamination. If any damage is found in the structure, it is not easy to repair due to the larger damage area.Carbon auxetic composites can be considered as good candidate materials with special properties required for today’s modern technology. This thesis presents the study of auxetic laminates and their response to low velocity multiple impact events in order to assess the damage behaviour of the laminates. These materials are of great interest because the damage area created is smaller, which does not affect the whole structure as compared to the conventional carbon laminates.As received unidirectional 12k tow fibre reinforced, high performance (IM7/8552), epoxy resin pre-preg, which one of the stiffest fibre matrix systems, was used to prepare 24-layers auxetic and positive Poisson’s ratio laminates. This work focuses on four stacking sequences; all through-thickness auxetic and positive Poisson’s ratio laminates were prepared with [±30]s and [35/-20/25/40/-85/40/25/-45/35/-15/25/40] s angles, respectively. Stacking angles for the in-plane auxetic and positive Poisson’s ratio laminates were designed as [0/15/75/15]s and [0/-70/10/25]s respectively. These laminates were cured by vacuum bagging technique before testing in order to achieve the highest quality specimens. All the tests presented in this work are conducted on 100mm2 squared size specimens, by using a standard 12.7mm steel hemisphere indentor. In this work multiple indentation and impact tests were conducted both at the initial test site and also away from the initial test site to determine the extent of damage zone.The most important conclusions and findings drawn from the experimental results are as follows. From the low velocity multiple impacts, indentation testing, fractography, residual testing and dynamic analysis it can be concluded that through-thickness auxetic laminates are found to be better than the positive Poisson’s ratio laminates, even though they were tested 20mm away from the vicinity of the initial test site. Their confined damage area can prevent the structure from catastrophic failure because the damage is more concentrated at the test site and is easy to repair due to the smaller damage area. A preliminary study into the high velocity impact on the through-thickness laminates and the low velocity impacts on the in-plane laminates was also carried out in order to study their impact response. Here, auxetic and the positive Poisson’s ratio laminates show almost similar damage response to the high velocity impacts. However, auxetic in-plane laminates were found to have better resistant to an impact event as compared to the positive Poisson’s ratio specimens
Evaluation of the student learning experience
No full textMentoring is an integral role within nursing and midwifery, but how do Mentors and Practice Teachers know if this role is effective? How do they know if they are really making a difference to students’ learning and making a valuable contribution to their learning experience and assessment process? How do they know what they themselves need to improve with their mentoring skills and how the practice placement can be improved? One essential element of being a Mentor/Practice teacher is that of evaluating this role and the students learning experience. The concept of evaluation according to Bailey-McHale and Hart (2013) is not unfamiliar to healthcare practitioners as they are continuously evaluating the quality of care given to service users. This final part of a series of eleven will explore the importance of evaluation, along with highlighting a number of ways in which Mentors/Practice Teachers can evaluate the students learning experience. This article relates to the Nursing and Midwifery (NMC) (2008a) Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice (SSLAP) Domain 4 'Evaluation of Learning'. A number of activities will be incorporated to enable Mentors and Practice Teachers to generate evidence to demonstrate they have met this particular standard
The nexus between tourism demand and output per capita with the relative importance of trade openness and financial development
No full textThis article revisits the tourism-growth nexus in Malaysia using time series quarterly data over the period 1975–2013. The authors examine the impact of tourism using two separate indicators – tourism receipts per capita and visitor arrivals per capita. Using the augmented Solow production function and the autoregressive distributed lag bounds procedure, they also incorporate trade openness and financial development and account for structural breaks in series. The results show the evidence of cointegration between the variables. Assessing the long-run results using both indicators of tourism demand, it is noted that the elasticity coefficient of tourism is 0.13 and 0.10 when considering visitor arrivals and tourism receipts (in per capita terms), respectively. Notably, the impact of tourism demand is marginally higher with visitor arrivals. The elasticity of trade openness is 0.19, that of financial development is 0.09 and that of capital share is 0.15. In the short run, the coefficient of tourism is marginally negative, and for financial development and trade openness, it is 0.01 and 0.18, respectively. The Granger causality tests show bidirectional causation between tourism and output per capita, financial development and tourism and trade openness and tourism demand, duly indicating the feedback or mutually reinforcing impact between the variables and providing evidence that tourism is central to enhancing the key sectors and the overall income level
Combining of results from visual inspection, non-destructive testing and semi-destructive testing to predict the mechanical properties of Western Hemlock
No full textCurrent methods of assessing the mechanical properties of in-situ timber are limited, particularly with regard to estimating bending strength and stiffness. The aim of this research is to combine non-destructive testing (NDT), visual inspection and the taking and testing of very small (micro) samples to make a better predictive model. The modulus of elasticity of 150 structural sized joists of Tsuga heterophylla was measured using acoustic resonance NDT, and knots were plotted, before testing to destruction in four point bending. The moisture content and density were then obtained and the ring width and the slope of grain of the broken joists recorded. Micro clear (6.5 mm diameter 91 mm long) specimens were taken from undamaged regions of tested joists and small clear (20 × 20 × 300 mm) specimens were taken from material adjacent in the tree. Both were tested to destruction in three point bending. The results are analysed statistically and it was found that in predicting properties of the structural sized joists: (i) the single measurement of dynamic stiffness was the best predictor of static stiffness; (ii) the averaged density from a pair of micro clear specimens was the best predictor of density and (iii) the combination of dynamic stiffness and visual inspection of knots was the best predictor of bending strength
Economic growth in development : examining the effects of contemporary sources of economic growth in selected countries across continents
No full text“Economic growth” is a synonym of the relative change of the gross domestic product (GDP) or GDP per capita. The GDP of a country is one of the most important economic indicators in politics because mostly policy-makers and the public interpret the GDP as proxy of welfare. Consequently, the growth rate of GDP (per capita) is an indicator of how fast the welfare is increasing.In the thesis, we examine the contemporary drivers of economic growth based on country-specific studies which spans over five continents – Africa (South Africa and Kenya), Asia (Bangladesh and Vietnam), America (Latin America and the Caribbean), Oceania (Fiji and other small island states) and Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania). The purpose of the thesis is to identify and highlight relevant sources of economic growth within the augmented Solow model (1956) specified using the Cobb-Douglas framework. The thesis comprises of a portfolio of peer-reviewed papers which are published in international journals between 2012 and 2015.In all cases, we follow the intuition of new structural growth (NSE) paradigm. One of the tenets of the NSE paradigms is that each country’s growth process is to some extent determined by its resource endowment and country-specific factors, and that the role of government is important in shaping the future of growth for a country.Subsequently, the factors and the sectors contributing to growth needs to have the potential to generate investment, employment and hence income for a country. In this regard, we examine some specific sources of growth that can be used to drive economic activities and is expected to support economic development, thus being of possible interest to policy makers and economic planners. The specific method used for empirical estimation is the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds procedure.We apply the Solow’s (1956) neoclassical growth model where we define output as a function of capital stock, labour and technology, and interpret the latter as a function depending on other exogenous factors. Notably, there is no clear definition of ‘technology’ in the model and hence it is regarded as a (Solow) residual. The technological progress is thus (a set) of factors that supports growth without necessarily adding more capital and labour. Consequently, we transform the model and show output per worker as a function of capital per worker and technological progress, where the latter is broadly defined. We identify and include technological progress as factors relevant to a country/region and estimate the long-run association, impacts and causality. While focusing on different countries in the region with different country-specific (relevant) plausible drivers of growth, the papers show the factors (which point to specific sectors) that may be of interest to policy planners in boosting growth.In what follows, we identify and highlight the effects of contemporary sectors which we consider as key drivers of growth in countries or group of countries that can be a representative of the continent or region. In Paper 1, Exploring polarization and uniformity in sectors and inflows vis-à-vis growth A study of Brazil-led and Mexico-led clusters in the region, we emphasise the important roles of broad sectors (agriculture, manufacturing and services) and capital inflows (Remittances, foreign direct investment, official development assistance and financial development) in a group of countries led by Mexico (Mexico-cluster) and Brazil (Brazil-cluster). In this study, we highlight the sectors that are specifically relevant for growth in the two clusters and finally, the uniformity in the sectors in the Latin America and the Caribbean. In Paper 2, Remittances and economic growth: A study of Guyana, we show that remittances inflow plays an important part in shaping the growth of Guyanese economy. In Paper 3: Exploring the role of technology, tourism and financial development: an empirical study of Vietnam, and Paper 4: Exploring the Nexus Between ICT, Remittances and Economic Growth A Study of Vietnam, the focus is on the emerging and rapidly industrializing economy of Vietnam, which is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN). We note that the role of information and communications technology and financial sector development are instrumental in supporting growth of Vietnam. Moreover, in spite of noting the high inflow of remittances to Vietnam, we find that remittance only have short-run impacts on growth. In Paper 5:Exploring the nexus between remittances and economic growth: a study of Bangladesh, we focus on Bangladesh, which is one of the developing countries in South Asia and one of the largest recipients of remittances. The study shows that remittances support growth in the long-run. Next, in Paper 6: Exploring the nexus between information and communications technology, tourism and growth in Fiji and Paper 7: Accounting for telecommunications contribution to economic growth:A study of Small Pacific Island States, the focus is on small developing island States. In Paper 6, the focus is primarily on Fiji, and in Paper 7, we also include Kiribati, Marshall, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Timor- Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In Paper 6, the focus is on technology and tourism, where we highlight that both are important drivers of growth in Fiji. Paper 7 mainly focus on the potential of information and communications technology and highlight the positive impact of technology on growth in the small island developing states. Finally, in Paper 8: Effects of energy consumption on per worker output: A study of Kenya and South Africa and Paper 9: Exploring the effects of energy consumption on output per worker: A study of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, we focus on energy as an important driver of growth in two African and four south-east European countries, respectively. In general, the studies show that energy has a long-run association and impact on growth for the countries in the two regions, although they are located on two very different continents Consequently, the collective contributions from the above papers included in the thesis are:1) investigating the effects of major sectors (such as ICT and Telecommunications/technology development, Energy, Tourism, Remittances and financial development) which are considered as driving forces of economic growth using a well-established framework; 2) Examining the effects of the sectors on the countries/regions across five continents which to some extent have been either overlooked in the literature due to data constraints or received limited attention in the past due to its size and remoteness; 3) Applying a relatively advanced technique, the ARDL bounds test for cointegration or long-run association (Pesaran, Shin and Smith, 2001) to examine the effects of contemporary sources of economic growth relevant to a country/region; extending the previous literature about economic growth and development economics; 5) Providing a good guide for developing countries in terms of policy towards enhancing economic growth by focusing on the economic sources of growth; and 6) Getting an empirical evidence of the effects of specific and relevant sectors for a country/region to focus on, in order to further develop their economy
Changing a BTEC computing programme of study towards a more inclusive paradigm
No full textThe issue with a product curriculum is that it focuses on the ends and lends itself to an outdated and exclusionary mode of teaching: ‘educational banking’ teacher-led instruction, where educators deposit knowledge into educates, who are passives in this process. This report explains the contemporary meaning of inclusion within education and selects inclusive parameters, based on research findings, that are used, as a measure, to determine the inherent inclusiveness of three dominant curriculum models: (1) product, (2) process and (3) praxis and two learning theories: (1) constructivism and (2) connectivism, which are both innately student-led forms of learning theory.Furthermore, a focus of this report is to determine whether technology, and which eTools, can be employed to develop and promote an increasingly inclusive, participative and collaborative classroom environment, in other words, a student-led inclusive contemporary classroom supported by technology. To inform, and justify, the selection, embedding and importance of eTools, desk research was conducted and a student survey was carried out to assess learners’ expectations and preferences in regards to collaboration and the embedding of technology in classroom activities.Research findings regarding inclusion in education, curriculum models and learning theories accompanied by an analysis of the student survey results are used to propose a pedagogical approach based on Aristotle’s (modified) three disciplines of knowledge that places technology are the heart of student-led collaborative and engaging classroom: a hybrid process-praxis approach to curriculum based on a constructivist-connectivist approach to learning
Stimulating student note-taking and review: the effect of active learning with rapid feedback
No full textAs part of a study skills workshop, first year undergraduate students participated in an active learning exercise on remembering; this involved watching a video and later being tested on how much they could recall. The students watching the video were divided into three groups with different approaches to note-taking and subsequent review; afterwards the test results were fed back to the class. Subsequently, a survey was carried out of the students’ approach to note-taking and review, both before and after the workshop. The results during the classes clearly demonstrated to the students the learning benefits both of taking notes and of subsequently reviewing them and the questionnaire results confirm that students’ behaviours in this area were positively impacted by the workshop. Additionally, a number of barriers to effective note taking were identified which can be addressed in the future