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Three-dimensional fabric structures. Part 2 - Three-dimensional knitted structures for technical textiles applications
No full textThe technical textiles market was forecast to grow by 4% per annum worldwide between 2002 and 2010. As a result, in 2010 the technical textiles and industrial nonwovens sector consumed some 23.8 million tonnes of fibre and had a value of 90 billion USD. According to the author's estimates, the world technical textiles market was worth $140 billion USD in 2013.Knitted fabric production for technical textiles showed an overall growth of 34.5% from 1995 to 2002 in Western Europe. Over the last decade, knitted fabrics and products have been increasingly designed and developed for a very wide spectrum of technical textile applications. These include automotive textiles, medical textiles, geotextiles, sportswear, safety and protective textiles, and environmental protection textiles, just to name a few major growth areas of technical textiles. Warp and weft knitted spacer materials are being commercially developed for a very wide range of technical textile products, because of a number of unique design opportunities that they offer. Knitted spacer fabrics are a single composite of at least three different substrates integrated together during a single knitting process. The range of materials and structures that are possible are virtually limitless. It is possible to engineer fabrics with specific, tailor-made characteristics and thicknesses ranging from 2 to 60. mm in warp knitting and 2 to 10. mm in weft knitting. The chapter discusses a number of significant developments in both knitting technology and knitted structures for a wide range of specific product applications. Warp and weft knitting spacer technologies are discussed in depth; their present and future potential are critically analysed. The chapter aims to demonstrate that both three-dimensional warp and weft knitting technologies have a significant growth potential in the present and future technical textiles markets worldwide
The Bolton Review: Issue 2: Vodka and sand
No full textThe Bolton Review is a creative writing magazine, set up by members of the Creative Writing team of the University of Bolton to allow its students and staff to submit creative works of all type
Thermal degradation of DNA, an all-in-one natural intumescent flame retardant
No full textVery recently, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has proven to be an efficient renewable, natural flame suppressant and retardant, due to its intrinsic intumescent features. In our previous work we have explored its flame retardant activity by applying as a surface coating on cotton fabrics and observed that on exposure to heat, the DNA was able to form a foamed char on the surface of the fabric.These remarkable results have stimulated this study on in-depth understanding of mechanism of thermal degradation of DNA. A number of characterization techniques have been exploited to investigate DNA decomposition, namely: thermogravimetry coupled to infrared spectroscopy or combined with differential thermal analysis, pyrolysis-combustion flow calorimetry and analysis of degradation residues. A scheme of DNA degradation mechanism is proposed to account for the results of the study
Sustainability management of the recommended quality and quantity of drinking water in Malawi :developing a framework
No full textSupply of safe drinking water is well-recognised as a catalyst for improving public health and social welfare as well as spurring economic growth. For this to be achieved, the water used should be both adequate and safe for human consumption. However, it has been noted that in Malawi the quality and quantity of water used by the consumers deteriorates and decreases respectively as time passes after commissioning of the water supply systems.For the quality and quantity of drinking water (drinking water supply services) to be sustainable, there is a need to manage all the factors that affect them. However, not all the factors are currently managed. With only some of the factors being managed, not all the aspects required for sustainability of the quality and quantity of drinking water are maintained. It is also noted that the factors that are managed are selected based on their popularity and perceived order of importance. As such, the factors that are managed are not necessarily the root causes of the deterioration of the quality and quantity of the supplied drinking water. While this is the case, it is known that for a problem to be solved completely, there is a need to deal with its root causes. In addition, addressing of the root causes, which are fewer than the total number of the factors that affect sustainability of drinking water supply (DWS) services, is a simple way of managing all the factors. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify the root causes of sustainability failure of DWS services in Malawi, evaluate the outcomes of managing the root causes on sustainability of DWS services, and develop a framework for managing the identified root causes to improve sustainability of DWS services.Root cause analysis, survey and multiple case studies were employed as the research strategies for this study. Five DWS experts took part in the root cause analysis, ten water supply systems were studied as cases while 40 respondents participated in the survey. All the participants and the case water supply systems were from Malawi. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed in the study.The findings of this research include the identification of 7 combined effects through which various factors affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi. The research has also established that interaction of the factors that affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi is kick-started by 26 root causes. Comprehensive sets of strategies and tactics have been developed to address the 7 combined effects and the 26 root causes respectively. Six critical requirements necessary for effective implementation of the strategies and tactics have also been identified. Accordingly, an overarching framework, with step-by-step instructions on how to improve sustainability of DWS services in Malawi, has been developed. The theoretical contribution of this research is that there will be increased understanding of the issues that affect sustainability of DWS services in Malawi and other countries with similar contexts. As regards practical contribution, the framework developed in this research - when used by the DWS practitioners, managers and policy makers - is expected to lead to improved sustainability of DWS services in Malawi and other countries with similar contexts
Flexible and Transparent Surface Acoustic Wave Microsensors and Microfluidics
No full textThis paper reports the development of flexible and transparent (FT) surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology, and FT-SAW based various sensors (temperature, humidity, UV-light and strain) and microfluidics on polymer and glass. The devices on polymers have the Rayleigh and Lamb resonances, while those on glass have the Rayleigh mode only. All the modes have large signal amplitudes. FT-SAW based sensors show excellent sensitivities, comparable to or better than those on rigid substrates. The temperature sensitivity of the sensors on PI is more than one order of magnitude larger than those on rigid substrates. The humidity sensitivity can be further increased significantly by using a graphene oxide (GO) sensing layer. All types of the sensors have excellent stability and reliability. FT-SAW also demonstrated very good capability to deliver microfluidic functions such as acoustic streaming and particle concentration etc. The results demonstrated the FT-SAW have great potential for applications
Complete poems
No full textComplete Poems brings together the published and unpublished work of one of the most significant poets of the late twentieth century, founding editor of Stand and of the Northern House imprint. As well as reprinting all the poems included in Silkin’s books (from The Portrait and Other Poems in 1950 to Making a Republic in 2002), it includes significant poems previously unpublished or published only in a wide variety of journals, and work transcribed from manuscripts. Complete Poems demands a new perception of Silkin’s language and his concerns, the breadth of his passionately humane response to war and the Holocaust, and his scrutiny of humanity alongside nature
A qualitative study on the barriers to adoption of E-business by international non-governmental organizations in their operations and ways to overcome them - the case of Save the Children International in Malawi.
No full textThis paper reports the results of the study that was carried out on one of the non-governmental organizations called Save the Children International in Malawi. The aim of the study was to find out the barriers that prevent the international non-governmental organizations from adopting e-business and how they could overcome them.A case study method of investigation was used to analyse the level of e-business knowledge among the staff and internal and external barriers to adoption of e-business. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design in which all the staffs on managerial and directorship levels in Save the Children were the study population. The study used stratified and random sampling techniques in coming up with the sample for the study. The study used questionnaires and interviews as tools for collecting data. The questionnaire was semi-structured made up of both open and closed-ended questions. Qualitative data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and open coding.The identified major internal barriers by the study were the senior management, staff with the technical capacity and failure to exploit the existing technological capacity. The external barriers identified by Save the Children staff were the information communication technological infrastructure, the level of awareness of the general public on e-business and the low levels of economic development in the country.To overcome these internal and external barriers, the study suggested a deliberate approach by the senior management team to spearhead the adoption of e-business, an active role by the information technology staff in encouraging staff to adopt e-business in their operations and the increased usage of the existing technological capacity to include doing business on the internet over and above the current utilization levels
Physical stabilisation of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibres: comparative study on methanol and heat-based crosslinking
No full textMethanol crosslinking and heat-treatment methods for physical crosslinking of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibres were investigated to assess their stability in water. For this purpose, PVAs with low and high molecular weights were selected. Morphology of the crosslinked membranes was characterised by scanning electron microscopy. Crystallinity of the resultant crosslinked fibres were analysed by FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry. It has been shown that physical crosslinking increases the crystallinity of the fibres. High molecular weight PVA nanofibres showed better stability and better preservation of nanofibrous structure. Stability of the crosslinked membranes was also tested by immersion into water at room temperature and boiling water. Combined methanol and heat treatments at different temperatures and exposure periods were also investigated. Treatment at 180°C HMW PVA nanofibres for longer durations exhibited best results in terms of water stability, although it exhibited somewhat lower swelling ratios as compared to those subjected to only methanol treatment
The new leisure, voluntarism and social reconstruction in inter-war Britain
No full textIn post-World War I social reconstruction, leisure acquired a new meaning as a social good with the capacity to contribute to the building of a new post-war society. A discourse of citizenship and leisure emerged which drew from Christian socialism and the works of John Ruskin, William Morris, and the social idealist thinking of T. H. Green and J. A.Hobson. The classical Athenian model of leisure was re-worked by Ernest Barker and Cecil Delisle Burns who argued that the function of a leisure class could become that of the whole community through a democratic redistribution of leisure. Although efforts to realize idealist visions were rarely successful they were nevertheless important to twentieth-century understandings of leisure and citizenship and brought leisure within the framework of social policy