bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting the Biaxial Tensile Deformation Behavior of Spunbonded Nonwovens
Authors: Bais-Singh Smita , Goswami Bhuvenesh C.
Published: March 2008

An analysis is presented to predict the biaxial tensile behavior of spun-bonded non woven fabrics using knowledge of the stress-strain behavior of their constituent fibers and their orientation angle distribution. Nonlinearity in fiber stress-strain behavior is considered in order to predict fabric stresses in the longitudinal and transverse direc tions under biaxial loading conditions. Only a special case of biaxial loading is con sidered in which the transverse strain is forced to be zero, i.e., strip biaxial loading conditions. Experimental results are obtained by evaluating four spunbonded fabrics on a Kawabata strip biaxial tester KES-G2 and are compared with the theoretical results.
Signal Analysis of Dynamic Forces Experienced by Individual Needles in High Speed Needle Punching
Authors: Seyam Abdelfattah M. , Mohamed Asaad , Kim Hyungsup
Published: March 2008

Dynamic forces experienced by individual needles are measured and investigated in time and frequency domains to deduce the needle force signal due to fiberweb resistance during penetration and withdrawal of the needles from the fiberweb. A technique de veloped to deduce a needle force signal due to fiberweb resistance for the entire nee dling cycle for any number of cycles enables the determination of peak penetration force, peak stripping force, and penetration and stripping energies due to fiberweb resistance. The force parameters are essential to loom and needle manufacturers for design purposes. Equally important, the force parameters are related to needled fabric end use performance. This relationship can be used to produce consistent fabric prop erties by controlling the process variables that influence needle force parameters.
Using Ultraviolet Radiation to Reduce Pilling of Knitted Wool and Cotton
Authors: Millington Keith
Published: March 2008

The Siroflash anti-pilling treatment for knitted fabrics is a process involving exposure of the fabric or garment surface to short wavelength ultraviolet radiation (UVC), fol lowed by a mild wet oxidation treatment using, for example, hydrogen peroxide or salts of permonosulphuric acid. UVC exposure is confined to the surface fibers and presensitizes them to the wet oxidation process, which selectively weakens them rel ative to the bulk fibers responsible for fabric strength. Because the surface fibers are much weaker after treatment, no anchor fibers are available to secure pills to the fabric surface. The treatment is a highly effective, chlorine-free method of preventing pilling in wool knitwear, which has now been demonstrated in wear trials. In addition. uv treatment of knitted garments prior to aqueous oxidation can effectively limit facing, up in wool knitwear during garment dyeing. A variation of the Siroflash process can also be used on cotton and cotton/wool blend fabrics by first padding hydrogen per oxide onto the fabric before UV exposure, then treating with continuous uv irradiation with a medium-pressure arc system similar to those used commercially for UV curing of polymer films. However, the continuous process is ineffective on pure wool knitted fabrics. The irradiation times necessary for effective treatment on wool using low power germicidal uv tubes vary depending on fabric or garment construction. Using these sources, however, irradiation times are too long for commercial use, and continuous exposure with a focused medium-pressure mercury arc is only partially effective. More powerful uv sources providing a high level of UVC radiation, for example noncoherent excimers or high-intensity low pressure arcs, or hybrid methods for weakening surface fibers (such as UV/H2O2 with a protease enzyme) may provide a rapid, effective, anti- pilling treatment for wool.
Optimum Silhouette Design for Ladies' Garments Based on the Mechanical Properties of a Fabric
Authors: Niwa Masako , Nakanishi Masae , Ayada Masako , Kawabata S.
Published: March 2008

This paper introduces a method of objectively designing the optimum silhouette of ladies' garments based on fabric mechanical properties, rather than relying on designers' experience. The optimum silhouette is objectively discriminated by a discriminant equation. Approximately 300 fabric samples for ladies' garments are classified into three silhouette groups—tailored, anti-drape, and drape—by eight experts in tailoring and designing. Fab ric mechanical properties are selected for discrimination and measured for all samples. Canonical discriminant analysis is applied to derive equations with higher discriminant efficiency using the basic mechanical parameters of tensile, shearing, and bending prop erties as well as fabric weight. The analysis confirms that the objective method provides highly accurate discrimination. Some applications are also introduced.
Effect of Salts on Physical Interactions in Wool Dyeing with Acid Dyes
Authors: Yiqi Yang
Published: March 2008

The modified Donnan model, which considers the dye distribution coefficient as a function of salt concentration and property in the dyebath, is used to describe the dyeing behavior of wool with acid dyes and different kinds of salts. This modification is based on the understanding that salt anions are either kosmotropes (water-structure maker) or chaotropes (water-structure breaker). They affect the free energy of the dyebath through their influence on water structures. As is well known, adding salt to the dyebath decreases dye sorption due to its reduction of ionic attraction between negatively charged acid dyes and positively charged wool fibers. However, adding some salts such as sulfate and dihydrogen phosphate can increase dye sorption if the salt concentration is high. This phenomenon cannot be explained by the classic theory of salt functions in dyeing. The modified Donnan model is used to explain quantitatively both the de crease and increase of acid dye sorption on wool with increasing salt concentration.
High Moisture Storage Effects on Cotton Stickiness
Authors: Chun David T.W. , Brushwood Donald
Published: March 2008

Studies are conducted to examine the feasibility of using high cotton moisture content during storage to reduce cotton stickiness. Initially, water alone is added to bring the moisture content up to 15, 30, and 40%. The cottons are stored for 5, 11, and 15 days at 10°C. Reflectance and strength decreased and yellowness increases over time with the 30% and 40% moisture content cottons. But cottons with a moisture content of 15% are not only less sticky, but also suffer no significant deterioration of cotton quality. Possibly these conditions can be used in a stickiness reduction treatment pro gram. A second set of cottons is brought up to 30% moisture content using water augmented with urea or ammonia in an attempt to minimize microbial effects, then these cottons are stored for 15 days at room temperature. The urea and ammonia treat ments do not appear to offset the quality deterioration of the cottons by the 30% high moisture content, although both sugar content and stickiness are reduced. Heavy pro cessing of sticky cottons tends to increase the number of sticky spots, but these spots are much smaller than those present in the unprocessed stock.
Physical Properties and Processing of Fine Merino Lamb's Wool
Authors: Madeley Tony , Postle Ron , Mahar Trevor
Published: March 2008

The fiber properties and handle of fine Merino lamb's and fleece wool are critically reviewed in Part 1 of this series of papers. Those objective characteristics that distin guish these two classes of raw wool and appear to account for the relative softness of hand of lamb's compared with fleece wool are presented here. The best single parameter indicating softness is resistance to compression. A reduction in staple crimp frequency or mean fibre diameter or both lowers resistance to compression and increases softness. The lower mean staple crimp frequency observed in wool grown in the first four months of a lamb's life is a visual indication of tactile softness compared with that of wool grown subsequently.
Effects of Repeated Extension and Recovery on Selected Physical Properties of ISO-301 Stitched Seams
Authors: Webster J. , Laing R.M. , Niven B.E.
Published: March 2008

In order to examine the mechanisms by which seams age and fail under loads typical of those in use, factors and interactions among factors influencing the change in load required to extend an ISO-301 stitched seam (type ISO 1.01.01) during repeated lon gitudinal extension/recovery cycles at low loads are identified. Fabric type and exten sion limit have the greatest effect on the load required to reach maximum extension of the seam between 0-100 cycles, while fabric type is important over the range 100- 5000 cycles. Variables depending on inclusion of the seam (thread type, linear stitch density) have the most influence during the initial extension. Visual aspects of seam ageing are examined with optical and scanning electron microscopes, and two distinct processes occurring during tensile cycling are identified. Fabric type and thread type are the most important variables affecting the breaking load and breaking extension of cycled seams. Although interactions among variables are not important individually, together they account for 13% of the total variance in breaking extension.
Predicting the Performance of Durable Press Finished Cotton Fabric with Infrared Spectroscopy
Authors: Weishu Wei  , Yang Charles Q.
Published: March 2008

Durable press finishing processes are commonly used in the textile industry to pro duce wrinkle-free cotton fabrics and garments. Crosslinking cellulose increases wrinkle resistance and reduces the mechanical strength of treated cotton fabric. Wrinkle recov ery angle (WRA) and tensile strength are the two most important parameters frequently used for evaluating the performance of crosslinked cottons. In this study, we investigate the correlation between WRA and tensile strength, and determine the amount of cross linking agent bonded to the cotton using FRIR spectroscopy. The crosslinking agents include dimethyloldihydroxylethyleneurea, 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid, and glutaraldehyde. We develop linear regression models to investigate the relationship between the WRA and tensile strength of the treated cotton and the carbonyl band absorbance in the infrared spectra. The data indicate that FTIR spectroscopy is a reliable technique for predicting the performance of durable press finished cotton fabrics when calibration standards are established.
Pore Sizes in Carpet
Authors: Weiguo Zhou  , Warner Steven B.
Published: March 2008

Two techniques, liquid extrusion with water and optical microscopy on embedded carpet samples, are used to assess pore size distribution and location within the pile of a cut pile carpet manufactured from a polypropylene backing, crosslinked styrene butadiene rubber adhesive, and nylon pile. The results from the two techniques agree where the resulting data overlap and are complimentary in other pore size ranges. The carpet is able to absorb 6.1 times its weight in water. When the water content is reduced to roughly 50-60% by mechanical extraction, free water is probably situated in pores with an effective capillary diameter of up to 200 micrometers. The occupied pores are distributed throughout the carpet pile thickness and largely within the yams. This in formation may be used to develop an economical technique for drying carpets.
Computerized Failure Analysis of Nonwoven Fabrics Based on Fiber Failure Criterion
Authors: Tianyi Liao  , Adanur Sabit
Published: March 2008

A new computer simulation and analysis method is presented for determining the damage progression and failure strength of nonwoven fabrics, whose failure is mainly caused by fiber rupture. The model is based on the fiber rupture criterion. The finite element method is used to calculate the numerical solution of stress and strain distribution in different regions of the samples during fabric breaking. The model is able to predict the load at which the first fiber breaks, the number of isolated fiber breaks prior to catastrophic fabric failure, the critical crack length upon catastrophic failure, and the tensile strength of the fabric. Tensile testing is done on several nonwoven fabrics to verify the computer simulated results, which are in good agreement with the experimental results.
Effect of Geometry on the Performance of Intermingling Nozzles
Authors: Versteeg H.K. , Acar M. , Bilgin S.
Published: March 2008

This study investigates the effect of nozzle geometry on the intermingling process. The dimensions of intermingling nozzles with single air inlets extended across the width of a rectangular yam channel are systematically varied. Nozzles with this cross-sectional shape prove to be easy to manufacture and efficient at intermingling. The performance is evaluated by visually inspecting the intermingled yarns and by measuring the nip fre quency. We have found that the performance of nozzles with large inlet widths is weakly dependent on yam channel geometry. The performance of nozzles with the smallest air inlet widths, on the other hand, is sensitive to yarn channel geometry. The smallest and largest yam channels we have considered give poor intermingling results. Control of the yam path is beneficial for the success and consistency of the intermingling process. Using yam guides to create a diagonal yarn path across the nozzle has the additional advantage of decreasing noise production. Our extended air inlet slot ensures continuous exposure of the yarn to the supply air stream across the entire width of the yarn channel in this arrangement. We also compare our designs with four industrial nozzles under identical process conditions. This study reveals similar trends for nip frequency and power consumption. The results agree with the broad trend established in the geometry study that the shape of the yam channel is not critical, provided the air inlet is large enough.
Effects of Fabric Parameters on Specular Reflection of Single-Jersey Knitted Fabrics
Authors: Sirikasemlert A. , Tao X.
Published: March 2008

This paper is concerned with the prediction of goniophotometric curves (distribution curves of specularly reflected light) based on our mathematical model developed earlier for single-jersey knitted fabrics made from monofilament yarns. The theory is extended to include fabrics from multifilament yarns. Four physical and optical parameters related to the fabric and the light source are investigated: fiber refractive index, yarn cross section, incident light angle, and fiber ellipticity. Their effects on the goniophotometric curves and luster index of knitted fabrics are determined. In addition, the great difference is high lighted between light reflected from knitted fabrics and light received by the goniopho tometer.
Mechanical Agitation of Cotton Fabrics During Enzyme Treatment and Its Effect on Tactile Properties
Authors: Radhakrishnaiah P. , Xiaomin Meng  , Gan Huang  , Buschle-Diller G. , Walsh W.K.
Published: March 2008

This work reports changes in the mechanical and surface properties of a plain weave cotton fabric subjected to enzyme treatment with and without mechanical agitation. It also describes the influence of the property changes on the measured hand qualities. Some of the mechanical properties and the tactile qualities of the treated fabrics differ by as much as 50% compared to the untreated fabric. One-way analysis of variance reveals that almost all the measured properties (except initial thickness, percent thickness compression, and bending rigidity) of the treated fabrics differ from those of the untreated fabric. The results also reveal that there are some unique differences in properties between the fabrics subjected to enzyme treatment with and without mechanical agitation, implying that the level of mechanical agitation during treatment can significantly alter the finishing effects, including the thermal comfort performance of the treated fabrics.
Color Grading of Cotton Part II: Color Grading with an Expert System and Neural Networks
Authors: Luo Cheng  , Ghorashi Hossein , Duckett Kermit , Zapletalova Terezie , Watson Michael
Published: March 2008

In this part of the series, two color grading systems are developed using an expert system and neural networks. Both grading systems have two modes of operation— classification and training. In the training mode, the expert system can be trained by a statistical method based on Bayes' theorem or a genetic algorithm. For the neural network approach, the grading system can be trained by a back-propagation algorithm or a probabilistic neural network. Using 100 cotton samples from the USDA, the agreement between classer and HVI grading can be improved from the original 50% to 86-100% depending on the training method and the training samples. The relative contributions of each measurement on color grading are also investigated using stepwise discriminate analysis.
An FTIR Study of Anhydride Formation on Heating Butane Tetracarboxylic Acid in the Presence of Various Catalysts
Authors: Gillingham Estelle L. , Lewis David M. , Voncina Bojana
Published: March 2008

Polycarboxylic acids containing more than three carboxylic acid groups react with hydroxyl groups in cotton cellulose and crosslink cotton through stable ester bonds. The aim of this research is to use variable temperature diffuse reflectance infrared spectros copy to study anhydride formation from the thermal dehydration reaction of 1,2,3,4- butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) in the presence of one of three catalysts—sodium carbonate, sodium hypophosphite, and cyanamide. An environmental chamber equipped with a temperature controller is attached to the infrared spectrometer to obtain diffuse reflectance spectra at elevated temperatures and ambient pressure. With this spectroscopic method, the temperature profile of anhydride formation from BTCA in the presence of a particular catalyst is clearly visible.
The Dimensions of Psychological Well-Being
Authors: Cherlin Andrew , Reeder Leo G.
Published: March 2008

The concept of psychological well-being has intrinsic interest to social psychologists and relates to a more general literature on adjustment, competence, mood indicators, and so on. Data from two surveys are presented which partially replicate Bradburn's studies in psychological well-being and which suggest that the constructs of "positive and negative affect" in Bradburn's work are an oversimplification. It is argued that there is insufficient evidence for the usefulness of the balance model of psychological well-being. Existing research on the dimensions of emotion is discussed.
A New Method for Measuring Legislative Content and Change
Authors: Burstein Paul
Published: March 2008

This article has four purposes: (1) to show that it is important to develop a satisfactory way to conceptualize and measure legislative content and change; (2) to propose criteria for evaluating measurement procedures, show that past approaches are inadequate, and propose an improved approach; (3) to apply the approach to voting by the U.S. Senate on Vietnam-related roll calls, 1964-1973; (4) to assess the validity of the approach. The proposed approach involves defining the relevant universe of content more narrowly than in most previous work and using Smallest Space Analysis to derive dimensions and locate items on them. A substantively interpretable three-dimensional solution is found, and the scores given legislative items behave statistically in ways that would be expected of valid measures.
Public Perceptions of Criminal Behavior
Authors: Newman Graeme R. , Trilling Carol
Published: March 2008

The literature on public perceptions of criminal behavior is reviewed in an attempt to summarize the main trends and their significance for future research and correctional policy. Four key aspects of deviance perception are identified-opinion, intensity of reaction, social definition, and societal reactions-and the studies reviewed are classified accordingly. It is concluded that strength of religiosity is an important factor mediating perceptions of deviance. However, in comparison to the extensive work in perceptions of mental illness, perceptions of crime have rarely been found to be affected by the various social class variables. A broad consensus concerning the severity of traditional criminal behavior has been found in many studies. Lack of consensus is found concerning behavior which is more on the fringe of traditional crime, such as victimless crimes and some white-collar crimes.
An Empirical Classification of Female Offenders
Authors: Spatz Widom Cathy
Published: March 2008

The purpose of the present investigation was threefold: ( 1 ) to develop an empirical taxonomy of female offenders; (2) to relate these findings to empirical taxonomies of male offenders; and (3) to establish the occurrence of a personality type among female offenders approximating that called the psychopath. The women were awaiting trial in a correctional institution and approximately 94% had convictions previous to their current arrest. Personality profiles of these women were subjected to a cluster analysis, and four distinct profile types emerged, classifying three-quarters of the sample. The four types were tentatively identified as being characteristic of primary psychopaths, secondary or neurotic psychopaths, Megargee's overcontrolled personality type, and normal criminals. Similarities with previous research on both female and male offenders were emphasized, and one difference in the nondiscriminating power of the extraversion dimension was noted. The importance of further research with female offenders, and in particular, female psychopaths was stressed. High hostility scores for the entire sample were noted and an interpretation was suggested.
Staff Drift
Authors: Johnson V. Scott
Published: March 2008

Data from an evaluation of the effectiveness of a therapeutic community program in reducing tension in a pretrial detention center demonstrated that the nature of staff-inmate interaction tended to shift over time from emphasis on therapeutic endeavors to routine administration. The "drift" from therapeutic to routine matters was also related to diminished tension within the facility as measured by incident reports. The shift toward attending to the inmates' needs for information about trial dates; obtaining of commissary, clothing, or writing materials; arranging phone calls and appointments with social workers; and attending to other details was accompanied by reduced incident reports. Conversely, the occurrence of both "therapeutic" group meetings and other more general group meetings was positively associated with incident occurrence.
Traditional Finance and China's Agricultural Trade, 1920-1933
Authors: Ma Junya
Published: March 2008

This article analyzes the operation of modern China's nationwide traditional financial network. The network was hierarchical, with Shanghai as the center. Coexisting with the center, however, were several distinct regionally oriented subsystems in the Lower Yangzi Valley, North China, Central China, and South China. Each subsystem had its own financial center, which was the center for many regional, or lower level, markets. Each of these regional financial centers was surrounded by many even smaller subcenters, which extended level by level down to the bottom of the entire financial system: the local township markets. In this way, all Chinese rural households were incorporated into the financial network through local markets. Therefore, the flow of currency between the financial centers and subcenters was the true link between the central markets and local markets, and the trade in agricultural products created the real tie that connected rural households with various markets.
Validating three tests of English language proficiency
Authors: Davies Alan
Published: March 2008

Language test construction is discussed as a possible variety of general psychological test construction. Validation studies of three British English language proficiency tests are described. The process of concurrent and predictive validation for these three tests (EPTB, ELBA, ELTS) is dis cussed and the conclusion drawn that while these procedures are neces sary they do no more than determine the accuracy of the preliminary construct and content validity consideration.
The role of foreign language aptitude in a model of school learning
Authors: Skehan Peter
Published: March 2008

[In this article Skehan reexamines the Carroll Model of School Learning, and suggests that it has considerable import for the neglected field of aptitude testing.]
The effect of passage topical structure types on ESL reading comprehension difficulty
Authors: Perkins Kyle
Published: March 2008

This study investigated the effect of five types of topical structure on the item difficulty of reading comprehension questions. A topical structure includes the initial sentence element which is the initially placed discourse material in a sentence; a mood (surface structure) subject; and a topical subject which is a surface subject relating to the discourse topic of a text. The results indicated that there was a difference in the item difficulty of the questions according to the type of topical structure on which the questions were based. The questions derived from sentences in which given information occurred before new information and from sentences in which topical information occurred in subject position tended to be easier than questions derived from sentences manifesting other types of topical structure. The article concludes with a suggestion that topical structure types be included as a variable in future models of ESL reading comprehension difficulty.
Second language testing and second language acquisition: is there a conflict with traditional psychometrics?
Authors: Swain Merrill
Published: March 2008

This article questions the relevance of the notion of reliability as internal consistency in tests of communicative language proficiency and suggests alternative criteria for judging the quality of communicative tests. Attempts to establish reliability for a set of oral tasks on sociolinguistic performance and a set of written tasks on grammatical performance are provided. They show that mediocre reliability coefficients were achieved at a high cost to construct validity.
The development of a new measure of L2 vocabulary knowledge
Authors: Read John
Published: March 2008

With the increasing interest on the part of both researchers and language teaching specialists in the study of vocabulary acquisition by L2 learners, there is a need to have suitable instruments to measure learners' knowledge of words. The purpose of this article is to report on an investigation of a new test format, which was designed to go beyond conventional vocabulary test items - that simply allow for a yes/no judgement on whether a word is known - by providing a practical way of assessing the quality of word knowledge, that is, how well particular words are known.
Can relatively perfect translation between English and Chinese be achieved?
Authors: Suyi Xiao  , Oller John W.
Published: March 2008

It may be hypothesized that translation is always possible among diverse languages (Lakoff, 1987) or that it is never possible (Givón, 1989). In order to provide empirical evidence, 250 speakers of English and Chinese were tested in randomly selected blocks of 25 subjects each on one version of an original and another of a translated text in their respective native languages. A fixed- ratio cloze procedure was used deleting every fifth word from two distinct versions over each text so that every word of both texts was clozed exactly once in one of the five versions. English speaking subjects ( n = 125) completed two cloze tests in English: one over the text originally written in English and another over the text translated from Chinese. Chinese-speaking subjects ( n = 125) also completed two tests: one over the text originally written in Chinese, and the other over the translation from English. MANOVA comparisons between originals and translations irrespective of group showed no significant contrast. There was, however, a small but significant ( p < .05) contrast between groups, but none between the passages averaging over the treatment and group. Results support the universality theory (along Peircean lines) and the conclusion that a high degree of translation equivalence is achievable across radically distinct languages and cultural settings.
An investigation of planning time and proficiency level on oral test discourse
Authors: Wigglesworth Gillian
Published: March 2008

The inclusion of planning time in semi-direct oral interaction tests adds consider ably to the overall length of the test, and it is important to be clear that the increase in length is justified by the language outcome. Previous research has shown that the effect of planning time in second language can differentially influence the resultant discourse with planned discourse eliciting more complex language on a range of measures. However, where planning time has been provided it has gener ally been a substantial amount of time (ten minutes or more), and in a second language classroom situation, rather than a testing situation. Where planning time is provided in an oral interaction test it is generally limited to one or two minutes. In this study planning time was manipulated as a variable in a trial administration of a semi-direct test. Discourse analytic techniques were then used to determine the nature and/or significance of differences in the elicited discourse across the two conditions in terms of complexity and accuracy. In addition, candidates were divided into high-proficiency versus low-proficiency groups. The findings suggest that for the high-proficiency candidates, planning time may improve accuracy on some measures where the cognitive load of the task is high, but that this effect does not extend to the low-proficiency candidates.
Testing methods, testing consequences: are they ethical? are they fair?
Authors: Shohamy Elana
Published: March 2008

Language tests employing methods which are not fair to all test takers are unethi cal. Equally, uses of language tests which aim to exercise control and manipulate stakeholders rather than provide information regarding proficiency levels are also unethical. Ways of reducing these sources of unfairness are discussed and language testers are urged to exercise vigilance at all times to ensure that the tests they develop are democratic and fair.
African Students in Britain
Authors: Animashawun G.K.
Published: March 2008

This personal account of the difficulties and opinions of African students in Britain differs in approach and presentation from many articles that have appeared in RACE, in that it is direct evidence rather than findings based on a body of evidence. It contains insights which we believe to be valuable, and we hope that from time to time papers of this kind will be of interest to our readers.
The Seventh Man
Authors: Berger John
Published: March 2008

The following extract from John Berger's The Seventh Man, to be published by Penguin's in Spring 1975,* examines the political implications of migrant labour in West European countries.

In Germany and Great Britain, one out of seven manual workers is an immigrant.
Struggling against the 'Bandastan': an interview with Attati Mpakati
Authors: Searle Chris
Published: March 2008

There is an almost total blackout of news on Malawi. What hard news we can get is mostly from exiles, ex-detainees who have fled the country. Foreign journalists and commentators are banned, as are many books and newspapers. The papers that are allowed to be sold are heavily censored - offending articles are simply inked out. After pressure from Callaghan, some foreign journalists were allowed in to report the 1978 elections (the first since 1962), but this was mere window-dressing. Documentation on Malawi is, therefore, extremely hard to come by - War on Want's report Tomorrow's Epidemic has a short section on Malawi's tobacco industry, and Amnesty International produced a briefing paper on Malawi in August 1976, with subsequent references to the situation in their annual reports. And there is of course Legson Kayira's The Detainee, a review of which appears belatedly in this issue, p.429. We publish the interview which follows as a rare opportunity to expose current conditions.

Dr Mpakati is currently the National Chairman of the Socialist League of Malawi (LESOMA). A former leader of the militant anti- colonial Nyasaland National Congress (proscribed by Banda in 1959), he was himself detained, and subsequently left Malawi in 1961. Several attempts have been made to assassinate him. In February 1979 he was nearly killed in Maputo when his hands were blown off by a letter bomb. In an open letter to Banda after the assassination attempt, he told the self-proclaimed `President for Life' that it was a waste of time spending the country's resources trying to kill him. The people were going to oppose him whether he, Mpakati, lived or died, and dem ocracy, justice and socialism were now on the agenda for the future Malawi.

Chris Searle: What happened in Malawi just after Independence, and since then?
The people's commentator: calypso and the Grenada revolution
Authors: Searle Chris
Published: March 2008

Cecil Belfon, The Flying Turkey, is the most celebrated calypsonian in Grenada. He is also a soldier in the People's Revolutionary Army. As he says: 'In the context of our society now, I have been able to combine the two functions, soldier and calypsonian, because the objectives of both roles have come together and make one and the same thing. ' Belfon was a bank clerk in the Royal Bank of Canada until 13 March 1979, the morning of the Grenada Revolution. When he heard of the uprising, he left his bank counter and immediately went to help defend the radio station, which the revolutionaries had stormed and taken. He has been a soldier ever since then.

His songs and records, in particular 'Innocent Blood' (written short ly after the June 1980 bomb attack on the leadership of the People's Revolutionary Government at a public rally, causing the death of three teenage girls), are very popular in Grenada, and show the clear and dynamic link between calypso and the revolutionary movement in the Caribbean.

Belfon is now Manager of Television Free Grenada.
From Sidon to Tripoli
Authors: Schaar Stuart
Published: March 2008

Born in Canada of Greek parents, Dr Giannou trained at the Universi ty of Algiers medical school and completed his medical degree at Cairo University, specialising in cancer surgery. There he became fluent in Arabic. He then joined the Egyptian National Cancer Institute as a resident and worked in its hospital. Being on call from 7 am to mid night, at times seven days a week, for three years was to be excellent preparation for war surgery with its demands of discipline, drudgery and improvisation.

After the Israelis invaded southern Lebanon in June 1982, Dr Gian nou operated on the wounded while shells and bombs fell around the hospital in Sidon where he was then working. Arrested by the Israelis, he witnessed beatings of prisoners and testified before the Canadian Ministry of External Affairs and the US House Foreign Affairs sub committee on the Middle East during the summer of 1982. That sum mer and in the autumn he toured thirty US cities, speaking at colleges and before church and community groups about his experiences in Lebanon.

Dr Giannou returned to the Middle East to set up a hospital in the Tripoli region where he worked for eight months. When thefighting in the ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organisation spread to Tripoli, he continued to work there.

As a new member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, he plans to return to the Middle East and practise surgery among Palestinians. He also will be responsible for helping to administer the extensive Palestine Red Crescent public health network.

As a medical doctor he treated Arafat loyalists and dissidents alike. He came in contact with Israeli prisoners whom the PLO had earlier captured. In the course of his work he met with Arafat on a daily basis and participated in the difficult negotiations which led to the exchange of prisoners held by the Israelis and Palestinians. His eyewitness ac count provides one of the first insights we have into what transpired during the intense fighting in the Tripoli region prior to the evacuation of Palestinian forces in mid-December 1983.

The events in Tripoli have caused him chagrin and deep anxiety, but he remains optimistic about the future, arguing that out of the Tripoli conflict will emerge new clarity and new political initiatives. These, he believes, will be based on the Arafat wing of the PLO accepting the principles of majority rule, rather than continuing to make decisions on the basis of difficult-to-achieve unanimity. He expects Franco- Egyptian peace initiatives to dominate the diplomatic stage in the mon ths ahead and he sees no alternative to Yasser Arafat's leadership of the PLO. He also expects Arafat to carry out changes while being sup ported by the majority of the Palestinian population living under Israeli occupation.
Break up of families: a case study in creeping transfer
Authors: Al-Batrawi Khaled , Rabbani Mouin
Published: March 2008

In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the enforced separation of families is a social problem greater in scope than unemployment or illiteracy in many other societies. While Israel orchestrated a massive campaign to foster Soviet Jewish emigration and unite the Jewish people in the former homes of Palestinian refugees, the systematic separation of Palestinian families passed without comment. Thousands of Palestinian families were torn apart by the expulsions of 1948, and additional thousands rent asunder by the forced exodus which accompanied the 1967 war. In subsequent years, Israel's deportation policy, applied with equal ferocity to political dissidents and unregistered residents, ensured that more Palestinian families were routinely separated without prior notice. Where those attempting to rejoin their loved ones were once shot on sight by border patrols, currently applications for family reunifica tion on humanitarian grounds are systematically refused on the grounds that they are not 'extraordinarily humanitarian'.

Jackson Diehl's Washington Post article in late 1989 was perhaps the first attempt in the US mainstream media to examine the subject with the attention it deserves; his predecessor, Glenn Frankel, won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Occupied Territories without once seriously addressing the subject, despite the fact that hardly a family in the West Bank or Gaza Strip remains unaffected.

Khaled al-Batrawi, his wife Reema and their 1-year old daughter Beisan certainly don't look like a separated family, and the mere reality of them entering the door together seemed to defeat the purpose of this interview. As the conversation progressed, however, it became clear that their situation was not only insufferable, but could have been, and may yet become far worse. I asked Khaled, a 30-year-old resident of al-Bira, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to relate the problems of a family denied the right of cohabitation not because his was a particularly severe case; as described below, he is more fortunate than most. Rather, his intimate knowledge of the subject, command of detail and the more typical involvement of a spouse as opposed to a sibling, child, or parent shed light on the situation confronting many Palestinian families.
Coastal geomorphology
Authors: Viles Heather
Published: March 2008

Coastal geomorphologists are becoming increasingly concerned with applied studies for a variety of reasons, including economic considerations. However, there are other remaining challenges for coastal geomorphologists including relating processes and forms, observa tions and theories to produce convincing and useful explanatory frameworks. Without these developments, applied studies will always lack rigour and predictive power. In the following sections I review some recent observational, theoretical and applied work in coastal geomorphology in general and then focus on coastal sand dune studies.
Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polymer Composites for Electronic Packaging Application
Authors: Erfan Suryani Abdul Rashid  , Ariffin Kamarshah , Akil Hazizan Md , Chee Choong Kooi
Published: March 2008

Alumina (AE) and mica (ME) particles were used as fillers in epoxy-based polymer composites. Comparisons were made between the composites with respect to mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties. Mechanical and thermal studies were performed on the composites at various filler contents. Dispersion of the filler was evaluated using scanning electron micrograph (SEM). It was found that the flexural modulus of the composites was almost identical as far as AE and ME are concerned, particularly at 025 vol% of filler content. However, obvious increment was observed in the case of AE for flexural strength.
Recommended Methodology for Measurements of PCDD and PCDF in the Nordic Countries
Authors: Jansson Bo , Bergvall Gunnar
Published: March 2008

In April 1986 the Nordic Council of Ministers recommended that the Nordic countries use a specific method for measurements of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) in flue gas emissions from waste combustion. The recommended protocol, which will be re-evaluated in a years time, includes the following.

A one week registration period during which the plant is studied by continuous registration of a number of operating and emission parameters. The sampling period is included in this time.

A sampling procedure based on a heated filter followed by a condenser, a bottle for the condensate and an adsorbent column. Before the sampling, at least two labelled PCDD are added to the filter.

No specified analytical procedure. A labelled PCDF is added before the clean-up procedure and an injection standard before the final analysis. The laboratory is free to use any method that gives at least 25% recovery of the sampling standards and 50% recovery of the clean-up standard.

Reporting requirements include homologue specific results for PCDD and PCDF containing four to eight chlorine atoms as well as isomer-specific results for the "dirty dozen". The results should be compensated for incomplete recoveries and the factors used should be reported.
Risk From Exposure To Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans Emitted From Municipal Incinerators
Authors: Mukerjee Debdas , Cleverly David H.
Published: March 2008

Incineration of wastes seems to be one of the major sources of PCDDs and PCDFs (dioxins). Their prevalence and extreme stability in the environment, bioavailability and bioaccumulation in the biota and human adipose tissues and breast milk are of much concern. 2,3,7,8-TCDD is one of the most toxic chemicals known and has been found to have teratogenic and carcinogenic activities in animals. Exposure to TCDD can result in chloracne, general weakness, drastic weight loss, hyperpigmentation of skin, hirsutism, porphyria cutanea tarda, liver damage, changes in activities of various liver enzymatic levels, abnormal lipid metabolism, abnormalities of the endocrine and immune systems, and possible teratogenic effects in humans. Moreover, chronic bioassay data indicate that TCDD is one of the most potent carcinogens known. It promotes liver and skin carcinogeneses, and is an initiator for various target organs in rodent test systems. There is only a limited number of human epi-studies on carcinogenic outcome as a result of exposure to TCDD in isolated population.

According to the classification system of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the qualitative evidence for carcinogenicity of TCDD is considered to be "sufficient" in animals and "inadequate" in humans. Consequently, this chemical has been placed in IARC's 2B category. A modification of the multistage model is utilized for extrapolating high-dose, two-year animal cancer bioassay data to estimate human cancer risk for long-term, low-dose human exposure. The upper limit of incremental cancer risk is 3.3 x 10-5 for a continuous lifetime exposure to 1 pg m-3 of TCDD in ambient air. With the exception of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and a mixture of 1,2,3,6,7,8- and 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDDs, the chronic toxicity data on the rest of the 75 PCDD and 135 PCDF congeners are badly deficient. In the absence of chronic bioassay data on other PCDDs and PCDFs, several TCDD equivalent approaches have been proposed for risk assessment on other congeners or mixtures. This paper compares the various approaches.
Canada's National Incinerator Testing and Evaluation Program (NITEP) Air Pollution Control Technology Assessment
Authors: Klicius R. , Hay D.J. , Finkelstein A. , Marentette L.
Published: March 2008

In order to address the many concerns associated with emissions from municipal energy-from-waste facilities, Environment Canada established the National Incinerator Testing and Evaluation Program (NITEP). In recognition of the absence of a useful data base on incinerator emission control systems, Environment Canada, in co-operation with Flakt Canada, constructed a pilot plant to evaluate a dry scrubber system and a spray-dryer (wet-dry) system, each followed by a fabric filter (baghouse).

Extensive sampling was done before and after each reactor, as well as in the stack. All particulate material collected in the bottom of the scrubbers and the fabric filter were analysed and subjected to leaching tests to determine the suitability of subsequent disposal alternatives. All samples taken were analysed for dioxins, furans, other organic substances, metals and acid gases.

Many different operating conditions were tested to identify optimum removal efficiency for all pollutants of concern. The final results were very significant. Flue gas temperature was found to be an important operating variable for achieving high removal efficiency for many of the pollutants measured. Appropriate operating conditions were identified to obtain extremely high removal efficiencies for dioxins and furans (>99%), other trace organics (up to 98%), heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic, lead (>99%) and up to 97% for mercury. Excellent removal (>95%) was also obtained for acid gases, i.e. HCl and SO2.
Landfill Gas Recovery in Michigan
Authors: Guter Kurt J. , Nuerenberg Ralph L.
Published: March 2008

The history of the construction and initial operation of Michigan's second medium BTU landfill gas operation is presented. Gas from 25 ha of a privately owned landfill is piped nearly 2 km to a factory that uses it as fuel for a steam boiler for 365 days a year. The only purification is removal of condensate water.
Instrumentation and Monitoring of a Bentonite Landfill Liner
Authors: Grantham Gary , Robinson Howard
Published: March 2008

A landfill site in northern Wales which lies only a few metres above the local water table was lined with a mixture of locally available sand and imported bentonite. To test the permeability and leachate attenuation capacity of this liner special test chambers lined with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) were constructed underneath the sand-bentonite liner and instrumented to collect samples of any infiltrating water. Over an 18-month period there has been less than 1 mm of infiltration from a completed section of the landfill into the test chambers. No evidence of contamination of the groundwater by the landfill has been detected in test wells. The sampling continues.