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High precision inflatable surfaces were introduced when NASA created the ECHO 1 Balloon in 1960. The experiment proved that inflatable structures were a feasible alternative to their rigid counterparts for high precision applications. Today inflatable structures are being used in aviation and aerospace applications and the benefits of using such structures are being recognized. Inflatable structures used in high precision structures require the inflatable surfaces to have controllable and predictable geometries. Many applications such as solar sails and radar reflectors require the surface of such structures to have a uniform surfaces as such surfaces improve the efficiency of the structure. In the study presented, tests were conducted to determine which combination of factors affect surface flatness on a triangular test article. Factors tested include, three boundary conditions, two force loadings, and two fabric orientations. In total, twelve tests were conducted and results showed that which force loading and fabric orientations used greatly affected the Root Mean Square (RMS) of the surface. It was determined that using the triangular clamp along with 00 fabric orientation and high force loading provided the best results.

Postpartum depression affects approximately 13% of women and negatively impacts their partners and children. This interpretive phenomenological study explored the lived experience of postpartum depression. Rich descriptions of four women’s experiences were collected through conversational interviews, a focus group and fabric art. Three themes were identified: cast adrift, torn asunder and safely home. The findings suggested that women experience isolation, loss of identity and loss of sanity. Positive aspects of PPD were also revealed. Implications for nursing practice suggest increased targeted supportive programs for women shown to be at risk for PPD and increased support for all women and their families during the transition to parenthood. Recommendations for future nursing research include attention to fathers’ postpartum experiences and the need for longitudinal studies of women’s PPD experiences. Finally, nurse researchers are encouraged to use artwork as a source of rich data.

The British market has until now received little of the credit due it as the chief support of the cotton industry during the final fifty years of the eighteenth century. The manner in which this support was extended involved a restructuring of the economy, as illustrated by a qualitative change in the consumer habits of the population; the advent of a mass consumer society. The demand for cotton textiles was a distillation of many amorphous desires and aspirations that flourished in eighteenth century Britain. This was not a frivolous whim on the part of a small host of women, but a powerful economic force which might be tapped through the female section of the society, but which involved the entire society on a fundamental level. When the fashionable urge was translated into a demand for inexpensive, attractive cottons the industry was tied to one of the most potent commercial forces of that period. As a result of recent research, historians are coming to recognize a feature of economic development in the last half of the eighteenth century never before sufficiently acknowledged. This quality in the economic life of the nation set it off from all previous eras. During that time an economy developed and prospered that was geared to the profits of popular fashions, produced cheaply and in quantity for the mass market. Never before had a trade developed so quickly, exclusively on popular demand for mass-produced fashionable textiles. The provision of news on current fashions throughout the nation sparked generalized interest in British manufacturers among the middle and working classes. These classes were the basis of the market on which the cotton. industry depended for its vitality; it was among these sections of society that the creations of the cotton industry found the great new markets of the eighteenth century. Institutionalized dessimination of fashion information in print; a homogeneity of demand throughout the nation and the ranks of the nation; and the diversification and development of cotton products in response to this demand were the principal characteristics of this economic and social phenomenon.

This thesis is divided into two parts, each of which examines aspects of bloodstain analysis where gravity is the main force applied to blood. Part I is a preliminary study on the dynamics of blood flow on various inclined surfaces and examines the use of blood analogs for easy test replication. The flow of uncoagulated human blood at different volumes and temperatures was examined on wood at a set angle of 1.5°, and on glass at varying incline angles. Glycerol solutions of 59% and 42% were used to represent blood at 23°C and 37°C respectively. Glycerol flow trials of similar volumes were conducted on wood, PVC and glass. Fluid flow plots of distance versus time exhibited double exponential curve behaviour, although a power-law relationship derived by H. E. Huppert's (1982) flow expression was obtained for blood flowing on inclined wood. Blood flow exhibited several observable characteristics; a decreasing width of the leading edge over time, and streaking and component separation of the leading region at very low speeds. On a glass surface, the width of the initial flow region decreased and initial speed increased with increasing angles. The glycerol analogs used in this study did not represent their blood counterparts well due to differences in physical properties of the fluids. Part II of this study focuses on the forensic value of passive bloodstains on three fabrics; 100% cotton drill, 65/35 polyester cotton, and 100% Shantung silk. 26 µL drops of 37°C human blood were deposited onto the three fabrics and paper from a height of 14 cm at various impact angles. The stains were photographed and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using computational methods. 100% cotton drill, 65/35 polyester cotton and ironed 100% Shantung silk provided useful forensic values such as direction of travel and angle of impact. Overall, this study has provided useful preliminary data for further research work.

Since its independence in 1984, politicians and nationalists in Brunei Darussalam have appealed to traditions in their efforts to create a national identity based on Brunei Darussalam’s national philosophy, `Malay Islamic Monarchy’. Weaving is one of the traditions related to Brunei traditional culture, thus traditional textile is used to construct national identity. This study focuses on the role played by powerful institutions in the creation of new tradition in order to foster national awareness in the `new state’ of Brunei Darussalam and I examine how traditional textiles are incorporated into the project of nation building. In Bruneian society, traditional woven cloths have multiple roles whose meanings vary according to the situation in which the traditional cloth is utilized. This research explores the significance of traditional textiles in Brunei Darussalam, focusing on the consumption of locally woven textiles in its traditions and the relationships to the expression and construction of identity. Since Islam came to Brunei Darussalam, it has become one of the predominant markers of identity of the Malays. This study analyse the influence of Islam in the production and consumption of traditional textile in Brunei Darussalam. The continuity of the production and consumption of traditional woven textile in Brunei Darussalam is very much dependent on its significant in the traditions of Brunei society as a whole. In order to prove this, this study focuses its investigation upon the production and uses of traditional textiles in the social customs of Malay society in Brunei Darussalam. Traditional woven textiles are employed to construct social identity in the reproduction of distinction. Traditional textiles are also offered to signify privilege and power. I examine how traditional textile is being used to distinguish social status and political prominence, denote offices, and display wealth and prestige.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002. / A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2002. Bibliography : leaves 287-331.