Examining the effects of balloon control ring on ring spinning

The ring spinning process has been used to produce fine and high quality staple fibre yarns. The stability of the rotating yarn loop (i.e. balloon) between the yarn-guide and the traveller-ring is crucial to the success and economics of this process. Balloon control rings are used to contain the yarn-loop, by reducing the yarn tension and decreasing the balloon flutter instability. Flutter instability here refers to the uncontrolled changes in a ballooning yarn under dynamic forces, including the air drag. Due to the significant variation in the length and radius of the balloon during the bobbin filling process, the optimal location for the balloon control ring is not easily determined. In order to address this difficulty, this study investigates the variation in the radius of a free balloon and examines the effect of balloon control rings of various diameters at different locations on yarn tension and balloon flutter stability. The results indicate that the maximum radius of a free balloon and its corresponding position depend not only on the yarn-length to balloon-height ratio, but also on yarn type and count. A control ring of suitable radius and position can significantly reduce yarn tension and decrease flutter instability of free single-loop balloons. While the balloon control rings are usually fixed to, and move in sinc with, the ring frame, results reported in this study suggest that theoretically, a balloon control ring that always remains approximately half way between the yarn-guide and the ring rail during spinning can lead to significant reduction in yarn tension.

Living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease (ALS/MND) : decision-making about 'ongoing change and adaptation

Aims and objectives. To present a model that explicates the dimensions of change and adaptation as revealed by people who are diagnosed and live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease.

Background. Most research about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease is medically focused on cause and cure for the illness. Although psychological studies have sought to understand the illness experience through questionnaires, little is known about the experience of living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease as described by people with the disease.

Design. A grounded theory method of simultaneous data collection and constant comparative analysis was chosen for the conduct of this study.

Methods. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, electronic correspondence, field notes, as well as stories, prose, songs and photographs important to participants. QSR NVivo 2® software was used to manage the data and modelling used to illustrate concepts.

Findings. Participants used a cyclic, decision-making pattern about 'ongoing change and adaptation' as they lived with the disease. This pattern formed the basis of the model that is presented in this paper.

Conclusion. The lives of people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease revolve around the need to make decisions about how to live with the disease progression and their deteriorating abilities. Life decisions were negotiated by participants to maintain a sense of self and well-being in the face of change.

Relevance to clinical practice. The 'ongoing change and adaptation' model is a framework that can guide practitioners to understand the decision-making processes of people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease. Such understanding will enhance caring and promote models of care that are person-centred. The model may also have relevance for people with other life limiting diseases and their care.

In-situ tensile properties of a ballooning staple yarn

This study investigated the tensile properties of a rotating or ballooning staple yarn. The results indicated that the effect of rotating speed on the tensile properties of a ballooning staple yarn was significant. As the yarn rotating speed increased, the tenacity of the rotating or ballooning yarn decreased, while the yarn breaking elongation increased. The effect of rotating speed on the tenacity of a ballooning staple yarn varied for different yarns. These results demonstrated that the breaking force of a ballooning yarn was much lower than the yarn breaking force obtained from normal tensile tests. These results provide new insight into the problems of yarn breakage in yarn spinning and twisting processes.

The advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory (ASELL) project : the next chapter

Most researchers agree that the laboratory experience ranks as a significant factor that influences students’ attitudes to their science courses. Consequently, good laboratory programs should play a major role in influencing student learning and performance. The laboratory program can be pivotal in defining a student's experience in the sciences, and if done poorly, can be a major contributing factor in causing disengagement from the subject area. The challenge remains to provide students with laboratory activities that are relevant, engaging and offer effective learning opportunities. The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project has developed over the last 10 years with the aim of improving the quality of learning in undergraduate laboratories, providing a validated means of evaluating the laboratory experience of students and effective professional development for academic staff. After successful development in chemistry and trials using the developed principles in physics and biology, the project has now expanded to include those disciplines. This paper will discuss the activities of ASELL and provide a report about the first ASELL science workshop held at the University of Adelaide in April 2010.

The advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory (ASELL) project : the first Australian multidisciplinary workshop

Most science educators and researchers will agree that the laboratory experience ranks as a major factor that influences students’ attitudes to their science courses. Consequently, good laboratory programs should play a major role in influencing student learning and performance. The laboratory program can be pivotal in defining a student's experience in the sciences, and if done poorly, can be a major contributing factor in causing disengagement from the subject area. The challenge remains to provide students with laboratory activities that are relevant, engaging and offer effective learning opportunities.

The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project has developed over the last 10 years with the aim of improving the quality of learning in undergraduate laboratories, providing a validated means of evaluating the laboratory experience of students and effective professional development for academic staff. After successful development in chemistry and trials using the developed principles in physics and biology, the project has now expanded to include those disciplines. This paper will discuss the activities of ASELL and provide a report about the first ASELL science workshop held at the University of Adelaide in April 2010, present some views of academic and student delegates, and make comparisons with other workshops.
Introduction

ASELL : the advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory project

Most science educators and researchers will agree that the laboratory experience ranks as a major factor that influences students’ attitudes to their science courses. Consequently, good laboratory programs should play a major role in influencing student learning and performance. The laboratory program can be pivotal in defining a student's experience in the sciences, and if done poorly, can be a major contributing factor in causing disengagement from the subject area. The challenge remains to provide students with laboratory activities that are relevant, engaging and offer effective learning opportunities.

Advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory (ASELL)

Final report of the the Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project. 

Most researchers agree that the laboratory experience ranks as a significant factor that influences students’ attitudes to their science courses. Consequently, good laboratory programs should play a major role in influencing student learning and performance. The laboratory program can be pivotal in defining a student's experience in the sciences, and if done poorly, can be a major contributing factor in causing disengagement from the subject area. The challenge remains to provide students with laboratory activities that are relevant, engaging and offer effective learning opportunities.

The Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory (ASELL) project has developed over the last 10 years with the aim of improving the quality of learning in undergraduate laboratories, providing a validated means of evaluating and improving the laboratory experience of students, and effective professional development for academic staff. After successful development in chemistry and trials using the developed principles in physics and biology, the project, with ALTC funding, has now expanded to include those disciplines.

The launching pad for ASELL was a multidisciplinary workshop held in Adelaide in April, 2010. This workshop involved 100 academics and students, plus 13 Deans of Science (or delegates), covering the three enabling sciences of biology, chemistry and physics. Thirty-nine undergraduate experiments were trialled over the three days of the workshop. More importantly, professional development in laboratory education was developed in the 42 academic staff that attended the workshop.

Following the workshop, delegates continued to evaluate, develop and improve both individual experiments and whole laboratory programs in their home institutions, mentored by the ASELL Team. Some highlights include:
- more than 15,000 student surveys carried out by delegates during 2010/11
- 10 whole lab programs were surveyed by delegates
- 4 new ASELL-style workshops, conducted by ASELL-trained delegates were run in 2010/11
- more than 100 ASELL-tested experiments available on the website (www.asell.org)
- ASELL workshops conducted in Philippines, Ireland in 2010, and planned in the USA and Thailand for 2011
- significant improvement in student evaluation of whole laboratory programs and individual experiments measured in universities using the ASELL approach
- high profile of ASELL activities in the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS)
- research project on the misconceptions of academic staff about laboratory learning completed
- significant research on student learning in the laboratory, and staff perceptions of student learning have been carried out during 2010/11
- research results have been benchmarked against staff and students in the USA.

The biggest unresolved issue for ASELL is one of sustainability in the post-ALTC funding era. ASELL will make a series of recommendations to the ACDS, but the future of the program depends, to a large part, on how the ACDS responds.

Patron offending and intoxication in night time entertainment districts (POINTED) : a study protocol

Risky alcohol consumption is the subject of considerable community concern in Australia and internationally, particularly the risky drinking practices of young people consuming alcohol in the night-time economy. This study will determine some of the factors and correlates associated with alcohol-related risk-taking, offending and harm in and around licensed venues and night-time entertainment precincts across five Australian cities (three metropolitan and two regional). The primary aim of the study is to measure levels of pre-drinking, drinking in venues, intoxication, illicit drug use and potentially harmful drinking practices (such as mixing with energy drinks) of patrons in entertainment areas, and relating this to offending, risky behaviour and harms experienced. The study will also investigate the effects of license type, trading hours, duration of drinking episodes and geographical location on intoxication, offending, risk-taking and experience of harm. Data collection involves patron interviews (incorporating breathalysing and drug testing) with 7500 people attending licensed venues. Intensive venue observations (n=112) will also be undertaken in a range of venues, including pubs, bars and nightclubs. The information gathered through this study will inform prevention and enforcement approaches of policy makers, police and venue staff.

It's a dirichlet world: Modeling individuals' loyalties reveals how brands compete, grow, and decline

The Dirichlet is one of the most important theoretical achievements of marketing science. It provides insights into the distribution of consumer loyalties and is used widely in industry for benchmarking and interpreting brand performance. The Dirichlet’s implications run counter to some well-entrenched marketing pedagogy and so, unsurprisingly, it has attracted criticism arguing that it cannot adequately reflect the dynamic nature of consumer choice. The authors address these criticisms by discussing how consumer loyalties are manifested and examining whether changes in consumer loyalties do, in fact, disrupt Dirichlet buying patterns. To the best of our discipline’s knowledge, based on extensive empirical and theoretical work, brands compete in a Dirichlet world.

Development, evaluation and use of a student experience survey in undergraduate science laboratories: the advancing science by enhancing learning in the laboratory student laboratory learning experience survey

Student experience surveys have become increasingly popular to probe various aspects of processes and outcomes in higher education, such as measuring student perceptions of the learning environment and identifying aspects that could be improved. This paper reports on a particular survey for evaluating individual experiments that has been developed over some 15 years as part of a large national Australian study pertaining to the area of undergraduate laboratories—Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory. This paper reports on the development of the survey instrument and the evaluation of the survey using student responses to experiments from different institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. A total of 3153 student responses have been analysed using factor analysis. Three factors, motivation, assessment and resources, have been identified as contributing to improved student attitudes to laboratory activities. A central focus of the survey is to provide feedback to practitioners to iteratively improve experiments. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.

Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks: perspectives of services marketers

Purpose – At present no frameworks exist for services marketers to incorporate social media (SM) within marketing communications planning. The majority of integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks were developed prior to the development of the widespread use of digital and SM for information seeking, sales and service. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue for services marketers specifically as they differ from FMCG, industrial and durable marketers in terms of marketing messages, branding, media and channels. Furthermore, as they are less reliant on outsourced sale channels they have more potential than other industries to integrate social and digital media to build awareness, brands and sales.

Design/methodology/approach – Depth interviews were conducted with eight senior services marketing executives to identify the impact of SM on marketing communications planning, implementation and measurement.

Findings – The findings revealed that the unique characteristics of SM (such as interactivity and individualisation, integration of communication and distribution channels, immediacy and information collection) impact traditional marketing communications frameworks. These impacts manifested in 12 modifications specific to services and SM to traditional generic IMC frameworks encompassed by the themes of reach, service channel, word-of-mouth advocacy, consumer generated messages, listening and behavioural measurement.

Practical implications – The rapidly evolving nature of SM means senior services marketers need to educate organisational stakeholders regarding implementation issues, which may be a barrier to effective integration of SM within marketing communications.

Originality/value – With digital marketing communications budgets reaching 30 per cent within some organisations, it is timely to put forward a marketing communication decision-making framework that first incorporates SM and second is suitable for services marketers.