Robust, electro-conductive, self-healing superamphiphobic fabric prepared by one-step vapour-phase polymerisation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) in the presence of fluorinated decyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and fluorinated alkyl silane

A robust, electrically conductive, superamphiphobic fabric was prepared by vapour-phase polymerisation of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) on fabric in the presence of fluorinated decyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (FD-POSS) and a fluorinated alkyl silane (FAS). The coated fabric had contact angles of 169° and 156° respectively to water and hexadecane, and a surface resistance in the range of 0.8–1.2 kΩ o⁻¹ . The incorporation of FD-POSS and FAS into the PEDOT layer showed a very small influence on the conductivity but improved the washing and abrasion stability considerably. The coated fabric can withstand at least 500 cycles of standard laundry and 10000 cycles of abrasion without apparently changing the superamphiphobicity, while the conductivity only had a small reduction after the washing and abrasion. More interestingly, the coating had a self-healing ability to auto-repair from chemical damages to restore the liquid repellency.

Developing a presence in a mainstream market with a product perceived as offbeat

Generally when one thinks of Australian wine regions images of the Barossa Valley, the Hunter Valley or Margaret River may be conjured up as they have developed a presence in the mainstream market. Queensland, by contrast, may be perceived as offbeat, despite its similar quality and growing conditions. This study explores the plausibility of Queensland developing a presence in a mainstream market with findings from a survey completed by 347 people. The results indicate that when consumers choose their wine on the basis of terroir that personality, reputation and label design are the most important elements. Positioning wine from Queensland on its personality may hold the key to having an offbeat product compete in a mainstream market.

Re-mapping class and caste consciousness: short narratives of South Asian diaspora in Australia

Thanks to Bollywood, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) is predominantly imagined, back home in India, as super-rich, fully westernized in manners and doing India proud in foreign lands. One reason for this as explained by renowned Bollywood producer-director Late Yash Chopra, in his address at the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Expatriate Indians Day) in 2003, is that as a director he is also working as a ‘historian’ and carrying on his shoulders the ‘moral responsibility [ … ] to depict India [and the Indian Diaspora] at its best’. In this regard, Ghassan Hage also notes that the ‘last thing’ the migrants (particularly men) would like to share with their families back home is shocking stories about racism, discrimination or prejudices that they may have experienced in public or the workplace. Such a revelation would obviously be followed by ‘why did you make us suffer and move to the end of the world just to get demeaned and insulted?’ Hage further notes that therefore the migrants’ familial and class experiences, be it in films, literature or even some sociological studies, are often ‘portrayed as a positive experience’ and this is ‘how the whole migratory enterprise continues to legitimise itself’'. It could be argued that this is one of the reasons the alleged ‘racist’ attacks against Indian students received so much attention in the Indian media. It was not just discrimination but the notion of discrimination and second class treatment (based on skin colour and origin) against the revered and much envied diasporic Indian that created such a media furor in India.

PANIC in the presence of uncertainty about the deterministic trend

Most macroeconomic and financial panel variables are trending. However, because of the well-known power problem in the presence of incidental trends, many researchers gamble that their unit root test regressions can be ran without such trends, thereby running the risk of obtaining spurious results. This article takes one of the most general and popular panel unit root tests, known as PANIC, and shows how it can be modified to account for the uncertainty regarding the deterministic trend.

Discovering consumer personality clusters in prestige sensitivity and fashion consciousness context

This article aims to discover the differences among consumer personality clusters in regard to their extent of fashion consciousness and prestige sensitivity. Data were collected from 251 undergraduate students using self-administered questionnaires. Cluster analysis and MANOVA were employed to assess whether significant differences exist among four personality clusters. The study used the Big Five scale items to measure consumer personality and found that respondents who score low on the “openness to experience” dimension tend to be less prestige sensitive, and those who score high on “extraversion,” “agreeableness,” and “conscientiousness” tend to be highly fashion conscious.

The presence of mathematics anxiety in future primary school teachers and factors affecting abatement

This study reflects on the implementation of various teaching initiatives for reducing anxiety toward mathematics in students studying to become primary school teachers. We highlight similarities between these practices and those promoted by the 'Whole Teacher' approach - in particular, the aim to develop attitudes along with knowledge and skills. Here, the negative past associations with mathematics and anxiety toward mathematics that students bring with them have been a key consideration when designing the subject content and delivery. Given the important role these students will have in shaping mathematics education in the future, we suggest frameworks such as that of the 'Whole Teacher' could be extended to the university setting. We investigate four years of student feedback pertaining to a first year undergraduate mathematics unit, contending that the teaching initiatives introduced over time have helped students develop a positive attitude toward mathematics. We note, however, that the student-teacher relationship was still the most prominent factor directly identified by students who previously had a fear or negative attitude toward mathematics.