Development and validation of the Attitudes Towards the Homeless questionnaire

CONTEXT: The homeless are a significant group within society, which is increasing in size. They have demonstrably greater physical and mental health needs than the housed, and yet often have difficulty accessing primary health care. Medical 'reluctance' to look after homeless people is increasingly suggested as part of the problem. Medical education may have a role in ameliorating this. OBJECTIVES: This paper reports on the development and validation of a questionnaire specifically developed to measure medical students' attitudes towards the homeless. METHOD AND RESULTS: The Attitudes Towards the Homeless Questionnaire, developed using the views of over 370 medical students, was shown to have a Pearson test-retest reliability correlation coefficient of 0.8 and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.74. CONCLUSIONS: The Attitudes Towards the Homeless Questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable instrument, which can measure students' attitudes towards the homeless. It could be a useful tool in assessing the effectiveness of educational interventions.

Improvements to the arc-spraying process

After a brief review of the various forms of thermal spraying equipment and processes, descriptions of the basic principles involved and the general functions for which thermally sprayed coatings are used are given. The background of the collaborating company, Metallisation, is described and their position in the overall market discussed, providing a backdrop against which the appropriateness of various project options might be judged. Current arc-spraying equipment is then examined, firstly in terms of the workings of their constituent parts and subsequently by examining the effects of changes in design and in operating parameters both upon equipment operation and the coatings produced. Published literature relating to these matters is reviewed. Literature relating to the production, comminution and propulsion of the particles which form the spray is discussed as are the mechanisms involved at impact with the substrate. Literature on the use of rockets for thermal spraying and induction heating as a process for feedstock melting are also reviewed. Three distinct options for further study are derived and preliminary tests and costings made to allow one option alone, the use of rocket acceleration, to go forward to the experimental phase. A suitable rocket burner was developed, tested and incorporated into an arc-spray system so that the sprayability of the whole could be assessed. Coatings were made using various parameters and these are compared with coatings produced by a standard system. Coatings were examined for macro and micro hardness, cohesive strength, porosity and by microstructural examination. The results indicate a high degree of similarity between the coatings produced by the standard system and the high velocity system. This was surprising in view of the very different atomising media and velocities. Possible causes for this similarity and the general behaviour of this new system and the standard system are discussed before the study reaches its conclusions in not proving the hypothesis that an increase in particle velocity would improve the mechanical properties of arc-sprayed steel coatings. KEY WORDS: Sprayed metal coatings, Electric arc spraying, High velocity flame spraying, Sprayed coating properties