Weaving yarns : the lived experience of Indigenous Australians with adult-onset disability in Brisbane

Indigenous Australians have lower levels of health than mainstream Australians and (as far as statistics are able to indicate) higher levels of disability, yet there is little information on Indigenous social and cultural constructions of disability or the Indigenous experience of disability. This research seeks to address these gaps by using an ethnographic approach, couched within a critical medical anthropology (CMA) framework and using the “three bodies” approach, to study the lived experience of urban Indigenous people with an adult-onset disability. The research approach takes account of the debate about the legitimacy of research into Indigenous Australians, Foucault‟s governmentality, and the arguments for different models of disability. The possibility of a cultural model of disability is raised. After a series of initial interviews with contacts who were primarily service providers, more detailed ethnographic research was conducted with three Indigenous women in their homes and with four groups of Indigenous women and men at an Indigenous respite centre. The research involved multiple visits over a period extending more than two years, and the establishment of relationships with all participants. An iterative inductive approach utilising constant comparison (i.e. a form of grounded theory) was adopted, enabling the generation and testing of working hypotheses. The findings point to the lack of an Indigenous construct of disability, related to the holistic construction of health among Indigenous Australians. Shame emerges as a factor which affects the way that Indigenous Australians respond to disability, and which operates in apparent contradiction to expectations of community support. Aspects of shame relate to governmentality, suggesting that self-disciplinary mechanisms have been taken up and support the more obvious exertion of government power. A key finding is the strength of Indigenous identity above and beyond other forms of identification, e.g. as a person with a disability, expressed in forms of resistance by individuals and service providers to the categories and procedures of the mainstream. The implications of a holistic construction of health are discussed in relation to the use of CMA, the interpretation of the “three bodies”, governmentality and resistance. The explanatory value of the concept of sympatricity is discussed, as is the potential value of a cultural model of disability which takes into account the cultural politics of a defiant Indigenous identity.

Barium-Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Yarns As Low-Work-Function Thermionic Cathodes

Barium-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube yarns were fabricated by drawing and twisting multiwalled carbon nanotube forests through a solution containing barium nitrate. After heat activation under vacuum, the functionalized yarns were enriched in barium oxide due to the high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanotubes. The cathodes exhibited good thermionic properties, with a work function as low as 1.73-2.06 eV and thermionic current density that exceeded 185 mA/cm(2) in a field of 850 V/5 mm at 1317 K. The barium-functionalized yarns had high tensile strength of up to 420 MPa and retained strength of similar to 250 MPa after a 2 h activation process. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Characterization of conductive polyprrole coated wool yarns

Wool yarns were coated with conducting polypyrrole by chemical synthesis methods. Polymerization of pyrrole was carried out in the presence of wool yarn at various concentrations of the monomer and dopant anion. The changes in tensile, moisture absorption, and electrical properties of the yarn upon coating with conductive polypyrrole are presented. Coating the wool yarns with conductive polypyrrole resulted in higher tenacity, higher breaking strain, and lower initial modulus. The changes in tensile properties are attributed to the changes in surface morphology due to the coating and reinforcing effect of conductive polypyrrole. The thickness of the coating increased with the concentration of p-toluene sulfonic acid, which in turn caused a reduction in the moisture regain of the wool yarn. Reducing the synthesis temperature and replacing p-toluenesulfonic acid by anthraquinone sulfonic acid resulted in a large reduction in the resistance of the yarn.

Comparing the hairiness of solospun and ring spun worsted yarns

This paper compares the hairiness of Solospun yarns with conventional ring spun worsted yams of the same specifications. A 24-spindles worsted ring spinning frame is used to spin the Solospun and conventional ring spun yarns at the same time, and yarn hairiness is measured. The total hairiness number (Tp), the number of hairs longer than or equal to 3mm (S3), the percentage of longer hairs in total hairs (100S3/Tp), and the total hair length per unit yarn length (K' ) are used to compare the hairiness of these yams. The results indicate that the Solospun yarn exhibits less hairiness in each of the hair length groups and has lower variations in yarn hairiness. The hair-length distribution of the Solospun yarn follows an exponential law just like conventional ring spun yams. There is a statistically significant difference between the Solospun and conventional ring spun yams for T p, S3, and K', but the difference in 1 00S 3/Tp is not statistically significant for these yams. In addition, the Tp, S3, and K' values of the Solospun yarn decrease with twist increase and increase with spindle speed increase, but the 100S3/Tp values of the Solospun and conventional ring spun yarns in this study behave differently in that they are affected by twist level and spindle speed.

Effects of bleaching and dyeing on the quality of alpaca tops and yarns

This paper reports the effects of bleaching of alpaca tops and dyeing of bleached alpaca tops/yarns on the quality of tops and yarns. A dark brown alpaca top was bleached with hydrogen peroxide. Two bleaching methods were tried for effectiveness of color removal. A portion of each bleached top was dyed after bleaching. Color parameters were examined for unbleached, bleached and bleached/dyed tops, these tops were then converted into yarns of different twist levels and counts using a worsted spinning system. Some of the bleached yarn from each bleaching method was dyed in a package dye vat to compare the difference of top dyeing versus yarn package dyeing on yarn quality. Fiber diameter, yarn strength, yarn evenness, yarn hairiness and fiber degradation were tested to examine the effects of bleaching and dyeing on these properties at top and yarn stages. A processing route for bleaching and dyeing alpaca fiber was recommended.

The hairiness of worsted wool and cashmere yarns and the impact of fiber curvature on hairiness

In this study, a range of carefully selected wool and cashmere yarns as well as their blends were used to examine the effects of fiber curvature and blend ratio on yarn hairiness. The results indicate that yarns spun from wool fibers with a higher curvature have lower yarn hairiness than yarns spun from similar wool of a lower curvature. For blend yarns made from wool and cashmere of similar diameter, yarn hairiness increases with the increase in the cashmere content in the yarn. This is probably due to the presence of increased proportion of the shorter cashmere fibers in the surface regions of the yarn, leading to increased yarn hairiness. A modified hairiness composition model is used to explain these results and the likely origin of leading and trailing hairs. This model highlights the importance of yarn surface composition on yarn hairiness.

Conductive wool yarns by continuous vapour phase polymerization of pyrrole

Conducting polypyrrole (PPy) coated wool yarns were prepared by a continuous vapour polymerization technique, using a speed of 1 m/min with different iron(III) chloride (FeCl₃) as the oxidant at different concentrations. The resistivities, tensile properties, longitudinal and cross-sectional views of PPy-coated wool yarns were investigated. Optimum specific electrical resistances of 2.96 Ω g/cm² at 80 g/L FeCl₃ and 1.69 Ω g/cm² at 70 g/L FeCl₃ were obtained for 500 and 400 twist per meter (TPM) yarns, respectively. PPy-coated wool yarns exhibited higher elongation than uncoated yarns. Longitudinal and cross-sectional views of the yarns indicate that PPy coating penetrated deep into the yarn cross-section and a uniform coating was obtained on the surface of the yarn surface.