Environmental stability graphite/PMR-15 composites

During the past few years the Boeing Company was screening graphite composites for use in hot areas of engine nacelle structure. Structural and thermal analyses have shown that there is the potential for a 25 to 30 percent weight savings by using a graphite polyimide (Gr/PI) composite material in this type of structure. Work conducted on the NASA CASTS program (Composites for Advanced Space Transportation Systems) amply demonstrated the capability of Graphite/PMR-15 for short term service (125 hours) at temperatures up to 589 K (600 F). In addition, the CASTS program demonstrated that large structures could be fabricated using Gr/PMR-15. In commercial applications, however, the requirement exists for long term service capability (tens of thousands of hours) at temperatures ranging upwards from 449 K (350 F). The results of Graphite/PMR-15 materials characterization efforts conducted at Boeing are presented with emphasis on materials properties after isothermal aging at temperatures of 449 K (350 F) and above

Clothing longevity perspectives: exploring consumer expectations, consumption and use

The production, distribution, use and end-of-life phases of the clothing lifecycle all have significant environmental impacts, but complete lifecycle assessment has identified that extending the active life of garments through design, use and re-use is the single most effective intervention in reducing the overall impact of the clothing industry (WRAP, 2011). In response, Government funded clothing longevity research seeks to develop and test industry-led design strategies to influence and enable consumers to keep garments in active use for longer (Cooper et al., 2014). While recent UK research has indicated significant potential to influence more sustainable consumer behaviour (Langley et al., 2013; YouGov, 2012), up-to-date qualitative research is required to discover how consumer attitudes, expectations and behaviours in relation to clothing lifetimes affects garment care and clothing use. This will help to inform industry-led strategies by understanding where effective changes can be made that will potentially have most impact. This paper presents preliminary findings from a Defra funded action based research project, ‘Strategies to improve design and testing for clothing longevity’. Qualitative research methods are used to explore consumer attitudes, expectations and behaviours at purchase, use and disposal stages of garment lifetimes, and gather data on practices of garment wash, wear, care and maintenance in everyday life. The research findings are discussed in relation to industry-led strategies aimed at extending the life of clothes

Is Sport Losing its Integrity?

None

Exploring design & testing for clothing longevity

Every year, 350,000 tonnes of clothing is added to UK landfill. Extending average clothing lifetimes is the most effective strategy in reducing the overall environmental impact of the clothing industry. Generally, consumer behaviour favours low price, lower quality, fast turnaround clothing and many items are unworn because they no longer fit or have become outdated. Nevertheless, consumers find it frustrating when garments fail to meet expected lifetimes. Designing products for longer lifetimes has become a UK Government policy objective and part of the SCAP 2020 Commitment, alongside supporting consumers to reduce their footprint. Nottingham Trent University researchers worked with industry partners to identify the knowledge, skills, processes and infrastructure necessary to adopt design for clothing longevity, and exposed the technical, behavioural and strategic obstacles to doing so. These complexities, challenges and barriers will be presented, outlining a tool kit designed to help companies tailor their own longevity strategies

The face inversion effect and evoked brain potentials: Complete loss of configural information affects the N170

Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society.The face inversion effect (FIE) is a reduction in recognition performance for inverted faces compared to upright faces that is greater than that typically observed with other stimulus types (e.g. houses; Yin, 1969). Nevertheless, the demonstration that the inversion effect in recognition memory can be as strong with images of dogs as with faces when the subjects are experts in specific dog breeds (Diamond & Carey, 1986), suggests that there may be other factors, such as expertise, which give rise to the FIE. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while subjects performed an Old/New recognition study on normal and scrambled faces presented in upright and inverted orientations. We obtained the standard result for normal faces: The electrophysiological activity corresponding to the N170 was larger and delayed for normal inverted faces as compared to normal upright ones. On the other hand, the ERPs for scrambled inverted faces were not significantly larger or delayed as compared to scrambled upright stimuli. These results, in combination, show how the effect of inversion on the N170 is reliably greater when the faces are normal compared to scrambled, which suggests the disruption of configural information affects the FIE.University of Exete