Domestic Violence and Health Care: Opening Pandora¿s Box ¿ Challenges and Dilemmas

In this article we take a critical stance toward the rational progressive narrative surrounding the integration of domestic violence within health care. Whilst changes in recent UK policy and practice have resulted in several tangible benefits, it is argued that there may be hidden dilemmas and challenges. We suggest that the medical model of care and its discursive practices position women as individually accountable for domestic violence-related symptoms and injuries. This may not only be ineffective in terms of service provision but could also have the potential to reduce the political significance of domestic violence as an issue of concern for all women. Furthermore, it is argued that the use of specific metaphors enables practitioners to distance themselves from interactions that may prove to be less comfortable and provide less than certain outcomes. Our analysis explores the possibilities for change that might currently be available. This would appear to involve a consideration of alternative discourses and the reformulation of power relations and subject positions in health care

The Extinction Oxygen Index of polyester-cotton blended fabrics

Limiting and extinction oxygen index techniques have been used to study the effects that fabric variables and blend composition have on the burning behaviour of 20/80, 50/50 and 65/35 polyester-cotton blended fabrics. Whilst LOI values were not dependent on ignition time, they were for a given blend com position dependent on fabric area density. Lo values determined at zero area density were little dependent on blend composition for the blends studied. EOI values, as shown previously for single fibre component fabrics, were de pendent on igniter application times. Derived [EOI]o values at zero ignition times, like LOI, increased with area density. Zero area density or "free-fibre" extinction oxygen index Eo values, like LOI and Lo, varied only slightly with blend composition. However, when compared with respective values for pure polyester and cotton fabrics, the respective magnitudes of blend Eo values pro vide a better indication than do Lo values of the difference of blend from individual component fibre burning behaviour. Thus it is considered that the extinction concept provides a better indication of the variations of flammable character of polyester-cotton blends compared to the individual fibre-containing fabrics

The flammability of polyacrylonitrile and its copolymers I. The flammability assessment using pressed powdered polymer samples

This paper is the first in a series of four which investigates the burning behaviour and the influence of flame retardant species on the flammability of fibre-forming polymer and copolymers of acrylonitrile. A pressed powdered polymer sheet technique is described that enables a range of polymer compositions in the presence and absence of flame retardants to be assessed for limiting oxygen index, burning rate and char residue determinations. The method offers a rapid, reproducible and convenient means of screening possible flame retardant systems, and LOI values compare favorably with those of films and fabrics comprising the same polymeric type. Burning rates, however, are sensitive to changes in physical sample character such as form (film vs. powder sheet) and density. Thus the technique forms an excellent basis for the generation of burning data which will enable comprehensive studies of acrylic polymer flammability and flame retardancy to be undertaken

The burning behaviour of textiles and its assessment by oxygen-index methods

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:8805.7(18/1-3) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The potential of metal oxalates as novel flame retardants and synergists for engineering polymers

Based on their known decomposition to carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and the respective oxide, six metal (calcium, manganese (II), iron (II), copper (II), tin (II) and zinc) were synthesised and assessed for their potential flame retardant activity in the absence and presence of selected flame retardants. Initially they were assessed when impregnated on cotton as a screening process and then selectively compounded with polyamide 6.6 (PA66), as a typical engineering polymer. Only manganese (II) and iron (II) oxalates alone reduced the burning rate of cotton, whereas together with ammonium bromide, calcium and iron (II) oxalates showed an apparent additional burning rate reducing effect. Derived synergistic effectivity (Es) values fall within the limits 0<Es<1 indicating a less than additive interaction. TGA/DTA analysis of oxalate/PA66 blends suggested that only zinc oxalate (ZnOx) offers both possible flame retardant activity in terms of enhanced residue formation ≥500oC, coupled with acceptable stability in molten PA66. When compounded with PA66, in the presence and absence of either aluminium diethyl phosphinate (AlPi)-based or selected polymeric bromine-containing flame retardants, LOI values increased in most PA66/ZnOx/flame retardant blends but UL94 test ratings were disappointingly low and more likely than not, “fails”. PA66/ZnOx blends with AlPi and AlPi/MPP gave poor plaques suggesting that thermal interactions were occurring during compounding. The bromine-containing blends had better processibility and both TGA and cone calorimetric studies showed that the PA66/poly(bromopentabromobenzyl acrylate)/ZnOx sample not only yielded the highest residues in air and nitrogen at 500 and 580oC, but also the lowest peak heat release rate value of 398 compared with 1276 kW/m2 for pure PA66. The derived Es value for this blend is 1.17 suggesting a small level of synergy between the zinc oxalate and poly(pentabromobenzyl acrylate) flame retardant. The possible role of zinc bromide is discussed