43 research outputs found

    Health Care Professionals' Roles and Experiences of Identifying and Responding to Intimate Partner Violence among Pregnant Women in Thailand

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    Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the most commonly reported form of violence against women and it has been reported in all parts of the world. IPV can affect women at any stage of their life but pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to IPV. Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) are likely to be the first point of contact and have a unique opportunity to respond to victims of IPV. They play a key role in addressing IPV by screening and identifying victims, offering information and support, and referring victims to appropriate agencies. There have been very few previous studies of HCPs’ perception of their role and experience of identifying and responding to IPV or of their knowledge, attitudes and practice in Thailand. Purpose: To explore the perception of Thai HCPs about their role and their experiences regarding the identification of and responses to IPV, and to better understand the barriers and facilitators which affect this. Design and Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was adopted. A quantitative survey using adapted PREMIS questionnaire was conducted with 188 Thai HCPs in Burirum province, Thailand. Qualitative interview were conducted with nurses who were selected purposively based on their experiences of identifying and responding to IPV during pregnancy. Findings: The findings indicate that Thai HCPs had poor knowledge regarding IPV during pregnancy. There were misconceptions among the Thai HCPs’ knowledge about the leading cause of IPV during pregnancy and they lacked knowledge of law relating to IPV. Most of the participants reported a positive attitude towards identifying and responding to pregnant women who might be subjected to IPV. Nevertheless, the reported identification rate was low among both the survey and the interview participants. All of the interviewees reported that they did not routinely ask pregnant women about IPV, they asked only women who showed signs of being abused. Interestingly, the findings showed that the interviewees used 2Q as guide for asking about IPV, which had not been reported by any previous studies. Conclusion and Recommendations: Most participants had positive attitude towards IPV identification and response among pregnant women and perceived that IPV identification was their responsibility. However, further education, IPV training, clear policies of IPV management and organisational support is needed to enable them to identify and respond to all pregnant women about IPV

    Influence of sintering temperature on density, hardness, shrinkage and microstructure of alumina-zirconia cutting tool

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    The confederation of Alumina (Al2O3) and Zirconia (ZrO2) has emerged as a promising ceramic framework for advanced machine tool applications. The mechanical properties of the Al2O3-ZrO2 cutting tool are critically dependent on its density, hardness, and shrinkage, which are influenced by the powder preparation and sintering processes. The ef ect of sintering temperature on density, hardness, shrinkage, and microstructure of Al2O3-ZrO2 is investigated in this study. Al2O3 powders (80% wt) and ZrO2 powders (20% wt) were combined in a ball mill machine with polyethylene glycol (PEG) added as a binder agent. The samples were compacted using the cold isostatic pressing method at 300 MPa pressure after being pressed using a hydraulic hand press machine at 10 tons pressure. The green compacts were sintered at temperatures ranging from 1500°C to 1700°C, with soaking times ranging from 4 to 6 hours. The results show that as the sintering temperature increased, the density and hardness decreased. When the sintering temperature was set to 1500°C and the soaking time was 6 hours, the maximum hardness and density were recorded at 1321.23HV. Whereas, lowest hardness was recorded at 688.4HV when the sintering temperature was set to 1700°C and the soaking time was 6 hours. The shrinkage increased significantly as the sintering temperature increased, reaching a maximum of 9.95 percent at 1700°C after 4 hours of soaking. Microstructure analysis reveals that grain size increased as sintering temperature increased, with the smallest grain size presented 2 µm at 1500°C and 6 hour

    Analysis of particles size distribution on the agglomeration and shrinkage of alumina-zirconia compacts

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    The combination of Alumina and Zirconia has emerged as a promising ceramic structure for advance machine tool application. However, the particles of Alumina and Zirconia tend to agglomerate during mixture which affected shrinkage and dimension accuracy of the end product. This study focused on the analysis of the particle size of Alumina-Zirconia compacts and their relationship with the shrinkage and agglomerates. The particles size of single Alumina, Zirconia and ball-milled Alumina-Zirconia with 90-10 wt% ratio were examined by mastersizer. These powders then were compacted and sintered at 1400°C to examine their shrinkage. The results show that Alumina possesses larger particles size of 109.65 μm, which is 10 folds larger than Zirconia at 6.10 μm. When blended by ball mill, the Alumina�Zirconia particles were changed into 9.77 μm, showing that the ball mill to refine powder particles while reducing the risk of agglomeration. After sintering, the Alumina-Zirconia compacts were shrunk to maximum 9.56% when 75-25 wt% of Alumina-Zirconia. The combination of porosity, agglomerate and infiltration of zirconia between alumina grains were responsible for the shrinkage of Alumina-Zirconia compacts

    Effect of laser parameters on the surface cleaning of galvanised steel by laser engraving process

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    Laser cleaning is a method of removing layers of material from a surface by using laser irradiation. The energy from the laser provides a textured pattern on the melting surface, as well as colour changes and variations in surface roughness. This study looks into the effect of laser parameters on the cleaning surface of galvanized steel. In particular, the laser engraving method was used to irradiate the selected area by varying the laser power and irradiation cycle. The results show that the upper layer of galvanized steel can be rapidly removed, altering the surface profile and roughness. Increasing laser power and cycling the resultant colour change from white or bright to dark. In terms of surface roughness, the first irradiation cycle demonstrated increasing surface roughness as laser power was increased. The fourth cycle, on the other hand, showed a decrease in surface roughness as the laser power increased. In terms of surface finish, laser engraving at 16W power is recommended due to its best surface roughness of 1.17 μm. In terms of surface profile, laser engrave is suggested to be applied during the fourth irradiation cycle because the surface pattern demonstrated dark appearances and minimal surface roughness

    Optimization of drilling process parameters on delamination factor of Jute reinforced unsaturated polyester composite using Box-Behnken design of experiment

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    This paper presents an investigation on the influence of the drilling parameters such as feed rate, spindle speed and drill tool diameter onto the delamination factor of the jute reinforced unsaturated polyester composite. Natural fibre based composite are mostly used for commodity application and often subjected to drilling during applications and may generate delamination of drilled holes on the workpiece. The composite was fabricated using woven jute fibre via vacuum bagging method followed a high temperature curing using hot press. The fibre was kept at 40 vol. %. The main effect and the interaction between the specified factors of feed rate (20-100mm/min), spindle speed (500-1500 rpm) and drill tool diameter (4-8 mm) with delamination factor as corresponding respond was structured via the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on three-level Box-Behnken design of experiment and the ANOVA. The levels of importance of the process parameters on flexural properties are determined by using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The optimised drilling process parameters obtained as 24.38 mm/min of feed rate, 1146.14 rpm of spindle speed and 5.51 mm drill tool diameter achieved the most minimal delamination factor. The feed rate and spindle speed were perceived as the most influential drilling parameters on the delamination factor of the jute reinforced unsaturated polyester composite

    Optimization Of Drilling Process Parameters On Delamination Factor Of Jute Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composite Using Box-Behnken Design Of Experiment

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    This paper presents an investigation on the influence of the drilling parameters such as feed rate, spindle speed and drill tool diameter onto the delamination factor of the jute reinforced unsaturated polyester composite. Natural fibre based composite are mostly used for commodity application and often subjected to drilling during applications and may generate delamination of drilled holes on the workpiece. The composite was fabricated using woven jute fibre via vacuum bagging method followed a high temperature curing using hot press. The fibre was kept at 40 vol. %. The main effect and the interaction between the specified factors of feed rate (20-100mm/min), spindle speed (500-1500 rpm) and drill tool diameter (4-8 mm) with delamination factor as corresponding respond was structured via the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on three-level Box-Behnken design of experiment and the ANOVA. The levels of importance of the process parameters on flexural properties are determined by using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The optimised drilling process parameters obtained as 24.38 mm/min of feed rate, 1146.14 rpm of spindle speed and 5.51 mm drill tool diameter achieved the most minimal delamination factor. The feed rate and spindle speed were perceived as the most influential drilling parameters on the delamination factor of the jute reinforced unsaturated polyester composit
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