Nonflammable and abrasion resistant coating process for glass fibers

Surface treating glass fibers with polytetrafluoroethylene improves their resistance to heat and flammability. Organosilicon lubricant padding improves fabric flexibility

Photosensitive filler minimizes internal stresses in epoxy resins

Photosensitive filler is added to curable epoxy resins to minimize stress from internal shrinkage during curing or polymerization. Cinnamic acid resins and cinnamal ketones may be added in the amount of 1 to 3 percent by weight of the resin mixture

A Cost-Effectiveness Study of Animal Disease Eradication Strategies: Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Ireland

The primary focus of this poster paper is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternative control strategies for a number of simulated outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) in four agriculturally diverse Irish regions, examining for the first time, the potential role of emergency vaccination in the country. With the increasing threat of transboundary animal diseases due to globalisation, wider market integration and increased animal movement it is important that such an evaluation of control and eradication strategies be undertaken and contingency plans be put in place. The new EU Directive (2003/85/EC) on FMD control permits the use of emergency vaccination as part of an FMD control strategy. The slaughter of infected animals and "dangerous contacts" (susceptible animals on epidemiologically linked holdings) remains the principal tool for tackling an outbreak, but the potential use of vaccination as an adjunct to the basic culling policy is now being considered. Using an integrated approach, combining an epidemiological model and an economic model, alternative control strategies are compared here during hypothetical outbreaks using a computer-simulation model and their cost-effectiveness assessed. The study provides outputs in terms of a range of epidemiological, economic and resource requirement measures under a wide range of different scenarios for each of the alternative control strategies.Foot-and-Mouth disease, control strategies, transboundary animal diseases, emergency vaccination, computer simulation, cost-effectiveness, Livestock Production/Industries, Q1, Q17, Q58,

States' Evidence: What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB

States will soon announce the schools or districts that did or did not make "adequate yearly progress," or "AYP" under NCLB. But the question that provides the most insight into a school's performance is not whether a school made AYP, but rather how a school did or did not make AYP

Reflections on widening participation policy: macro influences and micro implications.

The central contention of the article is that access to higher education (HE) may be increasingly becoming a positional good premised on individualism and economic and cultural capitalism rather than a democratic good predicated on a political commitment to equality and social justice. The article explores the macro influences on widening participation policy and further considers the contexts, implications and outcomes of widening participation policy at meso and micro levels both generally and in the professional context of the author's work as a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at an outer London post-1992 university

Accessing social work education: barriers and triumphs.

This paper reports key findings from a doctoral study exploring the education and career trajectories of student enrolled on three 'Access to Social Work' further education courses in the South East of England. It explores some of the barriers to social work education and enabling factors such as the exercise of individual agency and the key role of supportive learning cultures

Triumph against adversity: how ‘access to social work’ students’ in FE colleges exert individual agency and overcome structural barriers to gain entry to HE.

The paper critically explores the discursive construction of ‘non-traditional students’ characterised in widening participation policy, which generally depicts such students as having failed first time around and thus in need of rescue, or special measures. Such constructions are arguably predicated on a cultural deficit model and do not present an accurate picture of the complex, multi-faceted life trajectories of students which influence higher education choices, and choices to pursue vocational routes to higher education. Findings from a small doctoral studies research project are drawn upon. The study entailed interviewing a small sample of students on an access to social work course at a college in North London. The findings illustrate that non-traditional students’ life trajectories are often characterised by significant barriers relating to socio-economic advantages, for example, financial concerns and limited time to study because of work and/or family commitments, that these students don’t s. These barriers translate into struggles which make even getting to the ‘starting point’ of higher education a major achievement per se for these students. Nonetheless, these students didn’t perceive themselves as having failed previously in relation to prior educational attainment, rather they were strongly motivated to go on to higher education and considered they could make real contributions to caring professions such as social work (204)

Key social justice considerations when selecting students for social work education

This event sought to combine messages from research and practice experience to inform the planning and implementation of robust, yet realistic, systems for assessing suitability at the point of admission, and throughout the student life cycle on social work programmes. The event combined delivery of presentations with small group workshops and discussions to enable participants to reflect on the complexities involved in assessments of suitability in the current context (e.g. balancing widening participation agendas with academic attainment of entrants). We looked in some detail at the recommendations of the Social Work Reform Board for England and emerging sector guidance. The event included a presentation from lawyers from a leading international law firm experienced in advising HEIs about their obligations under the Equalities Act in relation to admissions and suitability processes and procedures

Exploring the possibilities of interdisciplinary research

This paper explores how interdisciplinarity, that is, interdisciplinary research teams, mixed methods and concepts developed within more than one academic discipline can facilitate a broader exploration and deeper understanding of the social world. The author draws upon examples from the research literature, including her own doctoral thesis, to support this contention and concludes the paper with consideration of how interdisciplinary research can be developed further

A critical investigation of access to social work students' post-compulsory education and career choices

This IFS investigated the post-compulsory education and career choices of a sample of ‘access to social work’ students at an FE college with which I have professional links. A qualitative methodology was used to interview seven students, and quantitative methods were used to analyse a social background questionnaire. The following research questions were posed: (1) Are the post-compulsory education decisions that ‘access to social work’ students make influenced by particular ‘turning points’?; (2) Why do such students’ choose ‘caring’ routes to HE?; (3) Are there any interconnections between ‘turning points’ and the pursuit of ‘caring’ routes to HE? and (4) How do ‘non-traditional’ students consider they are depicted in widening participation policy discourse and more generally? Significant findings include, post-compulsory education and career decision-making are generally inextricably linked, complex, non-linear and unique to the individual. Decisions in these areas are often the result of significant life events characterised by particular ‘turning points’, which can be both ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’. However, the more cumulative effects of what I termed ‘secondary turning points’ had the most impact on the development of self-identity and caring dispositions. Students’ motivation to pursue particular education and ‘caring’ options can be classified as follows: ‘turning bad experiences into good’, ‘gradual recognition’, ‘the philanthropic drive’ and ‘the education imperative’, suggesting influential factors are varied. Extreme competition for places, problems with basic skills and limited economic, social and cultural capital created considerable barriers to higher education entry for the students in my study, a situation that has arguably been compounded by the marketisation of higher education. Only one student’s application to study social work at a post-1992 University was successful, with the others having to consider taking longer routes to achieve their goals. Whilst social reproduction is a recognised problem among ‘non-traditional’ students, it may be a bigger issue than is currently recognised among students pursuing specific vocational routes, resulting in these students being doubly disadvantaged. My findings are pertinent to my professional practice within a post-1992 university, suggesting that ‘access to social work’ students need to be valued for the contribution they can make, and that more needs to be done to support their progression to higher education. Whilst more joint-working between higher education institutions and FE colleges may help, more direct government action is needed to address the pressing problems of social reproduction identified in this study