Search

How garments contribute to performance of the clothing system during wear is of interest, as is understanding the value of using fabric properties to inform end-use characteristics. To investigate the influences of layering upper-body garments, four fabrics were used to construct two first-layer garments (wool and polyester) and two outer-layer garments (wool and membrane laminate). Over six sessions, 10 moderately trained males wore each first-layer garment as a single layer and in combination with each outer-layer garment while resting, running and walking in cold environmental conditions (8 ± 1°C, 81 ± 4% RH). Here, the type of garment arrangement worn (fabric type or number of layers) had little influence on heart rate, core body temperature and change in body mass. Weighted mean covered skin temperature was warmer and weighted mean next-to-skin vapour pressure was typically higher (following the onset of exercise) with two layers versus one. Differences among fabrics for individual properties were typically overstated compared to differences among corresponding garments for physiological and psychophysical variables under the conditions of this study. These findings inform the interpretation of particular fabric properties and highlight issues to be acknowledged during development/refinement of fabric test methods. Practitioner Summary:We examined the way in which selected fibre, fabric and garment (layering) characteristics contribute to performance of the clothing system during wear under cold conditions. Selected properties of the constituent fabrics were found to provide limited insight into how garments perform during wear under the conditions of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay presents the incorporation of dance into the classroom as a pedagogical strategy. It explores how the strategy models interdisciplinary work and boosts classroom interaction, and not just help students to embody Victorian culture and offers a useful historical context for the material. The author relates her experience of incorporating dance for her students at the University of Baltimore in Maryland, embodying Victorian literature into her classroom.

This article examines 110 reported incidents from an online survey of 26 women from each of the eight universities in New Zealand. They responded to questions asking them to describe times when work and non-work situations have helped or hindered their advancement in university leadership roles. Five key themes, incorporating a range of factors, emerged as making a difference to advancement as leaders. These themes are: work relationships; university environment; invisible rules; proactivity; and personal circumstances. This research is part of the L-SHIP (Leadership- Supporting Higher Intent & Practice) project and has two main aims. First, to identify factors in universities that help and hinder women’s advancement as leaders, as reported by women; second, to provide useful evidence to underpin the development of programmes supporting women’s advancement in university leadership roles. This research is a first step in the development of the L-SHIP Toolkit for good practice in leadership development in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses various reports published within the issue including one which demonstrate the function of "Regency" as a category and argue for an awareness of the period's relationship to other historical moments, another which highlights the blending of genres, of discourses, of art forms, of racial categories, or of historical periods, and one which offers an alternative framework that can accommodate certain itinerant literary and cultural phenomena.

This article places the reading practices in Jane Eyre in their historical context and explores how Charlotte uses communities of female readers to challenge the patriarchal forces that policed the pleasure, creativity, and intellect of Victorian women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a contextual analysis of the book "Mary Olivier: A Life," by May Sinclair, with emphasis on the recreation of the Victorian woman reader's figure from a twentieth-century perspective. Transformation of women's reading into an overtly political act; Creation of a specifically feminist rewriting of the Victorian woman reader that foregrounds issues of sexuality and domesticity; Problems with the literary style of Sinclair.

The article comments that one of the pleasures of reading, re-reading and teaching the works of the late 18th and early 19th centuries English novelist Jane Austen is the myriad new topics and ideas that emerge with each textual encounter. It indicates that the 19th-century social dance is one of the many historical contexts that is relevant to students. It also argues that dancing with Austen is an example of experiential, embodied learning that can bring students closer to the novelist.

B cell activation factor of the TNF family (BAFF) is a potent B cell survival factor. BAFF overexpressing transgenic mice (BAFF-Tg mice) exhibit features of autoimmune disease, including B cell hyperplasia and hypergammaglobulinemia, and develop fatal nephritis with age. However, basal serum IgA levels are also elevated, suggesting that the pathology in these mice may be more complex than initially appreciated. Consistent with this, we demonstrate here that BAFF-Tg mice have mesangial deposits of IgA along with high circulating levels of polymeric IgA that is aberrantly glycosylated. Renal disease in BAFF-Tg mice was associated with IgA, because serum IgA was highly elevated in nephritic mice and BAFF-Tg mice with genetic deletion of IgA exhibited less renal pathology. The presence of commensal flora was essential for the elevated serum IgA phenotype, and, unexpectedly, commensal bacteria-reactive IgA antibodies were found in the blood. These data illustrate how excess B cell survival signaling perturbs the normal balance with the microbiota, leading to a breach in the normal mucosal-peripheral compartmentalization. Such breaches may predispose the nonmucosal system to certain immune diseases. Indeed, we found that a subset of patients with IgA nephropathy had elevated serum levels of a proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL), a cytokine related to BAFF. These parallels between BAFF-Tg mice and human IgA nephropathy may provide a new framework to explore connections between mucosal environments and renal pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layer-by-layer three-dimensional nanofibrous scaffolds (3DENS) were produced using the electrospinning technique. Interest in using biopolymers and application of electrospinning fabrication techniques to construct nanofibers for biomedical application has led to the development of scaffolds composed of PVA, keratin, and chitosan. To date, PVA/keratin blended nanofibers and PVA/chitosan blended nanofibers have been fabricated and studied for biomedical applications. Electrospun scaffolds comprised of keratin and chitosan have not yet been reported in published literature, thus a novel nanofibrous PVA/keratin/chitosan scaffold was fabricated by electrospinning. The resulting 3DENS were characterized using fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning colorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Physiochemical properties of the polymer solutions such as viscosity (rheology) and conductivity were also investigated. The 3DENS possess a relatively uniform fibrous structure, suitable porosity, swelling properties, and degradation which are affected by the mass ratio of keratin, and chitosan to PVA. These results demonstrate that PVA/keratin/chitosan 3DENS have the potential for biomedical applications. • Novel nanofibrous electrospun scaffold containing chitosan & keratin was prepared. • Amount of biopolymers affected the morphology and dimension of nanofiber. • Biopolymers influenced swell ability, porosity, and biodegradability of scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-energy impact testing of hockey shin guards was carried out using a drop test impact rig and a new physical setup protocol. Two brands of shin guards were impacted once (2.6 J, 3.3 J; without and with a sock), and impacted three times (3.3 J; with a sock). The peak force and impulse of a single impact increased with increasing impact energy (by approximately 30 and 7%, respectively) whilst repeated impacts increased the peak force and decreased the impulse (by approximately 70 and 3-9%, respectively, between one and three impact events). The presence of a sock attenuated impact force to a greater extent than the guards alone, at both impact energies. As a sock is usually worn over hockey shin guards, its presence contributes to enhanced protection to the lower limb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]