Dyeing of Cationized Cotton with Natural Colorant from Purple Corncob

In this investigation, dyeing of cotton fabric with natural dye extracted from purple corncob was attempted by means of pretreatment with a cationic agent, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimenthylammonium chloride (CHTAC). Maximum color yield results were achieved when the fabric was pretreated with CHTAC at a concentration of 125 g/L, followed by dyeing at 100°C for 30 min in a dye bath adjusted to pH 9. The influence of meta- and post-mordanting with AlK(SO₄)₂, CuSO₄, FeSO₄, and gallnut was subsequently explored. Compared with the unmordanted sample, post-mordanting enhanced K/S values and slightly improved light fastness, but both meta- and post-mordanting caused a reduction in wash fastness from an excellent to a fair level, with the exception of CuSO₄. Meanwhile, mordanting with gallnut increased the acid and alkaline perspiration fastness from a poor and fair to a good level.     

Prevalence and correlates of roll-your-own smoking in Thailand and Malaysia: Findings of the ITC-South East Asia Survey.

Roll-your-own (RYO) cigarette use has been subject to relatively limited research, particularly in developing countries. This paper seeks to describe RYO use in Thailand and Malaysia and relate RYO use to smokers' knowledge of the harmfulness of tobacco. Data come from face-to-face surveys with 4,004 adult smokers from Malaysia (N = 2,004) and Thailand (N = 2000), collected between January and March 2005. The prevalence of any use of RYO cigarettes varied greatly between Malaysia (17%) and Thailand (58%). In both countries, any RYO use was associated with living in rural areas, older average age, lower level of education, male gender, not being in paid work, slightly lower consumption of cigarettes, higher social acceptability of smoking, and positive attitudes toward tobacco regulation. Among RYO users, exclusive use of RYO cigarettes (compared with mixed use) was associated with older age, female gender (relatively), thinking about the enjoyment of smoking, and not making a special effort to buy cheaper cigarettes if the price goes up. Finally, exclusive RYO smokers were less aware of health warnings (RYO tobacco carries no health warnings), but even so, knowledge of the health effects of tobacco was equivalent.     

Catalytic steam reforming of biomass-derived tar for hydrogen production with K2CO3/NiO/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

A major problem of using Ni-based catalysts is deactivation during catalytic cracking and reforming, lowering catalytic performance of the catalysts. Modification of catalyst with alkali-loading was expected to help reduce coke formation, which is a cause of the deactivation. This paper investigated the effects of alkali-loading to aluminasupported Ni catalyst on catalytic performance in steam reforming of biomass-derived tar. Rice husk and K₂CO₃ were employed as the biomass feedstock and the alkali, respectively. The catalysts were prepared by a wet impregnation method with γ-Al₂O₃ as a support. A drop-tube fixed bed reactor was used to produce tar from biomass in a pyrolysis zone incorporated with a steam reforming zone. The result indicated that K₂CO₃/NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ is more efficient for steam reforming of tar released from rice husk than NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ in terms of carbon conversion and particularly hydrogen production. Effects of reaction temperature and steam concentration were examined. The optimum temperature was found to be approximately 1,073 K. An increase in steam concentration contributed to more tar reduction. In addition, the K₂CO₃-promoted NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ was found to have superior stability due to lower catalyst deactivation.     

Regret and rationalization among smokers in Thailand and Malaysia: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia Survey.

Objective: To test whether differences of history and strength in tobacco control policies will influence social norms, which, in turn, will influence quit intentions, by influencing smokers’ regret and rationalization. Design: The data were from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Southeast Asia Survey, a cohort survey of representative samples of adult smokers in Thailand (N = 2,000) and Malaysia (N = 2,006). The survey used a stratified multistage sampling design. Main Outcome Measures: Measures included regret, rationalization, social norms, and quit intention. Results: Thai smokers were more likely to have quit intentions than Malaysian smokers. This difference in quit intentions was, in part, explained by the country differences in social norms, regret, and rationalization. Reflecting Thailand’s history of stronger tobacco control policies, Thai smokers, compared with Malaysian smokers, perceived more negative social norms toward smoking, were more likely to regret, and less likely to rationalize smoking. Mediational analyses revealed that these differences in social norms, accounted, in part, for the country-quit intention relation and that regret and rationalization accounted, in part, for the social norm-quit intention relation. Conclusion: The results suggest that social norms toward smoking, which are shaped by tobacco control policies, and smokers’ regret and rationalization influence quit intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)