Thursday Nov 12, 2009
The Cincinnati-based retailer, the first of several big department-store chains to report earnings this week, posted a third-quarter loss of $35 million on a 3.9% sales drop.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2009
Mr. Swoboda called the deal an "initial roll-out," but he declined to say whether Wal-Mart has expressed interest in buying more LED lights, otherwise known as solid-state lighting.
Tuesday Nov 10, 2009
Bain & Co, the consulting firm, said in a recent report that it expects sales of high-end clothing, accessories, tableware, cosmetics and jewelry will drop by 10% in Japan this year.
Monday Nov 9, 2009
New Books
Cotton textiles were the first good to achieve a truly global reach. For many centuries muslins and calicoes from the Indian subcontinent were demanded in the trading worlds of the Indian Ocean and the eastern Mediterranean. After 1500, new circuits of exchange were developed. Of these, the early-modern European craze for Indian calicoes and the huge nineteenth-century export trade in Lancashire goods, and subsequent deindustrialization of the Indian subcontinent, are merely thebest known. These episodes, although of great importance, far from exhaust the story of cotton. They are well known because of the enormous research energy that has been devoted to them, but other important elements of cotton's long history are deserving of similar attention. The purpose of this collection of essays is to examine the history of cotton textiles at a global level over the period 1200-1850. This volume provides new answers to two questions: what is it about cotton that made it the paradigmatic first global commodity? And second, why did cotton industries in different parts of the world follow different paths of development? Included in this second question is, of course, the problem of the so-called 'great divergence' that suggests that Europe and Asia followed a common path of economic development until the end of the eighteenth century. Cotton textiles have been central in explaining the nature, timing and effects of a 'divergence' in the nineteenth. A volume of this sort is timely for many reasons, not least of which is the growing interest in global history. Textiles remain one of the most important manufactured commodities in debates about economic, social and cultural change across the globe. By adopting a long historical view and a broad geographical viewpoint, this book wishes to avoid a Eurocentric perspective that has long dominated debates over the birth and rise of the cotton textiles industry in Europe.Empirically this book brings together, and adds to, the current state of knowledge on a number of questions related to the history of cotton textiles. The outlines of the cotton industry in medieval and early modern times, whether in southern Europe, central Africa, west Asia or the Indian subcontinent, are known only in the sketchiest of terms. The relationship between cotton textiles and those made from other fibres such as wool, linen, and silk is poorly understood. And there has been awoeful neglect of the cloth made from the great mixtures of cotton and linen, cotton and wool, and cotton and silk, which were mainstays of textile manufacturing from Europe to Bengal. And the long history of commerce and connections between the producers and consumers of cotton textiles in Asia, Africa,the Americas and Europe remains under-researched. As a consequence, even the Indian trade in cotton textiles and the rise of the Lancashire cotton industry are not fully understood within their larger temporal and regional and global contexts. The volume draws upon papers that were presented at a conference on " held in Padua, Italy, in November 2005 and a workshop on " held at the Fondation des Treilles, France, in March 2006. Both meetings were sponsored and organised by the Global Economic History Network of the London School of Economics and were held in preparationfor Session 59 on " for the XIV International Economic History Association Congress held in Helsinki in late August 2006.Essays included in the volume are authored by 19 scholars from eight different nations, all of whom are specialists in the study of textiles. They are drawn from a range of sub-disciplines within history and bring together their areas and periods of specialization to provide a global history. Therefore, the volume covers a wide variety of approaches to the study of history
-Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
This book deals with the new and now-expanding field of friction, wear, and other surface-related mechanical phenomena for polymers. Polymers have been used in various forms such as bulk, films, and composites in applications where their friction, wear resistance, and other surface-related properties have been effectively utilized. There are also many examples in which polymers have performed extremely well, such as in tyres, shoes, brakes, gears, bearings, small moving parts in electronics and MEMS, cosmetics/hair products, and artificial human joints. Around the world, much research is currently being undertaken to develop new polymers, in different forms, for further enhancing tribological performance and for finding novel applications. Keeping in view the importance of tribology of polymers for research and technology as well as the vast literature that is now available in research papers and review articles, this timely book brings together a wealth of research data for an understanding of the basic principles of the subject.
-Amazon.com
"Images left behind are in the end stronger than truth and facts. Through Douglas Kirkland's images we can imagine what the famous Coco had been all about before she became the formidable Chanel," muses Karl Lagerfeld in Mademoiselle, a selection of photographs of Chanel taken by Douglas Kirkland in 1962 on assignment in Paris for the American magazine Look. Lagerfeld is the designer currently at the helm of the Parisian fashion house, made iconic by designer Coco Chanel during her long reign, from 1909-1971--and the designer of this handsome edition as well. Through his introduction and captions to these photographs, we understand how important Chanel's image has been to the success of the century-old French couture line. Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based photographer famous for his portrayals of Chanel and Marilyn Monroe, gives us a glimpse of the sympathetic character beneath the hard-working fashion doyenne's ever-impeccable exterior, with his elegant shots of Mademoiselle leaving her suite at the Ritz Hotel, in her apartment and studio at 31 rue Cambon and watching a runway show from the apartment's famous mirrored staircase.
-Amazon.com
One of the most exciting fashion designers in the United States, Cuban-born Isabel Toledo has been honored with a National Design Award from the Cooper- Hewitt Museum and a Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion, given by The Museum at FIT. Yet her name and work are recognized only by fashion insiders. This ravishing book brings Toledo’s creations to a wider audience, places them within the context of contemporary fashion, and examines her creative process.
Interviewing Toledo, her husband (fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo), and other colleagues, clients, and critics, Valerie Steele gives an account of Toledo’s career and explains that while she has been heralded by leading fashion magazines and featured in stores in New York and Europe, she has not had the long-term financial backing to break out of the niche market. Patricia Mears investigates the artistic and cultural influences on Toledo’s work and analyzes her unusual methods of construction, noting that she designs in three dimensions in her mind and then begins working directly with fabric. Displaying garments Toledo has created since her first show in 1985, this book is a revelatory exploration of a fashion innovator in a mass-market industry.
-Amazon.com
No matter how talented you are as a designer, if you are going to run a successful fashion label you also need to know about business—from marketing and PR to manufacturing your collection, and where to find the money to finance it all.
In How to Set Up and Run a Fashion Label, Toby Meadows presents a no-nonsense guide to running your own business, whether it is within the clothing, accessories or footwear sectors. Packed with tips, case studies, and tasks to help you analyze yourself, your market and your product, the book is designed for anyone wanting to start their own fashion business.
-Amazon.com
Operations Management provides readers with a comprehensive framework for addressing operational process and supply chain issues. This text uses a systemized approach while focusing on issues of current interest.
-Amazon.com
Today's managers are increasingly expected to successfully oversee and understand information systems -- even when it is an area in which they have had little formal training or expertise. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGERS is targeted at these future managers who are expected to understand the business implications of information technology. Real world examples show future managers how information technology can be applied to improve their organization. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR MANAGERS provides a framework for managers to understand their important role vis-a-vis information technology and it emphasizes the importance of working effectively with all members of the organization to achieve results.
-Amazon.com
A new edition of a classic title, updated and expanded. With close to 1,000 different fashion details, plus additional advice on drawing fashion figures, this is the ultimate resource for designers, artists, and anyone interested in style. Now bigger and better than ever, it covers everything from belts and bows to hemlines and necklines to sleeves, tucks, and waistbands. The details span the entire 20th century up through today, with extra feature illustrations of outfits from key periods—including 1920s flapper dresses and bell-bottoms from the ’60s.
-Amazon.com
This book provides an introduction to the structural ceramics, their processing and properties. Five important groups of materials, porcelain, alumina, silicon carbide, silicon nitride and zirconia, are presented as case studies. Historical developments, the properties of constituent components, and relationships between production methods, resulting microstructures, and materials properties, are explained. The structural ceramics have many commercial applications, ranging from high voltage insulation and hot-gas filtration, to metal machining tools and surgical implants. These applications depend on combinations of chemical, physical and mechanical properties, which include structural stability over wide temperature ranges, strength, hardness, and resistance to wear. Over 200 diagrams and photographs provide visual aids to learning, and end of chapter summaries pull together key points. With numerous review questions to test understanding of the topics covered, and extensive referencing, this book is ideal for those studying materials science and engineering, or starting research in the structural ceramics area.
-Amazon.com
Brings together, analyzes, and contextualizes the latest findings and practical applications
Polyphosphazenes, an emerging class of polymers, include macromolecules, which have been proven to be biocompatible, biodegradable, and bioactive. Their unprecedented structural diversity and unique properties make them suitable as vaccine adjuvants, microencapsulating agents, biodegradable materials, scaffolds for tissue engineering, biocompatible coatings, and carriers for gene delivery.
Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications offers a thorough review of polyphosphazene research findings in the life sciences, chemistry, and chemical engineering. It emphasizes biomedical applications as well as recent advances in polyphosphazene development such as high-throughput discovery and the latest controlled methods of synthesis. The book brings together, analyzes, and contextualizes a wealth of knowledge that previously could only be found scattered throughout the scientific literature.
Following two introductory chapters, the book reviews:
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Vaccine delivery and immunomodulation
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Biomaterials
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Drug delivery systems
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Biodetection
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Well-defined polyphosphazenes: synthetic aspects and novel molecular architectures
All the chapters have been written by leading researchers in the field. Editor Alexander Andrianov, who has led the effort to commercialize polyphosphazenes for biomedical applications, has carefully reviewed and edited all chapters to ensure readability, accuracy, and thoroughness.
Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications is not only intended for researchers working in polyphosphazene chemistry, but also for all researchers seeking solutions to problems arising in the areas of biomaterials, drug delivery systems, and controlled release formulations.
-Amazon.com
Covering in-depth structural investigations of polymeric micro- and nanocomposites as well as molecular modeling using different approaches and techniques, this volume's 15 chapters are presented by Karger- Kocsis (polymer engineering, Budapest U. of Technology and Economics, Hungary) and Fakirov (mechanical engineering, U. of Auckland, New Zealand) with the intention of demonstrating that a multiscale approach is the right means for understanding the structure-property relationships of these materials. Topics include nano- and micromechanics of crystalline polymers; modeling mechanical properties of segmented polyurethanes; fabrication and mechanical properties of nanoparticles and polymer composites; new developments in rubber nanocomposites; manufacturing, modeling, and applications of organoclay, particulate, and nanofibril reinforced polymer-polymer composites; viscoelasticity of amorphous polymer nanocomposites with individual nanoparticles; interphase phenomena in polymer micro- and nanocomposites; deformation behavior of nanocomposites studies by x-ray scattering; creep and fatigue behavior of polymer nanocomposites; deformation mechanisms of functionalized carbon nanotube reinforced polymer nanocomposites; fracture properties and mechanisms of polyamide/clay nanocomposites; the toughness of nanomodified polymers and their traditional polymer composites; microhardness of polymer systems containing a soft component and/or phase; Monte Carlo simulations of nanoparticle reinforcement of elastomers; and modeling of polymer nanocomposites for a multiscale approach.
-booknews.com
Textile Term of the Week & Pop Quiz
Viscose – a manufactured fiber of cellulose obtained by the viscose process.
Quiz Answer – Some other terms used for “count of yarn” are yarn count, yarn number, yarn linear density and grist.
Quiz Question – The term viscose is not only used to describe a type of fiber. What is another definition for viscose?
Daniels, PN and Denton, MJ, eds. Textile Terms and Definitions, 11th ed. Manchester, UK: The Textile Institute, 2002)
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