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The purpose of this article is to examine whether officer uniform color influences impressions the public forms about the character of police officers.

A survey using digitally manipulated photographic prompts was used to examine how various levels of officer race, posture, and uniform color as well as a number of other experiential, attitudinal and demographic variables influenced subjects' impressions of officers' character on factor scores constructed from a set of semantic differential scales.

Officer uniform color influences impression formation, but not in the expected manner. Black uniforms elicited more positive impressions of officers than did lighter uniforms.

Convenience sample was drawn from university undergraduates.

Darker uniforms for police may enhance favorable character impressions formed by some sectors of the public.

The research instrument improves measurement validity over prior methods while maintaining a precise experimental control. Findings contradict the conclusions of prior research on public perceptions of darker vs lighter police uniforms.

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the heat transfer enhancement in a tube filled partially with porous media under non-uniform porosity distribution and thermal dispersion effects. The optimum porous thickness ratio [R_(r,Nu)] for the heat transfer enhancement under these conditions with and without considering required pumping power is evaluated.

The local thermal non-equilibrium and Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer models are used to simulated thermal and flow fields in porous region. The tube wall and flow regime are assumed to be isothermal and laminar, respectively. The impacts of Darcy number (Da = 10^-6 - 10^-1) and inertia parameter (F = 0 − 2) on the Nusselt number and friction factor are studied for non-uniform porosity distribution.

First, the effect of Nusselt number indicates that there are two different behaviors with respect to uniform and non-uniform porosity for partially and fully filled porous pipe. Second, variable porosity in porous region has significant influence on the optimum thickness ratio with considering required pumping power. For negligible inertia term, it depends on the Darcy number, whereas it is 0.9 at F > 1. Third, the plug flow assumption cannot be valid even at lower Darcy number under non-uniform porosity, while this assumption is applicable at Da < 10^-3 for constant porosity distribution in porous region.

According to the best knowledge of authors, the optimum porous thickness ratio for the heat transfer enhancement considering the pressure loss effects under variable porosity has not reported up to now. Also the plug flow assumption in such physics is not discussed.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to understanding of employee's relationships with their uniforms and the perceived impact on their experiences at work. An improved understanding of this relationship may provide benefits for both the employee and the organisation. Recognising an ageing workforce and increasing female representation, differences based on gender and age are of interest.

The study aimed to explore employee views and perceptions of uniform design and potential links to their happiness and productivity at work. An online survey was developed and completed by 2,560 uniform wearers. The data were analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered latent variables from among the large number of survey items. A two-way factorial ANOVA compared perceptions based on gender and age.

The results suggest participants feel that their uniform has an impact on their happiness and behaviour at work. Differences in responses to their uniform were found based on gender and age. The survey tool enabled consideration of employee views and exploratory factor analysis identified five constructs of uniform design priorities: positive feelings, experience at work, suitability and practicality, tailored to the individual, visibility and brand.

This research is believed to be the first survey exploring the views of UK-based uniform wearers. Key elements of uniform design have been prioritised from the employee perspective to offer an emerging model to understand employee perceptions of uniform design. These findings inform uniform manufacturers and employers in designing and developing uniform to address the needs of employees.

This paper aims to analyze the medical uniform wearers’ needs by surveying the current medical uniform sizing system and issues, and to evaluate fit satisfaction level of medical uniform wear by gender with scrub shirts, pants and coats.

Research was conducted using a quantitative questionnaire, and the respondents’ data results were analyzed using SPSS.

The distinguished difference from the medical uniform and daily wear was that the medical garments’ sizing system had only alphabet sizing options, and the wearing ease was larger than that of daily wear. Fabric preferences included the combination of “stretch fabrics + non-stretch fabrics”. All male respondents’ satisfaction levels were reported higher than those of female respondents. Respondents were the least satisfied with the pants, followed by the shirts, and the coat in that order. As the current medical uniform has been developed based on the male figure, there were significant needs overall for improving the fit of the female medical uniform.

The study quantified fit satisfaction levels to suggest specific improvements that should be made to the design and fit of the female pants along with the coat using new comfortable textiles to achieve better performance for all medical staff.

This research specifically evaluated fit satisfaction levels of the medical uniform provided by hospital institutions in Ohio, attempting to suggest improvements for future medical uniform and design development to increase overall fit satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of school discipline in achieving academic performance. The study aims to clarify the role of permissive vis-à-vis authoritative teaching styles with an overarching hypothesis that better discipline leads to better academic performance. The authors also probe whether uniformed students have better discipline.

The authors analyse Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment data on school discipline dimensions: students listening well, noise levels, teacher waiting time, students working well, class start time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analysis on five geographic groups established by Baumann and Winzar (2016) was applied to test for geographic differences (Europe, Americas, Far East Asia, Rest of Asia, Anglo-Saxon cluster) in school discipline. ANOVA was further used to test for school discipline and academic performance. Third, t-tests on five discipline dimensions were run to test for differences between students who wear uniforms and those who do not.

The results demonstrate differences in school discipline across five geographic clusters, with East Asia leading the way. The authors demonstrate significant differences in discipline for low, medium and high performing students. Peak-performing students have the highest level of discipline. Students wearing a uniform listen better with lower teacher waiting times.

Students peak perform when teachers create a disciplined atmosphere where students listen to teachers, where noise levels in the classroom are low and they do not have to wait to start class and teach. Good discipline allows students to work well and this ultimately leads to better academic performance. Uniforms contribute to better discipline in everyday school operations. The findings support that in general, implementing school uniforms at schools might enhance discipline and allow for better learning. The authors recommend keeping uniforms where they are already used and to consider introducing uniforms where they are not yet common.

The United States Air Force’s (USAF) unpaid civilian auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) wears USAF uniforms and performs search and rescue missions looking for downed aircraft. After CAP members miswore the USAF uniform (Cheng, 1996), the USAF instituted a top‐down uniform change making the CAP uniform more distinct from the USAF uniform. CAP members, who affirmed that they were to be motivated solely by a desire to perform CAP’s mission, and not motivated by wearing USAF uniforms, quit and withdrew commitment. This participant observation ethnography studies how USAF’s misunderstanding of volunteer motivation and the symbolism of organizational uniforms led to dysfunctional organizational change. An alternative solution that makes positive symbolic change is proposed.

School uniform is regarded as children’s daily wear, which is restricted to wear for more than 5 times per week. However, available information shows that some parents and children are not satisfied with the existing school uniforms. Therefore, it is meaningful and valuable to investigate this area. From the existing information, it shows that people are dissatisfied with the existing school uniforms. It is because they are not suitable for children's physical and psychological development. Therefore, improvements in school uniforms are needed. Information on new design of school uniform was obtained through literature review, observation, interview and questionnaire surveys. Finally, new school uniforms were designed based on child development.

The purpose of this paper is to present the application of an efficient genetic algorithm to deal with the problem of computing the trade‐off curves for non‐uniform circular arrays. In order to answer questions related to the performance of the non‐uniform circular phased arrays, two criteria are considered to evaluate the design: the criteria of minimum main beam width and minimum side lobe level (SLL) during scanning.

The design of non‐uniform circular arrays is modeled as a multi‐objective optimization problem. The Non‐dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA‐II) is employed as the methodology to solve the resulting optimization problem. This algorithm is considered to be one of the best evolutionary optimizer for multi‐objective problems. It is chosen for its ease of implementation and its efficiency for computation of non‐dominated ranks. The method is based on the survival of the fittest paradigm, where each individual in the population represents a feasible solution of the optimization problem being solved. The concept of fitness is adapted to take into account the concept of solution quality in multi‐objective problems. This evolutionary method can be used effectively for computing the trade‐off curves between the SLL and the main beam width.

The NSGA‐II algorithm can effectively compute the trade‐off curve of different non‐uniform circular arrays. The simulation results presented in this paper show design options that maintain a low SLL and main beam width without pattern distortion during beam steering. Moreover, these trade‐off curves provide a more realistic approach to the solution of the design problem.

The design problem is set to determine which are the best design configurations or separations between the antenna elements and the best amplitude excitations when a circular structure is employed. Owing to the complex feasible region and the non‐linear dependence of optimization criteria from the decision variables, simple traditional and more sophisticated mathematical programming approaches will lead us to local optimal solutions in the case we can apply them. To the best of our knowledge, this multi‐objective optimization problem has not dealt with before, when two or more conflicting design criteria are taken into account. Therefore, the solution to this problem constitutes the main contribution of our paper.

Natural gas leak from underground pipelines could lead to serious damage and global warming, whose spreading in soil should be systematically investigated. This paper aims to propose a three-dimensional numerical model to analyze the methane–air transportation in soil. The results could help understand the diffusion process of natural gas in soil, which is essential for locating leak source and reducing damage after leak accident.

A numerical model using finite element method is proposed to simulate the methane spreading process in porous media after leaking from an underground pipe. Physical models, including fluids transportation in porous media, water evaporation and heat transfer, are taken into account. The numerical results are compared with experimental data to validate the reliability of the simulation model. The effects of methane leaking direction, non-uniform soil porosity, leaking pressure and convective mass transfer coefficient on ground surface are analyzed.

The methane mole fraction distribution in soil is significantly affected by the leaking direction. Horizontally and vertically non-uniform soil porosity has a stronger effect. Increasing leaking pressure causes increasing methane mole flux and flow rate on the ground surface.

Most existing gas diffusion models in porous media are for one- or two-dimensional simulation, which is not enough for predicting three-dimensional diffusion process after natural gas leak in soil. The heat transfer between gas and soil was also neglected by most researchers, which is very important for predicting the gas-spreading process affected by the soil moisture variation because of water evaporation. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model is proposed to further analyze the methane–air transportation in soil using finite element method, with the presence of water evaporation and heat transfer in soil.

The aim of this study is to investigate wearing comfort of summer work uniforms judged by construction workers.

A total of 189 male construction workers participated in a series of wear trials and questionnaire surveys in the summer of 2014. They were asked to randomly wear two types of work uniforms (i.e. uniforms A and B) in the two-day field survey and the subjective attributes of these uniforms were assessed. Three analytical techniques, namely, multiple regression, artificial neural network and fuzzy logic were used to predict wearing comfort affected by the six subjective sensations.

The results revealed that fuzzy logic was a robust and practical tool for predicting wearing comfort in terms of better prediction performance and more interpretable results than the other models. Pressure attributes were further found to exert a greater effect than thermal–wet attributes on wearing comfort. Overall, the use of uniform B exhibited profound benefits on wearing comfort because it kept workers cooler, drier and more comfortable with less work performance interference than wearing uniform A.

The findings provide a fresh insight into construction workers’ needs for work clothes, which further facilitates the improvement in the clothing tailor-made design and the enhancement of the well-being of workers.