Transpiration Cooling in Hypersonic Flow and Mutual Effect on Turbulent Transition and Cooling Performance

This work presents recent advancements in the study of film cooling in hypersonic flows, considering experimental and numerical investigations, with the aim to characterize the wall-cooling performance in different coolant injection and baseflow conditions in a Mach number range 2–7.7. The study explores the mutual interaction between the injected coolant film and the boundary-layer flow, with emphasis on the effects of wall blowing on the boundary-layer characteristics, stability, and transition to turbulence, as well as the effect of transition on wall-cooling performance. Considered flow configurations include cases of effusion cooling in both wall-normal or slightly inclined and wall-parallel blowing, different types of coolant, cases of favorable pressure gradient compared to zero pressure gradient, as well as transpiration cooling cases at different blowing ratios and surface geometries. For the transpiration cooling case, experiments in different hypersonic wind tunnel facilities are presented for flat plate and cone geometries, with coolant injected through C/C porous samples, whereas numerical simulations of modeled porous injection are presented for a flat plate and a blunt cone, showing results for the boundary-layer receptivity with coolant injection and the associated effects on transition and cooling performance. A summary of the main findings is provided along with a critical analysis based on a comparative study to evaluate the effect of each configuration, injection strategy, and key parameters on the boundary-layer flow and the feedback on wall-cooling performance. Conclusions are drawn about potential directions of study for the further development and optimization of the film cooling technique for future hypersonic vehicles

The ecological dynamics of cognizant action in sport

The widespread inferential understanding of human action attributes to the brain the power of modelling actions and predicting immediate changes in environmental circumstances. However, an ecological rationale proposes that sport performance is founded on coupled perception and action, avoiding the need for the brain, as a mediator, to be lagging behind immediate corporeal contact with the sport environment. Here, a theory of cognizant action is presented where behaviour is understood in terms of self-organized action, shaped by a performer's complex skills, directed towards perceived affordances. Cognizant action is defined as the conservation of intentionality by coupled perception and action. Being oriented towards action possibilities (affordances), cognizant action self-organizes in every performance environment, and at the same time it is constrained by performers' skills. Accordingly, the study of cognizant action demands representative experimental designs and analysis of eco-physical variables to understand sport performance. Current debates include the role of knowledge, the symmetry between performer and environment, and team cognition. Future research might be directed to test tensegrity as well as ‘strong’ anticipation in individual and team sport tasks

Physical Health Proficiencies in Mental Health Nursing Education: Student Nurses’ Perspectives

Aim To explore mental health nursing students’ perceptions and experiences of being taught physical health competencies in mental health nurse education. Background Current standards for pre-registration nursing education in the UK require students to be taught and assessed on a range of physical health proficiencies. In the context of mental health nursing, this focus has been widely debated, with some academics arguing that it marks the beginning of a shift toward a more generalised approach to nursing. However, mental health nursing students - key stakeholders in the teaching and assessment process have not been actively involved in evaluating the relevance or validity of these proficiencies. Design A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate student experiences. Methods The study was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire, incorporating quantitative and qualitative elements; administered to mental health nursing students from five UK universities to elicit their perceptions regarding the taught content and assessment of physical health proficiencies in their curriculum. Descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted on quantitative data; thematic analysis was conducted for qualitative data. Results 115 mental health nursing students from UK universities participated in the survey. Quantitative findings revealed that respondents generally agreed on the importance of physical health skills and recognised the benefits of the related taught content. Qualitative analysis highlighted key factors influencing students' development of physical health competencies, including theoretical learning at university, clinical skills simulation and practical consolidation during placements. However, participants emphasised that transferability of taught physical skills could be enhanced by observing the application in mental health and broader healthcare settings, thereby increasing their perceived value for learning and practice. Conclusions Mental health nursing students up to now a neglected voice have shown they value the physical health content of their courses. Greater attention is needed to ensure these skills are effectively experienced and assessed in practice. Further evaluation should include perspectives of students and registered mental health nurses responsible for integrating these procedures into performance assessments

Tracking sediment transport through Miage Glacier, Italy, using a Lagrangian approach with luminescence rock surface burial dating of englacial clasts

Constraining the timescales of sediment transport by glacier systems is important for understanding the processes controlling sediment dynamics within glacierized catchments, and because the accumulation of supraglacial sediment influences glacier response to climate change. However, glacial sediment transport can be difficult to observe; sediment can be transported englacially, subglacially, supraglacially or at the ice margins, and may be stored temporarily on headwall slopes or within moraines before being (re-)entrained and transported by glacier ice. This study is a proof of concept of the use of luminescence rock surface burial dating to establish rates of englacial sediment transport. Our novel approach combines luminescence rock surface burial dating of englacial clasts with an ice-flow model that includes Lagrangian particle tracking to quantify rates of sediment transport through the Miage Glacier catchment in the Italian Alps. Luminescence rock surface burial ages for seven samples embedded in the near-surface ice in the ablation area range from 0.0 ± 1.0 to 4.7 ± 0.3 ka and are consistent with the ice-flow model results. Our results show that the transport durations of individual clasts vary by an order of magnitude, implying rapid clast transport near the glacier surface and longer transport histories for clasts transported lower in the ice column. In some cases, clasts were stored on the headwalls or within ice-marginal moraines for several thousand years before being englacially transported. The results illustrate the different routes by which glaciers transport sediment and provide the first direct measurements of englacial sediment transport duration

Engaging in purposeful patient and public involvement with young people living with obesity: recommendations from the ARROWS residential weekend

Background The ENHANCE (Evaluating the NHs engLANd Complications of Excess Weight Services for Children and Young People) study is a national evaluation of the Tier 3 complications of excess weight (CEW) services for children and young people living with obesity. Living with obesity can be linked to wider complex physical and mental health challenges, so it is crucial to incorporate the voice of those with lived experience to inform the evaluation. The value of involving patients and members of the public in research is recognised, however there are limited resources around how to meaningfully involve children and young people living with obesity in research, as well as a lack of practical guidance around delivery and impact. Methods This article details the novel residential approach (including classroom sessions and teambuilding exercises) implemented in the ENHANCE evaluation to better engage young people and their families in the research. The aim was to build relationships, trust and confidence between attendees, and to learn from their lived experiences to inform the development of the evaluation. After the residential, attendees completed evaluation forms and de-brief sessions. Results Eight young people, seven parents, one carer and six researchers attended a residential weekend in October 2024. The weekend included one overnight stay and a range of research and team building activities. Based on feedback from all attendees, the residential had a positive impact on families and helped to improve the evaluation. Feedback from families developed recommendations for designing residentials as part of study. Conclusion This paper reports the process of designing the residential weekend, important considerations for delivery and the impact on young people, parents and carers with lived experience and the researchers. Advice and recommendations are provided to support other researchers to develop strong, innovative and purposeful patient and public involvement in their research

Niobium as an alternative cladding material for neutron producing targets: Analysis of erosion response

The current design of neutron producing spallation targets (TS2) at ISIS constitutes a Tungsten (W) core cladded with a thin Tantalum (Ta) sleeve which facilitates circulation of cooling water. These targets are undergoing premature failure due to erosion-corrosion of the Ta sleeve as one of the primary causes. This has drawn attention towards sourcing alternative cladding materials and Niobium (Nb) is potentially seen as a candidate. However, the aqueous slurry erosion response of Nb is unreported and needs scrutiny. In this work, slurry erosion performance of Nb was studied with the help of an impinging jet erosion-corrosion apparatus. Aims included measuring erosion rate of Nb with respect to abrasive particle concentration, slurry velocity, and slurry impingement angle including determining erosion mechanisms. Results revealed peak erosion rate at a slurry impingement angle of 30°, and for velocities of 6 ms-1 having a particle concentration of 7 wt.%. The material removal mechanism involved a dominating ploughing and type-1 micro-cutting action at shallow angles of impact as compared to formation and breakage of platelets due to a ‘plastic deformation-fatigue’ dominated wear mechanism at near normal impact angles. The erosion response of Nb thus could be described as one typically observed for ductile materials. Experiments were also performed to analyse the cavitation erosion resistance of Nb using an ultrasonic vibratory apparatus (sonotrode) in de-ionised water to complement impinging slurry jet studies

OhmNet: Advanced neural network-based viscosity prediction of sauces for efficient Ohmic heating processing.

Industrial food processes such as Ohmic Heating (OH) are gaining popularity due to their lower carbon emissions and improved energy efficiency. The effectiveness of OH largely depends on the electrical conductivity, physical properties, and rheological characteristics of the food product, with dynamic viscosity directly influencing the fluid flow, residence time, and heating rate in a Continuous Flow Ohmic Heating (CFOH) system. Therefore, accurate prediction of viscosity during CFOH processing is crucial for optimising heating efficiency and maintaining the desired output temperature, ultimately reducing energy consumption and operational costs. To address this challenge, this study introduces OhmNet - an advanced Neural Network (NN)-based predictive model designed to accurately estimate the dynamic viscosity of tikka sauce during OH, offering a robust solution for viscosity prediction in CFOH applications. The predictive model has been developed using real-time data obtained from heating experiments, where viscosity measurements were recorded using a rheometer at varying target temperatures. To achieve the optimal configuration of OhmNet, three different approaches were explored: separate network development for each target temperature, a transfer learning-based neural network, and a one-hot encoding-based unified neural network model. These approaches were systematically evaluated through a grid search for hyperparameter tuning to identify the most accurate and robust dynamic viscosity predictive model during Continuous Flow Ohmic Heating. The resulting OhmNet model demonstrates high performance and reliability, achieving a Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.002, a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.025, and a coefficient of determination (R2) equal to 0.99. This optimal configuration of OhmNet offers a powerful tool for enhancing process efficiency and control in industrial food processing applications. In the future, the model can be seamlessly integrated with advanced process controllers for precise temperature control and power consumption optimisation, driving sustainable and energy-efficient food processing applications