Evolution of precipitates, in particular cruciform and cuboid particles, during simulated direct charging of thin slab cast vanadium microalloyed steels

A study has been undertaken of four vanadium based steels which have been processed by a simulated direct charging route using processing parameters typical of thin slab casting, where the cast product has a thickness of 50 to 80mm ( in this study 50 mm) and is fed directly to a furnace to equalise the microstructure prior to rolling. In the direct charging process, cooling rates are faster, equalisation times shorter and the amount of deformation introduced during rolling less than in conventional practice. Samples in this study were quenched after casting, after equalisation, after 4th rolling pass and after coiling, to follow the evolution of microstructure. The mechanical and toughness properties and the microstructural features might be expected to differ from equivalent steels, which have undergone conventional processing. The four low carbon steels (~0.06wt%) which were studied contained 0.1wt%V (V-N), 0.1wt%V and 0.010wt%Ti (V-Ti), 0.1wt%V and 0.03wt%Nb (V-Nb), and 0.1wt%V, 0.03wt%Nb and 0.007wt%Ti (V-Nb-Ti). Steels V-N and V-Ti contained around 0.02wt% N, while the other two contained about 0.01wt%N. The as-cast steels were heated at three equalising temperatures of 1050C, 1100C or 1200C and held for 30-60 minutes prior to rolling. Optical microscopy and analytical electron microscopy, including parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS), were used to characterise the precipitates. In the as-cast condition, dendrites and plates were found. Cuboid particles were seen at this stage in Steel V-Ti, but they appeared only in the other steels after equalization. In addition, in the final product of all the steels, fine particles were seen, but it was only in the two titanium steels that cruciform precipitates were present. PEELS analysis showed that the dendrites, plates, cuboids, cruciforms and fine precipitates were essentially nitrides. The two Ti steels had better toughness than the other steels but inferior lower yield stress values. This was thought to be, in part, due to the formation of cruciform precipitates in austenite, thereby removing nitrogen and the microalloying elements which would have been expected to precipitate in ferrite as dispersion hardening particles

Pliocene reversal of late Neogene aridification

The Pliocene epoch (5.3-2.6 Ma) represents the most recent geological interval in which global temperatures were several degrees warmer than today and is therefore considered our best analog for a future anthropogenic greenhouse world. However, our understanding of Pliocene climates is limited by poor age control on existing terrestrial climate archives, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, and by persistent disagreement between paleo-data and models concerning the magnitude of regional warming and/or wetting that occurred in response to increased greenhouse forcing. To address these problems, here we document the evolution of Southern Hemisphere hydroclimate from the latest Miocene to the middle Pliocene using radiometrically-dated fossil pollen records preserved in speleothems from semiarid southern Australia. These data reveal an abrupt onset of warm and wet climates early within the Pliocene, driving complete biome turnover. Pliocene warmth thus clearly represents a discrete interval which reversed a long-term trend of late Neogene cooling and aridification, rather than being simply the most recent period of greater-than-modern warmth within a continuously cooling trajectory. These findings demonstrate the importance of high-resolution chronologies to accompany paleoclimate data and also highlight the question of what initiated the sustained interval of Pliocene warmth.J. M. Kale Sniderman, Jon D. Woodhead, John Hellstrom, Gregory J. Jordan, Russell N. Drysdale, Jonathan J. Tyler, and Nicholas Porc

Judging the impact of leadership-development activities on school practice

The nature and effectiveness of professional-development activities should be judged in a way that takes account of both the achievement of intended outcomes and the unintended consequences that may result. Our research project set out to create a robust approach that school staff members could use to assess the impact of professional-development programs on leadership and management practice without being constrained in this judgment by the stated aims of the program. In the process, we identified a number of factors and requirements relevant to a wider audience than that concerned with the development of leadership and management in England. Such an assessment has to rest upon a clear understanding of educational leadership,a clearly articulated model of practice, and a clear model of potential forms of impact. Such foundations, suitably adapted to the subject being addressed, are appropriate for assessing all teacher professional development

The 4.2 ka event in the central Mediterranean: new data from a Corchia speleothem (Apuan Alps, central Italy)

Abstract. We present new data on the 4.2 ka event in the central Mediterranean from Corchia Cave (Tuscany, central Italy) stalagmite CC27. The stalagmite was analyzed for stable isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) and trace elements (Mg, U, P, Y), with all proxies showing a coherent phase of reduced cave recharge between ca. 4.5 and 4.1 ka BP. Based on the current climatological data on cyclogenesis, the reduction in cave recharge is considered to be associated with the weakening of the cyclone center located in the Gulf of Genoa in response to reduced advection of air masses from the Atlantic during winter. These conditions, which closely resemble a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) type of configuration, are associated with cooler and wetter summers with reduced sea warming, which reduced the western Mediterranean evaporation during autumn–early winter, further reducing precipitation

Phase-field approach to polycrystalline solidification including heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation

Advanced phase-field techniques have been applied to address various aspects of polycrystalline solidification including different modes of crystal nucleation. The height of the nucleation barrier has been determined by solving the appropriate Euler-Lagrange equations. The examples shown include the comparison of various models of homogeneous crystal nucleation with atomistic simulations for the single component hard-sphere fluid. Extending previous work for pure systems (Gránásy L, Pusztai T, Saylor D and Warren J A 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 art no 035703), heterogeneous nucleation in unary and binary systems is described via introducing boundary conditions that realize the desired contact angle. A quaternion representation of crystallographic orientation of the individual particles (outlined in Pusztai T, Bortel G and Gránásy L 2005 Europhys. Lett. 71 131) has been applied for modeling a broad variety of polycrystalline structures including crystal sheaves, spherulites and those built of crystals with dendritic, cubic, rhombododecahedral, truncated octahedral growth morphologies. Finally, we present illustrative results for dendritic polycrystalline solidification obtained using an atomistic phase-field model

Population demographics of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) in the Darling River prior to a major fish kill: A guide for rehabilitation

An understanding of population demographics and life history processes is integral to the rehabilitation of fish populations. In Australia's highly modified Murray-Darling Basin, native fish are imperilled and fish deaths in the Darling River in 2018-19 highlighted their vulnerability. Golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) is a long-lived percichthyid that was conspicuous in the fish kills. To guide population rehabilitation in the Darling River, pre-fish kill age structure, provenance and movement of golden perch were explored using otolith microstructure and chemistry (87Sr/86Sr). Across the Lower and Mid-Darling River, recruitment was episodic, with dominant cohorts associated with years characterised by elevated discharge. There was substantial variability in age structure, recruitment source and movement patterns between the Lower and Mid-Darling River. In the Mid-Darling River, tributaries were an important recruitment source, whereas in the Lower Darling fish predominantly originated in the Darling River itself. Downstream movement of juveniles, upstream migration of adults and return movements to natal locations were important drivers of population structure. Restoring resilient golden perch populations in the Darling River will be reliant on mitigating barriers to movement, promoting a connected mosaic of recruitment sources and reinstating the hydrological and hydraulic factors associated with spawning, recruitment and dispersal. Globally, increasing water resource development and climate change will necessitate such integrated approaches to the management of long-lived migratory riverine fishes. © 2022 Journal Compilatio

Postsecular planning? The idea of municipal spirituality

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. In the contemporary political context, religion is rarely out of the news, usually postulated as a regressive force, battling against modern liberal Western values. However, in everyday life, and specifically with regard to place value, the situation is more complex. This paper addresses the challenge this context and the attendant notion of postsecularism bring to planning practice. It argues that religious and spiritual values can be rearticulated as concepts which add a substantive positive dimension to planning and its conceptualisation and constructions of place. This is done by developing the notion of municipal spirituality, which draws on the theological conceptions of transcendence and the common good to redefine the value of places whose worth cannot easily be made in instrumental terms. In so doing, it challenges the current antagonistic opposition of religious and liberal democratic values, repositioning religious and spiritual concepts in an inclusive way. The idea of municipal spirituality illustrates how planning could have a role in defending and promoting such places. Further, it demonstrates the importance of engaging in agonistic rather than antagonistic debate, rearticulating the criteria on which places can be valued by planning practice

Religious education for spiritual bricoleurs? the perceptions of students in ten Christian-ethos secondary schools in England and Wales

Religious Education (RE) in England and Wales functions within a post-secular culture. In the last fifty years, approaches characterised by academic rigour, impartiality, and professionalism have been prioritised. In this post-secular culture, the notion of bricolage aptly describes how some young people seek meaning, explore the spiritual dimension of life, with fragmented understandings of, experiences and encounters with the religious traditions. This paper draws on data from an empirical research project involving 350 students, to explore why students in ten Christian-ethos secondary schools in England and Wales recognised Religious Education (RE) as a significant contributor to their spiritual development. The analysis is illuminated by employing Roebben's (2009) concept of a narthical learning space (NLS) as the lens with which to examine young people’s experiences. Three aspects of RE are explored: the debating of existential questions; opportunities to theologise and reflect; and encounters with the beliefs, practices, and opinions of others. This article argues that the concept of RE as a narthical learning space alongside the notion of young people as spiritual bricoleurs illuminates how the students in this study interpret the contribution of RE to their spiritual development

A comparison of single and intersectional social identities associated with discrimination and mental health service use: data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in England

Inequities in mental health service use (MHSU) and treatment are influenced by social stratification processes linked to socially contextualised interactions between individuals, organisations and institutions. These complex relations underpin observed inequities and their experience by people at the intersections of social statuses. Discrimination is one important mechanism influencing such differences. We compared inequities in MHSU/treatment through single and intersectional status analyses, accounting for need. We assessed whether past-year discrimination differentially influences MHSU/treatment across single and intersecting statuses. Data came from a population survey (collected 2014–2015) nationally representative of English households (N = 7546). We used a theory and datadriven approach (latent class analysis) which identified five intersectional groups in the population comprising common combinations of social statuses. Single status analyses identified characteristics associated with MHSU/treatment (being a sexual minority (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.65 95% CI:1.09-2.50), female (AOR 1.71, 95% CI:1.45–2.02), economically inactive (AOR 2.02, 95% CI:1.05–3.90), in the most deprived quintile (AOR 1.33, 95% CI:1.02–1.74), and Black (AOR 0.36 95% CI:0.20–0.66)). Intersectional analyses detected patterns not apparent from single status analyses. Compared to the most privileged group (“White British, highly educated, employed, high social class”), “Retired WhiteBritish” had greater odds of MHSU/treatment (AOR 1.88, 95% CI:1.53-2.32) while “Employed migrants” had lower odds (AOR 0.39, 95% CI:0.27–0.55). Past-year discrimination was associated with certain disadvantaged social statuses and greater MHSU/treatment but—except for sexual minorities—adjusting for discrimination had little influence using either analytic approach. Observing patterns only by single social statuses masks potentially unanticipated and contextually varying inequities. The latent class approach offers policy-relevant insights into patterns and mechanisms of inequity but may mask other key intersectional patterns by statuses less common or under represented in surveys (e.g. UK-born ethnic minority groups). We propose multiple, context-relevant, theory-driven approaches to intersectional understanding of mental health inequalities