A case study of technical change and rehabilitation: Intervention design and interdisciplinary team interaction

The design of effective interventions in sport psychology often requires a subtle blend of techniques, tailored to meet the client’s specific needs. Input from a variety of disciplinary support specialists, working as a team, is also frequently needed. Accordingly, this study investigated an interdisciplinary team approach to the technical change and rehabilitation of an elite weight lifter following injury; necessitating the avoidance of regression when performing under competitive pressure. Multiple coaching approaches were used and complimented by targeting specific mental skills. Kinematic analyses indicated progressive technical, and subsequently permanent, change even after 2 years. Self-report measures of self-efficacy and imagery use were deemed essential in facilitating the change. Finally, a discussion focuses on the intervention’s multifactorial nature, its application within high performance coaching, and how this may advise future research into the refinement of already existing and well-established skills

A context-aware adaptive feedback agent for activity monitoring and coaching

A focus in treatment of chronic diseases is optimizing levels of physical activity. At Roessingh Research and Development, a system was developed, consisting of a Smartphone and an activity sensor, that can measure a patient’s daily activity behavior and provide motivational feedback messages. We are currently looking into ways of increasing the effectiveness of motivational messages that aim to stimulate sustainable behavioral change, by adapting its timing and content to individual patients in their current context of use

On the design and feasibility of refractory metal-base Superalloys

Over the last 60 years, the evolution of nickel-base superalloys has enabled successive generations of gas turbine engines to operate at progressively higher temperatures. However, despite continued research activity, capability enhancement has become incremental and it seems unlikely that nickel-base superalloys will be able to support the requirements of future engine designs. Therefore, to enable a step change in operating temperatures, it is necessary to identify and develop new alloy systems, which, in addition to higher temperature capability, also have the correct balance of mechanical and environmental properties. Here, we outline an alloy design philosophy and report on the initial characterisation of one of the potential alloy systems. High temperature properties are dominated by the melting temperature and crystal structure of the principal element. Thus, only 11 elements offer capability above that of nickel-base alloys. However, if terrestrial abundance and cost are also considered, then only the bcc refractory metals remain as viable options. Intrinsic environmental resistance above 1000˚C can be afforded only by the formation of protective silica or alumina scales, requiring the incorporation of at least one of these elements in reasonable concentrations. In addition the required balance of mechanical properties is only likely to be achieved by the production of a microstructure containing a fine dispersion of small intermetallic precipitates, which have a coherent superlattice structure of solid solution matrix. The simplest materials identified by this approach are ternary refractory metal-base alloys, e.g. Ta‑Al‑Co. However, the phase equilibria of these systems, particularly in the refractory rich corners, are poorly defined. To address this issue and explore the potential of these materials, a series of alloys in the Ta-rich corner of the Ta‑Al‑Co system have been created and characterised following 500 hour heat treatments at temperatures between 1000 and 1300 ̊C. As part of this work the first conclusive evidence of a large-unit-celled Ta2AlCo phase was obtained, which may give potential for refractory metal-base superalloys

Design, characterisation and properties of Mo-Ti-Fe alloys reinforced by ordered intermetallic precipitates

Reinforcement of solid solution matrices with ordered intermetallic precipitates is known to be an effective strategy for obtaining high strength, damage tolerant alloys and has been central to the success of nickel based superalloys. This strategy has also been exploited in a number of bcc-based systems, for example in maraging steels where ferrite is strengthened by L21 (Heusler) and/or B2 structured intermetallic precipitates. However, only limited studies have explored the possibility of extending this approach to bcc alloys based on refractory metals and titanium. Recent research has shown that titanium-iron alloys comprising eutectic A2 Ti and B2 TiFe phases may be produced with strengths of over 2.5 GPa, alongside elongations to failures of ~15%. These impressive properties are thought to be a result of a fine microstructural length scale and a high lattice misfit between the phases. Here, we report on the phase equilibria in the Mo-Ti-Fe ternary system. In this system, an extensive two-phase field was identified between B2 TiFe intermetallic phase and the A2 (Ti, Mo) solid solution, that extended to Mo rich compositions. Knowledge of how this phase equilibrium varies with temperature enabled the design of alloys that could be homogenised in the single-phase solid solution and subsequently reinforced by solid state precipitates following a lower temperature heat treatment. The microstructure obtained was finer than has been produced through an invariant reaction and an initial assessment of their mechanical properties revealed substantial strength. The prospects for modifying these alloys to enable their use at higher temperatures will be discussed. This work was supported through the Rolls-Royce/EPSRC Strategic Partnership under EP/H022309/1 and EP/H500375/1, as well as the DARE project under EP/L025213/1

Doppler-free two-photon spectrum of the 000 band of the Ã1B1←X1A1 transition in difluorodiazirine, F2CN2

The Doppler-free two-photon excitation spectrum of the vibrationless Ã1B1←Image 1A1 transition of difluorodiazirine (F2CN2) has been recorded with a resolution of 15 MHz using a cw single-mode dye laser coupled to an external concentric resonator. The asymmetric rotor spectrum has been analysed and more than 350 lines randomly selected from all five branches were assigned in order to fit the ground- and excited-state rotational and quartic centrifugal distortion constants. From the rotational constants the rNN and rFF distances in the ground Image 1A1 and excited Ã1B1 state were determined. The geometry change upon excitation is found to be ΔrNN = 3.89(2) pm and ΔrFF = −4.09(2) pm. No perturbation in the rotational structure of the 000 band has been found. This points to a small singlet-triplet coupling matrix element in the small molecule limit

New evidence for strong nonthermal effects in Tycho's supernova remnant

For the case of Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) we present the relation between the blast wave and contact discontinuity radii calculated within the nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. It is demonstrated that these radii are confirmed by recently published Chandra measurements which show that the observed contact discontinuity radius is so close to the shock radius that it can only be explained by efficient CR acceleration which in turn makes the medium more compressible. Together with the recently determined new value $E_{sn}=1.2\times 10^{51}$ erg of the SN explosion energy this also confirms our previous conclusion that a TeV gamma-ray flux of $(2-5)\times 10^{-13}$ erg/(cm$^2$s) is to be expected from Tycho's SNR. Chandra measurements and the HEGRA upper limit of the TeV gamma-ray flux together limit the source distance $d$ to $3.3\leq d\leq 4$ kpc.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, Proc. of "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-ray Sources (Third Workshop on the Nature of Unidentified High-Energy Sources)", Barcelona, July 4-7, 200

An assessment of the lattice strain in the CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy

The formation of single phase solid solutions from combinations of multiple principal elements, with differing atomic radii, has led to the suggestion that the lattices of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) must be severely distorted. To assess this hypothesis, total scattering measurements using neutron radiation have been performed on the CrMnFeCoNi alloy and compared with similar data from five compositionally simpler materials within the same system. The Bragg diffraction patterns from all of the studied materials were similar, consistent with a face-centered cubic structure, and none showed the pronounced dampening that would be expected from a highly distorted lattice. A more detailed evaluation of the local lattice strain was made by considering the first six coordination shells in the pair distribution functions (PDF), obtained from the total scattering data. Across this range, the HEA exhibited the broadest PDF peaks but these widths were not disproportionately larger than those of the simpler alloys. In addition, of all the materials considered, the HEA was at the highest homologous temperature, and hence the thermal vibrations of the atoms would be greatest. Consequently, the level of local lattice strain required to rationalise a given PDF peak width would be reduced. As a result, the data presented in this study do not indicate that the local lattice strain in the equiatomic CrMnFeCoNi HEA is anomalously large.The authors would like to thank the EPSRC/Rolls-Royce Strategic Partnership for funding (EP/M005607/1 and EP/H022309).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2016.09.03

Application of a stochastic weather generator to assess climate change impacts in a semi-arid climate: The Upper Indus Basin

Assessing local climate change impacts requires downscaling from Global Climate Model simulations. Here, a stochastic rainfall model (RainSim) combined with a rainfall conditioned weather generator (CRU WG) have been successfully applied in a semi-arid mountain climate, for part of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB), for point stations at a daily time-step to explore climate change impacts. Validation of the simulated time-series against observations (1961–1990) demonstrated the models’ skill in reproducing climatological means of core variables with monthly RMSE of <2.0 mm for precipitation and ⩽0.4 °C for mean temperature and daily temperature range. This level of performance is impressive given complexity of climate processes operating in this mountainous context at the boundary between monsoonal and mid-latitude (westerly) weather systems. Of equal importance the model captures well the observed interannual variability as quantified by the first and last decile of 30-year climatic periods. Differences between a control (1961–1990) and future (2071–2100) regional climate model (RCM) time-slice experiment were then used to provide change factors which could be applied within the rainfall and weather models to produce perturbed ‘future’ weather time-series. These project year-round increases in precipitation (maximum seasonal mean change:+27%, annual mean change: +18%) with increased intensity in the wettest months (February, March, April) and year-round increases in mean temperature (annual mean +4.8 °C). Climatic constraints on the productivity of natural resource-dependent systems were also assessed using relevant indices from the European Climate Assessment (ECA) and indicate potential future risk to water resources and local agriculture. However, the uniformity of projected temperature increases is in stark contrast to recent seasonally asymmetrical trends in observations, so an alternative scenario of extrapolated trends was also explored. We conclude that interannual variability in climate will continue to have the dominant impact on water resources management whichever trajectory is followed. This demonstrates the need for sophisticated downscaling methods which can evaluate changes in variability and sequencing of events to explore climate change impacts in this region