XRD and XPS studies of surface MMC layers developed by laser alloying Ti6Al4V using a combination of a dilute nitrogen environment and SiC powder

Using a continuous-wave CO2 laser, surface engineering of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy through a combined treatment of laser nitriding and SiC preplacement was undertaken. Under spinning laser beam conditions, a surface alloyed / metal matrix composite (MMC) layer over 300μm in depth and 24mm wide was produced in the alloy by the overlapping of 12 tracks. Microstructural and chemical changes were studied as a function of (a) depth in the laser formed composite layer and (b) of the track position. Using X- ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photospectrographic (XPS) techniques, it was shown that the composite layer contained a complex microstructure which changed with depth. At the surface, a non-stoichiometric, cubic TiNx solid solution ( possibly a carbonitride) containing C and Si , where x ≈ 0.65-0.8, was prominent, but was replaced by α′-Ti with increasing depth to 300μm. TiC phase was also identified, and the presence of TiN0.3 and Ti5Si3 phases considered a distinct possibility.

On-disc observations of flux rope formation prior to its eruption

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are one of the primary manifestations of solar activity and can drive severe space weather effects. Therefore, it is vital to work towards being able to predict their occurrence. However, many aspects of CME formation and eruption remain unclear, including whether magnetic flux ropes are present before the onset of eruption and the key mechanisms that cause CMEs to occur. In this work, the pre-eruptive coronal configuration of an active region that produced an interplanetary CME with a clear magnetic flux rope structure at 1 AU is studied. A forward-S sigmoid appears in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) data two hours before the onset of the eruption (SOL2012-06-14), which is interpreted as a signature of a right-handed flux rope that formed prior to the eruption. Flare ribbons and EUV dimmings are used to infer the locations of the flux rope footpoints. These locations, together with observations of the global magnetic flux distribution, indicate that an interaction between newly emerged magnetic flux and pre-existing sunspot field in the days prior to the eruption may have enabled the coronal flux rope to form via tether-cutting-like reconnection. Composition analysis suggests that the flux rope had a coronal plasma composition, supporting our interpretation that the flux rope formed via magnetic reconnection in the corona. Once formed, the flux rope remained stable for two hours before erupting as a CME

Medium-Term Prospects for Ireland: An Update. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, April 1990

The Institute publishes its Medium-Term Review approximately every eighteen months. The Review attempts to project likely prospects for the Irish economy, predicated on trends in the world economy and the stance of domestic policy. Since we published our last Review in June 1989, some important and unexpected political events have taken place in Eastern Europe which could have substantial political and economic implications for developments within the EC and Ireland over the next few years. These events were not foreseen when we wrote the Review last June, although many of the other forces determining our future growth have developed as we expected ( e.g., the impending slow-down of the UK economy, relatively buoyant growth in the rest of the EC and the implementation of the EC Structural Fund projects, albeit at a lower level and different timing than envisaged in the National Development Plan 1989-1993)

Hamilton-Jacobi equations and Brane associated Lagrangians

This article seeks to relate a recent proposal for the association of a covariant Field Theory with a string or brane Lagrangian to the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism for strings and branes. It turns out that since in this special case, the Hamiltonian depends only upon the momenta of the Jacobi fields and not the fields themselves, it is the same as a Lagrangian, subject to a constancy constraint. We find that the associated Lagrangians for strings or branes have a covariant description in terms of the square root of the same Lagrangian. If the Hamilton-Jacobi function is zero, rather than a constant, then it is in in one dimension lower, reminiscent of the `holographic' idea. In the second part of the paper, we discuss properties of these Lagrangians, which lead to what we have called `Universal Field Equations', characteristic of covariant equations of motion.Comment: 23 pages,LaTeX2e, clarified text, generalised proof in appendi

Pilot Implementation of a Wellness and Tobacco Cessation Curriculum in North Carolina Group Homes

(2) Instructors used prior professional experiences and goal setting to facilitate program success and participant engagementDespite a steady decline in smoking rates in recent decades, individuals with mental illness continue to smoke at disproportionately higher rates than the general population. Adults with mental illness are motivated to quit and quit with rates similar to the general population when evidence-based cessation interventions are used. To build an evidence base for a wellness and cessation curriculum aimed at individuals with mental illness, the Breathe Easy Live Well (BELW) program was pilot tested in two group homes in North Carolina in the spring of 2014. Evaluators conducted pre- and post-implementation site visits and interviews with program instructors to assess outcomes as well as barriers and facilitators to implementation. Qualitative analysis of the data indicated that implementation was successful in both group homes, and the following themes emerged: (1) Training and technical assistance provided throughout implementation was sufficient; (3) Fostering positive coping strategies contributed to reports of reduced smoking; (4) Curriculum length may be a barrier to recruitment. Additional results included an increased interest among group home residents in more diligently managing mental illness symptoms and one group home moving the designated smoking area out of the direct path of the entrance/exit. Results of this pilot project suggest that BELW could be a potentially useful tool for group home staff to address health and wellness along with smoking cessation among individuals with mental illness

Impact of non-menthol flavours in e-cigarettes on perceptions and use: an updated systematic review

Objectives Given the exponential increase in the use of e-cigarettes among younger age groups and in the growth in research on e-cigarette flavours, we conducted a systematic review examining the impact of non-menthol flavoured e-cigarettes on e-cigarette perceptions and use among youth and adults. Design PubMed, Embase, PyscINFO and CINAHL were systematically searched for studies published and indexed through March 2018. Eligibility criteria Quantitative observational and experimental studies that assessed the effect of non-menthol flavours in e-cigarettes on perceptions and use behaviours were included. Specific outcome measures assessed are appeal, reasons for use, risk perceptions, susceptibility, intention to try, initiation, preference, current use, quit intentions and cessation. Data extraction and synthesis Three authors independently extracted data related to the impact of flavours in tobacco products. Data from a previous review were then combined with those from the updated review for final analysis. Results were then grouped and analysed by outcome measure. Results The review included 51 articles for synthesis, including 17 published up to 2016 and an additional 34 published between 2016 and 2018. Results indicate that non-menthol flavours in e-cigarettes decrease harm perceptions (five studies) and increase willingness to try and initiation of e-cigarettes (six studies). Among adults, e-cigarette flavours increase product appeal (seven studies) and are a primary reason many adults use the product (five studies). The role of flavoured e-cigarettes on smoking cessation remains unclear (six studies). Conclusion This review provides summary data on the role of non-menthol flavours in e-cigarette perceptions and use. Consistent evidence shows that flavours attract both youth and adults to use e-cigarettes. Given the clear findings that such flavours increase product appeal, willingness to try and initiation among youth, banning non-menthol flavours in e-cigarettes may reduce youth e-cigarette use. Longitudinal research is needed to examine any role flavours may play in quit behaviours among adults

Operationalising and measuring language dominance

The paper offers a new way to measure language ability in bilinguals, based on measures of lexical richness. The validity of proposed approach is tested in a variety of ways

Association Between Childhood to Adolescent Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptom Trajectories and Late Adolescent Disordered Eating

Purpose Disordered eating is more prevalent among adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms show strong associations with disordered eating, but few investigations of these associations have been longitudinal. Thus, we examined the effect of childhood to adolescent inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectories on late adolescent disordered eating. Methods We used growth mixture modeling to identify distinct inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectories (called “classes”) across three time points (ages 8–9, 13–14, and 16–17 years) in the Swedish Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development. The resulting classes were used to predict Eating Disorder Inventory-2 Bulimia, Drive for Thinness, and Body Dissatisfaction subscales at age 16–17 years, with adjustment for sex and body mass index at age 16–17 years. Results The combined inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom trajectory classes included: a “low symptom” class characterized by low inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity throughout childhood/adolescence; a “predominantly inattention” class characterized by elevated inattention, but not hyperactivity/impulsivity, throughout childhood/adolescence; a “predominantly hyp/imp” class characterized by elevated hyperactivity/impulsivity, but not inattention, throughout childhood/adolescence; and a “both inattention and hyp/imp” class characterized by elevated inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity throughout childhood/adolescence. After adjusting for sex and body mass index or sex and anxiety/depression symptoms, the “both inattention and hyp/imp” (vs. “low symptom”) class predicted significantly higher Eating Disorder Inventory-2 subscale scores during late adolescence. Conclusions Increased vigilance for disordered eating among children who have both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms throughout childhood and adolescence could aid in early identification of eating disorders

Body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys

Body dissatisfaction is a significant mental health symptom present in adolescent girls and boys. However, it is often either disregarded in adolescent boys or examined using assessments that may not resonate with males. The present study addresses these issues, examining the manifestation, etiology, and correlates of 3 facets of body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys. Adolescent male twins aged 16- to 17-years-old from the Swedish Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development were included along with a female comparison group: 915 monozygotic and 671 dizygotic same-sex twins. Body dissatisfaction was defined using measures of height dissatisfaction, muscle dissatisfaction, and the body dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-BD). We examined the prevalence of body dissatisfaction, whether the facets of body dissatisfaction were phenotypically and etiologically distinct, and associations with specific externalizing and internalizing symptoms. For boys, muscle dissatisfaction scores were greater than height dissatisfaction scores. Results also indicated that height and muscle dissatisfaction were phenotypically and etiologically distinct from the EDI-BD. Unique associations were observed with externalizing and internalizing symptoms: muscle dissatisfaction with symptoms of bulimia nervosa and the EDI-BD with internalizing symptoms, body mass index, and drive for thinness. The facets of body dissatisfaction were also largely distinct in girls and unique between-sex associations with externalizing and internalizing symptoms emerged. Overall, male-oriented aspects of body dissatisfaction are distinct from female-oriented aspects of body dissatisfaction. To capture the full picture of male body dissatisfaction, multiple facets must be addressed