Precipitation and fracture in a ferritic stainless steel

Includes bibliographical references.A dual stabilised ferritic stainless steel with titanium and niobium additions had been experiencing failures during production. Following hot rolling and cooling while coiled and prior to annealing, the steel had been prone to shattering across its width during uncoiling. This project was initiated by the manufacturers, Columbus Stainless, so that the present understanding of this stainless steel could be expanded, with the ultimate aim of avoiding production losses. This stainless steel is designed for high temperature use in automotive exhaust systems. This requires a good blend of hot strength, creep and corrosion resistance. The composition (notably the niobium addition) and manufacturing processes (where the precipitation and grain size are major concerns) are intended to provide these properties. This thesis puts the steel into the broader context of the ferritic stainless steels and discusses its high temperature use and its dual stabilisation

The relationships of selected psycho-social variables associated with achievement to the performance of male and female intercollegiate basketball players

A total of 54 male and 53 female athletes completed the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire and Gordon's Survey of Interpersonal Values. Scales measured were WORK, MASTERY, COMPETITIVENESS, PERSONAL UNCONCERN, SUPPORT, CONFORMITY, RECOGNITION, INDEPENDENCE, BENEVOLENCE, and LEADERSHIP. The head coach of each participating team ranked all team members from "most valuable" to "least valuable" based on 1981-82 performance. Also, 13 skill-related indices were obtained for each player from 1981-82 cumulative statistics; (a) percentage of games played, (b) field goals made, (c) field goals attempted, (d) field goal percentage, (e) free throws made, (f) free throws attempted, (g) free throw percentage, (h) total rebounds, (i) rebounds per game, (3) total points, (k) points per game, (1) total assists, and (m) assists per game

Neurodevelopmental problems in maltreated children referred with indiscriminate friendliness

We aimed to explore the extent of neurodevelopmental difficulties in severely maltreated adopted children. We recruited 34 adopted children, referred with symptoms of indiscriminate friendliness and a history of severe maltreatment in their early childhood and 32 typically developing comparison children without such a history, living in biological families. All 66 children, aged 5–12 years, underwent a detailed neuropsychiatric assessment. The overwhelming majority of the adopted/indiscriminately friendly group had a range of psychiatric diagnoses, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and one third exhibited the disorganised pattern of attachment. The mean IQ was 15 points lower than the comparison group and the majority of the adopted group had suspected language disorder and/or delay. Our findings show that school-aged adopted children with a history of severe maltreatment can have very complex and sometimes disabling neuropsychiatric prob

The role of hydrogen and fuel cells in the global energy system

Hydrogen technologies have experienced cycles of excessive expectations followed by disillusion. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence suggests these technologies form an attractive option for the deep decarb onisation of global energy systems, and that recent improvements in their cost and performance point towards economic viability as well. This paper is a comprehensive review of the potential role that hydrogen could play in the provision of electricity, h eat, industry, transport and energy storage in a low - carbon energy system, and an assessment of the status of hydrogen in being able to fulfil that potential. The picture that emerges is one of qualified promise: hydrogen is well established in certain nic hes such as forklift trucks, while mainstream applications are now forthcoming. Hydrogen vehicles are available commercially in several countries, and 225,000 fuel cell home heating systems have been sold. This represents a step change from the situation of only five years ago. This review shows that challenges around cost and performance remain, and considerable improvements are still required for hydrogen to become truly competitive. But such competitiveness in the medium - term future no longer seems an unrealistic prospect, which fully justifies the growing interest and policy support for these technologies around the world

From sustainable community to Big Society: ten years learning with the Imagine approach

Community is a key word in the current UK political vocabulary. As part of Big Society or as a sustainable means to develop social coherence, community has been an area of focus which has attained UK political party interest since 2003. In 1999 the Imagine method was first hinted at in the Earthscan book: ‘Sustainability Indicators: measuring the immeasurable’. The approach allows citizens to learn about and self-evaluate their own sustainability by developing their own sustainability indicators in a manner which is participatory and evidence-based. Communities could make use of the approach, not in an attempt to arrive at some ‘absolute’ value of sustainability, but in striving to achieve a self-knowing sense of how sustainable they are, by their own measured indicators and to use this evaluation in discourse with other agencies such as local and national government. The tone of Imagine is to empower citizens to own their own sustainability and to plan for sustainable futures. The method, developed for spatial and temporal sustainability assessment, has been trialled by countries in the Mediterranean region within Coastal Area Management Programmes (CAMPs). Building off this engagement with geographically and culturally diverse communities, the method has been supported by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) in the UK and developed into a teaching module which has been subsequently tested at undergraduate, postgraduate, continuing professional development (CPD), Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and working with practitioners, as a hands-on Masterclass . The resulting course: Creating Sustainable Communities (CSC) has now been introduced to 20 UK Universities and has seen use by 7. This paper tracks the development of the Imagine method, explores its major elements and sets out the learning impacts it has had to-date