The specification and evaluation of personalised footwear for additive manufacturing

The personalisation of footwear offers advantages not only for runners, but to anyone who wishes to become more active. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has the potential for making footwear personalisation economically feasible by allowing direct manufacture from CAD models and its tool-less capability. This thesis aims to develop and explore the process of footwear personalisation using AM and evaluates such footwear in terms of discomfort and biomechanics. To start to explore this process a repeated measures pilot study was conducted. Six recreational runners had anthropometric measurements of the foot taken and the plantar surface of both feet scanned. From the scans and measurements, personalised glove fit insoles were designed and manufactured using AM. Participants were then fitted with footwear under two experimental conditions (control and personalised), which were compared in terms of discomfort, performance and biomechanics. The findings of this pilot confirmed the feasibility of the personalisation process. A longitudinal study was then conducted to evaluate the short and medium term use of personalised footwear in terms of discomfort and biomechanics. A matched pairs study design was utilised and 38 recreational runners (19 pairs) were recruited. Control (generic shape) and personalised geometry insoles were designed and manufactured using AM. The participants wore the footwear each time they went running for a 3-month period. They also completed an Activity Diary after each training session and attended 4 laboratory sessions during this period. The results showed significantly lower discomfort ratings in the heel area and for overall fit with the personalised insoles. However, discomfort was reported under the arch region for both conditions (supported by the Activity Diary), indicating that the foot scanning position and material may need modifying. With regard to the biomechanics, the personalised insoles also led to significantly lower maximum ankle eversion and lower peak mean pressure under the heel, which are potentially positive effects in terms of reducing injury risk. A case study is then reported which explored foot capture using a dynamic scanner for the design and manufacture of insoles using AM. Through the development of four insoles, it was found that the selection and manipulation of the scan data from the series of frames generated during ground contact were the most demanding elements of the process. Finally, recommendations and guidance are given for the footwear personalisation process (foot scan position, anthropometry, insole design and AM), together with its potential benefits and limitations

Production of optical phase space vortices with non-locally distributed mode converters

Optical vortices have been observed in a wide variety of optical systems. They can be observed directly in the wavefront of optical beams, or in the correlations between pairs of entangled photons. We present a novel optical vortex which appears in a non-local plane of the two-photon phase space, composed of a single degree of freedom of each photon of an entangled pair. The preparation of this vortex can be viewed as a "non-local" or distributed mode converter. We show how these novel optical vortices of arbitrary order can be prepared in the spatial degrees of freedom of entangled photons.Comment: To appear in upcoming special issue "Orbital Angular Momentum" of the Journal of Optic

Single observable concurrence measurement without simultaneous copies

We present a protocol that allows us to obtain the concurrence of any two qubit pure state by performing a minimal and optimal tomography of one of the subsystems through measuring a single observable of an ancillary four dimensional qudit. An implementation for a system of trapped ions is also proposed, which can be achieved with present day experimental techniques.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Does a new research-funding model ask for a new evaluation framework? The case of Serrapilheira in Brazil

The purpose of this manuscript is to present an on-going experience of impact evaluation applied to a recently created S&T funding agency. The Institute Serrapilheira (ISP) is a private nonprofit organization created to fund new and challenging themes of research. Serrapilheira brings innovation to the Brazilian scenario of science funding in at least three directions. First, ISP is the first family-philanthropically funded organization totally dedicated to support science in Brazil. Secondly, as a private institution, it can provide researchers with greater flexibility in terms of resource allocation comparing to public funding agencies. The 2018 estimated budget is US$ 4,5 million. Thirdly, in its first call for proposals launched in mid-2017, ISP asked young researchers to present proposals out of the “Normal Science”. The definition of the impact evaluation model of the first call of Serrapilheira was based on both the institutional model proposed by the organization – and its main purposes – as well as on the particular goals of the first call. As a first step, these objectives were discussed with Serrapilheira’s staff. The second step consisted of detecting evaluation hypotheses, themes and indicators based on the discussion of the model’s objectives. As a result, six evaluation themes were defined – one oriented to characterizing the grantees both in terms of diversity and academic training and the other five oriented to measure impacts: (i) professional trajectory, (ii) scientific and technology production, (iii) night science, (iv) insertion and prominence and (v) research culture. Traditional and widely accepted indicators of scientific and technological impact were used, even for dialogue with communities and scientific institutions and terms of comparison. Nevertheless, the main challenge was to identify indicators that allow the measurement of variables that directly or indirectly approach the particularities of the research-funding model. As a first remark, we understand that the particularities of the new research-funding model proposed by ISP asks for a new evaluation framework, more oriented to alternative indicators and to a broad perspective about outputs, outcomes and impacts in a more diverse and multifaceted research system. In this current hands-on impact-study a methodology is being built and simultaneously applied to a concrete case. This experience may contribute to the field of impact evaluation to the extent it proposes not only alternative indicators to be mixed with traditional ones, but also because it has a longitudinal perspective of following grantees since the inception (with the advantage of starting with a baseline) till two years after projects end, performing a 5-year long evaluation. Another possible contribution refers to the understanding about the ways funding agencies are evaluating the outcomes and impacts of their initiatives

The specification of personalised footwear for rapid manufacturing: a pilot study

Although rapid manufacturing has potential in producing personalised footwear, it is not known how best to measure feet in this context nor even whether a personalised shoe can positively affect comfort, performance and prevent risk from injury. A pilot study was conducted to define anthropometric measurement techniques for specifying personalised footwear and evaluate the most effective methods of measuring discomfort, performance and injury risk. Recreational runners were recruited and had anthropometric measurements taken as well as the plantar surface of both feet scanned. Participants then were fitted with footwear under two experimental conditions: control and personalised insole. The footwear were compared in terms of discomfort ratings, performance and injury risks. Metatarsophalangeal joint height and hallux height showed positive correlations (p< 0.05) with discomfort scores in the forefoot, whereas relative arch deformation showed significant positive correlations (p<0.05) with discomfort scores in the midfoot and arch areas. No significant differences were found between the two conditions for discomfort scores and performance. With regard to injury risks, significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the two conditions for midfoot peak plantar pressure. The results suggest that producing personalised insoles from scan data and the rapid manufacturing process is feasibl

Experimental Observation of Environment-induced Sudden Death of Entanglement

We demonstrate the difference between local, single-particle dynamics and global dynamics of entangled quantum systems coupled to independent environments. Using an all-optical experimental setup, we show that, while the environment-induced decay of each system is asymptotic, quantum entanglement may suddenly disappear. This "sudden death" constitutes yet another distinct and counter-intuitive trait of entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure