Art as a Tool in Quantum Mechanics

Revolutions in scientific thought often have substantial societal consequences, however, cultural assimilation of the new idea is contingent on a widespread understanding. Historically recent developments in modern physics, such as quantum mechanics and general relativity, suffer from their notoriously perceived difficulty, thus hindering cultural assimilation. To address this issue, art can serve as a useful complement to a student studying quantum mechanics - especially through its interpretation of delocalized electron density. A cross-disciplinary approach affords a greater diversity in participation and consequently results in a broader scientific outreach

Storytelling failure in the Vale of Leven: How a bacterial outbreak became a wicked problem

This dissertation examines the rhetorical work of a public inquiry investigation into an outbreak of Clostridium Difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland that resulted in 143 cases of infection and the tragic deaths of 34 patients. In light of these deaths and subsequent protests from local citizens, the National Health Service (NHS) Scotland launched a public inquiry in 2009 to investigate the events precipitating the outbreak. Extending rhetoric and technical communication’s sustained engagement with post-accident reports, this study explores how citizens and government officials accounted for the causes, boundaries, and impact of the outbreak. Specifically, it argues that despite the NHS’s initial investigation, which grounded the outbreak in local problems of practice, infrastructure, and culture, citizens and inquiry officials worked to rhetorically re-articulate the Vale of Leven Hospital outbreak as a wicked problem and, thus, a much larger and more complex matter of concern. In doing so, the study uses the Vale of Leven inquiry to reimagine the boundaries of rhetoric and technical communication as not only a form of problem solving work but also as the articulation of wicked matters of concern

UNITED STATES WOMEN MARINES’ EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES ABOUT COPING WITH SERVICE LIFE: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

Women are expanding their numbers and roles in the United States military. This new generation of military women is exposed to unique factors related to their gender that contribute to challenges for psychosocial well-being and optimal performance. In support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), researchers have identified unique factors for military women, including increased combat exposure, continued military sexual trauma and harassment, and conflicting dual roles. These factors may create obstacles that inhibit help-seeking behaviors and support for military women, and remain an under-researched topic of study. Gender-specific research on military women is limited; current research has primarily focused on discharged veterans and has been remiss in addressing women-specific issues for those currently serving in an active duty status. This study sought to address this under-researched phenomenon by exploring the military experiences of women on active duty in the United States Marine Corps. The purpose was to learn more about military women’s experiences and perceptions of stressors, coping behaviors, and sources of social support within this context. This study used a feminist phenomenological methodology to better understand military women’s experiences and specific stressors that influence their coping behaviors. A phenomenological data analysis procedure revealed five core themes and sub-themes that were synthesized into the essence. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are included to enhance women Marines’ psychosocial well-being and optimal performance while they serve on active duty

Doing the limbo with a low barrier: hydrogen bonding and proton transfer in hydroxyformylfulvene

Model compounds continue to play crucial roles for elucidating the ubiquitous phenomena of hydrogen bonding and proton transfer, often yielding invaluable insights into kindred processes taking place in substantially larger species. The symmetric double-minimum topography that characterizes the potential-energy landscape for an important subset of these systems allows unambiguous signatures of molecular dynamics (in the form of tunneling-induced bifurcations) to be extracted directly from spectral measurements. As a relatively unexplored member of this class, 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene (HFF) contains an intramolecular O–H···O interaction that has participating atoms from the hydroxylic (donor) and ketonic (acceptor) moieties closely spaced in a quasi-linear configuration. This unusual arrangement suggests proton transduction to occur with minimal encumbrance, possibly leading to a pronounced dislocation of the shuttling hydron commensurate with the concepts of low-barrier hydrogen bonding (which are distinguished by great strength, short distance, and vanishingly small potential barriers). A variety of spectroscopic probes built primarily upon the techniques of laser-induced fluorescence and dispersed fluorescence have been enlisted to acquire the first vibronically resolved information reported for the ground [\textit{\~{X}}$^{1}$A$_{1}$] and lowest-lying singlet excited [\textit{\~{A}}$^{1}$B$_{2}$ ($\pi$$\pi$)] electronic manifolds of HFF entrained in a cold supersonic free-jet expansion. These experimental findings will be discussed and compared to those obtained for related proton-transfer systems, with complimentary quantum-chemical calculations serving to unravel the unique bonding motifs and reactive pathways inherent to HFF

Stories as personal coaching philosophy

The importance of coaches developing and articulating a personal coaching philosophy which encapsulates their values and beliefs is widely recognised. Yet it is also acknowledged that many coaches resist what appears an abstract task or find it to be of limited use in their day-to-day practice. In this paper we explore the potential of an alternative approach to developing and articulating a personal coaching philosophy: storytelling. Following a discussion of the potential of stories, we present a story written by one coach which expresses her personal philosophy in a way that is firmly rooted in her coaching practice. Storytelling approaches, we suggest, can reveal the connections between abstract/general philosophy and the personal embodied experience of coaching. We reflect on the possibilities and problems of using stories as philosophy and offer some suggestions for how coaches may be supported in developing their coaching philosophy through storytelling

PROTON TRANSFER AND LOW-BARRIER HYDROGEN BONDING: A SHIFTING VIBRATIONAL LANDSCAPE DICTATED BY LARGE AMPLITUDE TUNNELING

Our fundamental understanding of synergistic hydrogen-bonding and proton-transfer phenomena has been advanced immensely by studies of model systems in which the coherent transduction of hydrons is mediated by two degenerate equilibrium configurations that are isolated from one another by a potential barrier of substantial height. This topography advantageously affords unambiguous signatures for the underlying state-resolved dynamics in the form of tunneling-induced spectral bifurcations, the magnitudes of which encode both the overall efficacy and the detailed mechanism of the unimolecular transformation. As a prototypical member of this class of compounds, 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene (HFF) supports an unusual quasi-linear O–H···O $leftrightarrow$ O···H–O reaction coordinate that presents a minimal impediment to proton migration – a situation commensurate with the concepts of low-barrier hydrogen bonding (which are characterized by great strength, short distance, and a vanishingly small barrier for hydron migration). A variety of fluorescence-based, laser-spectroscopic probes have been deployed in a cold supersonic free-jet expansion to explore the vibrational landscape and anomalously large tunneling-induced shifts that dominate the textit{~{X}}$^{1}$A$_{1}$ potential-energy surface of HFF, thus revealing the most rapid proton tunneling ever reported for a molecular ground state ($tau$$_{pt}$$leq$120fs). The surprising efficiency of such tunneling-mediated processes stems from proximity of the zero-point level to the barrier crest and produces a dramatic alteration in the canonical pattern of vibrational features that reflects, in part, the subtle transition from quantum-mechanical barrier penetration to classical over-the-barrier dynamics. The ultrafast proton-transfer regime that characterizes the textit{~{X}}$^{1}$A$_{1}$ manifold will be juxtaposed against analogous findings for the lowest-lying singlet excited state textit{~{A}}$^{1}$B$_{2}$ ($pi$*$leftarrow$$pi$), where a marked change in the nature of the reaction coordinate leads to the near-complete quenching of proton transfer. Experimental results, as well as complementary quantum-chemical analyses, will be discussed and contrasted with those obtained for related hydron-migration systems in an effort to highlight the unique bonding motifs and reaction propensities evinced by HFF

ROTATION-TUNNELING ANALYSIS OF PROTON-TRANSFER DYNAMICS IN ELECTRONICALLY EXCITED 6-HYDROXY-2-FORMYLFULVENE USING DEGENERATE FOUR-WAVE MIXING

The multidimensional nature of classically hindered proton transfer is demonstrated clearly by the pronounced effects engendered by attendant electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom, the selective excitation of which can enhance or diminsh the rate of hydron migration greatly. To explore the provenance of such phenomena, the origin band (0$^0_0$) of the \textit{\~{A}}$^{1}$B$_{2}$–\textit{\~{X}}$^{1}$A$_{1}$ absorption system in 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene (HFF) has been probed under ambient bulk-gas conditions by using polarization-resolved degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) spectroscopy. The alleviation of rovibronic congestion and suppression of rotational-branch structure afforded by judicious selection of incident/detected polarizations for the DFWM interaction has enabled refined rotation-tunneling information to be extracted for the lowest-lying singlet excited manifold, \textit{\~{A}}$^{1}$B$_{2}$ ($\pi$*$\pi$). In contrast to the ultrafast dynamics ($\tau$$_{pt}$$\leq$120fs) that characterize the \textit{\~{X}}$^{1}$A$_{1}$ ground electronic state of HFF, the $\pi$*$\leftarrow$$\pi$ electron promotion is found to impede intramolecular proton transfer markedly, leading to the near complete quenching of tunneling-induced spectral signatures. The intrinsic dependence of reaction coordinate and proton-transfer efficacy on the nuances of potential-surface topology and transition-state geometry will be discussed in light of these experimental results, with complementary quantum-chemical calculations serving to elucidate the dramatic impact that subtle changes in energy landscape can exert upon unimolecular dynamics

Exploring the interactions underlying flow states: A connecting analysis of flow occurrence in European Tour golfers

Objectives: Research to date has identified a range of factors suggested to facilitate flow states in sport. However, less attention has focused on how exactly those facilitating factors influence the occurrence of flow. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the specific ways in which such facilitators influenced flow occurrence in European Tour golfers. Design: Qualitative design. Method: Ten full-time golfers from the European Tour (M age=37; SD=13.08) participated in semi-structured interviews investigating the occurrence of their flow states. Data were interpreted using an iterative process of thematic and connecting analyses. Results: Ten facilitators of flow were identified, of which commitment and the caddie have not been reported previously. Twenty four connecting links were identified in the data, through which the caddie, effective preparation, and high-quality performance appeared to be most influential for flow occurrence. Confidence and concentration also emerged as key constructs underlying the flow experience in this setting. Conclusion: A central contribution of this study is the identification of ways in which facilitating factors could influence flow occurrence in elite golf. This process adds detail to understanding of flow occurrence, and moves beyond simply identifying factors which are associated with the experience. As such, connecting analysis is proposed as an additional strategy for qualitatively investigating flow occurrence in sport. Results are discussed in relation to previous literature, and recommendations are identified for researchers, athletes, coaches and practitioners