Carbon nanotubes are ideal candidates for the mechanical reinforcement of ceramic due to their excellent mechanical properties, high aspect ratio and nanometer scale diameter. In this study, the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the mechanical properties of diopside (Di) scaffolds fabricated by selective laser sintering were investigated. Results showed that compressive stren...

The purposes of the current study were to identify mental toughness profiles in adolescent cricketers and examine differences between these profiles on developmental assets and negative emotional states. A sample of 226 community cricketers (125 New Zealanders and 101 Australians; male n = 210) aged between 10 and 18 years (M(age) = 14.41 years; SD = 2.11) completed a multisection, online surve...

Leaves as the main photosynthetic organ of plants must be well protected against various hazards to achieve their optimal lifespans. Yet, within-species variation and the material basis of leaf strength have been explored for very few species. Here, we present a large dataset of leaf fracture toughness from a species-rich humid tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, reporting both am...

In tennis, mental toughness is often considered highly important in achieving the elite level. The current study is the first to examine behavioural expressions of mental toughness on the court and their relationships with self-reported measures. Based on the input of five experienced tennis coaches of junior tennis players and behaviours used in previous studies, we developed a taxonomy consis...

The mode II initiation fracture toughness of wood was measured by the three-point bend endnotched flexure (3ENF) test for various crack lengths, and the dependence of toughness on the crack length was analyzed by the four conventional methods of data reduction : elementary beam theory, Williams end correction method, and two compliance calibration methods. In addition to these methods, the comp...

What is mental toughness? This research draws on the experience of elite athletes and coaches to unearth a conceptualisation and definition of mental toughness. The interviews of 33 elite athletes and coaches (including 25 current or former elite athletes, of whom 15 had achieved an Olympic Gold Medal or World Champion status) were transcribed verbatim and analysed qualitatively to reveal under...

To date, high compressive ductility and energy absorption have been achieved in amorphous metal foams based on high-toughness Pdand Zr-based metallic glasses and are known to result from two extrinsic toughening mechanisms: bending of struts and shear band arrest by pores. We study here a syntactic amorphous metallic foam produced by infiltration of a bed of hollow crystalline iron spheres with...

In this study, we examined (a) the effects of goal orientations and perceived value of toughness on antisocial behavior toward opponents and teammates in soccer and (b) whether any effects were mediated by moral disengagement. Male soccer players (N = 307) completed questionnaires assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that ego orientation had positive an...

The ability to create architected materials that possess both high stiffness and toughness remains an elusive goal, since these properties are often mutually exclusive. Natural materials, such as bone, overcome such limitations by combining different toughening mechanisms across multiple length scales. Here, a new method for creating architected lattices composed of core-shell struts that are b...

Nuclear-grade graphite is a critically important high-temperature structural material for current and potentially next generation of fission reactors worldwide. It is imperative to understand its damage-tolerant behaviour and to discern the mechanisms of damage evolution under in-service conditions. Here we perform in situ mechanical testing with synchrotron X-ray computed micro-tomography at t...