SrTiO3(001)(2x1) reconstructions: First-principles calculations of surface energy and atomic structure compared with scanning tunneling microscopy images

(1x1) and (2x1) reconstructions of the (001) SrTiO3 surface were studied using the first-principles full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method. Surface energies were calculated as a function of TiO2 chemical potential, oxygen partial pressure and temperature. The (1x1) unreconstructed surfaces were found to be energetically stable for many of the conditions considered. Under conditions of very low oxygen partial pressure the (2x1) Ti2O3 reconstruction [Martin R. Castell, Surf. Sci. 505, 1 (2002)] is stable. The question as to why STM images of the (1x1) surfaces have not been obtained was addressed by calculating charge densities for each surface. These suggest that the (2x1) reconstructions would be easier to image than the (1x1) surfaces. The possibility that the presence of oxygen vacancies would destabilise the (1x1) surfaces was also investigated. If the (1x1) surfaces are unstable then there exists the further possibility that the (2x1) DL-TiO2 reconstruction [Natasha Erdman Nature (London) 419, 55 (2002)] is stable in a TiO2-rich environment and for p(O2)>10(-18) atm.

Church of St George and St Thomas

Abstract: A vibrant inner city parish needed space for meetings, language classes, children’s play and other support accommodation as well as a clearer link between the interior of the listed church and the space outside.

The project builds itself about the entrance to the church. The form is manipulated such that the intervention recedes from those entering the church, drawing them into the plan before becoming readable as an addition. The resultant poché between this entrance sequence and the fabric of the church is hollowed out to provide the required accommodation. These rooms are insulated and lined in cork to allow for their use separate to the main body of the church. With budget at a premium the construction methodology was developed from an analysis of traditional Irish boat building techniques, which allowed the use of the solid timber to act as the primary structure with no additional material support.

Constructed in solid walnut the intervention reads with the existing brick interior and yet is clearly identifiable as a contemporary addition.

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To accommodate new space inside an existing protected structure.
2 To form a new threshold between interior and exterior.
3 To develop an affordable means of construction that would be durable and rapid to erect.
4 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing protect structure, in line with best conservation practice and research.
5 Traditional forms of construction as a model for contemporary technologies.

Additional Accommodation Church of St George and St Thomas

A vibrant inner city parish needed space for meetings, language classes, children’s play and other support accommodation as well as a clearer link between the interior of the listed church and the space outside.

The project builds itself about the entrance to the church. The form is manipulated such that the intervention recedes from those entering the church, drawing them into the plan before becoming readable as an addition. The resultant poché between this entrance sequence and the fabric of the church is hollowed out to provide the required accommodation. These rooms are insulated and lined in cork to allow for their use separate to the main body of the church. With budget at a premium the construction methodology was developed from an analysis of traditional Irish boat building techniques, which allowed the use of the solid timber to act as the primary structure with no additional material support.

Constructed in solid walnut the intervention reads with the existing brick interior and yet is clearly identifiable as a contemporary addition.

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To accommodate new space inside an existing protected structure.
2 To form a new threshold between interior and exterior.
3 To develop an affordable means of construction that would be durable and rapid to erect.
4 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing protect structure, in line with best conservation practice and research.
5 Traditional forms of construction as a model for contemporary technologies.


Principal Investigator: Clancy Moore Architects –Colm Moore

Co-investigator(s): Andrew Clancy, Mathew O’Malley

Funding partner/ Client: Select Vestry of St George and St Thomas

Finance. €35’000

Date (start – finished) Start June 2008 – Completed December 2008

A Damascene Conversion:Additional Accommodation Church of St George and St Thomas

Additional Accommodation Church of St George and St Thomas - Critical Appraisal ‘A Damascene Conversion’ by Shane O’Toole in The Sunday Times December 2008.

Religious Geopolitics of Palestinian Christianity: Palestinian Christian Zionists, Palestinian Liberation Theologists, and American Missions to Palestine

The introduction of Protestantism into the Middle East by American missionaries in the nineteenth century met with limited success while the responses and internalizations of local converts proved incredibly diverse. The two resultant theological descendants are Palestinian Christian Zionists and Palestinian Liberation Theologists. The article provides a short history of these two movements and highlights influential voices through interviews and media analysis. This article argues that hybrid religious identifications with nation and place has transcended, in some cases, political struggle for territory.

Vibrational excitation of the N2+ first negative (0,0), (1,0) and (2,0) bands by electron impact: a theoretical study using the R-matrix approach

Ab initio cross section calculations for vibronic excitation using the R -matrix approach have been performed on the N 2 + molecular ion complex. A three-state close-coupling expansion is used where the electronic target states; X 2 g + , A 2 u and B 2 u + of the molecular cation are represented by a valence configuration-interaction approximation. A non-adiabatic approximation is invoked to study vibronic excitation for the first three negative bands, (0,0), (1,0) and (2,0) of the X-B transition (B 2 u + v ´ X 2 g + v ´´ ) of N 2 + . Fixed-nuclei and non-adiabatic cross section results are compared with the available experimental data for the (0,0) band and the breakdown of the adiabatic fixed-nuclei approximation is clearly evident for the vibronic excitation of the (1,0) and (2,0) bands in this molecular ion complex.