Highly Electrocatalytic Activity of RuO2 Nanocrystals for Triiodide Reduction in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are promising alternatives to conventional silicon devices because of their simple fabrication procedure, low cost, and high efficiency. Platinum is generally used as a superior counter electrode (CE) material, but the disadvantages such as high cost and low abundance greatly restrict the large-scale application of DSCs. An efficient and sustainable way to overcome the limited supply of Pt is the development of high-efficiency Pt-free CE materials, which should possess both high electrical conductivity and superior electrocatalytic activity simultaneously. Herein, for the first time, a two-step strategy to synthesize ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) nanocrystals is reported, and it is shown that RuO2 catalysts exhibit promising electrocatalytic activity towards triiodide reduction, which results in comparable energy conversion efficiency to that of conventional Pt CEs. More importantly, by virtue of first-principles calculations, the catalytic mechanism of electrocatalysis for triiodide reduction on various CEs is investigated systematically and it is found that the electrochemical triiodide reduction reaction on RuO2 catalyst surfaces can be enhanced significantly, owing to the ideal combination of good electrocatalytic activity and high electrical conductivity.

Development of an app to support learning in A-level maths

This project involved producing an app for smart devices to enable modernised learning for A-level maths students. Research in a stakeholder school showed that 94% of pupils surveyed within the upper-secondary level owned a smartphone and most owned a tablet also, emphasising the opportunity for using apps to support learning. The app was developed using iBuildApp, an online app-creation programme which requires no programming. Past exam questions and solutions, notes and video tutorials were included and the topic was vectors, identified by teachers as problematic. Pupils generally found the app easy to use and wanted further development. The videos were popular despite this not ranking highly as a preferred method of revision previously. Teachers were happy for pupils to use the app to supplement their learning, both in the classroom and outside.

The first major step in the peace process’? Exploring the impact of the Anglo-Irish Agreement on Irish Republican thinking

This article supports interpretations of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 as a significant factor contributing to the development of the Northern Ireland peace process. However, it also emphasises a certain serendipity in the Agreement's effect on northern nationalist, and more specifically republican, politics in the region. In particular, it stresses that a specific interpretation of the Agreement promoted by the Social Democratic and Labour Party inspired a dialogue with republicanism, encouraging an ongoing reappraisal within the latter about the nature of Britain's role in Northern Ireland. This, the article argues, reinforced the movement towards a more political approach that republicans had begun in the 1980s, and encouraged their eventual embrace of a constitutional strategy in the 1990s. However, in advancing this argument, the article notes that such an outcome was far from the minds of the British and Irish officials who negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The Agreement was intended to marginalise rather than accommodate republicans. Despite this, it provided an inadvertent incentive to draw militant republicanism into the democratic process in Northern Ireland.

The first major step in the peace process’? Exploring the impact of the Anglo-Irish Agreement on Irish republican thinking

This article supports interpretations of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 as a significant factor contributing towards the development of the Northern Ireland peace process. However, it also emphasises a certain serendipity in the Agreement’s effect on northern nationalist, and more specifically republican, politics in the region. In particular, it stresses that a specific interpretation of the Agreement promoted by the SDLP inspired a dialogue with republicanism, encouraging an ongoing re-appraisal within the latter about the nature of Britain’s role in Northern Ireland. This, the article argues, reinforced the movement towards a more political approach that republicans had begun in the 1980s, and encouraged their eventual embrace of a constitutional strategy in the 1990s. However, in advancing this argument, the article notes that such an outcome was far from the minds of the British and Irish officials who negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The Agreement was intended to marginalise rather than accommodate republicans. Despite this, it provided an inadvertent incentive to draw militant republicanism into the democratic process in Northern Ireland.

Vision and deaf awareness training is it app.ropriate?

Title
Visual and deaf awareness training is it app.ropriate
Purpose
Some of our most vulnerable patients have a sensory deficit. An app which focused on patients with a vision and/or hearing loss was developed for healthcare students. The intent was to embed the core values necessary for students to provide appropriate care for patients with a sensory deficit.
Setting
Queen’s University Belfast, School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Methods
Stage 1
A review of current sensory awareness training in the United Kingdom
Stage 2
Application for funding
Stage 3
Development of a teaching tool template with the essential aspects required for sensory awareness training
Stage 4
Collaboration with others: Royal National Institute for the Blind, Action on Hearing Loss, Computer technician.
Stage 5
Production and transfer of multimedia outputs onto a software application system.
Stage 6
App Piloted with a sample of lecturers (n=5), undergraduate nursing students (n=20), service users (n=5)
Stage 7
Editing
Stage 8
App made available to all undergraduate nursing students
Stage 9
App evaluation (n=300)



Results
Overall nursing students positively evaluated the app, 100% of students rated the app between good and excellent. Qualitative evidence from service users and practice partnerships was extremely positive:
"At last I feel listened too in respect to my hearing loss and empowered. I don't feel like I am complaining I am actually helping to create something which should benefit staff and all of us with a hearing or vision loss". Patient
“Very insightful into the lives of those with a disability will be so useful in practice as an aid to jog my memory". 1st year nursing student
Conclusion
It is hoped that further evaluation and implementation of the app will show an improved quality to the care delivered to those with a sensory deficit. We believe that by working in partnership with service users we have helped to create an innovative tool that benefits both staff and patients.
Financial disclosure Yes
Funding of £2700 was awarded in 2014 through the Martha McMenamin Memorial Northern Ireland Scholarship.

Direct Visual Indication of pH Windows: 'Off-On-Off' Fluorescent PET (Photoinduced Electron Transfer) Sensors/Switches

1–3, which contain a fluorophore and two proton receptors with opposite PET (photoinduced electron transfer) characteristics, only display strong fluorescence within a pH window whose position and width are tunable.

Belfast Soundwalks

The Belfast Soundwalks project, led by Professor Pedro Rebelo and co-ordinated by Dr Sarah Bass (Sonic Arts Research Centre) in collaboration with Belfast City Council (BCC), aims to use sonic art to engage the public through the development of a locative mobile phone app. Targeting both tourists and citizens of the city, this project aims to sonically enhance the experience of a number of areas of the city, including destinations that may not traditionally be accessed as attractions by visitors and/or disregarded or undervalued by local residents. The project will bring together a number of sonic artists/composers who will create approximately ten soundwalks around the city, while liaising with BCC to distribute the resulting app to the public in line with their tourism and cultural strategy. The project is centred on the development of smart phone apps which provide unique listening experiences associated with key places in the city. The user’s location in the city is tracked through GPS which triggers sound materials ranging from speech to environmental sound and abstract imagined sound worlds. Additionally, local community groups will be consulted in order to evaluate and reflect upon the effectiveness of the soundwalks.

The project builds on the success of the Literary Belfast app and aims to further strengthen links between Queen’s University Belfast and Belfast City Council through facilitating the dissemination of an art form not widely experienced by the general public. Through the newly created Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities, directed by Professor John Thompson we are articulating this project with Queen’s consortium partners, Newcastle University and Durham University.

“The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class, independent researchers in a wide range of subjects: ancient history, modern dance, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, English literature, design, the creative and performing arts, and much more. This financial year the AHRC will spend approximately £98m to fund research and postgraduate training in collaboration with a number of partners. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. For further information on the AHRC, please go to: www.ahrc.ac.uk”.

The significance of interconnector counter-trading in a security constrained electricity market

Throughout the European Union there is an increasing amount of wind generation being dispatched-down due to the binding of power system operating constraints from high levels of wind generation. This paper examines the impact a system non-synchronous penetration limit has on the dispatch-down of wind and quantifies the significance of interconnector counter-trading to the priority dispatching of wind power. A fully coupled economic dispatch and security constrained unit commitment model of the Single Electricity Market of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangement was used in this study. The key finding was interconnector counter-trading reduces the impact the system non-synchronous penetration limit has on the dispatch-down of wind. The capability to counter-trade on the interconnectors and an increase in system non-synchronous penetration limit from 50% to 55% reduces the dispatch-down of wind by 311 GW h and decreases total electricity payments to the consumer by €1.72/MW h. In terms of the European Union electricity market integration, the results show the importance of developing individual electricity markets that allow system operators to counter-trade on interconnectors to ensure the priority dispatch of the increasing levels of wind generation.

“They should stay at their desk until the work’s done”: a qualitative study examining perceptions of sedentary behaviour in a desk-based occupational setting

Background: Workplace sedentary behaviour is a priority target for health promotion. However, little is known about how to effect change. We aimed to explore desk-based office workers’ perceptions of factors that influenced sedentary behaviour at work and to explore the feasibility of using a novel mobile phone application to track their behaviours.

Methods: We invited office employees (n = 12) and managers (n = 2) in a software engineering company to participate in semi-structured interviews to explore perceived barriers and facilitators affecting workplace sedentary behaviour. We assessed participants’ sedentary behaviours using an accelerometer before and after they used a mobile phone application to record their activities at self-selected time intervals daily for 2 weeks. Interviews were analysed using a thematic framework.

Results: Software engineers (5 employees; 2 managers) were interviewed; 13 tested the mobile phone application; 8 returned feedback. Major barriers to reducing workplace sedentary behaviour included the pressure of ‘getting the job done’, the nature of their work requiring sitting at a computer, personal preferences for the use of time at and after work, and a lack of facilities, such as a canteen, to encourage moving from their desks. Facilitators for reduced sedentariness included having a definite reason to leave their desks, social interaction and relief of physical and mental symptoms of prolonged sitting. The findings were similar for participants with different levels of overall physical activity. Valid accelerometer data were tracked for four participants: all reduced their sedentary behaviour. Participants stated that recording data using the phone application added to their day’s work but the extent to which individuals perceived this as a burden varied and was counter-balanced by its perceived value in increasing awareness of sedentary behaviour. Individuals expressed a wish for flexibility in its configuration.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that employers’ and employees’ perceptions of the cultural context and physical environment of their work, as well as personal factors, must be considered in attempting to effect changes that reduce workplace sedentary behaviour. Further research should investigate appropriate individually tailored approaches to this challenge, using a framework of behaviour change theory which takes account of specific work practices, preferences and settings.

Physical activity assessment in cystic fibrosis: A position statement

Background

The aim of this position statement was to inform the choice of physical activity tools for use within CF research and clinical settings.

Methods

A systematic review of physical activity tools to explore evidence for reliability, validity, and responsiveness. Narrative answers to “four key questions” on motion sensors, questionnaires and diaries were drafted by the core writing team and then discussed at the Exercise Working Group in ECFS Lisbon 2013.

Results and summary

Our current position is that activity monitors such as SenseWear or ActiGraph offer informed choices to facilitate a comprehensive assessment of physical activity, and should as a minimum report on dimensions of physical activity including energy expenditure, step count and time spent in different intensities and sedentary time. The DigiWalker pedometer offers an informed choice of a comparatively inexpensive method of obtaining some measurement of physical activity. The HAES represents an informed choice of questionnaire to assess physical activity. There is insufficient data to recommend the use of one diary over another. Future research should focus on providing additional evidence of clinimetric properties of these and new physical activity assessment tools, as well as further exploring the added value of physical activity assessment in CF.