6 research outputs found
'No one knows like we do' - the narratives of mental health service users trained as researchers
In 2008, Mind in Bexley received a research development grant from the Big Lottery Fund and a training grant from Bexley Care Trust to empower service users to participate and contribute to a pilot research project. The project aims were to work with, develop, train and support the service users as researchers, in order to record the narratives of service users who have common experiences of mental health distress and treatment. The research development project set up an advisory group, created and developed a partnership with the University of Kent and provided workshops and training sessions to explore some of the principles of research and ethics. In addition, the group under took a preliminary literature review, developed and refined a research questionnaire and piloted interviews with six service users. Many issues were raised and lessons learned during the planning and conduct of the project. This paper discusses the process and reflects on aspects of the project's design and delivery. In addition, this paper highlights some of the difficulties in under taking service user research and suggests recommendations as to how to overcome some of these complex issues
Thermal Conductivity of Mechanically Joined Semiconducting/Metal Nanomembrane Superlattices
The decrease of thermal conductivity
is crucial for the development
of efficient thermal energy converters. Systems composed of a periodic
set of very thin layers show among the smallest thermal conductivities
reported to-date. Here, we fabricate in an unconventional but straightforward
way hybrid superlattices consisting of a large number of nanomembranes
mechanically stacked on top of each other. The superlattices can consist
of an arbitrary composition of n- or p-type doped single-crystalline
semiconductors and a polycrystalline metal layer. These hybrid multilayered
systems are fabricated by taking advantage of the self-rolling technique.
First, differentially strained nanomembranes are rolled into three-dimensional
microtubes with multiple windings. By applying vertical pressure,
the tubes are then compressed and converted into a planar hybrid superlattice.
The thermal measurements show a substantial reduction of the cross-sectional
heat transport through the nanomembrane superlattice compared to a
single nanomembrane layer. Time-domain thermoreflectance measurements
yield thermal conductivity values below 2 W m<sup>–1</sup> K<sup>–1</sup>. Compared to bulk values, this represents a reduction
of 2 orders of magnitude by the incorporation of the mechanically
joined interfaces. The scanning thermal atomic force microscopy measurements
support the observation of reduced thermal transport on top of the
superlattices. In addition, small defects with a spatial resolution
of ∼100 nm can be resolved in the thermal maps. The low thermal
conductivity reveals the potential of this approach to fabricate miniaturized
on-chip solutions for energy harvesters in, e.g., microautonomous
systems