Vehicle-to-grid feasibility: A techno-economic analysis of EV-based energy storage

© 2017 Elsevier LtdThe potential for electric vehicles to obtain income from energy supplied to a commercial building together with revenue accruing from specific ancillary service markets in the UK is evaluated in this work. A hybrid time-series/probabilistic simulation environment using real-world data is described, which is applied in the analysis of electricity trading with vehicle-to-grid to vehicles, buildings and markets. Key parameters are found to be the electric vehicle electricity sale price, battery degradation cost and infrastructure costs. Three vehicle-to-grid scenarios are evaluated using pool vehicle trip data, market pricing index data and half-hourly electricity demand for a commercial building. Results show that provision of energy to the wholesale electricity market with additional income from the capacity market results in the greatest projected return on investment, producing an individual vehicle net present value of ∼£8400. This is over 10 years for a vehicle supplying energy three times per week to the half-hour day-ahead market and includes the cost of installing the vehicle-to-grid infrastructure. The analysis also shows that net income generation is strongly dependent upon battery degradation costs associated with vehicle-to-grid cycling

A Personalised Needs-Led Group Approach to Induction: Perceptions of Early Academics in a University School of Education

Members of staff joining a school of education often have extensive experience in practice but not in academia and the university setting may present a complex diversity of roles, ways of working, values and goals. Colleagues may face issues of understanding the organisational structure and culture, changing identities, and concerns about their academic reading and writing abilities. This paper presents a study designed to examine the efficacy of a personalised needs-led self-study group approach to induction for experienced professionals joining a University School of Education. The approach was new to both current staff members and the four early academic staff, most of whom were teacher educators. In group sessions new colleagues had space for dialogue and story-telling based on their experiences, and created visual images for reflection and discussion with group members. Progressive group activities included presentations at local and international conferences, and academic writing. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the efficacy of the self-study group as part of an induction process; exploring the developing professional identity of the new staff, the role of the group, and the effects of collecting visual research data for reflection and analysis of personal and group themes. New colleagues prepared a reflective account of their experiences of the group and their developing professional identity, took part in an evaluation workshop, and responded to questions on the longer term impact of the group. Outcomes of the group process included participants\u27 increased confidence to work in the context of complexity, and the ability to embrace their changing identities. A self-study group process can help facilitate the development of the professionals needed to work in the dynamic context of the university of today and is likely to have implications for a range of organisational settings

Direct Evidence for Octupole Deformation in 146^{146}Ba and the Origin of Large E1E1 Moment Variations in Reflection-Asymmetric Nuclei

Despite the more than one order of magnitude difference between the measured dipole moments in $^{144}$Ba and $^{146}$Ba, the strength of the octupole correlations in $^{146}$Ba are found to be as strong as those in $^{144}$Ba with a similarly large value of $B(E3;3^- \rightarrow 0^+)$ determined as 48($^{+21}_{-29}$) W.u. The new results not only establish unambiguously the presence of a region of octupole deformation centered on these neutron-rich Ba isotopes, but also manifest the dependence of the electric dipole moments on the occupancy of different neutron orbitals in nuclei with enhanced octupole strength, as revealed by fully microscopic calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Skills in England 2003: Volume 2, research report

Skills in England 2003 is presented in four volumes this year. Volume 1 provides key messages and an overview of the research findings in the other three volumes. Volume 2 is the main research report and this year, as well as containing the same core of information as in previous years - separate chapters on skills supply, skills demand, mismatches between demand and supply, and future skill needs - also contains other chapters that look at issues which are particularly topical this year. To this end a chapter is contained on the latest developments in policy given the publication of several important policy documents since last year's Skills in England report. Given the emphasis in policy on stimulating the demand for skills, a chapter is presented on the links between investments in skills and training and organisational performance. It is also important to recognise that the benefits of economic growth and investments in training and skills do not affect everyone equally. There are groups in society who fail to obtain advantage from training and skills development and to illustrate this a chapter on social exclusion and equality of opportunity has been included this year. An important element of combating social exclusion has been the use of labour market programmes such as New Deal. Labour market programmes often contain a large element devoted to training of one kind or another and have been an important tool of labour market policy in many European countries. Arguably there is much more emphasis on active labour market policy in Britain today than hitherto with programmes such as New Deal, so a chapter has been devoted to this aspect of skills development. Finally, Volumes 3 and 4 provide evidence related to industrial sector and regional/local trends respectively. Terence Hogarth Rob Wilson Joint editors Skills in England 200

Skills in England 2003: Volume 1, key messages

Skills in England 2003 is presented in four volumes this year. Volume 1 provides key messages and an overview of the research findings in the other three volumes. Volume 2 is the main research report. This year, as well as containing the same core of information as in previous years – separate chapters on skills supply, skills demand, mismatches between demand and supply, and future skill needs – it also contains other chapters that look at issues which are particularly topical this year. To this end, a chapter is contained on the latest developments in policy given the publication of several important policy documents since last year’s Skills in England report. Given the emphasis in policy on stimulating the demand for skills, a chapter is presented on the links between investments in skills and training and organisational performance. It is important to recognise that the benefits of economic growth and investments in training and skills do not affect everyone equally. There are groups in society that fail to obtain advantage from training and skills development and to illustrate this a chapter on social exclusion and equality of opportunity has been included this year. An important element of combating social exclusion has been the use of labour market programmes such as New Deal. Labour market programmes often contain a large element devoted to training of one kind or another and have been an important tool of labour market policy in many European countries. Arguably there is much more emphasis on active labour market policy in Britain today than hitherto with programmes such as New Deal, so a chapter has been devoted to this aspect of skills development. Finally Volumes 3 and 4 provide evidence related to industrial sector and regional/local trends respectively

Undertaking multi-centre randomised controlled trials in primary care: learnings and recommendations from the PULsE-AI trial researchers

Background Conducting effective and translational research can be challenging and few trials undertake formal reflection exercises and disseminate learnings from them. Following completion of our multicentre randomised controlled trial, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we sought to reflect on our experiences and share our thoughts on challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for researchers undertaking or considering research in primary care. Methods Researchers involved in the Prediction of Undiagnosed atriaL fibrillation using a machinE learning AlgorIthm (PULsE-AI) trial, conducted in England from June 2019 to February 2021 were invited to participate in a qualitative reflection exercise. Members of the Trial Steering Committee (TSC) were invited to attend a semi-structured focus group session, Principal Investigators and their research teams at practices involved in the trial were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Following transcription, reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken based on pre-specified themes of recruitment, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations that formed the structure of the focus group/interview sessions, whilst also allowing the exploration of new themes that emerged from the data. Results Eight of 14 members of the TSC, and one of six practices involved in the trial participated in the reflection exercise. Recruitment was highlighted as a major challenge encountered by trial researchers, even prior to disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers also commented on themes such as the need to consider incentivisation, and challenges associated with using technology in trials, especially in older age groups. Conclusions Undertaking a formal reflection exercise following the completion of the PULsE-AI trial enabled us to review experiences encountered whilst undertaking a prospective randomised trial in primary care. In sharing our learnings, we hope to support other clinicians undertaking research in primary care to ensure that future trials are of optimal value for furthering knowledge, streamlining pathways, and benefitting patients