Enhancing Ministry & Improving Clergy Well-Being: Exploring the impact of Bowen’s Systems Coaching on the Work-Related Psychological Health of Clergy

Substantial societal changes over the past twenty years together with the professionalisation of the Church of England have greatly impacted the clergy role (Robbins & Francis, 2014). While clergy continue to gain a great deal of satisfaction and accomplishment from ministry (Francis et al., 2009), one third of all clerical sickness within the Church of England (CoE) is now due to stress, anxiety or other mental health issues (St Luke’s, 2010). Research exploring the aetiology of clergy mental health indicates the fundamental role of relational risk factors such as conflict & role expectations within the development of negative psychological health (Berry et al., 2012). Positive psychological health also relies on relational variables including levels of support from family and congregation (Proeschold-Bell, 2015)

Testing the three-phase technology for harvesting biomass from wetlands

Many protected wetlands in Poland require special care to restore and protect them as breeding areas for endangered bird species. As machinery for this purpose, adapted tracked snow groomers, tracked trailers and wheeled tractors are outdated and not eco-friendly. The Industrial Institute of Agricultural Engineering (PIMR) has designed and developed new-generation machinery that will be more useful in formal paludiculture. The PIMR three-phase technology (T-PT) improves the efficiency of vehicle movement making it less damaging to protected wetlands, and allows non-stop collection of a whole swath. The bales produced are rolled over the ground as a biomass train to storage locations at the field margin. Key features of T-PT that contribute to protection of the wetlands and the wider environment are: a) the delta tracks of the vehicles, which make grooved paths (depth ~ 30 mm) but do not damage the surface structure; b) non-stop swath collection, which improves engine efficiency and reduces fuel consumption; and c) the use of ‘EcoSafe FR’ biodegradable fluid in the power hydraulics, which means that there is no pollution of water in the case of spillage

Surface-Enhanced Nitrate Photolysis on Ice

Heterogeneous nitrates photolysis is the trigger for many chemical processes occurring in the polar boundary layer and is widely believed to occur in a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) at the surface of ice. The dipole forbidden character of the electronic transition relevant to boundary layer atmospheric chemistry and the small photolysis/photoproducts quantum yields in ice (and in water) may confer a significant enhancement and interfacial specificity to this important photochemical reaction at the surface of ice. Using amorphous solid water films at cryogenic temperatures as models for the disordered interstitial air/ice interface within the snowpack suppresses the diffusive uptake kinetics thereby prolonging the residence time of nitrate anions at the surface of ice. This approach allows their slow heterogeneous photolysis kinetics to be studied providing the first direct evidence that nitrates adsorbed onto the first molecular layer at the surface of ice are photolyzed more effectively than those dissolved within the bulk. Vibrational spectroscopy allows the ~3-fold enhancement in photolysis rates to be correlated with the nitrates’ distorted intramolecular geometry thereby hinting at the role played by the greater chemical heterogeneity in their solvation environment at the surface of ice than in the bulk. A simple 1D kinetic model suggests 1-that a 3(6)-fold enhancement in photolysis rate for nitrates adsorbed onto the ice surface could increase the photochemical NO[subscript 2] emissions from a 5(8) nm thick photochemically active interfacial layer by 30%(60)%, and 2-that 25%(40%) of the NO[subscript 2] photochemical emissions to the snowpack interstitial air are released from the top-most molecularly thin surface layer on ice. These findings may provide a new paradigm for heterogeneous (photo)chemistry at temperatures below those required for a QLL to form at the ice surface

The Essential Role for Laboratory Studies in Atmospheric Chemistry

Laboratory studies of atmospheric chemistry characterize the nature of atmospherically relevant processes down to the molecular level, providing fundamental information used to assess how human activities drive environmental phenomena such as climate change, urban air pollution, ecosystem health, indoor air quality, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Laboratory studies have a central role in addressing the incomplete fundamental knowledge of atmospheric chemistry. This article highlights the evolving science needs for this community and emphasizes how our knowledge is far from complete, hindering our ability to predict the future state of our atmosphere and to respond to emerging global environmental change issues. Laboratory studies provide rich opportunities to expand our understanding of the atmosphere via collaborative research with the modeling and field measurement communities, and with neighboring disciplines

The Essential Role for Laboratory Studies in Atmospheric Chemistry

Laboratory studies of atmospheric chemistry characterize the nature of atmospherically relevant processes down to the molecular level, providing fundamental information used to assess how human activities drive environmental phenomena such as climate change, urban air pollution, ecosystem health, indoor air quality, and stratospheric ozone depletion. Laboratory studies have a central role in addressing the incomplete fundamental knowledge of atmospheric chemistry. This article highlights the evolving science needs for this community and emphasizes how our knowledge is far from complete, hindering our ability to predict the future state of our atmosphere and to respond to emerging global environmental change issues. Laboratory studies provide rich opportunities to expand our understanding of the atmosphere via collaborative research with the modeling and field measurement communities, and with neighboring disciplines

Investigating autistic children's attitudes towards strangers with the theatrical robot - a new experimental paradigm in human-robot interaction studies

Peer reviewe

Robots as Isolators or Mediators for Children with Autism A Cautionary Tale

The discussion presented in this paper is part of our investigation in the Aurora project into the potential use of robots as therapeutic or educational ‘toys’ specifically for use by children with autism. The paper raises some cautions concerning social isolation and stereotypical behaviour frequently exhibited in children with autism. We present some examples taken from trials with the robots where the children exhibit such behaviour, and discuss possible ways of ensuring not to reinforce stereotypical behaviour and a tendency to social isolation in the children. Especially, we point out an avenue of robots becoming social mediators (mediating contact between children and other children or adults). The paper exemplifies interaction where social behaviour was directed at the robot which raises awareness of the goal of the research, namely to help the children to increase their social interaction skills with other people and not simply create relationships with a ‘social’ robot which would isolate the children from other humans even further

Fiber optic CdMnTe magnetic field sensor made by the laser ablation deposition technique

A Cd1-xMnxTe (CMT) fiber optic magnetic field sensor has been developed with the use of a laser ablation deposition technique: pulsed laser evaporation and epitaxy (FLEE). This method of growth yields high-quality material and due to the low-temperature deposition it enables integration of CMT in optoelectronic systems. A disk-shaped sensor structure of diameter and thickness less than 3 mm and 75 ?m, respectively, is incorporated in a fiber optic system. A linear response of the sensor held at room temperature has been measured in the magnetic field up to 0.8 T; however, its usefulness for measurements of the field above 25 T is expected. Due to its small physical dimension and the potential of high-speed operation in the gigahertz range, the sensor can be particularly useful in the measurements of spatial and temporal uniformity of the magnetic fieldNRC publication: Ye