Export Performance and Competitiveness of the Irish Economy

This paper reviews Ireland’s recent export performance, with emphasis on the reasons behind the strong gains in market share experienced by the economy over the past 15 years.

Video: May It Please the Court: Techniques for Persuasive Witness Testimony

Success at trial depends on preparation and practice. Knowing the law and the facts of the case is important. Knowing how to present persuasive witness testimony at trial and how to speak to the Court and jury in an ethical and professional manner is even more important. Learn techniques to prepare witnesses and yourself for successful handling of direct, cross-exam, and objections to achieve your goals at trial. Our panel will direct an interactive role-play session

The Economic Legacy of Warfare: Evidence from European Regions

Historical warfare in Europe inflicted numerous costs on rural populations. To reduce such costs, rural populations relocated behind the relative safety of urban fortifications. We argue that war-related urbanization had positive consequences for long-run regional economic development. We geocode the locations of more than 600 conflicts in early modern Europe. We find a positive and significant relationship between historical conflict exposure and regional economic development today. Our results are robust to a wide range of econometric techniques, alternative samples, and economic outcomes. Human capital accumulation stands out as one channel through which war-related urbanization translated into regional economic development. Our results highlight the military origins of Europe’s wealthy urban bel

Demonstration of high performance in a perovskite oxide supported solid oxide fuel cell based on La and Ca co-doped SrTiO3

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement n° 256730 and Energy Technology Partnership (ETP).Perovskite electrodes have been considered as an alternative to Ni-YSZ cermet-based anodes as they afford better tolerance towards coking and impurities and due to redox stability can allow very high levels of fuel utilisation. Unfortunately performance levels have rarely been sufficient, especially for a second generation anode supported concept. A-site deficient lanthanum and calcium co-doped SrTiO3, La0.2Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 (LSCTA-) shows promising thermal, mechanical and electrical properties and has been investigated in this study as a potential anode support material for SOFCs. Flat multilayer ceramics cells were fabricated by aqueous tape casting and co-sintering, comprising a 450 μm thick porous LSCTA- scaffold support, a dense YSZ electrolyte and a thin layer of La0.8Sr0.2CoO3-δ (LSC)-La0.8Sr0.2FeO3-δ (LSF)-YSZ cathode. Impregnation of a small content of Ni significantly enhanced fuel cell performance over naked LSCTA-. Use of ceria as a co-catalyst was found to improve the microstructure and stability of impregnated Ni and this in combination with the catalytic enhancement from ceria significantly improved performance over Ni impregnation alone. With addition of CeO2 and Ni to a titanate scaffold anode that had been pre-reduced at 1000 oC, a maximum powder density of 0.96 W cm-2 can be achieved at 800 oC using humidified hydrogen as fuel. The encouraging results show that an oxide anode material, LSCTA- can be used as anode support with YSZ electrolyte heralding a new option for SOFC development.PostprintPeer reviewe

Preferentially selecting cellular metabolism and improving productivity by controlling do and Pco2

Cells utilize glucose as their main resource for deriving energy through ATP production. The quantity of ATP generated depends on the metabolic pathways that are employed, aerobic glucose metabolism or anaerobic glucose metabolism. Using our bench top bioreactor model, we have shown these two metabolic pathways can be preferentially selected by controlling the desired cell culture DO and pCO2, and productivity was increased as a result. The DO and pCO2 controlling strategy was implemented in at-scale bioreactors and yielded the expected metabolic and productivity outcom

The New Irish Question: Citizenship, Motherhood and the Politics of Life Itself

In 2004, voters in the Republic of Ireland supported a constitutional amendment removing the automatic right to Irish citizenship by birth in favor of granting citizenship through a combination of 'blood' and residence rights. The referendum attracted enormous public attention, especially to the perceived attempt to restrict citizenship claims arising from asylum seekers with Irish hom children. Significant scholarly attention has also been paid to the role of the Irish state, and the relationship between the state and 'race'. This article critically reviews this literature and goes beyond it in several ways: first, we re-open discussion of Irish citizenship through a critical examination of its legal underpinnings; second, we trace over the public debates in finer detail; and, third, we show the ways in which Irish citizenship is being reconfigured by broader international forces

Aqueous thick-film ceramic processing of planar solid oxide fuel cells using La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 anode supports

HEXIS AG and the EPSRC projects: EP/L017008/1 “Capital for Great Technologies”; EP/ P024807/1 “Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Hub” for funding.Recent research into the upscaling and implementation of Rh/Ce0.80Gd0.20O1.90 co-impregnated La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 (LSCTA-) anodes in electrolyte-supported SOFC at short-stack industrial scales has resulted in extremely robust performance under realistic operation and tolerance to harsh conditions. Furthermore, evaluation of the mechanical strength of LSCTA- and incorporation of this material into anode-supported SOFC also yielded promising performance at the button cell scale (using Ni and CeO2 catalyst impregnates). The knowledge on ceramic processing obtained during these previous research campaigns may be used to develop anode-supported SOFC with LSCTA- 'backbones' that have been optimised for high mechanical strength, high 'effective' electronic conductivity and sufficient porosity. Therefore, this manuscript details the preparation of anode-supported SOFC using the thick-film ceramic processing technique of aqueous tape casting, the optimisation of anode microstructure through addition of aqueous solvent-compatible graphitic and methacrylate polymer pore formers and the co-sintering of a LSCTA- support with a typical SOFC electrolyte material.PostprintPeer reviewe

Development and testing of impregnated La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 anode microstructures for solid oxide fuel cells

Funding: EPSRC project EP/M014304/1 “Tailoring of Microstructural Evolution in Impregnated SOFC Electrodes”, the University of St Andrews and HEXIS AG.The A-site deficient perovskite: La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 (LSCTA-) is a mixed ionic and electronic conductor (MIEC) which shows promising performance as a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) anode ‘backbone’ material, when impregnated with metallic and oxide-ion conducting electrocatalysts. Here, we present data on the complete ceramic processing and optimisation of the LSCTA- ‘backbone’ microstructure, in order to improve current distribution throughout the anode. Through control of ink rheology, screen printing parameters and sintering protocol an advantageous LSCTA- microstructural architecture was developed, exhibiting an ‘effective’ conductivity of 21 S cm-1. Incorporation of this LSCTA- anode microstructure into SOFC and impregnation with Ce0.80Gd0.20O1.9 and either Ni, Ru, Rh, Pt or Pd resulted in promising initial performances during fuel cell testing in a fuel stream of 97% H2:3% H2O. Area Specific Resistances of 0.41 Ω cm2 and 0.39 Ω cm2 were achieved with anodes containing Rh/CGO and Pd/CGO, respectively.Postprin

Development and testing of impregnated La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 anode microstructures for solid oxide fuel cells

Funding: EPSRC project EP/M014304/1 “Tailoring of Microstructural Evolution in Impregnated SOFC Electrodes”, the University of St Andrews and HEXIS AG.The A-site deficient perovskite: La0.20Sr0.25Ca0.45TiO3 (LSCTA-) is a mixed ionic and electronic conductor (MIEC) which shows promising performance as a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) anode ‘backbone’ material, when impregnated with metallic and oxide-ion conducting electrocatalysts. Here, we present data on the complete ceramic processing and optimisation of the LSCTA- ‘backbone’ microstructure, in order to improve current distribution throughout the anode. Through control of ink rheology, screen printing parameters and sintering protocol an advantageous LSCTA- microstructural architecture was developed, exhibiting an ‘effective’ conductivity of 21 S cm-1. Incorporation of this LSCTA- anode microstructure into SOFC and impregnation with Ce0.80Gd0.20O1.9 and either Ni, Ru, Rh, Pt or Pd resulted in promising initial performances during fuel cell testing in a fuel stream of 97% H2:3% H2O. Area Specific Resistances of 0.41 Ω cm2 and 0.39 Ω cm2 were achieved with anodes containing Rh/CGO and Pd/CGO, respectively.Postprin