Electrochemical performance and transport properties of La2NiO4+σ

Oxygen excess lanthanum nickelate, La2NiO4+δ (LNO), is a candidate cathode material for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). The aim of this work is to investigate the properties of LNO in the intermediate temperature regime (500 – 700°C). The structure and stability of LNO has been studied by in-situ high resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction and thermal analysis. A bi-phasic orthorhombic room temperature structure was identified, which undergoes a transition to a tetragonal phase. The phase change occurs over the temperature range 250°C to 450°C and is associated with loss of oxygen on heating. LNO undergoes an oxidation reaction, catalysed by platinum, above 800°C where it begins to form the higher order Ruddlesden-Popper phases, La3Ni2O7-δ and La4Ni3O10-δ. The oxygen ion transport properties of LNO have been studied by determining the oxygen tracer diffusion and surface exchange coefficients (D* and k*, respectively). LNO displays high D* and reasonable k* values and exhibits low activation energies for these processes (0.54eV and 0.63eV, respectively). The low activation energy for diffusion is associated with a high oxygen interstitial concentration between 350°C – 550°C. The compatibility of LNO with IT-SOFC electrolytes was investigated using high resolution x-ray synchrotron diffraction techniques. The stability of composites of LNO with Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-δ was found to be highly dependent on oxygen partial pressure and temperature and no reaction phase was observed in composites exposed to atmospheric oxygen. Studying composites in-situ revealed a series of reaction processes that have not previously been identified from ex-situ diffraction techniques. The performance of LNO as a cathode was studied by AC impedance of symmetrical cells with Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-δ and La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-δ electrolytes. Significant enhancement of the cathode performance was achieved by the addition of a thin compact layer of LNO at the electrode/electrolyte boundary; an area specific resistance (ASR) of 0.5 Ω.cm2 was measured at 800°C in a symmetrical cell with this layered structure. The decrease in ASR is believed to be a result of improved contact at the electrolyte/cathode boundary enhancing the oxygen ion transfer to the electrolyte, and an increase in the cathode surface area for the oxygen reduction reaction to occur

Creative Activism – learning everywhere with children and young people

Creative activism is an approach to education that asks, ‘What can happen when we take learning outside the classroom and think of it happening everywhere?’. Two charities - House of Imagination and Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination - have been asking this question in their creative place-making programmes working with socially engaged artists and communities linked to primary schools in Bath and Cambridge. Young children and adults co-create and speculate about the future of their communities and environments in these different geographical locations. This article draws together our shared understanding of creative pedagogies and the value to everyone of working in this way

Leadership as experts by experience in professional education

A Knowledge Café approach was used to provide opportunities for participants to explore and reflect together on shared experiences of what it means to be an expert by experience, and the extent to which the role can be understood in terms of grounded concepts of ‘leadership’. Findings: The paper discusses how involvement as a service user emerged out of a personal drive to challenge and change appalling experiences of health and social care services. The paper goes on to illustrate this dynamic concept of leadership; the importance of networking with other users and carers, and, skills in enabling professionals to change. Argument and Conclusion: ‘Professional leadership’ is one of the domains of the UK Professional Capabilities Framework for social work defined as facilitated learning to include service users, carers and others involved.The call for a learning culture is not new and its application in complex practice and crisis points remains a current challenge. In contrast, the concept of Leadership discussed in this paper is grounded in experience and resonates with aspects of contemporary ethical, distributed and complex models of leadership but extends beyond organisations. Finally the paper raises the issue of learning opportunities available to experts by experience and the responsibilities for higher education and service providers to strengthen and support people in this complex role

Computationally Assisted Identification of Functional Inorganic Materials

Modules of Desire Using computational methods to design materials with specific properties has found some limited success. Dyer et al. (p. 847 , published online 11 April) have devised a method, based on extended module materials assembly, that combines chemical intuition and ab initio calculations starting from fragments or modules of structure types that show the desired functionality. The method was tested by identifying materials suitable for a solid oxide fuel cell cathode. </jats:p

Public involvement in research: Assessing impact through a realist evaluation

BackgroundThis study was concerned with developing the evidence base for public involvement in research in health and social care. There now is significant support for public involvement within the National Institute for Health Research, and researchers applying for National Institute for Health Research grants are expected to involve the public. Despite this policy commitment, evidence for the benefits of public involvement in research remains limited. This study addressed this need through a realist evaluation.Aim and objectivesThe aim was to identify the contextual factors and mechanisms that are regularly associated with effective public involvement in research. The objectives included identifying a sample of eight research projects and their desired outcomes of public involvement, tracking the impact of public involvement in these case studies, and comparing the associated contextual factors and mechanisms.DesignThe research design was based on the application of realist theory of evaluation, which argues that social programmes are driven by an underlying vision of change – a ‘programme theory’ of how the intervention is supposed to work. The role of the evaluator is to compare theory and practice. Impact can be understood by identifying regularities of context, mechanism and outcome. Thus the key question for the evaluator is ‘What works for whom in what circumstances . . . and why?’ (Pawson R. The Science of Evaluation. London: Sage; 2013). We therefore planned a realist evaluation based on qualitative case studies of public involvement in research.Setting and participantsEight diverse case studies of research projects in health and social care took place over the calendar year 2012 with 88 interviews from 42 participants across the eight studies: researchers, research managers, third-sector partners and research partners (members of the public involved in research).ResultsCase study data supported the importance of some aspects of our theory of public involvement in research and led us to amend other elements. Public involvement was associated with improvements in research design and delivery, particularly recruitment strategies and materials, and data collection tools. This study identified the previously unrecognised importance of principal investigator leadership as a key contextual factor leading to the impact of public involvement; alternatively, public involvement might still be effective without principal investigator leadership where there is a wider culture of involvement. In terms of the mechanisms of involvement, allocating staff time to facilitate involvement appeared more important than formal budgeting. Another important new finding was that many research proposals significantly undercosted public involvement. Nurturing good interpersonal relationships was crucial to effective involvement. Payment for research partner time and formal training appeared more significant for some types of public involvement than others. Feedback to research partners on the value of their contribution was important in maintaining motivation and confidence.ConclusionsA revised theory of public involvement in research was developed and tested, which identifies key regularities of context, mechanism and outcome in how public involvement in research works. Implications for future research include the need to further explore how leadership on public involvement might be facilitated, methodological work on assessing impact and the development of economic analysis of involvement.Funding detailsThe National Institute for Health Research Health Service and Delivery programme

Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH): An Overview

The Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) is a 524-orbit multi-cycle treasury program to use the gravitational lensing properties of 25 galaxy clusters to accurately constrain their mass distributions. The survey, described in detail in this paper, will definitively establish the degree of concentration of dark matter in the cluster cores, a key prediction of CDM. The CLASH cluster sample is larger and less biased than current samples of space-based imaging studies of clusters to similar depth, as we have minimized lensing-based selection that favors systems with overly dense cores. Specifically, twenty CLASH clusters are solely X-ray selected. The X-ray selected clusters are massive (kT > 5 keV; 5 - 30 x 10^14 M_solar) and, in most cases, dynamically relaxed. Five additional clusters are included for their lensing strength (Einstein radii > 35 arcsec at z_source = 2) to further quantify the lensing bias on concentration, to yield high resolution dark matter maps, and to optimize the likelihood of finding highly magnified high-redshift (z > 7) galaxies. The high magnification, in some cases, provides angular resolutions unobtainable with any current UVOIR facility and can yield z > 7 candidates bright enough for spectroscopic follow-up. A total of 16 broadband filters, spanning the near-UV to near-IR, are employed for each 20-orbit campaign on each cluster. These data are used to measure precise (sigma_phz < 0.02(1+z)) photometric redshifts for dozens of newly discovered multiply-lensed images per cluster. Observations of each cluster are spread over 8 epochs to enable a search, primarily in the parallel fields, for Type Ia supernovae at z > 1 to improve constraints on the time dependence of the dark energy equation of state and the evolution of such supernovae in an epoch when the universe is matter dominated.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplements, 22 pages, 16 figures. Updated Tables 3,4,8 and figures 6 and 8 to reflect replacement of Abell 963 with Abell 1423 in CLASH survey. A963 cannot be observed with WFC3 due to the lack of usable guide star

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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Abdominal aortic aneurysm is associated with a variant in low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality and has a significant heritability. We carried out a genome-wide association discovery study of 1866 patients with AAA and 5435 controls and replication of promising signals (lead SNP with a p value &lt; 1 × 10-5) in 2871 additional cases and 32,687 controls and performed further follow-up in 1491 AAA and 11,060 controls. In the discovery study, nine loci demonstrated association with AAA (p &lt; 1 × 10-5). In the replication sample, the lead SNP at one of these loci, rs1466535, located within intron 1 of low-density-lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) demonstrated significant association (p = 0.0042). We confirmed the association of rs1466535 and AAA in our follow-up study (p = 0.035). In a combined analysis (6228 AAA and 49182 controls), rs1466535 had a consistent effect size and direction in all sample sets (combined p = 4.52 × 10-10, odds ratio 1.15 [1.10-1.21]). No associations were seen for either rs1466535 or the 12q13.3 locus in independent association studies of coronary artery disease, blood pressure, diabetes, or hyperlipidaemia, suggesting that this locus is specific to AAA. Gene-expression studies demonstrated a trend toward increased LRP1 expression for the rs1466535 CC genotype in arterial tissues; there was a significant (p = 0.029) 1.19-fold (1.04-1.36) increase in LRP1 expression in CC homozygotes compared to TT homozygotes in aortic adventitia. Functional studies demonstrated that rs1466535 might alter a SREBP-1 binding site and influence enhancer activity at the locus. In conclusion, this study has identified a biologically plausible genetic variant associated specifically with AAA, and we suggest that this variant has a possible functional role in LRP1 expression