A novel DSM philosophy for building integrated renewable systems

This paper presents an overview of a novel concept in IT network design and power control focused on matching building integrated renewable power generation with local demands. It describes how this is achieved through combination of energy demand reduction and dynamic utilisation of embedded energy storage in a robust, efficient and cost effective manner. A brief overview of the main features of the design is given in terms of its intended benefits as an integrated system. The load components and distribution topology are described for this experimental system within the limits set by the capacity, capabilities and desired function of the network. Power supply to the network is described as including a back-up source to the photovoltaic (PV) source to add functionality and stability with no requirements for undesirable exporting of excess PV generation. The necessary configuration of the renewable array integrating with the network is also highlighted with an example compatible solar module device. A trial of the technology and demand management control in a high profile office building is described. This trial in a live working environment is providing invaluable real world data to compare against modelling and network simulation results

Correlated p-N Pairs From 4He Photodisintegration With Tagged Photons From 80 to 131 MeV

Results are presented for measurements of the photodisintegation of 4He using tagged photons in the energy range 80-131 MeV. In this energy region, the dominant photon absorption process is thought to be the quasideuteron mechanism of Levinger. The data are compared with the predictions of this model and with phase space calculations. Considerable agreement with the quasi-deuteron model is demonstrated. Two detector arrays were used in this measurement, one for the detection and identification of protons, and the other for the detection and identification of protons and neutrons. This allows separation of the 4He (gamma,pn) events from 4He (gamma,pp) events. Furthermore, the energy resolution is sufficiently good to enable separation of the 4He (gamma,pn)d and 4He (gamma,pn)pn decay channels, on the basis of their differing missing energies

Rethinking Adversariness in Nonjury Criminal Trials

This Article argues that when the jury is withdrawn from the common law criminal trial, the accused suffers an adversarial deficit. This deficit occurs because many of the procedural devices built into the trial process -- particularly those designed to provide the defendant with a meaningful opportunity to contest the case against him and to ensure that any determination of guilt is based solely on the evidence adduced in the courtroom -- are predicated on the existence of a decision-making body that comes cold to the contest, devoid of extraneous knowledge concerning the facts of the case or the relevant principles of law. The authors contend that a number of important changes must be made to procedures in nonjury cases to correct for this deficit and thus to make certain that basic adversary principles are preserved in the nonjury setting

Rethinking Adversariness in Nonjury Criminal Trials

This Article argues that when the jury is withdrawn from the common law criminal trial, the accused suffers an adversarial deficit. This deficit occurs because many of the procedural devices built into the trial process -- particularly those designed to provide the defendant with a meaningful opportunity to contest the case against him and to ensure that any determination of guilt is based solely on the evidence adduced in the courtroom -- are predicated on the existence of a decision-making body that comes cold to the contest, devoid of extraneous knowledge concerning the facts of the case or the relevant principles of law. The authors contend that a number of important changes must be made to procedures in nonjury cases to correct for this deficit and thus to make certain that basic adversary principles are preserved in the nonjury setting

Reflections in Systemic Family Psychotherapy and Adult Mental Health Services in the South East of Ireland; and beyond.

Systemic Family Psychotherapy (SFP) has been involved in the Carlow Kilkenny South Tipperary Adult Mental Services since 1994: in the main this involved meeting with service users, their families, couples and friends. However, from 2012 to 2019 five SFPs retired. This occurred when decisions were made by some Mental Health Management not to replace those SFPs that retired: thereby reducing the number of SFPs in the Southeast Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS); presumably due to funding difficulties at that time. However, as the months and years went by it became oblivious that two AMHSs were not going to employ SPTs. It was obvious that the AMHS in Waterford had never employed any SFT, and Wexford AMHS has only employed a half-time SFT for four Community Mental Teams. Consequently, this had an impact on the availability of SFPs in AMHSs in the south east AMHSs. However, on the other hand, the Carlow Kilkenny AMHS continues to be supported from Management and colleagues; SFTs since 1997. This is obvious as all Community Mental Health Teams refer service users attends the AMHSs in Carlow and Kilkenny, as well as their families/partners/friends for SFP. This article will try to ascertain how this came about, and what can be done to influences AMHS managers’ and concerning supporting SFPs. Key words: Family Therapy; Families; Mental Health Services; Family Meetings; Context in family therapy

Diversity, employment growth and spatial spillovers amongst Irish regions

Regional employment growth has become an area of increasing interest to academics and policymakers alike over recent years. To date little empirical research has been undertaken in regards to the relationship between economic diversity and regional employment growth with even less research considering the potential for regional spillovers. This paper analyses this gap in the existing literature by considering the roles of three categories of diversity (total, related and unrelated) on Irish employment growth over the period 2006–2012. Utilising a spatial econometric model we note not only the positive effect of spatial spillovers in regards to employment growth, but also the differing impacts of all three measures. Our results indicate that for this particular period a diverse industry structure has a significant positive impact on employment growth. We find that total diversity and its two sub-components related and unrelated diversity positively effects employment growth. Unrelated diversity is found to have the largest positive effect

Characterisation and application of a bovine U6 promoter for expression of short hairpin RNAs

BackgroundThe use of small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules in animals to achieve double-stranded RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) has recently emerged as a powerful method of sequence-specific gene knockdown. As DNA-based expression of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) for RNAi may offer some advantages over chemical and in vitro synthesised siRNA, a number of vectors for expression of shRNA have been developed. These often feature polymerase III (pol. III) promoters of either mouse or human origin.ResultsTo develop a shRNA expression vector specifically for bovine RNAi applications, we identified and characterised a novel bovine U6 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) promoter from bovine sequence data. This promoter is the putative bovine homologue of the human U6-8 snRNA promoter, and features a number of functional sequence elements that are characteristic of these types of pol. III promoters. A PCR based cloning strategy was used to incorporate this promoter sequence into plasmid vectors along with shRNA sequences for RNAi. The promoter was then used to express shRNAs, which resulted in the efficient knockdown of an exogenous reporter gene and an endogenous bovine gene.ConclusionWe have mined data from the bovine genome sequencing project to identify a functional bovine U6 promoter and used the promoter sequence to construct a shRNA expression vector. The use of this native bovine promoter in shRNA expression is an important component of our future development of RNAi therapeutic and transgenic applications in bovine species.<br /

Explaining international footballer selection through Poisson modelling

Purpose – Growing evidence suggests regional economic factors impact on individual outcomes, such as life expectancy and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that player-specific and regional differences have on the number of senior international appearances football players accumulate over the course of their careers, for six UEFA member countries, from 1993 to 2014. Design/methodology/approach – The research employs a Poisson regression model to analyse the impact of individual and regional factors on the number of senior international caps a footballer receives over the course of their career. Findings – The results indicate that both individual and regional variables can explain the number of caps a player receives over the course of their career. The authors find that an individual’s career length positively influences the number of international caps accrued. Players born in wealthier and more populous regions accumulate a greater number of international appearances. Distance from the capital has no effect, however, the number of youth academies in the player’s region of birth has a significant positive effect. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is limited to regional variations within economically developed states. It would be interesting to test whether the correlation between relative regional development and international success exists in less developed countries. The authors only address mens international football in this study and cannot comment on the generality of the findings across genders or sports. Practical implications – The results can provide insights for local football authorities and policy makers concerned with regional characteristics and those interested in the development of elite talent