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The impact of subsurface heterogeneity on the performance of aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) systems
No full textEnergy demand continues to rise globally with the largest percentage being met by fossil fuels which emit greenhouse gases and drive climate change. Significant efforts have been made in decarbonising the energy demand, especially power generation and transportation. However, less progress has been made in the heating and cooling sector, in parts due to seasonal mismatch between energy demand and supply. Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system- an efficient form of thermal energy storage, provides a solution to this challenge.The performance of an ATES system is affected by subsurface heterogeneities (depositional features of sedimentary aquifers, fractures, igneous intrusions etc.) and this study will focus on the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Aquifer to investigate the impacts of these heterogeneities.This study will utilise borehole nuclear magnetic resonance, borehole geophysics and pumping tests for baseline charaterisation of the aquifer system. Also, short and long-term monitoring of thermal injection tests at different temperatures will provide insights into the thermal properties of the aquifer. Numerical heat transport models will be developed using the monitored data to evaluate different application scenarios for ATES systems.This research outcome will serve as a reference for the extent of subsurface heterogeneities on the performance of ATES systems.<br/
Beyond the BBFC: Local and regional film censorship in the UK
No full textThis work scrutinises British film censorship from a local perspective. Examining different regions and areas, the work of individual councils and their relations with one another and with the BBFC, it offers a broad historical exploration of the intricacies of film censorship in action. Drawing on local archival material and considering the activities of local government in enforcing Cinematograph legislation, this work considers the significance of film censorship apparatus and processes in shaping and informing responses to and control of film culture in different locations across the twentieth century.</p
The 'best comforter / To an unsettled fancy': Asian Shakespeares / Cinematic Adaptations
No full textA ‘carnival of reaction’: partition and the defeat of Ireland’s revolutionary wave
No full textIn this chapter, we draw on original historical research on the period between 1900 and 1920 to argue that Partition reflected less a pragmatic approach to pre-empting sectarian civil war on the island than an imperial defeat of Ireland’s revolutionary wave. The two communal blocs, Protestant Unionists and Catholic Nationalists, were more fluid in their political sensibilities than the revising hindsight of mainstream historians has allowed. Nevertheless, the result of Partition was a consolidation of two conservative regimes, north and south, compatible with the interests of both Irish petty capitalism and British imperialism. Indeed, the panicked and violent response of northern business interests and the new NI state to the emergence of tentative class-based unity in Belfast in 1907, 1919 and 1932 underscored the extraordinary measures undertaken to facilitate Partition (and consolidate its ‘two communities’). Significantly, none of the major protagonists in the decades before 1920 claimed that the ‘six counties’ made up some natural ethnic or religious community that could provide the basis for a stable state formation.<br/
Beyond religion and class: the challenge of educational planning in a new Ireland
No full textIt is unlikely that educational policies will be a significant priority in the political decision making around unification. Yet alongside other areas of public policy it should be an important element in the debate. Although there have been some divergences in education policy over the past 100 years the two systems remain relatively compatible and would not present any insurmountable obstacle in the event of Irish unity. Indeed, we have suggested that unification would offer a fresh opportunity for confronting the challenges of denominational education and social disadvantage in both jurisdictions. The essential challenge for educational planning in a new Ireland is to design an educational system which caters for the common good rather than the sectional interests of particular elements of the population whether it be religious denominations or privileged social classes – while recognising the need to protect minority identities. it is likely that higher education could be a significant beneficiary of unification. From a comparative perspective both systems are small, and lack of critical mass has inhibited development. A unified system would provide rich opportunities for enhanced collaboration, developing research clusters of excellence while avoiding unnecessary duplication of expensive resources. A unified system might also represent an overall more geographically balanced system drawing on the distinctive growth patterns of the two systems and better meeting both regional needs and economic imperatives
Gα<sub>q </sub>signalling from endosomes: a new conundrum
No full textG-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of membrane receptors, and are involved in the transmission of a variety of extracellular stimuli such as hormones, neurotransmitters, light and odorants into intracellular responses. They regulate every aspect of physiology and, for this reason, about one third of all marketed drugs target these receptors. Classically, upon binding to their agonist, GPCRs are thought to activate G-proteins from the plasma membrane and to stop signalling by subsequent desensitisation and endocytosis. However, accumulating evidence indicates that, upon internalisation, some GPCRs can continue to activate G-proteins in endosomes. Importantly, this signalling from endomembranes mediates alternative cellular responses other than signalling at the plasma membrane. Endosomal G-protein signalling and its physiological relevance have been abundantly documented for Gαs- and Gαi-coupled receptors. Recently, some Gαq-coupled receptors have been reported to activate Gαq on endosomes and mediate important cellular processes. However, several questions relative to the series of cellular events required to translate endosomal Gαq activation into cellular responses remain unanswered and constitute a new conundrum. How are these responses in endosomes mediated in the quasi absence of the substrate for the canonical Gαq-activated effector? Is there another effector? Is there another substrate? If so, how does this alternative endosomal effector or substrate produce a downstream signal? This review aims to unravel and discuss these important questions, and proposes possible routes of investigation.<br/
‘Clanna Somhuirle, síol nGofraidh’: The Lordship of the Isles, Scotland, Ireland, and the Anglo-French World, c.1266-c.1503
No full textThe Christmas Books
No full textThis essay traces Dickens’s fascination with, and enjoyment of, Christmas celebrations, and how he captured the spirit of the times in his first and most famous Christmas Book, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge’s trajectory is documented, along with the author’s sentimental presentation of Tiny Tim, and his animated description of Yuletide celebrations. The later Christmas Books extend some of the ideas found in the Carol, including harsh social criticism, supernatural agency, memory, the exaltation of family, suspicions and deceptions, love triangles, and self-sacrifice. Litvack argues that Dickens’s structuring principles were tied to his own childhood experience of loss and recovery