Statistics of Earthquakes in Simple Models of Heterogeneous Faults

Simple models for ruptures along a heterogeneous earthquake fault zone are studied, focussing on the interplay between the roles of disorder and dynamical effects. A class of models are found to operate naturally at a critical point whose properties yield power law scaling of earthquake statistics. Various dynamical effects can change the behavior to a distribution of small events combined with characteristic system size events. The studies employ various analytic methods as well as simulations.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 3 figures (eps-files), uses eps

Gutenberg Richter and Characteristic Earthquake Behavior in Simple Mean-Field Models of Heterogeneous Faults

The statistics of earthquakes in a heterogeneous fault zone is studied analytically and numerically in the mean field version of a model for a segmented fault system in a three-dimensional elastic solid. The studies focus on the interplay between the roles of disorder, dynamical effects, and driving mechanisms. A two-parameter phase diagram is found, spanned by the amplitude of dynamical weakening (or ``overshoot'') effects (epsilon) and the normal distance (L) of the driving forces from the fault. In general, small epsilon and small L are found to produce Gutenberg-Richter type power law statistics with an exponential cutoff, while large epsilon and large L lead to a distribution of small events combined with characteristic system-size events. In a certain parameter regime the behavior is bistable, with transitions back and forth from one phase to the other on time scales determined by the fault size and other model parameters. The implications for realistic earthquake statistics are discussed.Comment: 21 pages, RevTex, 6 figures (ps, eps

Behavioral aspects of policy formulation: experiments, behavioral insights, nudges

Policy formulation relies upon the interplay of knowledge-based analysis of issues with power-based considerations, such as the political assessment of the costs and benefits of proposed actions, and its effects on the partisan and electoral concerns of governments. Policy scholars have long been interested in how governments successfully create, deploy and utilise policy instruments, but the literature on policy formulation has, until now, remained fragmented. This comprehensive Handbook unites original scholarship on policy tools and design, with contributions examining policy actors and the roles they play in the formulation process

Calculations of Energy Losses due to Atomic Processes in Tokamaks with Applications to the ITER Divertor

Reduction of the peak heat loads on the plasma facing components is essential for the success of the next generation of high fusion power tokamaks such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) 1 . Many present concepts for accomplishing this involve the use of atomic processes to transfer the heat from the plasma to the main chamber and divertor chamber walls and much of the experimental and theoretical physics research in the fusion program is directed toward this issue. The results of these experiments and calculations are the result of a complex interplay of many processes. In order to identify the key features of these experiments and calculations and the relative role of the primary atomic processes, simple quasi-analytic models and the latest atomic physics rate coefficients and cross sections have been used to assess the relative roles of central radiation losses through bremsstrahlung, impurity radiation losses from the plasma edge, charge exchange and hydrogen radiation losses from the scrape-off layer and divertor plasma and impurity radiation losses from the divertor plasma. This anaysis indicates that bremsstrahlung from the plasma center and impurity radiation from the plasma edge and divertor plasma can each play a significant role in reducing the power to the divertor plates, and identifies many of the factors which determine the relative role of each process. For instance, for radiation losses in the divertor to be large enough to radiate the power in the divertor for high power experiments, a neutral fraction of 10-3 to 10-2 and an impurity recycling rate of netrecycle of ~ 10^16 s m^-3 will be required in the divertor.Comment: Preprint for the 1994 APSDPP meeting, uuencoded and gzipped postscript with 22 figures, 40 pages

The dynamics of power and resistance in police interview discourse

This is a study of police interviewing using an integrated approach, drawing on CA, CDA and pragmatics. The study focuses on the balance of power and control, finding that in particular the institutional status of the participants, the discursive roles assigned to them by the context, and their relative knowledge, are significant factors affecting the dynamics of the discourse. Four discursive features are identified as particularly significant, and a detailed analysis of the complex interplay of these features shows that power and control are constantly under negotiation, and are always open to challenge and resistance. Further it is shown that discursive dominance is not necessarily advantageous to participants, due to the specific goals and purposes of the police interview context. A wider consideration of the context illustrates the contribution that linguistics can make to the use of police interview data as evidence in the UK criminal justice system

Influence and power dynamics in client-consultant teams

© 2009, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a clearer picture of the nature of power imbalance in client-consultant teams, which has negative consequences for the development and implementation of consultants' recommendations, and to outline ways how to avoid such an imbalance in the first instance. Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical paper based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with clients and consultants from the strategic consulting sector in Australia. Findings – Taking a differentiated look at the roles and responsibilities of members of client-consultant teams, the authors propose that power within client-consultant teams is multidimensional and the outcome of the interplay of its different forms is not predictable. It is further argued that a power balance is crucial for achieving better results from consulting projects. Research limitations/implications – The findings are not generalizable, due to the small sample and the focus on strategic consulting. The results encourage further research in different types of consulting projects as well as studies based on observation of client-consultant interactions. Practical implications – The paper highlights the main points of concern for managers and consultants and provides some suggestions on how to achieve a balanced relationship. Originality/value – This paper's major contribution is in providing deeper insight into a hitherto underexplored issue of client-consultant interactions: the contested nature of power in client-consultant teams and the reasons and outcomes of power imbalance

Hyper‐Precarious Lives: Understanding Migration, Global Supply Chain, and Gender Dynamics in Bangladesh

This article examines the lived experiences of precarity in Bangladesh's ready‐made garments (RMG) industry, focusing on female migrant workers employed in Dhaka and surrounding industrial areas. Over the past three decades, the growth of the RMG sector has attracted economically disadvantaged rural women, distancing them from their traditional domestic and agricultural roles. This sector predominantly employs young women due to their perceived flexibility, low wages, and limited union involvement. Additionally, their status as “unskilled” workers in the lowest echelons of a gender‐stratified labour market, along with the influence of socio‐cultural power dynamics, constrains their capacity to negotiate their positions effectively. Drawing on in‐depth ethnographic research conducted in Dhaka and Gazipur, this article unravels the intricate interplay between insecure labour conditions, the impact of the global supply chain, and gender dynamics. It underscores the pivotal significance of socio‐cultural power dynamics in understanding the vulnerability experienced by female migrant labourers. We assert that a comprehensive understanding of precarious work requires recognising the inherent link between precarious employment and precarious life within the broader context of socio‐cultural power dynamics, gender norms, and societal relations

Chronotopic Contrasts: Unraveling Temporal Dynamics in Utopian and Dystopian Narratives

This research article delves into the intricate interplay between time dynamics and dystopian narratives, focusing on how temporal disruptions shape and define the genre. It explores the convergence of dystopia and science fiction, highlighting the deliberate construction of time to serve specific purposes within these narratives. Through a comprehensive analysis of seminal dystopian works such as "1984", "Children of Men", and "The Time Machine", the study examines the multifaceted roles of temporal disruptions in critiquing propaganda, totalitarianism, and power structures.Furthermore, it explores how such disruptions illuminate the confusion, disorientation, and trauma inflicted upon individuals within dystopian societies, challenging conventional notions of linear time and prompting reflections on memory, truth, and narrative complexity. This research aims to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between time dynamics and dystopian narratives, shedding light on the thematic, philosophical, and socio-political implications inherent in the genre

Transitions and Conflicts: Reexamining Impacts of Migration on Young Women’s Status and Gender Practice in Rural Shanxi

This article explores impacts of migration on young women’s status and gender practice in rural northern China. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a village in Shanxi Province, it suggests that rural-urban migration has served partially to reconstruct the traditional gender-based roles and norms in migration families. This reconstructive force arises mainly from the changes of the patrilocal residence pattern and rural women’s acquisition of subjectivity during the course of migration. However, after migrant women return to their home villages, they usually reassume their roles as care providers and homemakers, which is vividly expressed by a phrase referring to one’s wife as ‘the person inside my home’ (wo jiali de). Meanwhile, although migrant women’s capacity and confidence have greatly increased consequent upon working out of the countryside, their participation in village governance and in the public sphere has been decreasing. Further examination suggests that the reinforcement of gender inequality and the transformation of gender relations result from the continuous interplay of local power relations, market dominance, and unchallenged patrilocal institutions. Through adopting a life course perspective, it challenges too strict a differentiation between migrant and left behind women in existing literature