The brezis-ekeland-nayroles minimization principle with mixed finite element method for elastoplastic dynamic problems

We propose a modification of the Hamiltonian formalism which can be used for dissipative systems, the Brezis-Ekeland-Nayroles principle. The formalism is specialized to the standard plasticity in small strains and dynamics. We apply it to solve the classical problem of a thin tube in plane strain subjected to an internal pressure. The continuum is discretized with mixed finite elements

To be or not to be an auctioneer: Some thoughts on the legal nature of online eBay auctions and the protection of consumers

This paper discusses the legal classification of online “eBay” auctions. The discussion has key implications on the scope of consumer protection law as sale by auctions are, for example, excluded from the scope of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. The paper uncovers that online “eBay” auctions cannot always be considered as traditional auctions and that eBay, as an intermediary, is not to be considered as an auctioneer. This creates difficulties associated with a distributive application of consumer protection laws such as the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. Another set of difficulties is associated with a lenient legal regime applicable to the liability of eBay under the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 . The paper concludes that there is an urgent need to clarify the legal classification of online auctions and to rethink the liability of online auction sites to better protect consumers

Private finance for the delivery of school projects in England

This paper analyses the use of the private finance initiative (PFI) approach to deliver school projects in England. The findings are based on case-study research in the Building Schools for the Future scheme (BSF), the largest single capital investment in SO years to rebuild and renew all of England's secondary schools. Up to half of the school infrastructure is to be procured by PFI contracts. A major concern has been the high cost associated with PFI procurement and any subsequent changes to scope. Furthermore, in some cases PFI-funded schools have been closed soon after completion; at great cost to the public sector. The aim of this research was therefore to understand the underlying reasons for these problems. The main conclusion is that the difficulties in BSF arise from not sorting out strategic issues and instituting appropriate organisational frameworks before engaging the private sector. The result of this is a lack of clarity about the long-term needs and end user aspirations. A brief outline of current programme management methods is given and it is suggested that this might be integral to the successful delivery of schools using private finance. A clear strategic vision that cascades into projects via programmes will ensure that the school infrastructure is appropriate for the anticipated strategic benefits and is aligned to the overall service delivery ambitions

Aquatic food security:insights into challenges and solutions from an analysis of interactions between fisheries, aquaculture, food safety, human health, fish and human welfare, economy and environment

Fisheries and aquaculture production, imports, exports and equitability of distribution determine the supply of aquatic food to people. Aquatic food security is achieved when a food supply is sufficient, safe, sustainable, shockproof and sound: sufficient, to meet needs and preferences of people; safe, to provide nutritional benefit while posing minimal health risks; sustainable, to provide food now and for future generations; shock-proof, to provide resilience to shocks in production systems and supply chains; and sound, to meet legal and ethical standards for welfare of animals, people and environment. Here, we present an integrated assessment of these elements of the aquatic food system in the United Kingdom, a system linked to dynamic global networks of producers, processors and markets. Our assessment addresses sufficiency of supply from aquaculture, fisheries and trade; safety of supply given biological, chemical and radiation hazards; social, economic and environmental sustainability of production systems and supply chains; system resilience to social, economic and environmental shocks; welfare of fish, people and environment; and the authenticity of food. Conventionally, these aspects of the food system are not assessed collectively, so information supporting our assessment is widely dispersed. Our assessment reveals trade-offs and challenges in the food system that are easily overlooked in sectoral analyses of fisheries, aquaculture, health, medicine, human and fish welfare, safety and environment. We highlight potential benefits of an integrated, systematic and ongoing process to assess security of the aquatic food system and to predict impacts of social, economic and environmental change on food supply and demand

Death of the high street: identification, prevention, reinvention

Location is of paramount importance within the retail sector, yet defining locational obsolescence remains overlooked, despite significant concerns over the viability of parts of the complex sector. This paper reviews the existing literature and, through this, explores retail locational obsolescence, including the multi-spatial nature of the driving forces that range from the global economy, local markets and submarkets, to individual property-specific factors; and, crucially, the need to disentangle locational obsolescence from other important concepts such as depreciation and functional obsolescence that are often mistakenly used. Through this, a conceptual model, definition and diagnostic criteria are presented to guide future studies, policy development and the allocation of resources. Importantly, three stages are presented to enable the operationalization of the model, essential to future academic and industry studies as well as the ongoing development of policy in this economically important, complex and contentious area

Evaluating Elevated Convection with the Downdraft Convective Inhibition

A method for evaluating the penetration of a stable layer by an elevated convective downdraft is discussed. Some controversy exists on the community’s ability to define truly elevated convection from surface-based convection. By comparing the downdraft convective inhibition (DCIN) to the downdraft convective available potential energy (DCAPE), we determine that downdraft penetration potential is progressively enabled as the DCIN is progressively smaller than the DCAPE; inversely as DCIN increases over DCAPE, so does the likelihood of purely elevated convection. Serial vertical soundings and accompanying analyses are provided to support this finding

Royale with Cheese: Globalization, Tourism, and the Variety of Goods *

Abstract The key result of the so-called "New Trade Theory" is that countries gain from falling trade costs by an increase in the number of varieties available to consumers. Though the number of varieties in a given country rises, many models predict that global variety decreases as imported varieties drive out local varieties. This is potentially worrisome when consumers care about non-exported foreign varieties either due to tourism (especially when foreign varieties are highly desired) or through an existence value (a common tool in environmental economics where simply knowing that a species exists provides utility). Since lowering trade costs induces additional varieties to export and drives out some non-exported varieties, these modifications result in welfare losses not accounted for in the existing literature. Nevertheless, it is only through the existence value that welfare falls as a result of declining trade barriers

Urban futures and the code for sustainable homes

Copyright © 2012 ICE Publishing Ltd. Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees.A 6?6 ha (66 000 m2) regeneration site, commonly referred to as Luneside East, is to be turned from a run down, economically under-achieving area of Lancaster, UK, into a new, distinctive, vibrant, sustainable quarter of the city. As a result several aspects of water planning for 350 new homes and 8000 m2 of workspace needed to be considered before any infrastructure investment was undertaken. This included assessment of the future capacity requirements (i.e. inflows and outflows) for water infrastructure (i.e. mains water supply, wastewater disposal, rainwater storage and stormwater disposal) much of which will be located underground. This paper looks at the implications of various water management strategies on the Luneside East site (e.g. water-efficient appliances, greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting) in line with current policy measures that focus on technology changes alone (e.g. the code for sustainable homes). Based on these findings this paper outlines some basic implications for technological resilience discussed in the context of four ‘world views’ – that is, the urban futures scenarios considered in this special issue. Conclusions are drawn as to how far this can take engineers, planners and developers in understanding and planning for resilient water infrastructure within a development like Luneside East

4P based forensics investigation framework for smart connected toys

© 2020 ACM. Smart Connected Toys (SCTs) have the potential to collect terabytes of sensitive personal, contextual, and usage information which may be a subject of cybercrime or used as a conduit for cybercrime resulting in a digital forensic investigation which requires the examination of the digital artifact stored, processed or transmitted by the SCT. SCT forensics is challenging in most cases due to non-availability of specialized forensics tools and standardized evidence acquisition interface port. We explore the various privacy and security challenges plaguing the SCT industry and the possible safety risk SCT poses to children as a result of a lack of serious consideration technical controls surrounding the collection, processing, and storage of children\u27s information and possible exposure to crime which will require digital forensic investigation. As a result of this gap in research and industry, we investigate current digital forensic solutions for SCTs and present an abstract forensics investigation framework with the focus on using non-conventional means which allow Investigators to successfully Plan, Preserve Process and Present (4P) as a systematic means to conduct digital forensic analysis on an SCT in a situation where SCT is complicit in a criminal investigation or a subject of crime

A comparison of two cases of low-latitude thundersnow.

Two cases of low-latitude snow with lightning are studied to determine their characteristics. Both cases had synoptic-scale origins, but also featured smaller-scale influences (e. g. orographic lift and elevated instability). The first event occurred in the Southern Hemisphere and was a late winter case that developed under the influence of underlying orography. Lightning was plentiful in that event (94 cloud-to-ground flashes in the region), but snow accumulations were not significant. Lightning flashes of negative polarity dominated this case, with a mean peak amplitude of -43.2 kA. The second event was a Northern Hemisphere case of elevated convection, with frontogenesis beneath an extended layer of potential instability. Appreciable lightning occurred with this event as well (706 cloud-to-ground flashes in the region), and snow accumulations were significant over a broad area. Lightning flashes of negative polarity dominated this case also, with a mean peak amplitude of -23.7 kA. Each of these events is worthy of further scrutiny, as studies of such storms do not appear often in the literature. Indeed, such warm, subtropical regions are often unprepared for the effects of just a little snow or ice accumulation. Future forecasters can anticipate better such anomalous events by looking for these broad features: 1) significant and well-defined synoptic-scale weather systems at low latitudes, 2) a strong baroclinic zone with a well-defined (≥60 ms-1) jet structure aloft, 3) cold air of appreciable depth and areal extent drawn much closer to the equator than is typical, and 4) a moist neutral to conditionally unstable layer above the frontal zone.SE EXAMINAN DOS EVENTOS DE NEVADA CON RELÁMPAGOS EN LATITUDES BAJAS A FIN DE IDENTIFICAR SUS CARACTERÍSTICAS. AMBOS EVENTOS SE ORIGINARON A ESCALA SINÓPTICA Y TUVIERON IMPACTOS DE PEQUEÑA ESCALA (POR EJEMPLO, ASCENSO OROGRÁFICO E INESTABILIDAD ELEVADA). EL PRIMER EVENTO OCURRIÓ EN EL HEMISFERIO SUR Y SE DESARROLLÓ A FINALES DEL INVIERNO INFLUENCIADO POR LA OROGRAFÍA SUBYACENTE. ESTE EVENTO PRESENTÓ ABUNDANCIA DE RELÁMPAGOS (94 DESTELLOS NUBE-SUELO EN LA REGIÓN); SIN EMBARGO, LA ACUMULACIÓN DE NIEVE FUE INSIGNIFICANTE. ESTE EVENTO FUE DOMINADO POR RELÁMPAGOS CON POLARIDAD NEGATIVA, CON UNA AMPLITUD MÁXIMA PROMEDIO DE -43.2 KA. EL SEGUNDO EVENTO FUE UN CASO DE CONVECCIÓN ELEVADA EN EL HEMISFERIO NORTE CON FRONTOGÉNESIS DEBAJO DE UNA CAPA EXTENSA DE INESTABILIDAD POTENCIAL. ESTE EVENTO TAMBIÉN PRESENTÓ ABUNDANTES RELÁMPAGOS (706 DESTELLOS NUBE-SUELO EN LA REGIÓN), ASÍ COMO CONSIDERABLE ACUMULACIÓN DE NIEVE SOBRE UN ÁREA EXTENSA. ESTE EVENTO TAMBIÉN FUE DOMINADO POR RELÁMPAGOS CON POLARIDAD NEGATIVA, CON UNA AMPLITUD MÁXIMA PROMEDIO DE -23.7 KA. AMBOS EVENTOS AMERITAN MAYOR INVESTIGACIÓN DADO QUE ESTUDIOS SOBRE TORMENTAS SIMILARES NO SON ABORDADOS FRECUENTEMENTE EN LA LITERATURA. MÁS AÚN, TENIENDO EN CONSIDERACIÓN QUE LAS REGIONES CÁLIDAS SUB-TROPICALES USUALMENTE NO ESTÁN PREPARADAS PARA ENFRENTAR NI SIQUIERA LOS EFECTOS DE PEQUEÑAS ACUMULACIONES DE NIEVE O HIELO. EN EL FUTURO, LOS PRONOSTICADORES PUEDEN ANTICIPAR MEJOR ESTOS EVENTOS ANÓMALOS OBSERVANDO LAS SIGUIENTES CARACTERÍSTICAS GENERALES: 1) SISTEMAS CLIMÁTICOS SINÓPTICOS SIGNIFICATIVOS Y BIEN DEFINIDOS EN BAJAS LATITUDES; 2) UNA ZONA BAROCLÍNICA FUERTE CON ESTRUCTURA DE CHORRO SUPERPUESTA BIEN DEFINIDA (60 MS-1); 3) UNA EXTENSIÓN CONSIDERABLE Y PROFUNDA DE AIRE FRÍO MÁS PRÓXIMO AL ECUADOR DE LO TÍPICO; Y 4) UNA CAPA CON HUMEDAD NEUTRAL A INESTABILIDAD CONDICIONAL SOBRE LA ZONA FRONTAL