709 research outputs found
The Supercooling of a Nematic Liquid Crystal
We investigate the supercooling of a nematic liquid crystal using fluctuating
non-linear hydrodynamic equations. The Martin-Siggia-Rose formalism is used to
calculate renormalized transport coefficients to one-loop order. Similar
theories for isotropic liquids have shown substantial increases of the
viscosities as the liquid is supercooled or compressed due to feedback from the
density fluctuations which are freezing. We find similar results here for the
longitudinal and various shear viscosities of the nematic. However, the two
viscosities associated with the nematic director motion do not grow in any
dramatic way; i.e.\ there is no apparent freezing of the director modes within
this hydrodynamic formalism. Instead a glassy state of the nematic may arise
from a ``random anisotropy" coupling of the director to the frozen density.Comment: Late
Problematizing Choice: Responsible consumers and sceptical citizens
About the book: Governance, Consumers and Citizens is the first book to bring together a study of governance with consumption, examining the changing place of the consumer as citizen in recent trends in governance, the tensions between competing ideas and practices of consumerism and the active role consumers play in the construction and practice of governance.
Radically pushing forward the debate on consumers and governance, this collection outlines new conceptions and posits new policy agendas. Bringing together international experts from political science, history, geography, social policy and media studies, this study shows how governance and consumption are intertwined in crucial aspects of public policy and contemporary politics
Formation of disclination lines near a free nematic interface
We have studied the nucleation and the physical properties of a -1/2 wedge
disclination line near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal.
The position of the disclination line has been related to the material
parameters (elastic constants, anchoring energy and favored anchoring angle of
the molecules at the free surface). The use of a planar model for the structure
of the director field (whose predictions have been contrasted to those of a
fully three-dimensional model) has allowed us to relate the experimentally
observed position of the disclination line to the relevant properties of the
liquid crystals. In particular, we have been able to observe the collapse of
the disclination line due to a temperature-induced anchoring angle transition,
which has allowed us to rule out the presence of a real disclination line near
the nematic/isotropic front in directional growth experiments.
61.30.Jf,61.30.G
A Model of Vertical Oligopolistic Competition
This paper develops a model of successive oligopolies with endogenous market entry, allowing for varying degrees of product differentiation and entry costs in both markets. Our analysis shows that the downstream conditions dominate the overall profitability of the two-tier structure while
the upstream conditions mainly affect the distribution of profits. We compare the welfare effects of upstream versus downstream deregulation policies and show that the impact of deregulation may be overvalued when ignoring feedback effects from the other market. Furthermore, we analyze how different forms of vertical restraints influence the endogenous market structure and show when they are welfare enhancing
Ordering of droplets and light scattering in polymer dispersed liquid crystal films
We study the effects of droplet ordering in initial optical transmittance
through polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films prepared in the presence
of an electrical field. The experimental data are interpreted by using a
theoretical approach to light scattering in PDLC films that explicitly relates
optical transmittance and the order parameters characterizing both the
orientational structures inside bipolar droplets and orientational distribution
of the droplets. The theory relies on the Rayleigh-Gans approximation and uses
the Percus-Yevick approximation to take into account the effects due to droplet
positional correlations.Comment: revtex4, 18 pages, 8 figure
From Surveillance to Witnessing: Revanche, Red Road, and the Anti-Revenge Film
This essay examines recent European art films that reinterpret the revenge plot and radically challenge the possibility of legitimized violence. I argue that what I term “anti-revenge” films, in particular Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006), and Götz Spielmann’s Revanche (2008), frustrate the desire for vengeance (both the protagonist’s and the spectator’s), replacing violent spectacle with uneasy engagement that inhibits revenge, gesturing instead toward the possibility, however remote, of forgiveness. In both films prolonged surveillance, surveillance ostensibly in the service of retribution, inadvertently becomes a means for ethical engagement that actually prohibits violence. In their failure to conform to generic conventions and their depiction of the collapse of the retributive drive, these films challenge the moral legitimacy of revenge, substituting uneasy, often inconclusive moments of potential forgiveness for violent spectacle
New insights into the role of androgen and oestrogen receptors in molecular apocrine breast tumours
Two recent studies on a rare androgen-dependent form of breast cancer have shed light on the biology of luminal tumours and reinforced the view that interfering with androgen signalling may have a place in the therapy of some forms of breast cancer
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Recent developments on the high power ECH installation at the DIII-D tokamak
The 110 GHz gyrotron installation on the DIII-D tokamak has been upgraded to three tubes in the megawatt class with plans for further upgrades. The latest addition uses a diamond output window. The report describes the installation, plans, and experimental results to date
Topological Defects and Interactions in Nematic Emulsions
Inverse nematic emulsions in which surfactant-coated water droplets are
dispersed in a nematic host fluid have distinctive properties that set them
apart from dispersions of two isotropic fluids or of nematic droplets in an
isotropic fluid. We present a comprehensive theoretical study of the
distortions produced in the nematic host by the dispersed droplets and of
solvent mediated dipolar interactions between droplets that lead to their
experimentally observed chaining. A single droplet in a nematic host acts like
a macroscopic hedgehog defect. Global boundary conditions force the nucleation
of compensating topological defects in the nematic host. Using variational
techniques, we show that in the lowest energy configuration, a single water
droplet draws a single hedgehog out of the nematic host to form a tightly bound
dipole. Configurations in which the water droplet is encircled by a
disclination ring have higher energy. The droplet-dipole induces distortions in
the nematic host that lead to an effective dipole-dipole interaction between
droplets and hence to chaining.Comment: 17 double column pages prepared by RevTex, 15 eps figures included in
text, 2 gif figures for Fig. 1
Women We Loved: Paradoxes of public and private in the biographical television drama
Broadcast to critical acclaim and relatively large audiences for its niche channel, the Women We Loved season consisted of biographical dramatisations of three prominent female figures of 20th-century British culture. These dramas shared in common narratives that centre on the two aspects of ‘the public’ and ‘the private’: the tension between public career and personal life and the discrepancy between celebrity persona and private individual. Combining theoretical insights from feminist studies of biography with close textual analysis, this article analyses how performance, aesthetics and narrative express the ambivalent placement of their protagonists between public and private
spheres
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