Growth Models and Models of Turbulence : A Stochastic Quantization Perspective

We consider a class of growth models and models of turbulence based on the randomly stirred fluid. The similarity between the predictions of these models, noted a decade earlier, is understood on the basis of a stochastic quantization scheme.Comment: 3 page

Total place - Discussion paper

Total Place – Pooling public moneyTotal Place was a Labour Government initiative which started last year in April 2009 in Bichard’s work Operational Efficiency Programme, which looked at the scope for efficiency savings in the public sector. It initially started with 13 pilot areas across England and was set up as a new direction for local public services and local authorities with a certain amount of flexibility that defined a new relationship with the Goverment. The initiative aimed to bring together elements of central government and local agencies within a place – hence the name ‘Total Place’. It aimed to show how a place-based approach to local public services could deliver better outcomes and improved value for money. It placed local authorities and their partners at the forefront to assess the local public service spending, eliminate waste and reduce duplication of work to focus on people and their needs. In total the 13 pilots mapped £82 billion of public spending within their areas, which is about one-fifth of the total public spending in England. The estimated total amount of all public spend not just for the pilot themes varied from £2.2 billion in Lewisham to £22 billion in the Manchester city-region pilot, the later being the biggest pilot in England. A wide range of themes were chosen for the pilot areas from children’s services to worklessness, housing, drugs and alcohol misuse and offender management. The pilots have proved that real savings are possible through the Total Place scheme and of the benefits possible from strong local leadership. However, according to a Publicnet survey, it was shown that most public bodies knew nothing about Total Place, because Whitehall departments remained silent. Other than the 13 pilot areas, the Total Place initiative was not publicised very well. The Single Offer and the Innovative Policy OfferThe Government will develop a ‘Single Offer’ for the highest performing places with strong partnership arrangements. This will be done to identify how radical freedom and flexibilities can deliver significant improvements in outcomes and greater savings. The Total Place approach is intended to test these ideas, and the places which demonstrate high performance will be invited to make an ‘offer’ to Government for how they can deliver better outcomes and additional savings by re-designing services around users of public services in line with the Total Place approach. These offers will initially identify the scope of the proposal, a comparatively small number of locally-defined outcomes (up to 10) for which services could be redesigned to deliver better results against the set targets. Local authorities should be able to demonstrate an effective cost-benefit analysis to justify the need for the proposal at the same time engaging with the communities and the third sector in design and delivery. There should be clear evidence of partnership and use of appropriate pooled or aligned budget arrangements that outlines accountability arrangements, governance, funding structures and a local memorandum of understanding across local organisations. The Government and the places will work together to co-design the agreed Single Offer and mutually agreed approaches will be incorporated into agreements between the Government and the places. This was expected to come into force from April 2011, just originates from the previous Government. Such places would benefit from using resources flexibly and reducing burdens on the frontline. The Single Offers was predicted to run for a period of 3 years with an interim report for the 2012 Budget.For partners who might not be eligible for the Single Policy Offer, but shows evidence of strong partnership working or strong performance in particular policy areas would be able to make a similar proposal which could then be taken forward in the same way. This is the Innovative Policy Offer and primarily focuses on strong performance on particular policy domains.Other Total Place services As of now, with the change in Government, the Total Place initiative is officially not continuing under the ‘Total Place’ banner and there is a high probably that it will be rebranded and redefined to meet changing priorities. Nevertheless, the general philosophy and budget benefits are considered to be useful to the new Government's agenda. Currenrly, in the Manchester city region, the Total Place pilot initiative is being continued under the city region pilot. The pilots nationally have the potential to extend their field trials especially in looking into co-designing approaches to worklessness. The other areas where Government support might be availble are looking into Total capital and asset pathfinders in the regions to improve capital investments and transform services, or to develop new approaches to using cost-benefit analysis tools to test proposals for local ‘productivity funds’ to increase places’ freedom to support investment in preventive actions. These are the areas where Manchester City Council could likely position themselves to work with local partners and agencies. Future work options for CCI and University of SalfordThe University of Salford was involved in the Total Place Manchester city region and Warrington pilot scheme in undertaking research into setting standards to reduce health inequalities. It looked at the delivery of health services emphasizing the role of prevention action ensuring children have the best opportunity to reach their full potential. The University’s continuous involvement is this instance is very likely, and this could possibly lead to increased partnership with local organisations and other research activities. The previous Government’s March 2010 Budget made it clear that the Young Person’s Guarantee of a job, training or work experience underpinned by the Future Jobs Fund, will be extended into 2011-2012. However, the new Government announced on May 2010, the closure of the Future Jobs Fund, and further details are excepted to be announced on the 22nd June 2010 Budget statement. A key strategic objective would be to get as many young people not in education, employment or training as possible back to work within the construction industry for at least a period of 1-3 years. There are one quarter of a million unemployed people in the Manchester city region. As it evident, people who are on benefits are a cost to the economy and have added implications in the loss of tax revenue

Turbulence and Multiscaling in the Randomly Forced Navier Stokes Equation

We present an extensive pseudospectral study of the randomly forced Navier-Stokes equation (RFNSE) stirred by a stochastic force with zero mean and a variance $\sim k^{4-d-y}$, where $k$ is the wavevector and the dimension $d = 3$. We present the first evidence for multiscaling of velocity structure functions in this model for $y \geq 4$. We extract the multiscaling exponent ratios $\zeta_p/\zeta_2$ by using extended self similarity (ESS), examine their dependence on $y$, and show that, if $y = 4$, they are in agreement with those obtained for the deterministically forced Navier-Stokes equation ($3d$NSE). We also show that well-defined vortex filaments, which appear clearly in studies of the $3d$NSE, are absent in the RFNSE.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 6 figures (postscript

Force-induced unfolding of a homopolymer on fractal lattice: exact results vs. mean field predictions

We study the force-induced unfolding of a homopolymer on the three dimensional Sierpinski gasket. The polymer is subject to a contact energy between nearest neighbour sites not consecutive along the chain and to a stretching force. The hierarchical nature of the lattice we consider allows for an exact treatment which yields the phase diagram and the critical behaviour. We show that for this model mean field predictions are not correct, in particular in the exact phase diagram there is {\em not} a low temperature reentrance and we find that the force induced unfolding transition below the theta temperature is second order.Comment: 15 pages, 5 eps figure

Brokering Gender Empowerment in Energy Access in the Global South

How do energy professionals in the Global South facilitate the brokerage of gender equity and empowerment in energy access? Energy sector professionals, including planners and members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), are crucial development actors in off-grid contexts. They operate at the intersection between grassroots-level energy access in off-grid household and community buildings and overarching policy frameworks. However, despite their central role, the relationship between their professional practices and gender empowerment in energy access has received little attention. This paper investigates ‘energy brokers’ across Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan based on interviews (n = 86). Subsequent thematic analysis explores these energy brokers’ overarching understandings of gender equity and empowerment, their agency, and brokering practices for energy access (including in relation to emerging energy technologies). Analysis shows ‘differentiated brokerage’ in that energy professionals from the NGOs and the delivery sectors are often better positioned to broker gender equity and women’s empowerment in energy access. However, linkages between equitable access and empowerment need to be better understood, especially at the ‘top’ and go beyond women’s economic productivity. Women’s participation across supply chains of emerging energy-access technology, in energy governance and as energy brokers needs strengthening. Practice relevance Energy professionals occupy an important ‘middle’ position and can help to create changes to overcome gender bias in access to energy. They facilitate the brokerage (understandings, agency and practices) of gender equity and empowerment in energy access in off-grid contexts, including household and community buildings. The evidence from this study shows the performance of energy professionals is critical in facilitating women’s empowerment in energy access. Key recommendations are: (1) energy professionals at the top need to recognise differentiated brokerage across the grassroots–policy spectrum to better identify and equip key actors; (2) energy brokers need to move beyond gender neutrality and economic participation acting on the breadth of women’s empowerment, including psychological dimensions; and (3) women’s participation across energy system transitions needs to be strengthened, with regard to energy supply chains, energy governance and as energy brokers

Statistical Properties of Turbulence: An Overview

We present an introductory overview of several challenging problems in the statistical characterisation of turbulence. We provide examples from fluid turbulence in three and two dimensions, from the turbulent advection of passive scalars, turbulence in the one-dimensional Burgers equation, and fluid turbulence in the presence of polymer additives.Comment: 34 pages, 31 figure