1,164 research outputs found
Jizz and the joy of pattern recognition:virtuosity, discipline and the agency of insight in UK naturalists’ arts of seeing
Approaches to visual skilling from anthropology and STS have tended to highlight the forces of discipline and control in understanding how shared visual accounts of the world are created in the face of potential differences brought about by multi-sensorial perception. Drawing upon a range of observational and interview material from an immersion in naturalist training and biological recording activities between 2003 and 2009, I focus upon jizz, a distinct form of gestalt perception much coveted by naturalist communities in the UK. Jizz is described as a tacit and embodied way of seeing that instantaneously reveals the identity of a species, relying upon but simultaneously suspending the arduous and meticulous study of an organism’s diagnostic characteristics. I explore the potential and limitations of jizz to allow for both visual precision and an enchanted and varied form of encounter with nature. In so doing, I explore how the specific characteristics of wild, intangible and irreverent virtuoso performance work closely together with disciplining taxonomic standards. As such, discipline and irreverence work together, are mutually enabling, and allow for an accommodation rather than a segregation of potential difference brought about by perceptual variety
Density Functional for Anisotropic Fluids
We propose a density functional for anisotropic fluids of hard body
particles. It interpolates between the well-established geometrically based
Rosenfeld functional for hard spheres and the Onsager functional for elongated
rods. We test the new approach by calculating the location of the the
nematic-isotropic transition in systems of hard spherocylinders and hard
ellipsoids. The results are compared with existing simulation data. Our
functional predicts the location of the transition much more accurately than
the Onsager functional, and almost as good as the theory by Parsons and Lee. We
argue that it might be suited to study inhomogeneous systems.Comment: To appear in J. Physics: Condensed Matte
Coastal Ocean Forecasting: science foundation and user benefits
The advancement of Coastal Ocean Forecasting Systems (COFS) requires the support of continuous scientific progress addressing: (a) the primary mechanisms driving coastal circulation; (b) methods to achieve fully integrated coastal systems (observations and models), that are dynamically embedded in larger scale systems; and (c) methods to adequately represent air-sea and biophysical interactions. Issues of downscaling, data assimilation, atmosphere-wave-ocean couplings and ecosystem dynamics in the coastal ocean are discussed. These science topics are fundamental for successful COFS, which are connected to evolving downstream applications, dictated by the socioeconomic needs of rapidly increasing coastal populations
Sect and House in Syria: History, Architecture, and Bayt Amongst the Druze in Jaramana
This paper explores the connections between the architecture and materiality of houses and the social idiom of bayt (house, family). The ethnographic exploration is located in the Druze village of Jaramana, on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. It traces the histories, genealogies, and politics of two families, bayt Abud-Haddad and bayt Ouward, through their houses. By exploring the two families and the architecture of their houses, this paper provides a detailed ethnographic account of historical change in modern Syria, internal diversity, and stratification within the intimate social fabric of the Druze neighbourhood at a time of war, and contributes a relational approach to the anthropological understanding of houses
Quasi Harmonic Lattice Dynamics and Molecular Dynamics calculations for the Lennard-Jones solids
We present Molecular Dynamics (MD), Quasi Harmonic Lattice Dynamics (QHLD)
and Energy Minimization (EM) calculations for the crystal structure of Ne, Ar,
Kr and Xe as a function of pressure and temperature. New Lennard-Jones (LJ)
parameters are obtained for Ne, Kr and Xe to reproduce the experimental
pressure dependence of the density. We employ a simple method which combines
results of QHLD and MD calculations to achieve densities in good agreement with
experiment from 0 K to melting. Melting is discussed in connection with
intrinsic instability of the solid as given by the QHLD approximation. (See
http://www.fci.unibo.it/~valle for related papers)Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, REVte
High Pressure Insulator-Metal Transition in Molecular Fluid Oxygen
We report the first experimental evidence for a metallic phase in fluid
molecular oxygen. Our electrical conductivity measurements of fluid oxygen
under dynamic quasi-isentropic compression show that a non-metal/metal
transition occurs at 3.4 fold compression, 4500 K and 1.2 Mbar. We discuss the
main features of the electrical conductivity dependence on density and
temperature and give an interpretation of the nature of the electrical
transport mechanisms in fluid oxygen at these extreme conditions.Comment: RevTeX, 4 figure
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Kitchens and Pantries—Helping or Hindering? The Perspectives of Emergency Food Users in Victoria, Australia
In high-income countries, people affected by food insecurity may seek out free/subsidized food from charities. Their perceptions of the food programs provided and preferences for alternative strategies are underresearched. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the users’ experiences of food insecurity and gain evidence for effective responses in the future. Twelve semistructured interviews with a sample of users, who were also charity volunteers, were conducted in Victoria, Australia. A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was undertaken. The results show that users have complex needs. Charities have both the capacity to hinder and help people maintain dignity, social inclusion, and health. Alternative community and policy food security strategies were proposed by interviewees. In the future, perspectives of affected community members must inform strategies that seek to improve people’s access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food. A human right to food framework is discussed as a mechanism to help realize food security in Australia
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