The Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey V : The Virgo Cluster (I)

We present 21 cm observations of a 10 $\times$ 2 degree region in the Virgo cluster, obtained as part of the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey. 289 sources are detected over the full redshift range (-2,000 $<$ $v$$_{hel}$ $<$ + 20,000 km/s) with 95 belonging to the cluster ($v$$_{hel}$ $<$ 3,000 km/s). We combine our observations with data from the optically selected Virgo Cluster Catalogue (VCC) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Most of our detections can be clearly associated with a unique optical counterpart, and 30% of the cluster detections are new objects fainter than the VCC optical completeness limit. 7 detections may have no optical counterpart and we discuss the possible origins of these objects. 7 detections appear associated with early-type galaxies. We perform HI stacking on the HI-undetected galaxies listed in the VCC in this region and show that they must have significantly less gas than those actually detected in HI. Galaxies undetected in HI in the cluster appear to be really devoid of gas, in contrast to a sample of field galaxies from ALFALFA.Comment: 23 pages, 22 figures, 4 table

Political branding: sense of identity or identity crisis? An investigation of the transfer potential of the brand identity prism to the UK Conservative Party

Brands are strategic assets and key to achieving a competitive advantage. Brands can be seen as a heuristic device, encapsulating a series of values that enable the consumer to make quick and efficient choices. More recently, the notion of a political brand and the rhetoric of branding have been widely adopted by many political parties as they seek to differentiate themselves, and this has led to an emerging interest in the idea of the political brand. Therefore, this paper examines the UK Conservative Party brand under David Cameron’s leadership and examines the applicability of Kapferer’s brand identity prism to political branding. This paper extends and operationalises the brand identity prism into a ‘political brand identity network’ which identifies the inter-relatedness of the components of the corporate political brand and the candidate political brand. Crucial for practitioners, this model can demonstrate how the brand is presented and communicated to the electorate and serves as a useful mechanism to identify consistency within the corporate and candidate political brands

Resistance distance, information centrality, node vulnerability and vibrations in complex networks

We discuss three seemingly unrelated quantities that have been introduced in different fields of science for complex networks. The three quantities are the resistance distance, the information centrality and the node displacement. We first prove various relations among them. Then we focus on the node displacement, showing its usefulness as an index of node vulnerability.We argue that the node displacement has a better resolution as a measure of node vulnerability than the degree and the information centrality

Metal enrichment processes

There are many processes that can transport gas from the galaxies to their environment and enrich the environment in this way with metals. These metal enrichment processes have a large influence on the evolution of both the galaxies and their environment. Various processes can contribute to the gas transfer: ram-pressure stripping, galactic winds, AGN outflows, galaxy-galaxy interactions and others. We review their observational evidence, corresponding simulations, their efficiencies, and their time scales as far as they are known to date. It seems that all processes can contribute to the enrichment. There is not a single process that always dominates the enrichment, because the efficiencies of the processes vary strongly with galaxy and environmental properties.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 17; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

Rings and bars: unmasking secular evolution of galaxies

Secular evolution gradually shapes galaxies by internal processes, in contrast to early cosmological evolution which is more rapid. An important driver of secular evolution is the flow of gas from the disk into the central regions, often under the influence of a bar. In this paper, we review several new observational results on bars and nuclear rings in galaxies. They show that these components are intimately linked to each other, and to the properties of their host galaxy. We briefly discuss how upcoming observations, e.g., imaging from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G), will lead to significant further advances in this area of research.Comment: Invited review at "Galaxies and their Masks", celebrating Ken Freeman's 70-th birthday, Sossusvlei, Namibia, April 2010. To be published by Springer, New York, editors D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, & I. Puerari; minor change

The chemical enrichment of the ICM from hydrodynamical simulations

The study of the metal enrichment of the intra-cluster and inter-galactic media (ICM and IGM) represents a direct means to reconstruct the past history of star formation, the role of feedback processes and the gas-dynamical processes which determine the evolution of the cosmic baryons. In this paper we review the approaches that have been followed so far to model the enrichment of the ICM in a cosmological context. While our presentation will be focused on the role played by hydrodynamical simulations, we will also discuss other approaches based on semi-analytical models of galaxy formation, also critically discussing pros and cons of the different methods. We will first review the concept of the model of chemical evolution to be implemented in any chemo-dynamical description. We will emphasise how the predictions of this model critically depend on the choice of the stellar initial mass function, on the stellar life-times and on the stellar yields. We will then overview the comparisons presented so far between X-ray observations of the ICM enrichment and model predictions. We will show how the most recent chemo-dynamical models are able to capture the basic features of the observed metal content of the ICM and its evolution. We will conclude by highlighting the open questions in this study and the direction of improvements for cosmological chemo-dynamical models of the next generation.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 18; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

A very conscientious brand: A case study of the BBC's current affairs series Panorama

The reputation of British current affairs and documentary series such as the BBC's Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches or the now defunct Granada series World in Action have rested on an image of conscientious ‘public service’. These popular, long running series have, at various points in their history, acted as the ‘conscience of the nation’, seeking to expose social injustice, investigate misdemeanours by the powerful and take on venal or corrupt vested interest. The BBC’s flagship current affairs series Panorama is Britain’s longest running television programme and, according to the Panorama website, ‘the world’s longest running investigative TV show’. It has provided a template for other current affairs series both in Britain, Europe and around the world while undergoing several transformations in form and style since its launch in 1953, the latest and arguably most dramatic being in 2007. This article will chart the development of Panorama as a distinctive, ‘flagship' current affairs series over six decades. It will attempt to answer why the Panorama brand has survived so long, while so many other notable current affairs series have not. Using research and material from Bournemouth University’s Panorama Archive, the Video Active website, the BFI and other European archives this article explores the development of an iconic current affairs series that has, at different stages in its history, proved a template for other news and current affairs programmes. Various breaks and continuities are highlighted in Panorama’s history and identity, and an attempt will be made to characterise and specify the Panorama ‘brand’ and pinpoint the series’ successes and failures in reinventing itself in a rapidly changing media context

Understanding cycle tourism experiences at the Tour Down Under

Sport tourism experiences are subjective and emotional, laden with symbolic meaning. This study explores the experiences of participants who adopted the multiple roles of both an active participant and event spectator, within the parameters of one chosen sporting event. A professional cycling race event, the Tour Down Under in South Australia was chosen for this investigation, and 20 face-to-face individual interviews were conducted with cycle tourists. The three main themes emerging from the data were the interaction of people and temporary spaces on a sport tourism ‘stage’; the co-creation of authentic personal experiences and meanings; and identity reinforcement and the development of a sense of belonging. Consequently, a model for understanding sport event tourism experiences is proposed. The findings suggest that providing tourists with authentic and memorable experiences lies at the heart of what constitutes sport tourism. Whilst the results demonstrate that cycling events provide the individual with a sense of belonging or membership to a wider social group, they also illustrate that there is a continued need for more focused and nuanced approaches towards understanding sport tourism experiences that reflect the ever-increasing diversity and complexity of the interaction between sport, events and tourism