Spatial Coupling of a Lattice Boltzmann fluid model with a Finite Difference Navier-Stokes solver

In multiscale, multi-physics applications, there is an increasing need for coupling numerical solvers that are each applied to a different part of the problem. Here we consider the case of coupling a Lattice Boltzmann fluid model and a Finite Difference Navier-Stokes solver. The coupling is implemented so that the entire computational domain can be divided in two regions, with the FD solver running on one of them and the LB one on the other. We show how the various physical quantities of the two approaches should be related to ensure a smooth transition at the interface between the regions. We demonstrate the feasibility of the method on the Poiseuille flow, where the LB and FD schemes are used on adjacent sub-domains. The same idea can be also developed to couple LB models with Finite Volumes, or Finite Elements calculations. The motivation for developing such a type of coupling is that, depending on the geometry of the flow, one technique can be more efficient, less memory consuming, or physically more appropriate than the other in some regions (e.g. near the boundaries), whereas the converse is true for other parts of the same system. We can also imagine that a given system solved, say by FD, can be augmented in some spatial regions with a new physical process that is better treated by a LB model. Our approach allows us to only modify the concerned region without altering the rest of the computation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Gaston Bachelard and Contemporary Philosophy

This special issue aims to redress the balance and to open up Gaston Bachelard's work beyond a small in-crowd of experts and aficionado’s in France. It aims to stimulate the discovery of new and understudied aspects of Bachelard’s work, including aspects of the intellectual milieu he was working in. Fortunately, for this purpose we were able to rely both on renowned Bachelard specialists, such as Hans-Jörg Rheinberg-er, Cristina Chimisso and Dominique Lecourt, as well as on a number of younger scholars who are discovering their work in a different intellectual context. At the same time we also want to reassess the value of this oeuvre, which also entails examining the reasons and causes of the relative neglect of Bachelard’s work in recent times. Has it exhausted its possibilities? Does it have intrinsic limitations that have contributed to the eclipse, as some influential, mainly French, philoso-phers have more or less explicitly suggested

Right Temporoparietal Junction Involvement in Autonomic Responses to the Suffering of Others: A Preliminary Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study.

Functional neuroimaging studies have emphasized distinct networks for social cognition and affective aspects of empathy. However, studies have not considered whether substrates of social cognition, such as the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), play a role in affective responses to complex empathy-related stimuli. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to test whether the right TPJ contributes to psychophysiological responses to another person's emotional suffering. We used a theory of mind functional localizer and image-guided TMS to target the sub-region of the right TPJ implicated in social cognition, and measured autonomic and subjective responses to an empathy induction video. We found evidence that TMS applied at 1 Hz over the right TPJ increased withdrawal of parasympathetic nervous system activity during the empathy induction (n = 32), but did not affect sympathetic nervous system activity (n = 27). Participants who received TMS over the right TPJ also reported feeling more irritation and annoyance, and were less likely to report feeling compassion over and above empathic sadness, than participants who received TMS over the vertex (N = 34). This study provides preliminary evidence for the role of right TPJ functioning in empathy-related psychophysiological and affective responding, potentially blurring the distinction between neural regions specific to social cognition vs. affective aspects of empathy

EU foreign policy after Lisbon. Will the new High Representative and the External Action Service make a difference?

The Lisbon treaty will fundamentally alter the foreign policy set-up of the European Union. Among the key innovations figure the establishment of the foreign affairs high representative and the European External Action Service (EAS). Their creation may well lead to a new era of European diplomacy, providing the Union with a genuine foreign policy chief and a full-fledged foreign service. Are these only high hopes, or will the Lisbon institutional engineering really make a difference? Will the Union henceforth speak with one voice at the international level? And will it back up its talk with firm action? This paper attempts to answer these questions by, first of all, analysing the treaty provisions concerned and establishing the way they are to be implemented. This includes ascertaining the high representative and EAS’s responsibilities and competences, their respective relationship with other key actors, as well as the possible structure, composition, size and scope of the EAS. In a second step, the paper assesses the new arrangements’ implications for EU foreign policy-making. It analyses how foreign policy-making will change and to which extent current institutional shortcomings of EU external action will be addressed. The analysis takes a neo-institutionalist approach, drawing on insights from both historical and sociological institutionalism. The paper argues that the new high representative will be agenda-setter, decision-shaper, coordinator and consensus-builder. He will be chief representative and principal negotiator, implement EU foreign policy and watch over the Union’s crisis management. The EAS will support the high representative in all his tasks and is likely to develop into the new analytical hub of EU foreign policy-making. Together, the new office and its service will increase the visibility, continuity, consistency and efficiency of EU external action. They will enhance diplomatic professionalism and have the potential to mitigate the Union’s structural lack of leadership. However, many questions still remain open and some new problems might crop up. The ultimate significance of the Lisbon reforms will depend on several conditions, chiefly relating to: the high representative’s relations to the Commission president and European Council president; the EAS’s exact scope; the member states’ feeling of ownership of the new service; and the high representative’s skill to pursue a pro-active agenda while gaining the member states’ confidence

EU foreign policy after Lisbon - will the new high representative and the external action service make a difference?

"The Lisbon treaty will fundamentally alter the foreign policy set-up of the European Union. Among the key innovations figure the establishment of the foreign affairs high representative and the European External Action Service (EAS). Their creation may well lead to a new era of European diplomacy, providing the Union with a genuine foreign policy chief and a full-fledged foreign service. Are these only high hopes, or will the Lisbon institutional engineering really make a difference? Will the Union henceforth speak with one voice at the international level? And will it back up its talk with firm action? This paper attempts to answer these questions by, first of all, analysing the treaty provisions concerned and establishing the way they are to be implemented. This includes ascertaining the high representative and EAS's responsibilities and competences, their respective relationship with other key actors, as well as the possible structure, composition, size and scope of the EAS. In a second step, the paper assesses the new arrangements' implications for EU foreign policy-making. It analyses how foreign policy-making will change and to which extent current institutional shortcomings of EU external action will be addressed. The analysis takes a neo-institutionalist approach, drawing on insights from both historical and sociological institutionalism. The paper argues that the new high representative will be agenda-setter, decision-shaper, coordinator and consensus-builder. He will be chief representative and principal negotiator, implement EU foreign policy and watch over the Union's crisis management. The EAS will support the high representative in all his tasks and is likely to develop into the new analytical hub of EU foreign policy-making. Together, the new office and its service will increase the visibility, continuity, consistency and efficiency of EU external action. They will enhance diplomatic professionalism and have the potential to mitigate the Union's structural lack of leadership. However, many questions still remain open and some new problems might crop up. The ultimate significance of the Lisbon reforms will depend on several conditions, chiefly relating to: the high representative's relations to the Commission president and European Council president; the EAS's exact scope; the member states' feeling of ownership of the new service; and the high representative's skill to pursue a pro-active agenda while gaining the member states' confidence." (author's abstract

Formally analysing the concepts of domestic violence.

The types of police inquiries performed these days are incredibly diverse. Often data processing architectures are not suited to cope with this diversity since most of the case data is still stored as unstructured text. In this paper Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is showcased for its exploratory data analysis capabilities in discovering domestic violence intelligence from a dataset of unstructured police reports filed with the regional police Amsterdam-Amstelland in the Netherlands. From this data analysis it is shown that FCA can be a powerful instrument to operationally improve policing practice. For one, it is shown that the definition of domestic violence employed by the police is not always as clear as it should be, making it hard to use it effectively for classification purposes. In addition, this paper presents newly discovered knowledge for automatically classifying certain cases as either domestic or non-domestic violence is. Moreover, it provides practical advice for detecting incorrect classifications performed by police officers. A final aspect to be discussed is the problems encountered because of the sometimes unstructured way of working of police officers. The added value of this paper resides in both using FCA for exploratory data analysis, as well as with the application of FCA for the detection of domestic violence.Formal concept analysis (FCA); Domestic violence; Knowledge discovery in databases; Text mining; Exploratory data analysis; Knowledge enrichment; Concept discovery;

Detecting domestic violence.

Over 90% of the case data from police inquiries is stored as unstructured text in police databases. We use the combination of Formal Concept Analysis and Emergent Self Organizing Maps for exploring a dataset of unstructured police reports out of the Amsterdam-Amstelland police region in the Netherlands. In this paper, we specifically aim at making the reader familiar with how we used these two tools for browsing the dataset and how we discovered useful patterns for labelling cases as domestic or as non-domestic violence.Formal concept analysis (FCA); Emergent SOM; Domestic violence; Knowledge discovery in databases; Text mining; Exploratory data analysis;