425 research outputs found
Grassroots and Habermas in West Bend: Some Reflections
The West Bend Memorial Library controversy is an instructive example of how the framing assumptions—the ground—of public space have come under attack not only from the re-evaluation of social legitimacy heralded and embodied by an economics-based paradigm but equally from those who stand in opposition to what Habermas characterizes as the bourgeoisie-established criterion of political legitimacy: that is to say, enlightenment rationality. While the grassroots movement in support of the public library ethos stood with the nineteenth century’s enlightenment rationality, the group promoting censorship of LGBTQ-themed materials stood firmly in the more socially relevant, refeudalized, public sphere of the early twenty-first century—one in which the legitimating function of rational discourse has been eroded by opinion and manipulative publicity. This explains why the grassroots effort was itself largely irrelevant to the outcome of events. The library’s autonomy was kept in place not by social or political forces (both subject to refeudalization) but by the law. The grassroots movement to support the library thus illuminates the cracks, or fault lines, resulting from a change in how “public space” (and, thus, public institutions) have come to be understood during the last one hundred years, and, specifically, in the resulting change in modes of sanctioned discourse: specifically, from rational public debate to manipulative publicity
Thorium ceramics data manual. Volume II. Nitrides. Revised
Physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of thorium nitrides, alone and in combination with other nitrides and other thorium compounds. are collected from the literature through January 1973 (51 references). The thorium-nitrogen phase equilibrium is reviewed. Although mechanical property data are still sparse, recent physical and chemical characterization of ThN has confirined its high metallic conductivity, furnished detaii on hydrolysis and oxidation, and expanded the knowledge of the (Th,U)N and Th(C,N) systems. (auth
Finite element simulation of three-dimensional free-surface flow problems
An adaptive finite element algorithm is described for the stable solution of three-dimensional free-surface-flow problems based primarily on the use of node movement. The algorithm also includes a discrete remeshing procedure which enhances its accuracy and robustness. The spatial discretisation allows an isoparametric piecewise-quadratic approximation of the domain geometry for accurate resolution of the curved free surface.
The technique is illustrated through an implementation for surface-tension-dominated viscous flows modelled in terms of the Stokes equations with suitable boundary conditions on the deforming free surface. Two three-dimensional test problems are used to demonstrate the performance of the method: a liquid bridge problem and the formation of a fluid droplet
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Feasibility study for improved steady-state initialization algorithms for the RELAP5 computer code
A design for a new steady-state initialization method is presented that represents an improvement over the current method used in RELAP5. Current initialization methods for RELAP5 solve the transient fluidflow balance equations simulating a transient to achieve steady-state conditions. Because the transient solution is used, the initial conditions may change from the desired values requiring the use of controllers and long transient running times to obtain steady-state conditions for system problems. The new initialization method allows the user to fix thermal-hydraulic values in volumes and junctions where the conditions are best known and have the code compute the initial conditions in other areas of the system. The steady-state balance equations and solution methods are presented. The constitutive, component, and specialpurpose models are reviewed with respect to modifications required for the new steady-state initialization method. The requirements for user input are defined and the feasibility of the method is demonstrated with a testbed code by initializing some simple channel problems. The initialization of the sample problems using, the old and the new methods are compared
Astrophysical Reaction Rates for B(p,)Be and B(p,)Be From a Direct Model
The reactions B(p,)Be and B(p,)Be
are studied at thermonuclear energies using DWBA calculations. For both
reactions, transitions to the ground states and first excited states are
investigated. In the case of B(p,)Be, a resonance at
keV can be consistently described in the potential model, thereby
allowing the extension of the astrophysical -factor data to very low
energies. Strong interference with a resonance at about keV
require a Breit-Wigner description of that resonance and the introduction of an
interference term for the reaction B(p,)Be. Two
isospin resonances (at keV and keV)
observed in the B+p reactions necessitate Breit-Wigner resonance and
interference terms to fit the data of the B(p,)Be
reaction. -factors and thermonuclear reaction rates are given for each
reaction. The present calculation is the first consistent parametrization for
the transition to the ground states and first excited states at low energies.Comment: 27 pages, 5 Postscript figures, uses RevTex and aps.sty; preprint
also available at http://quasar.physik.unibas.ch/ Phys. Rev. C, in pres
Elastic deformation of a fluid membrane upon colloid binding
When a colloidal particle adheres to a fluid membrane, it induces elastic
deformations in the membrane which oppose its own binding. The structural and
energetic aspects of this balance are theoretically studied within the
framework of a Helfrich Hamiltonian. Based on the full nonlinear shape
equations for the membrane profile, a line of continuous binding transitions
and a second line of discontinuous envelopment transitions are found, which
meet at an unusual triple point. The regime of low tension is studied
analytically using a small gradient expansion, while in the limit of large
tension scaling arguments are derived which quantify the asymptotic behavior of
phase boundary, degree of wrapping, and energy barrier. The maturation of
animal viruses by budding is discussed as a biological example of such
colloid-membrane interaction events.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, REVTeX style, follow-up on cond-mat/021242
Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?
Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance
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