Spatiotemporal properties of multiscale two-dimensional ows

The extraordinary complexity of turbulence has motivated the study of some of its key features in flows with similar structure but simpler or even trivial dynamics. Recently, a novel class of such flows has been developed in the laboratory by applying multiscale electromagnetic forcing to a thin layer of conducting fluid. In spite of being stationary, planar, and laminar these flows have been shown to resemble turbulent ones in terms of energy spectra and particle dispersion. In this thesis, some extensions of these flows are investigated through simulations of a layer-averaged model carried out using a bespoke semi-Lagrangian spline code. The selected forcings generalise the experimental ones by allowing for various kinds of self-similarity and planetary motion of the multiple scales. The spatiotemporal structure of the forcings is largely reflected on the flows, since they mainly arise from a linear balance between forcing and bottom friction. The exponents of the approximate power laws found in the wavenumber spectra can thus be related to the scaling and geometrical forcing parameters. The Eulerian frequency spectra of the unsteady flows exhibit similar power laws originating from the sweeping of the multiple flow scales by the forcing motions. The disparity between fluid and sweeping velocities makes it possible to justify likewise the observed Lagrangian power laws, but precludes a proper analogy with turbulence. In the steady case, the absolute dispersion of tracer particles presents ballistic and diffusive stages, while relative dispersion shows a superquadratic intermediate stage dominated by separation bursts due to the various scales. In the unsteady case, the absence of trapping by fixed streamlines leads to appreciable enhancement of relative dispersion at low and moderate rotation frequency. However, the periodic reversals of the large scale give rise to subdiffusive absolute dispersion and severely impede relative dispersion at high frequency

Opening teaching landscapes: the importance of quality assurance in the delivery of open educational resources

Scholars are increasingly being asked to share teaching materials, publish in open access journals, network in social media, and reuse open educational resources (OER). The theoretical benefits of Open Educational Practices (OEP) have become understood in the academic community but thus far, the use of OER has not been rapidly adopted. We aim to understand the challenges academics face with in attempting to adopt OEP, and identify whether these are related to or stem from the functionalities afforded by current repositories of OER (ROER). By understanding what academics and experts consider good practices, we can develop guidelines for quality in the development of ROER. In this article we present the findings from a study surveying academics using OER and experts who develop and/or work with ROER. We conclude by suggesting a framework to enhance the development and quality of ROER

Open Access: Towards Fairer Access to Research

Practical and sustainable ways of increasing access to scholarly materials will require a more thorough transformation of the entire academic landscape, which includes publication, assessment and promotion. This article.emphasises that ultimately, open access advocates are fighting for the right of scholars at all career stages to ensure their work has more prospects of getting read, cited and ‘reused’

The Theory of Inclusion / Moderation as a Gate to Islamic Populism: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Syria)

En las últimas décadas hemos asistido a una crisis del islamismo y a diversas respuestas para superar la mencionada crisis. Así, hemos visto como mediante la inclusión de estas organizaciones en el juego político, sus pociones se han ido moderando considerablemente. La realidad es que buena parte de estos movimientos han derivado hacia un nuevo modelo de organización que puede ser denominada como “populismo islámico” cuyas características son propias y singulares, aunque algunas son compartidas con otros movimientos populistas de otra índole. Este trabajo trata de mostrar usando el caso de los Hermanos Musulmanes en Egipto como los movimientos islamistas pueden, bajo determinadas circunstancias, derivar hace un populismo con características islámicas.In the last decades we have witnessed a crisis of Islamism and various responses to overcome the aforementioned crisis. Thus, we have seen how through the inclusion of these organizations in the political game, their potions have been moderated considerably. The reality is that a good part of these movements have led to a new organizational model that can be called “Islamic populism” whose characteristics are their own and unique, although some are shared with other populist movements of another nature. This work tries to show using the case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as the Islamist movements can, under certain circumstances, derive a populism with Islamic characteristics

On Cultural Materialism, Comics and Digital Media

In 1936, Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) accounted for the paradigm shift that mechanical reproduction meant for art and politics. For Benjamin, technological change was not merely a sign of uncomplicated, forward-thinking progress; it meant a profound transformation of the realm of human experience. In this account of the era Benjamin witnessed, the German philosopher and collector was also unknowingly predicting a time he personally would not experience: four decades later, these descriptions of his time are illuminating the reality of the present. Benjamin wrote that ‘the cathedral leaves its locale to be received in the studio of a lover of art; the choral production, performed in an auditorium or in the open air, resounds in the drawing room’, but he was not describing digital 3D imaging, Wikipedia, YouTube or Google; he was writing about film photography and the phonograph, forms of technology many now consider ‘obsolete’. The fact we can identify that sense of wonder at technology’s ability to make the absent present and vice versa proves Benjamin’s point: that there is a ‘logic of form’ in art and technology, or, in other words, that the future and the present are also contained in the past, as new technologies and art forms do not simply supersede present and anterior ones, but depend on them. Benjamin's work has proven so influential because, unlike the digital media ‘pundits’ of today, he did not predict the future, but analysed the present

Osetia del Sur: la cúspide del desencuentro entre EEUU y Rusia

En este ARI se trata el conflicto entre Georgia y Rusia y la lucha por la hegemonía entre Rusia, EEUU y en menor medida la UE. El ataque ruso a Georgia es algo más que un simple enfrentamiento entre dos países de la CEI, se trata de una declaración de Guerra (fría) a todo Occidente. Rusia ha pretendido reivindicar una posición internacional más fuerte utilizando un problema bilateral con Georgia

Recommendations for University Module Evaluation Policies

This paper discusses the limitations of University Module Evaluation processes and shares a series of recommendations that could improve their design and implementation. The paper concludes that regardless of staff gender, age, academic position or ethnic background, no metric or quantitative indicator should be used without thoughtful, qualitative social and organisational context awareness and unconscious bias awareness. The paper concludes there is a need to eliminate the use of Module Evaluation metrics in appointment and promotion considerations

El Servicio Europeo de Acción Exterior: ¿una revolución para el proceso de integración y para la diplomacia?

El Servicio Europeo de Acción Exterior (SEAE) es un importante paso en la integración europea que fortalecerá a la UE como actor global al tiempo que transformará la propia diplomacia. Tras varios años de proyectos inconclusos, la UE se prepara para desplegar un servicio diplomático que en cinco años aspira a convertirse en uno de los más grandes del mundo. Por primera vez Europa tendrá la herramienta necesaria para lograr los objetivos fijados en su política exterior. La creación del Servicio Europeo de Acción Exterior (SEAE) puede suponer una revolución de dos tipos tanto para la propia UE, que da un paso decisivo hacia la mayor integración, como para la diplomacia que ve cómo un nuevo actor cambia la institución incorporando nuevos temas y formas de actuación

My Life with Charlie Brown, Charles M. Schulz; introduction by M. Thomas Inge (2010)

A review of My Life with Charlie Brown, Charles M. Schulz; introduction by M. Thomas Inge (2010) Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 193 pp. ISBN: 978-1-60473-448-5, Hardback, $25.0