Place Pulling Power: a case of Liverpool’08

The paper contributes to the developing knowledge of place branding and highlights the importance of place branding strategies, that enabling the place to seek continual development and prosperity. The theoretical concepts of place brand creators, influencers and key driving forces, together with the different brand user groups are set against both current and historic indicators of place branding to model the pulling power of place branding. Interviews with key stakeholders indicate that, in the case of the Liverpool ’08 campaign, they are generally positive about the re-branding campaign and considered it to be creating a positive image that will continue to drive inward investment and increase tourism. However, it is clear that reputation and intangible factors are more important than functional and tangible factors when creating a positive brand image. Understanding place brands and the influence on the performance of the place, in terms of continuous development, regeneration and sustainability is important. Future comparative-case analyses between places that have gone through regeneration and repositioning could help to understand the significance of place branding, in terms of sustainability of place, and identify the specific facets of a place that could prove critical when putting place branding practices into action

Labyrinthic granular landscapes

We have numerically studied a model of granular landscape eroded by wind. We show the appearance of labyrinthic patterns when the wind orientation turns by $90^\circ$. The occurence of such structures are discussed. Morever, we introduce the density $n_k$ of ``defects'' as the dynamic parameter governing the landscape evolution. A power law behavior of $n_k$ is found as a function of time. In the case of wind variations, the exponent (drastically) shifts from 2 to 1. The presence of two asymptotic values of $n_k$ implies the irreversibility of the labyrinthic formation process.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure, RevTe

Resonant and antiresonant bouncing droplets

When placed onto a vibrating liquid bath, a droplet may adopt a permanent bouncing behavior, depending on both the forcing frequency and the forcing amplitude. The relationship between the droplet deformations and the bouncing mechanism is studied experimentally and theoretically through an asymmetric and dissipative bouncing spring model. Antiresonance effects are evidenced. Experiments and theoretical predictions show that both resonance at specific frequencies and antiresonance at Rayleigh frequencies play crucial roles in the bouncing mechanism. In particular, we show that they can be exploited for droplet size selection.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures and 1 vide

A fountain of droplets

A vessel is plunged upside down into a pool of 50 cSt silicone oil. An air bell is then created. This bell is vertically shaken at 60 Hz that leads to the oscillation of the air/oil interface. The edges of the immersed vessel generate surface waves that propagate towards the center of the bell. When the amplitude of the oscillation increases, wave amplitude increases. We study the influence of the angle between successive sides on the wave patterns. Two kinds of vessel have been studied: a triangular and a square prism. The shape of the air/oil meniscus depends on the angle between the sides of the considered prism. As the amplitude of the oscillation is increased, the triple line, which is the contact line between the solid and the air/oil interface, moves up and down. Above a given acceleration that depends on the immersion depth and on the shape vessel, wave goes under the corner edge of the bell. During the oscillation, the wave generates at the edges presents a singularity that leads eventually to a jet and a drop ejection. A drop is ejected at each oscillation. More complicated ejection can be produced with further increase of the amplitude. This is a sample arXiv article illustrating the use of fluid dynamics videos.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, 2 movies (high-res and low-res

Ripple and kink dynamics

We propose a relevant modification of the Nishimori-Ouchi model [{\em Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 71}, 197 (1993)] for granular landscape erosion. We explicitly introduce a new parameter: the angle of repose $\theta_r$, and a new process: avalanches. We show that the $\theta_r$ parameter leads to an asymmetry of the ripples, as observed in natural patterns. The temporal evolution of the maximum ripple height $h_{max}$ is limited and not linear, according to recent observations. The ripple symmetry and the kink dynamics are studied and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure, RevTe

Flow of magnetic repelling grains in a two-dimensional silo

During a typical silo discharge, the material flow rate is determined by the contact forces between the grains. Here, we report an original study concerning the discharge of a two-dimensional silo filled with repelling magnetic grains. This non-contact interaction leads to a different dynamics from the one observed with conventional granular materials. We found that, although the flow rate dependence on the aperture size follows roughly the power-law with an exponent $3/2$ found in non-repulsive systems, the density and velocity profiles during the discharge are totally different. New phenomena must be taken into account. Despite the absence of contacts, clogging and intermittence were also observed for apertures smaller than a critical size determined by the effective radius of the repulsive grains.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

Can One Make Any Crash Prediction in Finance Using the Local Hurst Exponent Idea?

We apply the Hurst exponent idea for investigation of DJIA index time-series data. The behavior of the local Hurst exponent prior to drastic changes in financial series signal is analyzed. The optimal length of the time-window over which this exponent can be calculated in order to make some meaningful predictions is discussed. Our prediction hypothesis is verified with examples of '29 and '87 crashes, as well as with more recent phenomena in stock market from the period 1995-2003.Some interesting agreements are found.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 7 figures (included), 17 page

Ontogenic and ecological control of metamorphosis onset in a carapid fish, <i>Carapus homei</i>: experimental evidence from vertebra and otolith comparisons

In Carapus homei, reef colonisation is associated with a penetration inside a sea cucumber followed by heavy transformations during which the length of the fish is reduced by 60%. By comparing vertebral axis to otolith ontogenetic changes, this study aimed (i) to specify the events linked to metamorphosis, and (ii) to establish to what extent these fish have the ability to delay it. Different larvae of C. homei were caught when settling on the reef and kept in different experimental conditions for at least 7 days and up to 21 days: darkness or natural light conditions, presence of sea cucumber or not, and food deprivation or not. Whatever the nutritional condition, a period of darkness seems sufficient to initiate metamorphosis. Twenty-one days in natural light conditions delayed metamorphosis, whereas the whole metamorphosis process is the fastest (15 days) for larvae living in sea cucumbers. Whether the metamorphosis was initiated or not, otoliths were modified with the formation of a transition zone, whose structure varied depending on the experimental conditions. At day 21, larvae maintained in darkness had an otolith transition zone with more increments (around 80), albeit wider than those (more or less 21) of individuals kept under natural lighting. These differences in otolith growth could indicate an increased incorporation rate of released metabolites by metamorphosing larvae. However, the presence of a transition zone in delayed-metamorphosis larvae suggests that these otolith changes record the endogenously-induced onset of metamorphosis, whereas body transformations seem to be modulated by the environmental conditions of settlement