Behavior of confined granular beds under cyclic thermal loading

We investigate the mechanical behavior of a confined granular packing of irregular polyhedral particles under repeated heating and cooling cycles by means of numerical simulations with the Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics method. Assuming a homogeneous temperature distribution as well as constant temperature rate, we study the effect of the container shape, and coefficients of thermal expansions on the pressure buildup at the confining walls and the density evolution. We observe that small changes in the opening angle of the confinement can lead to a drastic peak pressure reduction. Furthermore, the displacement fields over several thermal cycles are obtained and we discover the formation of convection cells inside the granular material having the shape of a torus. The root mean square of the vorticity is then calculated from the displacement fields and a quadratic dependency on the ratio of thermal expansion coefficients is established

After-Progress: Commoning in Degrowth

What does it mean to live with the threat of extinction? We make a case that living with the threat of extinction logically can only mean that we have to abandon the modernist ideology of progress. We review ideas of societal progress and note the decline in arguments relating to progress in the writings of political and social commentators. However, alive and well, and hidden in plain sight, is the current dominant ideology of progress-the central policy goal of governments to achieve growth in Gross Domestic Product. We must abandon this twisted ideology of progress. We point to two interrelated elements of a political economy of after-progress-degrowth and commoning. Currently, there are rich and vital literatures on degrowth and on commoning, but rarely do writers in these fields come into explicit dialogue with each other to see and develop a shared logic. We outline a political economy of degrowth as one centred on sustaining the commons, and contrast this with current arguments for green capitalism, centred on the idea of a Green New Deal. Competitive individualism is the central social relationship of capitalism, and is a social relationship that leads to the destruction of the commons. By contrast, commoning should be seen as the central social relationship of a degrowth economy. It is simultaneously a social relationship and an ecological relationship. It is a social ecological relationship to sustain the commons within a degrowth economy

Shifting new media: from content to consultancy, from heterarchy to hierarchy

This is a detailed case history of one of London’s iconic new media companies, AMX Studios. Some of the changes in this firm, we assume, are not untypical for other firms in this sector. Particularly we want to draw attention to two transformations. The first change in AMX and in London’s new media industry more generally refers to the field of industrial relations. What can be observed is a shift from a rather heterarchical towards a more hierarchical organized new media industry, a shift from short-term project networks to long-term client dependency. The second change refers to new media products and services. We want to argue for a shift from cool content production towards consultancy and interactive communications solutions

Alternative splicing of Tcf7l2 transcripts generates protein variants with differential promoter-binding and transcriptional activation properties at Wnt/β-catenin targets

Alternative splicing can produce multiple protein products with variable domain composition from a single gene. The mouse Tcf7l2 gene is subject to alternative splicing. It encodes TCF4, a member of the T-cell factor (TCF) family of DNA-binding proteins and a nuclear interaction partner of β-catenin which performs essential functions in Wnt growth factor signalling. Multiple TCF4 isoforms, potentially exhibiting cell-type-specific distribution and differing in gene regulatory properties, could strongly influence tissue-specific Wnt responses. Therefore, we have examined mouse Tcf7l2 splice variants in neonatal tissues, embryonic stem cells and neural progenitors. By polymerase chain reaction amplification, cloning and sequencing, we identify a large number of alternatively spliced transcripts and report a highly flexible combinatorial repertoire of alternative exons. Many, but not all of the variants exhibit a broad tissue distribution. Moreover, two functionally equivalent versions of the C-clamp, thought to represent an auxiliary DNA-binding domain, were identified. Depending upon promoter context and precise domain composition, TCF4 isoforms exhibit strikingly different transactivation potentials at natural Wnt/β-catenin target promoters. However, differences in C-clamp-mediated DNA binding can only partially explain functional differences among TCF4 variants. Still, the cell-type-specific complement of TCF4 isoforms is likely to be a major determinant for the context-dependent transcriptional output of Wnt/β-catenin signalling

Etnografía en movimiento: ¿Investigación de campo en el espacio virtual?

Klassische Ethnographien basieren auf der Idee von Lokalität. Zunehmende Globalisierungsprozesse machen dieses Konzept jedoch theoretisch immer fragwürdiger. Seit etwa einem Jahrzehnt plädieren US-Anthropologen deshalb für multi-lokale Ethnographien. Die forschungspraktischen Implikationen eines solchen Zugangs sind bislang noch kaum diskutiert worden. Mit dem Aufkommen von interaktiven Medien wartet auf die ethnographische Forschungspraxis bereits eine neue Herausforderung. Der vorliegende Beitrag fragt vor diesem Hintergrund nach den forschungspraktischen Auswirkungen von Feldforschung im virtuellen Raum. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0001213Traditional ethnographies have been based on the ideas of locality. But with the rise of globalisation processes this concept has been increasingly questioned on a theoretical level. In the last decade, US-American anthropologists called for multi-sited ethnographies. However, the practical implications for research with such a shift have not been broadly discussed yet. Now, with the internet and different kinds of virtual interaction patterns, ethnographic work faces a new challenge. This paper argues that it is necessary to focus on the implications of fieldwork in virtual settings for ethnographic practice. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0001213URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs000121

Ethnography on the Move: From Field to Net to Internet

Klassische Ethnographien basieren auf der Idee von Lokalität. Zunehmende Globalisierungsprozesse machen dieses Konzept jedoch theoretisch immer fragwürdiger. Seit etwa einem Jahrzehnt plädieren US-Anthropologen deshalb für multi-lokale Ethnographien. Die forschungspraktischen Implikationen eines solchen Zugangs sind bislang noch kaum diskutiert worden. Mit dem Aufkommen von interaktiven Medien wartet auf die ethnographische Forschungspraxis bereits eine neue Herausforderung. Der vorliegende Beitrag fragt vor diesem Hintergrund nach den forschungspraktischen Auswirkungen von Feldforschung im virtuellen Raum.Traditional ethnographies have been based on the ideas of locality. But with the rise of globalisation processes this concept has been increasingly questioned on a theoretical level. In the last decade, US-American anthropologists called for multi-sited ethnographies. However, the practical implications for research with such a shift have not been broadly discussed yet. Now, with the internet and different kinds of virtual interaction patterns, ethnographic work faces a new challenge. This paper argues that it is necessary to focus on the implications of fieldwork in virtual settings for ethnographic practice

Teamwork and Work Habitus

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