Turbulence in the climate regime

"The global climate change regime . . . . was once considered an elegant, ground-breaking area of multinational environmental law [but] is now looking decidedly complex, increasingly weary, and, to some, unfit for its purpose.

The Hero Who Overslept

"We all love a lie in, but the alarm clock is definitely ringing. The time has finally come to throw back the duvet and leap into this playfully unhinged show about finding the hero under the covers. It’s a sincere and heartfelt invitation to defy indifference and experience a new, tender love story for our long-neglected earth, one in which we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. In a never seen before mix of climate science, psychology, philosophy and surrealist dance, our unlikely heroes strive to remake themselves in preparation for an overdue remaking of the world. These quirky ‘Clark Kents’ of climate change will shake your inner snooze button awake, so come see a performance that stretches what’s possible in an hour but will be a lifetime in the living.

Experimentation and innovation in police reform: Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Bougainville

The plural character of policing provision in most countries is now widely acknowledged, though rarely reflected in the practical police reform programming undertaken by donors. While much of the literature on international police assistance focuses on its modest results and innate limitations, less attention has been paid to those still relatively rare programmes that have sought to engage with the local realities of plural policing. This is particularly so in the conflict-affected and fragile settings where such assistance is typically provided. In this article, we present three case studies of policing innovation and experimentation from Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Bougainville, respectively, set in the context of the recent and very different post-conflict interventions in each place. While not wishing to overstate the impact of these modest programmes, we highlight their potential contribution to fostering productive relations across the multiple social orders and sources of authority found in many post-colonial, post-conflict and otherwise fragile contexts. We tentatively conclude that the most significant contribution of these kinds of initiative is likely to lie beyond the realm of institutionalised policing and, specifically, in relation to larger processes of social and political change, including state formation, under way in these places

Radar and microwave radiometric techniques for geoscience experiments Final report

Backscattering cross section measurement by radiometer

The history and nature of the Baltimore applications project

The Baltimore Applications Project (BAP), an experiment jointly conducted by the City of Baltimore and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was begun in May 1974 in response to a request by the City. The main purpose of the BAP is the identification of technology for beneficial application to the City operations. An independent evaluation, performed after three years of operation, indicates very good project results and confirms the choices of the experiment's basic features. The BAP demonstrates one way to achieve successful intergovernmental transfer of Federal technology

Some problems of Maryland towns as seen by their mayors

Conversations were held with the mayors of six Maryland towns to discuss possible models and needs for technology transfer. An unexpected outcome of the discussions was a considerable insight into local problems as perceived by the mayors. Problems, whether administrative, socio-economic, or technological, are different, from town to town, in degree, not in kind. Recognition of this feature of local priorities is vital to any considerations of external assistance

Upstream-radiated rotor–stator interaction noise in mean swirling flow

A major component of the noise in modern aeroengines is rotor–stator interaction noise generated when the wake from the rotating fan impinges on a stator row downstream. An analytically based model for the prediction of upstream-radiated rotor–stator interaction noise is described, and includes the important effect of mean swirling flow on both the rotor wake evolution and the acoustic response. The analytic nature of the model allows for the inclusion of all wake harmonics and enables the response at all blade passing frequencies to be determined. An asymptotic analysis based on large rotor blade number is used to model the evolution of the rotor wake downstream in a cylindrical duct carrying mean swirling flow. The equations governing the axial evolution of the wake simplify to three coupled first-order differential equations in the interior, while close to the duct walls, a boundary-layer correction is required in order to satisfy the impermeability conditions at the boundaries. At the stator location, the wake is used as input into a local linear cascade model at each radius. The interaction of each wake harmonic gives rise to acoustic waves of multiple azimuthal order which contribute to the pressure field radiated back upstream. This enables the total acoustic response to be determined in terms of cylindrical duct modes in mean swirling flow. The effect of stator blade geometry (thickness, camber, angle of attack) and rotor–stator separation on the total upstream-radiated noise is determined. Blade geometry is shown to have a significant effect on the noise generated, and increasing the rotor–stator gap can lead to large reductions in noise levels. Asymptotic treatment of the acoustic field, based on large azimuthal order, is also considered and used to identify the dominant contributions to the total pressure field resulting from the rotor–stator interaction. The ray structure of the acoustic modes in swirl is shown to be very different in some cases from that in uniform flow

Zero and low carbon buildings: A driver for change in working practices and the use of computer modelling and visualization

Buildings account for significant carbon dioxide emissions, both in construction and operation. Governments around the world are setting targets and legislating to reduce the carbon emissions related to the built environment. Challenges presented by increasingly rigorous standards for construction projects will mean a paradigm shift in how new buildings are designed and managed. This will lead to the need for computational modelling and visualization of buildings and their energy performance throughout the life-cycle of the building. This paper briefly outline how the UK government is planning to reduce carbon emissions for new buildings. It discusses the challenges faced by the architectural, construction and building management professions in adjusting to the proposed requirements for low or zero carbon buildings. It then outlines how software tools, including the use of visualization tools, could develop to support the designer, contractor and user

Getting the Most Bang for the Buck: An Analysis of States’ Relative Efficiencies in Promoting the Birth of Small Firms

Firm birth has recently been an important topic for many state governments. However, ways in which state governments can influence firm births are not obvious, and their efficiency in fostering firm births in comparison with their peers is even less so. Focusing on the birth of small U.S. firms, regression analysis and non-parametric efficiency testing are employed to determine both the expenditures state governments can target to promote firm birth and their relative efficiency in utilizing these expenditures. The relative efficiency tests provide insight as to how states compare with their peers in terms of efficient target expenditure use.