Contesting Territorial Fixity?: A Case Study of Regeneration in Belfast

This paper looks at urban regeneration in Belfast as a stage on which the interaction between different structural dynamics (political, economic and cultural) is manifested in the city. It discusses how contested ideas of ‘space’, ‘place’ and ‘territory’ frame the ways in which Belfast has changed over recent years and asks if regeneration itself has the potential to transform the dynamic of deep-rooted ethno-national divisions. The research question is explored through a case study of proposed urban regeneration in north Belfast. It is found that, while there is evidence of transition to less exclusivistic attitudes in leisure and work spaces, asymmetrical conflict over residential space persists in ways which reproduce deep-rooted political and cultural patterns of territorial fixity and division.

Design of hydraulic structures considering different sheetpile configurations and flow through canal banks

This research investigated seepage under hydraulic structures considering flow through the banks of the canal. A computer model, utilizing the finite element method, was used. Different configurations of sheetpile driven under the floor of the structure were studied. Results showed that the transverse extension of sheetpile, driven at the middle of the floor, into the banks of the canal had very little effect on seepage losses, uplift force, and on the exit gradient at the downstream end of the floor. Likewise, confining the downstream floor with sheetpile from three sides was not found effective. When the downstream floor was confined with sheetpile from all sides, this has significantly reduced the exit gradient. Furthermore, all the different configurations of the sheetpile had insignificant effect on seepage losses. The most effective configuration of the sheetpile was the case when two rows of sheetpiles were driven at the middle and at the downstream end of the floor, with the latter sheetpile extended few meters into the banks of the canal. This case has significantly reduced the exit gradient and caused only slight increase in the uplift force when compared to other sheetpile configurations. The present study suggests that two-dimensional analysis of seepage problems underestimates the exit gradient and uplift force on hydraulic structures.

An Impact Of Various Shroud Bleed Slot Configurations And Cavity Vanes On Compressor Map Width And The Inducer Flow Field

This paper describes an investigation of map width enhancement and a detailed analysis of the inducer flow field due to various bleed slot configurations and vanes in the annular cavity of a turbocharger centrifugal compressor. The compressor under investigation is used in a turbocharger application for a heavy duty diesel engine of approximately 400 hp. This investigation has been undertaken using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the full compressor stage, which includes a manual multiblock-structured grid generation method. The influence of the bleed slot flow on the inducer flow field at a range of operating conditions has been analyzed, highlighting the improvement in surge and choked flow capability. The impact of the bleed slot geometry variations and the inclusion of cavity vanes on the inlet incidence angle have been studied in detail by considering the swirl component introduced at the leading edge by the recirculating flow through the slot. Further, the overall stage efficiency and the nonuniform flow field at the inducer inlet have been also analyzed. The analysis revealed that increasing the slot width has increased the map width by about 17%. However, it has a small impact on the efficiency, due to the frictional and mixing losses. Moreover, adding vanes in the cavity improved the pressure ratio and compressor performance noticeably. A detail analysis of the compressor with cavity vanes has also been presented.

Territorial politics and the multi-level party

Territorial politics and the statewide party, Regional Studies. The literature on political parties has been affected by a national bias. However, the multilevel nature of party organizations deserves one's attention because parties have responded as well as contributed to the rise in regional authority across most Western democracies. This paper considers statewide parties from a double perspective: as organizations subject to a range of pressures in a multilevel environment, and as actors influencing multilevel political systems. It concludes with a call for stronger links between traditional areas of party and policy research and multilevel party research and for more comparative data collection on multilevel parties and policy positions.