[N]pT ensemble and finite-size-scaling study of the critical isostructural transition in the generalized exponential model of index 4.

First-order transitions of system where both lattice site occupancy and lattice spacing fluctuate, such as cluster crystals, cannot be efficiently studied by traditional simulation methods, which necessarily fix one of these two degrees of freedom. The difficulty, however, can be surmounted by the generalized [N]pT ensemble [J. Chem. Phys. 136, 214106 (2012)]. Here we show that histogram reweighting and the [N]pT ensemble can be used to study an isostructural transition between cluster crystals of different occupancy in the generalized exponential model of index 4 (GEM-4). Extending this scheme to finite-size scaling studies also allows us to accurately determine the critical point parameters and to verify that it belongs to the Ising universality class.

Postmodern Paralysis: The Critical Impasse in Feminist Perspectives on Consumers

Critical perspectives on theory play an important and valued role in disciplines across the academy. Feminist perspectives might be expected to be at or near the forefront of critical engagement with consumer behaviour theory, especially given the importance of gender in consumer research. Following a brief upsurge during the 1990s, critical feminist voices have been muted of late. This paper explores some reasons for this. It begins with a brief overview of research on gender and consumer behaviour and how insights from feminist theories and feminist activism began to alter our understanding of gendered consumption. It then discusses how postmodern and postfeminist perspectives have diluted feminism as a critique of gendered consumption. Finally, it argues that a return to materialist feminism would open up possibilities for new and more critical analyses of gendered consumption.

"Nasty Nastiness" : The Critical Body in Marlon James’s John Crow’s Devil

engelska

Are Career Termination Concerns Only for Athletes? A Case Study of the Career Termination of an Elite Female Coach

This paper presents a case study of an elite female coach and her career termination from a 20+ year career following a critical life incident. A novel autobiographical approach was adopted whereby the participant undertook expressive writing to describe her experiences prior to, during, and following coaching an athlete at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Thematic analysis indicated seven phases related to the participant’s experiences of the critical incident: Build up to the event, the event, the aftermath, recovery and reflection on the event, sampling of new avenues, enlightenment, and career re-birth. The findings reinforce the high demands placed upon elite coaches, the subsequent threats to physical and mental well-being, and the importance of having robust psychological skills and suitable social support to cope with these demands. Implications for preparing and supporting coaches for successful career transition are discussed.

PIV measurements combined with the motion tracking technique to analyze flow around a moving porous structure

To gain a better understanding of the fluid–structure interaction and especially when dealing with a flow around an arbitrarily moving body, it is essential to develop measurement tools enabling the instantaneous detection of moving deformable interface during the flow measurements. A particularly useful application is the determination of unsteady turbulent flow velocity field around a moving porous fishing net structure which is of great interest for selectivity and also for the numerical code validation which needs a realistic database. To do this, a representative piece of fishing net structure is used to investigate both the Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) developing over the horizontal porous moving fishing net structure and the turbulent flow passing through the moving porous structure. For such an investigation, Time Resolved PIV measurements are carried out and combined with a motion tracking technique allowing the measurement of the instantaneous motion of the deformable fishing net during PIV measurements. Once the two-dimensional motion of the porous structure is accessed, PIV velocity measurements are analyzed in connection with the detected motion. Finally, the TBL is characterized and the effect of the structure motion on the volumetric flow rate passing though the moving porous structure is clearly demonstrated.

From physics to metaphysics: philosophy and style in the critical writings of T. S. Eliot (1913-1935)

This thesis considers Eliot's critical writing from the late 1910s till the mid-1930s, in the light of his PhD thesis - Knowledge and Experience in the Philosophy of F. H. Bradley - and a range of unpublished material: T S. Eliot's Philosophical Essays and Notes (1913- 4) in the Hayward Bequest (King's College, Cambridge University); T. S. Eliot's Family Papers in the T. S. Eliot Collection at the Houghton Library (Harvard University); and items from the Harvard University Archives at the Pusey Library. 'Me thesis offers a comprehensive view of Eliot's critical development throughout this important period. It starts by considering The Sacred Wood's ambivalence towards the metaphysical philosophy of F. H. Bradley and Eliot's apparent adoption of a scientific method, under the influence of Bertrand Russell. It will be argued that Eliot uses rhetorical strategies which simultaneously subvert the method he is propounding, and which set the tone for an assessment of his criticism throughout the 1920s. His indecision, in this period, about the label 'Metaphysical' for some poets of the seventeenth century, reveals the persistence of the philosophical thought he apparently rejects in 1916, when he chooses not to pursue a career in philosophy in Harvard. This rhetorical tactic achieves its fulfilment in Dante (1929), where Eliot finds a model in the medieval allegorical method and 'philosophical' poetry. Allegory is also examined in connection with the evaluation of Eliot's critical writings themselves to determine, for instance, the figurative dimension of his early scientific vocabulary and uncover metaphysical residues he had explicitly disowned but would later embrace. Finally, it is suggested that, the hermeneutics of allegory are historical and it is used here to test the relationship between Eliot's early and later critical writings, that is the early physics and the later metaphysics.

AIR SIDE HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT IN HEAT EXCHANGERS UTILIZING INNOVATIVE DESIGNS AND THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE

Over the last decade, rapid development of additive manufacturing techniques has allowed the fabrication of innovative and complex designs. One field that can benefit from such technology is heat exchanger fabrication, as heat exchanger design has become more and more complex due to the demand for higher performance particularly on the air side of the heat exchanger. By employing the additive manufacturing, a heat exchanger design was successfully realized, which otherwise would have been very difficult to fabricate using conventional fabrication technologies. In this dissertation, additive manufacturing technique was implemented to fabricate an advanced design which focused on a combination of heat transfer surface and fluid distribution system. Although the application selected in this dissertation is focused on power plant dry cooling applications, the results of this study can directly and indirectly benefit other sectors as well, as the air-side is often the limiting side for in liquid or single phase cooling applications. Two heat exchanger designs were studied. One was an advanced metallic heat exchanger based on manifold-microchannel technology and the other was a polymer heat exchanger based on utilization of prime surface technology. Polymer heat exchangers offer several advantages over metals such as antifouling, anticorrosion, lightweight and often less expensive than comparable metallic heat exchangers. A numerical modeling and optimization were performed to calculate a design that yield an optimum performance. The optimization results show that significant performance enhancement is noted compared to the conventional heat exchangers like wavy fins and plain plate fins. Thereafter, both heat exchangers were scaled down and fabricated using additive manufacturing and experimentally tested. The manifold-micro channel design demonstrated that despite some fabrication inaccuracies, compared to a conventional wavy-fin surface, 15% - 50% increase in heat transfer coefficient was possible for the same pressure drop value. In addition, if the fabrication inaccuracy can be eliminated, an even larger performance enhancement is predicted. Since metal based additive manufacturing is still in the developmental stage, it is anticipated that with further refinement of the manufacturing process in future designs, the fabrication accuracy can be improved. For the polymer heat exchanger, by fabricating a very thin wall heat exchanger (150μm), the wall thermal resistance, which usually becomes the limiting side for polymer heat exchanger, was calculated to account for only up to 3% of the total thermal resistance. A comparison of air-side heat transfer coefficient of the polymer heat exchanger with some of the commercially available plain plate fin surface heat exchangers show that polymer heat exchanger performance is equal or superior to plain plate fin surfaces. This shows the promising potential for polymer heat exchangers to compete with conventional metallic heat exchangers when an additive manufacturing-enabled fabrication is utilized. Major contributions of this study are as follows: (1) For the first time demonstrated the potential of additive manufacturing in metal printing of heat exchangers that benefit from a sophisticated design to yield a performance substantially above the respective conventional systems. Such heat exchangers cannot be fabricated with the conventional fabrication techniques. (2) For the first time demonstrated the potential of additive manufacturing to produce polymer heat exchangers that by design minimize the role of thermal conductivity and deliver a thermal performance equal or better that their respective metallic heat exchangers. In addition of other advantages of polymer over metal like antifouling, anticorrosion, and lightweight. Details of the work are documented in respective chapters of this thesis.

On the critical point structure of eigenfunctions belonging to the first nonzero eigenvalue of a genus two closed hyperbolic surface

We develop a method based on spectral graph theory to approximate the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator of a compact riemannian manifold -- The method is applied to a closed hyperbolic surface of genus two -- The results obtained agree with the ones obtained by other authors by different methods, and they serve as experimental evidence supporting the conjectured fact that the generic eigenfunctions belonging to the first nonzero eigenvalue of a closed hyperbolic surface of arbitrary genus are Morse functions having the least possible total number of critical points among all Morse functions admitted by such manifolds

Ethical dilemmas : a model to understand teacher practice

Over recent decades, the field of ethics has been the focus of increasing attention in teaching. This is not surprising given that teaching is a moral activity that is heavily values-laden. Because of this, teachers face ethical dilemmas in the course of their daily work. This paper presents an ethical decision-making model that helps to explain the decision-making processes that individuals or groups are likely to experience when confronted by an ethical dilemma. In order to make sense of the model, we put forward three short ethical dilemma scenarios facing teachers and apply the model to interpret them. Here we identify the critical incident, the forces at play that help to illuminate the incident, the choices confronting the individual and the implications of these choices for the individual, organization and community. Based on our analysis and the wider literature we identify several strategies that may help to minimize the impact of ethical dilemmas. These include the importance of sharing dilemmas with trusted others; having institutional structures in schools that lessen the emergence of harmful actions occurring; the necessity for individual teachers to articulate their own personal and professional ethics; acknowledging that dilemmas have multiple forces at play; the need to educate colleagues about specific issues; and the necessity of appropriate preparation and support for teachers. Of these strategies, providing support for teachers via professional development is explored more fully.

Risk management and high reliability : a case study of Australian airport management

This thesis investigated risk management and organisational reliability in airports from the perspective of complex sociotechnical systems (CSSs). Two research studies were undertaken, the first focusing on the processes by which disruptive events occur, are detected and responded to; the second exploring the presence of organisational reliability traits within airports. A key result of the studies was the development of new approach: the Critical Incident Disturbance Process model that detailed a means to understand and analyse how disruptions in complex CSSs might be influenced by vulnerability reduction and enhanced risk management. Further, this thesis identified and defined the concept of 'compartmentalised reliability' in complex sociotechnical systems, extending existing knowledge of high reliability theory.