From foot-slogging to call centres and direct mail: A framework for analysing the development of district-level campaigning

Drawing upon ideas formulated with national-level campaigning in mind and also analyses of district or local-level campaigning, a conceptual framework to assist in analysing the development of district-level campaigning is presented. The proposed framework is further amplified, explained and tested using quantitative and qualitative data collected at British General Elections between 1992 and 2005. Various aspects of district (constituency) campaigning in Britain are examined and the extent of change over four General Elections analysed. In broad terms, the data show a good fit with the framework, which offers a useful way of thinking about developments in campaigning both within and across countries

Fractal Droplets in Two Dimensional Spin Glasses

The two-dimensional Edwards-Anderson model with Gaussian bond distribution is investigated at T=0 with a numerical method. Droplet excitations are directly observed. It turns out that the averaged volume of droplets is proportional to l^D with D = 1.80(2) where l is the spanning length of droplets, revealing their fractal nature. The exponent characterizing the l dependence of the droplet excitation energy is estimated to be -0.42(4), clearly different from the stiffness exponent for domain wall excitations.Comment: 4 pages 4 figure

Members are not the only fruit: Volunteer activity in British political parties at the 2010 general election

This is the accepted version of the following article: Fisher, J., Fieldhouse, E. and Cutts, D. (2014), Members Are Not the Only Fruit: Volunteer Activity in British Political Parties at the 2010 General Election. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 16: 75–95, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-856X.12011/abstract.Existing research on volunteer activity in political parties has tended to focus on party membership, both in terms of numbers and activities undertaken. Recent developments in British political parties suggest however, an increasing role for party supporters—supporters of parties who are not formal members. Using data collected through surveys of election agents at the 2010 general election, this article examines the extent of supporter activity in constituency (district-level) campaigns, the extent to which active local parties stimulate supporter activity, the correlates of supporter and member activity, and whether supporter activity makes a positive and independent contribution to parties’ constituency campaigns. The article provides an important opportunity to question whether the evolution of party organisations suggests that formal members may be less important than has been previously assumed in the conduct of election campaigns and the extent to which supporter activity complements that of members.Economic and Social Research Counci

Variables controlling fatigue crack growth of short cracks

A study was conducted to evaluate the roles of crack closure and microstructure in the fatigue growth of short cracks. Testing was performed at R ratios of 0.1, 0.5, and 0.7. At all R ratios short cracks exhibited accelerated growth rates in comparison to long cracks. It was concluded that crack closure could not entirely account for the accelerated growth rates of short cracks. The accelerated growth rates occurred over crack lengths on the order of grain size, suggesting a strong influence of microstructure. A significant effect of grain boundaries and inclusions on short crack FCG behavior was observed. For very short crack lengths, fatigue growth rates do not appear to be a function of either delta K or R ratio

Flight investigation of insect contamination and its alleviation

An investigation of leading edge contamination by insects was conducted with a JetStar airplane instrumented to detect transition on the outboard leading edge flap and equipped with a system to spray the leading edge in flight. The results of airline type flights with the JetStar indicated that insects can contaminate the leading edge during takeoff and climbout. The results also showed that the insects collected on the leading edges at 180 knots did not erode at cruise conditions for a laminar flow control airplane and caused premature transition of the laminar boundary layer. None of the superslick and hydrophobic surfaces tested showed any significant advantages in alleviating the insect contamination problem. While there may be other solutions to the insect contamination problem, the results of these tests with a spray system showed that a continouous water spray while encountering the insects is effective in preventing insect contamination of the leading edges

Unique equilibrium states for Bonatti-Viana diffeomorphisms

We show that the robustly transitive diffeomorphisms constructed by Bonatti and Viana have unique equilibrium states for natural classes of potentials. In particular, we characterize the SRB measure as the unique equilibrium state for a suitable geometric potential. The techniques developed are applicable to a wide class of DA diffeomorphisms, and persist under $C^1$ perturbations of the map. These results are an application of general machinery developed by the first and last named authors.Comment: 46 pages, 2 figures. In response to referee reports, we added an appendix on the regularity of the geometric potential, and made other suggested minor changes. Accepted for publication in Nonlinearit

Local skin friction coefficients and boundary layer profiles obtained in flight from the XB-70-1 airplane at Mach numbers up to 2.5

Boundary-layer and local friction data for Mach numbers up to 2.5 and Reynolds numbers up to 3.6 x 10 to the 8th power were obtained in flight at three locations on the XB-70-1 airplane: the lower forward fuselage centerline (nose), the upper rear fuselage centerline, and the upper surface of the right wing. Local skin friction coefficients were derived at each location by using (1) a skin friction force balance, (2) a Preston probe, and (3) an adaptation of Clauser's method which derives skin friction from the rake velocity profile. These three techniques provided consistent results that agreed well with the von Karman-Schoenherr relationship for flow conditions that are quasi-two-dimensional. At the lower angles of attack, the nose-boom and flow-direction vanes are believed to have caused the momentum thickness at the nose to be larger than at the higher angles of attack. The boundary-layer data and local skin friction coefficients are tabulated. The wind-tunnel-model surface-pressure distribution ahead of the three locations and the flight surface-pressure distribution ahead of the wing location are included

Party membership and campaign activity in Britain: The impact of electoral performance

The article examines the impact of electoral results on party membership and activity. Previous studies have focused on the long-term effects of electoral success or failure, suggesting that they may produce a spiral of demobilization or mobilization. The article shows that the dramatic change of electoral fortunes experienced by British parties at the 1997 general election broke this spiral, with the outcome leading to significant changes in the health and activity of local parties. It is concluded that dramatic election results can have significant implications for party organization

Research opportunities in loss of red blood cell mass in space flight

Decreases of red blood cell mass and plasma volume have been observed consistently following manned space flights. Losses of red cell mass by United States astronauts have averaged 10 to 15% (range: 2 to 21%). Based on postflight estimates of total hemoglobin, Soviet cosmonauts engaged in space missions lasting from 1 to 7 months have exhibited somewhat greater losses. Restoration of red cell mass requires from 4 to 6 weeks following return to Earth, regardless of the duration of space flight