591 research outputs found

    A Model for the Elasticity of Compressed Emulsions

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    We present a new model to describe the unusual elastic properties of compressed emulsions. The response of a single droplet under compression is investigated numerically for different Wigner-Seitz cells. The response is softer than harmonic, and depends on the coordination number of the droplet. Using these results, we propose a new effective inter-droplet potential which is used to determine the elastic response of a monodisperse collection of disordered droplets as a function of volume fraction. Our results are in excellent agreement with recent experiments. This suggests that anharmonicity, together with disorder, are responsible for the quasi-linear increase of GG and Π\Pi observed at φc\varphi_c.Comment: RevTeX with psfig-included figures and a galley macr

    Deformation of Small Compressed Droplets

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    We investigate the elastic properties of small droplets under compression. The compression of a bubble by two parallel plates is solved exactly and it is shown that a lowest-order expansion of the solution reduces to a form similar to that obtained by Morse and Witten. Other systems are studied numerically and results for configurations involving between 2 and 20 compressing planes are presented. It is found that the response to compression depends on the number of planes. The shear modulus is also calculated for common lattices and the stability crossover between f.c.c.\ and b.c.c.\ is discussed.Comment: RevTeX with psfig-included figures and a galley macr

    Velocity Profiles in Slowly Sheared Bubble Rafts

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    Measurements of average velocity profiles in a bubble raft subjected to slow, steady-shear demonstrate the coexistence between a flowing state and a jammed state similar to that observed for three-dimensional foams and emulsions [Coussot {\it et al,}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 88}, 218301 (2002)]. For sufficiently slow shear, the flow is generated by nonlinear topological rearrangements. We report on the connection between this short-time motion of the bubbles and the long-time averages. We find that velocity profiles for individual rearrangement events fluctuate, but a smooth, average velocity is reached after averaging over only a relatively few events.Comment: typos corrected, figures revised for clarit

    Green consumer markets in the fight against climate change

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    Climate change has become one of the greatest threats to environmental security, as attested by the growing frequency of severe flooding and storms, extreme temperatures and droughts. Accordingly, the European Union’s (EU) 6th Environment Action Programme (2010) lists tackling climate change as its first priority. A key aim of the EU has been to cut CO2 emissions, a major factor in climate change, by 8% until 2012 and 20% until 2020. The European Commission has proposed the encouragement of private consumer market for green products and services as one of several solutions to this problem. However, existing research suggests that the market share of these products has been only 3%, although 30% of individuals favour environmental and ethical goods. This article uses Public Goods Theory to explain why the contribution of the green consumer market to fighting climate change has been and possibly may remain limited without further public intervention

    Ambiguity, multiple streams, and EU policy

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    The multiple streams framework draws insight from interactions between agency and institutions to explore the impact of context, time, and meaning on policy change and to assess the institutional and issue complexities permeating the European Union (EU) policy process. The authors specify the assumptions and structure of the framework and review studies that have adapted it to reflect more fully EU decision-making processes. The nature of policy entrepreneurship and policy windows are assessed to identify areas of improvement. Finally, the authors sketch out a research agenda that refines the logic of political manipulation which permeates the lens and the institutional complexity which frames the EU policy process

    Biopolymer-based structuring of liquid oil into soft solids and oleogels using water-continuous emulsions as templates

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    Physical trapping of a hydrophobic liquid oil in a matrix of water-soluble biopolymers was achieved using a facile two-step process by first formulating a surfactant-free oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by biopolymers (a protein and a polysaccharide) followed by complete removal of the water phase (by either high- or low-temperature drying of the emulsion) resulting in structured solid systems containing a high concentration of liquid oil (above 97 wt %). The microstructure of these systems was revealed by confocal and cryo-scanning electron microscopy, and the effect of biopolymer concentrations on the consistency of emulsions as well as the dried product was evaluated using a combination of small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheometry and large deformation fracture studies. The oleogel prepared by shearing the dried product showed a high gel strength as well as a certain degree of thixotropic recovery even at high temperatures. Moreover, the reversibility of the process was demonstrated by shearing the dried product in the presence of water to obtain reconstituted emulsions with rheological properties comparable to those of the fresh emulsion

    Global Standards in Action: Insights from Anti-Money Laundering Regulation

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    As organizations have come under the increasing influence of global rules of all sorts, organization scholars have started studying the dynamics of global regulation. The purpose of this article is to identify and evaluate the contribution to this interdisciplinary field by the ‘Stockholm Centre for Organisational Research’. The latter’s key proposition is that while global regulation often consists of voluntary best practice rules it can nevertheless become highly influential under certain conditions. We assess how innovative this approach is using as a benchmark the state of the art in another field of relevance to the study of global regulation, i.e. ‘International Relations’. Our discussion is primarily theoretical but we draw on the case of global anti-money laundering regulation to illustrate our arguments and for inspirations of how to further elaborate the approach

    Distant agricultural landscapes

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    This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0278-0This paper examines the relationship between the development of the dominant industrial food system and its associated global economic drivers and the environmental sustainability of agricultural landscapes. It makes the case that the growth of the global industrial food system has encouraged increasingly complex forms of “distance” that separate food both geographically and mentally from the landscapes on which it was produced. This separation between food and its originating landscape poses challenges for the ability of more localized agricultural sustainability initiatives to address some of the broader problems in the global food system. In particular, distance enables certain powerful actors to externalize ecological and social costs, which in turn makes it difficult to link specific global actors to particular biophysical and social impacts felt on local agricultural landscapes. Feedback mechanisms that normally would provide pressure for improved agricultural sustainability are weak because there is a lack of clarity regarding responsibility for outcomes. The paper provides a brief illustration of these dynamics with a closer look at increased financialization in the food system. It shows that new forms of distancing are encouraged by the growing significance of financial markets in global agrifood value chains. This dynamic has a substantial impact on food system outcomes and ultimately complicates efforts to scale up small-scale local agricultural models that are more sustainable.The Trudeau Foundation || Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canad

    Het beste jongetje van de klas

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    Sebastiaan Princen is fellow van het Montesquieu Instituut. Hij is docent en onderzoeker aan de Universiteit Utrecht op het gebied van internationaal en Europees bestuur. Zijn onderzoek richt zich met name op agendavorming in de EU
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