Journal articles on the topic 'Open Rigid Barriers'

Erection of parallel barriers to control environmental noise such as traffic noise and construction noise is commonly seen in community. Owing to the formation of multiple reflection waves between the parallel barriers, their performance may be worse than a single barrier. To improve the performance of parallel barriers, a small piece of flush-mounted panels backed by a slender cavity in an otherwise rigid wall of barriers is proposed. With the excitation of the incident wave from a sound source inside parallel barriers, the flexible panel vibrates and sound is radiated out to undergo acoustics interference with sound field between the parallel barriers so that the sound intensity in this space and diffraction wave at the barrier top edge is reduced over a broadband in the low-frequency regime. The use of the panel provides flexibility in controlling range of stopband with high insertion loss by varying mass and bending stiffness. A semi-analytical model for dealing with vibroacoustic coupling between the open cavity and vibrating panel in a two-dimensional configuration is established in order to understand the sound suppression mechanism within the shadow zone. With the optimal structural properties of the panel, the extra averaged insertion loss of about 5dB in the frequencies ranging from 50 to 1000 Hz is reached for the parallel barrier.

Rigid carbon nanotubes in single and double walled formations, placed on a graphite surface, are bounced, rotated, slid and rolled. Various features associated with these motions are studied by assuming a 6-exp form of interaction (Van der Waal's attraction and Born–Mayer repulsion) among the C-atoms. Calculations reported here are for tubes of diameter around 14 Å, for which rigid tube approximation is known to work well. The oscillatory motion corresponding to rolling has the softest mode, whereas the one with highest frequency corresponds to bouncing. The energy barriers corresponding to these motions are also reported in this paper. The rotational and translational energy barriers for the movement of one nanotube with respect to the other one, in a double walled nanotube, have also been studied and it turns out that these tubes rotate and slide freely at room temperature. The translational energy barrier, in case of zigzag tubes, is interestingly, an order of magnitude higher than that of armchair tubes. In case of rotation, the case is reverse. Furthermore, it turns out that any drag of a concentric nanotube along the long axis direction is coupled with rotation, indicating easy screw motion instead of a simple drag. We also describe the dynamics of translational telescopic motion of a multiwalled nanotube assembly where a core oscillates within an open ended outer shell assembly.

Debris flow is a transient phenomenon that causes large disasters. Retaining systems, whose design is still nowadays a crucial issue, can mitigate this risk. Multiple surges can arise during this phenomenon; thus, an accurate analysis might consider the impact force time histories rather than only its maxima. The aim of this work is to analyze the effects of the interaction between the debris and the barrier during one surging phenomenon. A discrete element model models the granular motion and the interaction between the debris and a rigid open barrier set at the end of the channel. The estimated interaction force time history is then used as input impact force for the dynamic structural analyses of the piles. A total of 12 different structural sections are adopted and the internal forces at the base are critically compared. It results that the first mode vibration period is the parameter that largely affects the behavior of the piles.

Menstruating women in remote villages of the Himalayas still practise segregation due to the belief that menstrual blood is impure. They are confined to the cowshed ( goth) and are not allowed to interact with others. Although Bageshwar district has been declared as open defecation free and every household has a toilet, menstruating women continue to defecate in the open because they are not allowed to use sanitation facilities used by others. Menstrual taboos have an impact on the mobility, health, education and self-esteem of women and adolescent girls. This article looks at the taboos that exist in the Pindar Valley and how women and adolescent girls cope when they have their period. What is the impact of these taboos on the women and girls? How do men and women perceive these taboos? What are the key barriers to changing these practices? How have women negotiated this change given the rigid traditions that have been handed down the centuries?

For many years, containment for errant racing vehicles traveling on oval speedways has been provided through rigid, concrete containment walls placed around the exterior of the track. However, accident experience has shown that serious injuries and fatalities may occur through vehicular impacts into these nondeformable barriers. Because of these injuries, the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, later joined by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), sponsored the development of a new barrier system by the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to improve the safety of drivers participating in automobile racing events. Several barrier prototypes were investigated and evaluated using both static and dynamic component testing, computer simulation modeling with LS-DYNA (a nonlinear finite element analysis code), and 20 full-scale vehicle crash tests. The full-scale crash testing program included bogie vehicles, small cars, and a full-size sedan, as well as Indy Racing League open-wheeled cars and NASCAR Winston Cup cars. A combination steel tube skin and foam energy-absorbing barrier system, referred to as the SAFER (steel and foam energy reduction) barrier, was successfully developed. Subsequently, the SAFER barrier was installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in advance of the running of the 2002 Indianapolis 500 race. From the results of the laboratory testing program as well as analysis of the accidents into the SAFER barrier occurring during practice, qualification, and the race, the SAFER barrier has been shown to provide improved safety for drivers impacting the outer walls.

This paper examines communication challenges within the military institution in Botswana. There seems to be rigid ways of delivering messages which in the end impede smooth communication practices between senior personnel and their subordinates within the institution. This study adopted the qualitative analysis to interrogate issues underlying communication practices from military classrooms for three years. The target group was middle ranking officers in institution who take Communication and Study Skills course as a requirement for their study at the University of Botswana. Data were collected using open ended questionnaires, interviews and group discussions in the classrooms. The model of communication process and new media were used to benchmark the practices within the institution against what the concepts say. The findings indicated that indeed communication processes were marred with problems that hinder smooth transition of messages from the sender to the receiver and ended up frustrating the subordinates. The study concluded that revamping and sanitizing communication practices within the military institution was necessary through educating the leadership to address the barriers encountered.

The emerging use of genetic engineering technology led to the establishment of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2001. India and Malaysia are signatories to the Protocol, having established regulatory measures governing the use of biotechnological genetic modification including regulation of genetically engineered crops from research to open cultivation and post-market surveillance. India and Malaysia have developed biosafety policies that display some similarities but also many differences, consequently impacting the practicalities of applying the technology to development and deployment of new crop varieties. The objective of this paper is to compare biosafety policies and regulatory frameworks that India and Malaysia have in place for the use of modern biotechnology. We highlight the implications of imposing rigid requirements as well as lacking harmonized policies on the approval process and trade flows, identifying these as potential barriers to the optimal use of modern crop biotechnology. We also briefly discuss how current interpretations of Living Modified Organisms and Genetically Modified Organisms in India and Malaysia will influence the pace of crops developed from new plant breeding techniques and propose options to regulate these technologies based on experience from other countries.

Institutional research and policy analysis of water quality monitoring of the Ciliwung River has been conducted since the year 2015. This activity is the result of cooperation between the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia and the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology. Due to the complexity of the Ciliwung River flows and water quality problem that passed the administrative authority of DKI Jakarta, the methodology of this study was emphasized in depth interviews to stakeholders in the management of the Ciliwung River. The plan to install some online system of river water quality monitoring is expected to run well and in accordance with existing laws and regulations. In addition, the readiness of the operationalization of this monitoring system to run well. Institutional strengthening forms and open method of coordination can be adopted to reduce communication and coordination barriers that are rigid and Weberian. From this study it is concluded that Jakarta Environmental Management Agency is the strongest candidate as one of the managers of online monitoring system of Ciliwung river water quality. Institutionally public intervention on river management in general can suppress water quality pollution which can threat n the health of people living around Jakarta area. Online Mortitoring system can be utilized by preparing a reliable institutional arrangements

Abstract There is probably no single economic concept that has attracted more attention and intrigued scientific and professional circles than financial stability. For over a decade now that have been efforts to establish the starting point in explaining this condition or characteristic of the financial system since some find that the key to defining financial stability lies in stability and others argue in favour of the opposite, instability. Unfortunately, no agreement has been reached on a universal definition that would be widely accepted at the international level. Consequently, this gave rise to open discussions on systemic risk, creating a framework for preserving financial stability, and the role of central banks in this process. This article analyses the results achieved in the development of a theoretical concept of financial stability and its practical implementation. A consensus has been reached on the necessity of removing rigid barriers between macro and prudential policies and on the necessity of their coordinated actions. The primary objectives of monetary and fiscal stability have been shifted towards preserving financial stability. The isolated macroprudential principle rightfully got the epithet of an archaic approach. Coordinated micro and macroprudential policies have definitely prevailed and become reality in many countries, including Montenegro. Created institutional frameworks for safeguarding financial stability at all levels - national, Pan-European and global - represent a challenge for further comparative studies.

Purpose This paper gathers initial evidence about the nature and features of the equity crowdfunding model in Italy, especially in terms of regulations. The purpose of this study is to examine how equity crowdfunding might support the real estate sector in Italy. Design/methodology/approach To explore the recent initiatives in the development of FinTech in Italy, especially referring to equity crowdfunding’s instrument, a qualitative perspective is used. In particular, this paper relies on primary data from regulations and secondary data from the public domain, which are examined in relation to the current literature. Findings The results of this study show that equity crowdfunding represents a funding method that is rapidly increasing in Italy, despite rather rigid regulation. Among the various sectors involved, the real estate sector could benefit from the crowdfunding models and, specifically, from the equity one. The development of new real estate equity crowdfunding portals that allow diversification of investment (by reducing the typical entry barriers for real estate investment) could guarantee greater investment transparency and simplicity. Practical implications Real estate crowdfunding can be a simple way to invest in the real estate industry. Thanks to the use of technology, specifically internet-based platforms, this type of crowdfunding allows for small investors, as well as professional investors, to access an asset class otherwise not open to small investment tickets and improve the diversification of investments. Originality/value Although recent literature has examined the concept of crowdfunding and highlighted different models, aspects and campaigns, no prior studies, to the authors’ knowledge, have explicitly and jointly investigated, also based on the state of art of regulation, the equity crowdfunding model and the real estate sector in Italy.

The city…lists a host of nonracial factors which would seem to face a member of any racial group attempting to establish a new business enterprise, such as deficiencies in working capital, inability to meet bonding requirements, unfamiliarity with bidding procedures, and disability caused by an inadequate track record.To accept Richmond’s claim that past societal discrimination alone can serve as the basis for rigid racial preferences would be to open the door to competing claims for “remedial relief” for every disadvantaged group. The dream of a Nation of equal citizens in a society where race is irrelevant to personal opportunity and achievement would be lost in a mosaic of shifting preferences based on inherently unmeasurable claims of past wrongs… We think such a result would be contrary to both the letter and spirit of a constitutional provision whose central command is equality.The minority ownership policies…are aimed directly at the barriers that minorities face in entering the broadcasting industry. The Commission’s task force identified as key factors hampering the growth of minority ownership a lack of adequate financing, paucity of information regarding license availability, and broadcast inexperience.We hold that benign race-conscious measures mandated by Congress—even if those measures are not “remedial” in the sense of being designed to compensate victims of past governmental or societal discrimination—are constitutionally permissible to the extent that they serve important governmental objectives within the power of Congress and are substantially related to achievement of those objectives.The excerpts introducing this article are drawn from two recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States on equality rights. Illustrating the directional changes in the nature of equality rights, they vary from antagonism to ambivalence towards remedial relief for disadvantaged groups. In particular, they illustrate the current debate between traditional individual rights and a new communitarian conception of equality rights.

Background:Young children with JIA have to cope with pain and fatigue during schooldays, facing problems with writing, climbing stairs, physical education and playing outside.1They need to develop age-appropriate self management skills, encouraged by their parents and teachers in a therapeutic alliance with the health professional team.2For this purpose a shared management tool, called the “Back and Forth Schoolbooklet”(B&FS), is developed, containing 1) Educational pages about JIA, pain and fatigue management 2) Diary pages with a colour-in puppet for expressing location and amount of pain, spaces for writing alternatives for limited activities, feedback spaces for parents and teachers and a self-evaluation scale of general well-being for the child. Children, parents and teachers are instructed how to use the booklet by therapists during outpatient rehabilitation. Structured evaluation of the use of the instrument is necessary to improve its applicability and effectiveness.Objectives:To study the feasibility, defined as practical and experienced applicability and effectiveness, of the B&FS.Methods:Pilot feasibility study with a mixed-method design. Parents, teachers, therapists and children with JIA were invited to fill in questionnaires after using the booklets in school. Adults had to sign informed consent. Practical applicability was assessed by multiple choice questions on duration and frequency of use. Used diary items and pages were counted in returned booklets. Experienced applicability and effectiveness were assessed by open-ended questions and 5 points Likert scales. Topics were experienced barriers, facilitators and benefits using the mentioned items of the booklets. Practical applicability was analysed descriptively. Atlas-ti8 was used for analysing and coding the answers on the open-ended questions using a thematic approach.Results:Eight children(4-8 years) used the booklets. Six parents of six children, four therapists and four teachers signed informed consent and answered questionnaires. Six booklets were returned.Practical applicability: Five children used booklets for a period of 2 to > 12 week, almost every day. One child stopped in the first week. Counting diary pages confirmed every day or every second day appropriate use of the color-in puppet and spaces for parents and teachers.Experienced applicability: Identified themes were: child-friendly, easy and providing a clear guide for the daily school situation. Themes as: daily obligation, unwillingness of the child, lack of motivation or time of the parents or teachers and insufficient instruction illustrated experienced barriers for the use of the booklet.Effectiveness: Identified themes: 1) Children express themselves better about feelings of pain and fatigue, 2) Parents and teachers appreciate more insight into how the child feels and 3)Teachers feel provided with guidance in the interaction with the child 4) Children feel more secure to express itself at school and 4) Parents are more relaxed about the schoolsituation.Likertscales showed that more than 75% of the users would advise the B&FS to other parents, teachers and therapists.Conclusion:The Back & Forth School booklet is a feasible shared management instrument to support young children with JIA in the school situation. A less rigid daily routine and sufficient instruction can improve the experienced applicability.References:[1]Tong, A. Children’s experiences of living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Arthritis Care Res. 2012;64(9):1392-1404.[2]Kieckhefer, G Supporting development of children with chronic conditions: from compliance toward Shared management. Pediatr Nursing, 2000;26(4).Figure 1Educational page: Pain managementFigure 2Diary pageAcknowledgments:Children, parents, teachers and therapistsDisclosure of Interests:None declared

Rapid progress in the performance of organic devices has increased the demand for advances in the technology of thin-film permeation barriers and understanding the failure mechanisms of these material systems. Herein, we report the extensive study of mechanical and gas barrier properties of Al2O3/ZnO nanolaminate films prepared on organic substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Nanolaminates of Al2O3/ZnO and single compound films of around 250 nm thickness were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils by ALD at 90 °C using trimethylaluminium (TMA) and diethylzinc (DEZ) as precursors and H2O as the co-reactant. STEM analysis of the nanolaminate structure revealed that steady-state film growth on PET is achieved after about 60 ALD cycles. Uniaxial tensile strain experiments revealed superior fracture and adhesive properties of single ZnO films versus the single Al2O3 film, as well as versus their nanolaminates. The superior mechanical performance of ZnO was linked to the absence of a roughly 500 to 900 nm thick sub-surface growth observed for single Al2O3 films as well as for the nanolaminates starting with an Al2O3 initial layer on PET. In contrast, the gas permeability of the nanolaminate coatings on PET was measured to be 9.4 × 10−3 O2 cm3 m−2 day−1. This is an order of magnitude less than their constituting single oxides, which opens prospects for their applications as gas barrier layers for organic electronics and food and drug packaging industries. Direct interdependency between the gas barrier and the mechanical properties was not established enabling independent tailoring of these properties for mechanically rigid and impermeable thin film coatings.

The increasingly tougher international regulations force motor vehicle designers and manufacturers to find complex solutions that should increase the protection of motor vehicle occupants. In this paper the author carries out an analysis on the energy absorption by a front strut-type structure of a motor vehicle involved in head-on collision with a rigid barrier inclined at various angles. Small overlap collisions open new challenges for car manufacturers with a view to developing structures able to absorb the impact and provide safety to the motor vehicle occupants.

This article reports a study that aims to formulate an outbound open innovation strategy for the exploitation of publicly funded research intellectual property in Malaysia. The outbound open innovation strategy is proposed due to the inability of the existing intellectual property commercialization strategy of Malaysian public universities to optimize the exploitation of publicly funded research intellectual property. The current strategy assumes that the best exploitation route is by way of commercialization to enable the public universities to monetize the publicly funded research intellectual property. This strategy creates a legal barrier since publicly funded research intellectual property is locked up behind proprietary rights and a rigid licensing regime. In contrast, outbound open innovation strategy allows publicly funded research intellectual property to be exploited through permissive licensing. This study employs a mixed-methods approach involving semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires with technology licensing officers of Malaysian public universities. The output of this study is an outbound open innovation strategy which connects innovation to the intellectual property system and improves the socio-economic impact of publicly funded research intellectual property.

In the last three decades, the scientific community has observed exponential growth in the development of microfluidic platforms and their use for applications in different fields. The noticeable advances are attributed to the advantages provided by miniaturization.1 In summary, the downscaling of analytical devices has offered attractive features, including reduced consumption of samples and reagents, short analysis time, and minimal waste generation. In addition, the possibility to perform multiplexed assays in portable devices without bulky instrumentation is another attractive feature that boosted the investigation of miniaturized devices with the capability to be tested directly in the point-of-care (POC). Due to the sample volume required to proceed with a chemical analysis on a microscale (typically in the µL range), a complete understanding of the fluid control and handle on channels defined in micrometric dimensions was necessary, giving rise to the science known as microfluidics.2 Many platforms including rigid and flexible materials can be explored for manufacturing microfluidic networks. Among all the substrates reported in the literature, the “paper” is by far the simplest and cheapest material currently employed for the development of microfluidic devices dedicated to analytical, bioanalytical, biomedical, environmental, food, and forensics applications.3 For many readers, the first question is why paper is used instead of other materials such as glass. Well, glass is a rigid material, and microchannel engraving requires cleanroom facilities, photolithographic patterning, developing steps, and thermal sealing. This standard protocol makes use of sophisticated instrumentation, and it is not readily available to most researchers. In this way, paper emerges as a simple and alternative material to be used for microfluidics. One of the major benefits of microfluidics refers to the sample-in-answer-out capability, which requires a fully automated fluid control to allow sample preparation, analytical separation, and detection stages. The fluid-controlled handling inside microchannels opens the possibility to integrate multiple analytical tasks in parallel into a high-throughput device. Considering these possibilities, it is worthwhile reflecting on how paper can be used to transport and handle a fluid. Paper is currently one of the most widely used raw materials in research laboratories. Its use has been explored for over a century. In 1949, a paper containing barriers made of paraffin was exploited to successfully demonstrate the elution of pigments within a channel based on the sample diffusion process.4 In 2007, paper was reinvented by the Whitesides group as a globally affordable substrate material for the development of miniaturized analytical platforms.5 Since this period, paper has become an increasingly popular platform for multipurpose applications. Probably, its broad use is associated with advantages over other conventional substrates, as well as the fabrication technologies and the concept of “do-it-yourself microfluidics”.6 In comparison with other conventional materials, like glass and silicon, paper is relatively inexpensive, globally affordable, lightweight, bioactive, and easy to transport and store. Furthermore, paper-based products can be easily found as kitchen towels, coffee filters, blood separation paper, filter paper, office paper, and others. How does one create an analytical device on paper? This question is a common inquiry of undergraduate and graduate students when starting to study microfluidics. Initially, it is important to emphasize that paper substrates have a porous structure, which facilitates the spontaneous transport of fluid by capillarity. The wicking speed of liquid on a microchannel defined on paper depends on pore size and paper thickness. Microfluidic networks can be created on paper using hydrophobic barriers or defined by cutting approaches, which make it possible to obtain single paper strips or more complex designs containing interconnected microchannels for multiplexed assays3. In this regard, lithography-based fabrication methods were first employed to demonstrate the potential of paper substrates for developing microfluidic structures. However, due to the contradictory view in terms of cost, many other alternative approaches were developed to make affordable and popular the concept and potential of paper-based microfluidics. Thanks to the researchers´ creativity and paper versatility, the fabrication of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices is feasible through direct printing using wax, inkjet, or laser printing processes or even by manual protocols (freehand drawing or spraying) involving pens, pencils, stamps, scissors, scholar’s glue, or lacquer resins. Paper-based microfluidic devices, including examples of simple spot test arrays, chemosensors, biosensors, electrochemical sensors, wearable devices, and lateral flow assays, have been found in the main scientific Journals associated with analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.7-10 In the academy, most of the advances seen in the recent literature have demonstrated improvements in terms of durability, shelf life, reproducibility, robustness, and analytical reliability, making paper-based microfluidic devices promising and emerging candidates to gain space in the market as alternatives to other materials. In this way, entrepreneurship and innovation deserve to be highlighted and emerge as the focus of many researchers interested in opening their businesses or company. The bridge between the academy and the productive sector depends on investment and engagement to overcome administrative and legal bureaucracies not only to open a company but also to maintain it in full operating mode. The commercialization of microfluidic devices has been constantly growing. In the last three years, for example, many companies located in different countries have shipped over five hundred million units/year, clearly demonstrating the potential of microfluidic devices for different application areas including drug delivery, flow chemistry, analytical devices, pharmaceutical and life science, point-of-care diagnostics and clinical and veterinary settings.11 Considering the advantages of paper-based materials, what can we expect in the coming years? Commercially available products with sample-in-answer-out capabilities are highly desirable to be found more and more in the market. Due to the global affordability of paper as well as its attractive features to create microfluidic and sensor prototypes, it is possible to see a real niche full of possibilities for success. In this view, it is time to try our best and make commercially available paper-based products like wearable sensors or lateral flow devices to monitor clinically relevant compounds in different biological fluids like blood, urine, serum, sweat, saliva, and tears. This may be accelerated by spin-offs or startups independently or in partnership with well-established companies. In other words, it is time to innovate and transform an idea into a commercial product with a societal impact. The interface between rapid tests and immediate responses directly by the end user are highly desirable features in the market and risk analysis. The SARS-CoV-2 worldwide outbreak is the most recent example that science can offer the possibility to obtain clinical diagnostics in a matter of minutes, allowing one to decide on the ideal treatment or, in this case, social isolation to prevent the virus transmission. Tens of self-diagnostics kits based on paper strips for SARS-CoV-2 are already commercially available for society in drug shops, hospitals, or healthcare clinics. Similar strategies may be seen shortly for Monkeypox or other global outbreaks.

In 2014, present-day scientists had the opportunity of marking the centennial of a discovery that triggered the development of a new field of research, which is now called Solid State Ionics.In their 1914 paper, Carl Tubandt and Erich Lorenz reported on the extraordinary properties of the alpha phase of silver iodide. Although α-AgI was a crystalline material, it resembled a molten salt with regard to the liquid-like value and weak temperature dependence of its ionic conductivity. With their transference measurements, Tubandt and Lorenz proved that the electric current in α-AgI was completely carried by the silver ions, while the iodide ions formed a rigid lattice. Up to the present day, α-AgI has been considered the fast ion conductor par excellence.In the mid-1930s, L.W. Strock was the first to use x-ray diffraction to investigate the crystal structure of α-AgI. The anion sublattice was found to be body centered cubic, but the arrangement of the silver ions remained a puzzling question. On the one hand, Strock could assign a large number of possible crystallographic sites to them. On the other hand, the state of the silver ions appeared to be rather ‘quasi-molten’ or ‘liquid-like’. This structural puzzle was resolved in 1977, when Cava, Reidinger and Wuensch used the results of a single-crystal neutron-diffraction experiment to construct contour plots for the probability density of the silver ions in α-AgI, which turned out to have broad maxima at the tetrahedral voids of the anion structure, with saddle points between them.A number of novel experimental approaches toward a better understanding of the ion dynamics in α-AgI were suggested by Wilhelm Jost in the 1960s and 1970s. These included high-accuracy specific heat measurements, measurements of the ionic conductivity in the microwave and far-infrared frequency regimes, and quasielastic neutron scattering. The results of the ensuing experiments, involving the present author, did not always provide immediate answers to the long-standing open questions, but rather created new puzzles instead. In this Chapter, an overview is given of the essential steps that were taken in experiment and modeling, eventually leading to the emergence of a self-consistent picture of the structure and dynamics of the mobile silver ions in α-AgI. Notably, that picture included both solid-like and liquid-like aspects. Strictly speaking, however, either category, ‘solid’ and ‘liquid’, had to be considered inappropriate for characterizing the actual state of the silver-ion sublattice.Recently, the transition to a more solid-like behavior of the mobile silver ions was observed in low-temperature α-AgI, which could be stabilized by confinement in glass, as first shown by Tatsumisago et al. Far below the regular phase transition temperature, 147 °C, measurements were performed of the frequency-dependent conductivity of α-AgI, yielding relevant information on the silver-ion dynamics. A conjecture put forward by Jost in 1937 could thus be corroborated by the present author and his coworkers. Below 147 °C, the ‘liquid-like’ activation energy for ionic transport was found to be replaced by a larger, more ‘solid-like’ value, although the anion structure and, therefore, the barriers for elementary displacements of the cations remained essentially unchanged. The underlying mechanism is sketched at the end of the Chapter.

Applications of cyanoacrylate monomers are generally limited to adhesives/glues (instant or superglues) and forensic sciences. They tend to polymerize rapidly into rigid structures when exposed to trace amounts of moisture. Transforming cyanoacrylate monomers into transparent polymeric films or coatings can open up several new applications, as they are biocompatible, biodegradable and have surgical uses. Like other acrylics, cyanoacrylate polymers are glassy and rigid. To circumvent this, we prepared transparent cyanoacrylate films by solvent casting from a readily biodegrade solvent, cyclopentanone. To improve the ductility of the films, poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) biopolymer was used as an additive (maximum 5 wt.%) while maintaining transparency. Additionally, ductile films were functionalized with caffeic acid (maximum 2 wt.%), with no loss of transparency while establishing highly effective double functionality, i.e., antioxidant effect and effective UV-absorbing capability. Less than 25 mg antioxidant caffeic acid release per gram film was achieved within a 24-h period, conforming to food safety regulations. Within 2 h, films achieved 100% radical inhibition levels. Films displayed zero UVC (100–280 nm) and UVB (280–315 nm), and ~15% UVA (315–400 nm) radiation transmittance comparable to advanced sunscreen materials containing ZnO nanoparticles or quantum dots. Transparent films also exhibited promising water vapor and oxygen barrier properties, outperforming low-density polyethylene (LPDE) films. Several potential applications can be envisioned such as films for fatty food preservation, biofilms for sun screening, and biomedical films for free-radical inhibition.

Rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) has been widely used in many fields, but its high flammability and frequent release of large amounts of toxic smoke during combustion limit its application. Hydrogel coatings, as a kind of environmentally friendly material, contain large amounts of water, which is beneficial to flame retardance of RPUF. MXene, as a two-dimensional inorganic nanomaterial, possesses a large specific surface area and good thermal stability, performing well in smoke suppression and as a physical barrier for flammable gas products and heat. Herein, to address the fire hazards of RPUF, MXene nanosheets were first grafted with double bonds, and then introduced into a polyacrylamide hydrogel system by radical polymerization to prepare MXene-based hydrogel coating (PAAm-MXene). The flame-retardant RPUF (coated RPUF) was prepared by painting the PAAm-MXene coating onto RPUF surface. The dispersion of modified MXene nanosheets (m-MXene) in hydrogels is improved compared with pristine MXene, and the addition of m-MXene contributes to the thermal stability enhancement of PAAm-MXene. Cone calorimetry, water retention test, and open flame combustion test were used to study the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and water retention of flame-retardant RPUF. The coated RPUF exhibited significant flame retardancy, including reduced peak heat release rate (pHRR) at a maximum by 25.8%, and total heat release rate (THR) at a maximum by 24.6%, and total smoke production at a maximum by 38.9%. The results show that both MXene and m-MXene can improve the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and water retention of hydrogels, but m-MXene has a better smoke suppression effect than MXene. That can be ascribed to the better dispersion of m-MXene than pristine MXene. The detailed performance improvement mechanisms are proposed. This work will not only improve the flame retardancy of RPUF, but also promotes the exploration of new flame-retardant strategies for RPUF.

The recent advent of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has enabled access to the developmental landscape of a complex organ by monitoring the differentiation trajectory of every specialized cell type at the single-cell level. A main challenge in this endeavor is dissociating plant cells from the rigid cell walls and some species are recalcitrant to such cellular isolation. Here, we describe the establishment of a simple and efficient protocol for protoplast preparation in Chirita pumila, which includes two consecutive digestion processes with different enzymatic buffers. Using this protocol, we generated viable cell suspensions suitable for an array of expression analyses, including scRNA-seq. The universal application of this protocol was further tested by successfully isolating high-quality protoplasts from multiple organs (petals, fruits, tuberous roots, and gynophores) from representative species on the key branches of the angiosperm lineage. This work provides a robust method in plant science, overcoming barriers to isolating protoplasts in diverse plant species and opens a new avenue to study cell type specification, tissue function, and organ diversification in plants.

Abstract Compromised epithelial barrier function is known to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and may contribute to disease development. One mechanism of barrier dysfunction is increased expression of paracellular tight junction ion and water channels formed by claudins. Claudin-2 and -15 are two such channels. We hypothesize that blocking these channels could be a viable therapeutic approach to treat diarrhea. In an effort to develop blockers of these channels, we turn to our previously developed and validated in silico models of claudin-15 (Samanta et al. 2018). We reasoned that compounds that can bind with the interior of claudin pores can limit paracellular water and ion flux. Thus, we used docking algorithms to search for putative small molecules that bind in the claudin-15 pore. AutoDock Vina was initially used to assess rigid docking using small compound databases. The small molecules were analyzed based on binding affinity to the pore and visualized using VMD for their potential blockage of the channel. Clusters of binding modes were identified based on the prominent interacting residues of the protein with the small molecules. We initially screened 10,500 compounds from within the UIC Centre for Drug Discovery and a cross-section of 10,000 compounds from the NCI open compound repository. This initial screen allowed us to identify 2 first-in-class selective claudin-15 blockers with efficacy in MDCK monolayers induced to express claudin-15 and in wildtype duodenum. Next, we screened the entire NCI open compound repository for additional molecules structurally related to our best initially identified molecule and this has allowed us to identify 13 additional molecules that increase TER of claudin-15 expressing MDCK monolayers by 90–160%. Additionally, these molecules possess similar structural components that will be collected in a fragment library and explored through molecular dynamics simulations. We also developed a claudin-2 homology model on which we are performing docking studies and in vitro measurements, which we expect will result in similar candidate ligands for blocking claudin-2. Our study will provide important insight into the role of claudin-dependent cation permeability in fundamental physiology, which we believe will lead to the utility of claudin blockers as a novel and much needed approach to treat diseases such as IBD.

<span lang="EN-US">Peer mentoring in the dawn of new educational paradigms harnesses the act of becoming an educationist to facilitating learning in a peer mentoring practice. This study explored the opportunities of an emancipatory approach to teaching and learning under the thrust of learning together, learning deeper through the indulgence of little teachers under the peer mentoring scheme of learning. Employing the senior secondary education students (as little teachers), who came from their Student Teaching program from the Department of Education, and the junior secondary education students (as mentees), who enrolled in their Teaching Science in the Secondary Schools under the qualitative research design and phenomenology as point of inquiry, the following were found: Mentors in the mentoring process need to be approachable and accommodating; Mentees in the mentoring process need to be responsible with their learning task coupled with learning initiative; Enjoyable learning encounters, collaborative learning sessions, open and barrier-free communication, and close and rigid supervision through spoon feeding, modelling, and feedback are some of the perceived characteristics of an effective mentoring program; and Readiness of both mentors and mentees hinder the efficacy of the mentoring program. Owing to the results of the study, it is recommended that a formal mentoring program in the College of Teacher Education be institutionalized for it spurs extensive learning. </span>

ABSTRACT Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) certainly belongs to the most powerful spectroscopic tools in rubber science. Yet the often high level of experimental and in particular instrumental sophistication represents a barrier to its widespread use. Recent advances in low-resolution, often low-field, proton NMR characterization methods of elastomeric materials are reviewed. Chemical detail, as normally provided by chemical shifts in high-resolution NMR spectra, is often not needed when just the (average) molecular motions of the rubber components are of interest. Knowledge of the molecular-level dynamics enables the quantification and investigation of coexisting rigid and soft regions, as often found in filled elastomers, and is further the basis of a detailed analysis of the local density of cross-links and the content of nonelastic material, all of which sensitively affect the rheological behavior. In fact, specific static proton NMR spectroscopy techniques can be thought of as molecular rheology, and they open new avenues toward the investigation of inhomogeneities in elastomers, the knowledge of which is key to improving our theoretical understanding and creating new rational-design principles of novel elastomeric materials. The methodological advances related to the possibility of studying not only the cross-link density on a molecular scale but also its distribution and the option to quantitatively detect the fractions of polymer in different states of molecular mobility and estimate the size and arrangement of such regions are illustrated with different examples from the rubber field. This concerns, among others, the influence of the vulcanization system and the amount and type of filler particles on the spatial (in)homogeneity of the cross-link density, the amount of nonelastic network defects, and the relevance of glassy regions in filled elastomers.

Background: Depressed fracture poses a specific challenge to neurosurgeon. Aim of our study is to analyze benefits of primary reconstruction of depressed skull fracture and to compare various methods of fracture reconstruction with that of titanium miniplates The concept of primary reconstruction was to close the defect and preserve the anatomical barrier, to avoid later crainoplasty and to prevent further complications like CSF leak, pneumocephalus, brain fungus and meningitis etc. The second reason for rigid fixation was to achieve good cosmetic results.Methods: This is observational study carried out in Department of General Surgery, Hamidia hospital Bhopal on 36 patients over period of 18 months from January, 2016 to July, 2017.Results: : Depressed skull fracture is more prevalent in second and third decade of life with male to female ratio of 5:1 . Most of the patients (72%) presented with open fracture skull and majority of them (89%) presented with underlying brain injury. Out of total 36 patients of depressed fracture skull, 18 patients (50%) underwent fixation with titanium miniplate and rest underwent fixation with nylon suture, Poly-L-Lactide and primary elevation of depressed skull fracture. The correction of deformity was more than 90% compared to contralateral side and better cosmetic results were obtained on patients treated with titanium mini-plates. Post operative infection rate was nil in patient treated with titanium mini-plates compared to 8.2% of total infection rates in patients treated with other methods.Conclusions: The concept of primary reconstruction of depressed skull fracture to achieve better cosmetic results and minimum post operative complications. Cosmetic results that were obtained with titanium mini-plates were excellent with nil post operative infection rates and complete neurological recovery. Hence titanium mini-plates are cost effective and better than any other methods.

Elastomer seals are extensively used in various wellhead and casing/liner hanger equipment as barriers for isolating fluids. Seal assemblies have been identified as one of the major cause of well control incidents. Majority of hangers utilize conventional weight- or mechanical-set slip-and-seal assembly. The objective of this paper is to conduct a detailed investigation of seal energization in conventional and relatively newer expandable type hanger seal assembly. To achieve the objective, the finite element modeling approach was employed. Three dimensional computer models consisting of concentric casings and annular elastomer seal element were constructed. Seal energization process was modelled by manipulating boundary conditions. Conventional seal energization was mimicked by applying rigid support at the bottom of elastomer element and compressing it from the top. Expandable hanger type seal energization was modelled by radially displacing the inner pipe to compress annular seal element. Seal quality was evaluated in terms of contact stress values and profile along the seal-pipe interface. Different amounts of seal energization were simulated. Both types of seal energization processes yielded different contact stress profiles. For the same amount of seal volumetric compression, contact stress profiles were compared. In case of conventional seal energization, contact stress profile decreases from the compression side towards support side. The seal in expandable hanger generates contact stress profile that peaks at the center of contact interface and reduces towards the ends. Convectional seal assembly has more moving parts, making it more prone to failure or under-energization. Finite Element Models were validated using analytical equations, and a good match was obtained. The majority of research related to elastomer seal is focused on material properties evaluation. Limited information is available in public domain on functional design and assessment of seal assembly. This paper adds novel information by providing detailed assessment of advantages and limitations of two different seal energization process. This opens doors for further research in functional failure modes in seal assembly.

An explosion at the entrance of an underground bunker and a suicide bomber inside an airplane are examples of scenarios in which blast waves propagate in tunnels and corridor-type structures. The need to attenuate the shock/blast wave propagating downstream a corridor and mitigate the developed loads inside the structure is essential. The interaction of a shock/blast wave with an obstacle inside a tunnel can dramatically reduce its strength. Earlier researches revealed that the dominant parameter in attenuating a shock wave by rigid barriers is the barrier opening ratio (i.e., the cross section that is open to the flow divided by the total cross section of the tunnel). Decreasing the opening ratio from 0.6 to 0.2 increased the attenuation by about 40%. Based on strong dependence of the attenuation on the opening ratio, a barrier designed to adjust its opening ratio to the loads exerted upon it is essential. In our previous study, we found that the effect of the rigid barrier geometry becomes more significant when the barrier inclination angle is larger, i.e., the barriers inclined toward the oncoming shock wave were found to be more effective in reducing the transmitted shock wave intensity than those inclined in the opposite direction. The pressure difference between both sides of the barrier exerts massive loads on the barrier. In the present ongoing research, based on a numerical approach using a commercial solver (msc.dytran), we focus on the geometry of a dynamic barrier, which changes its orientation as a response to the loads exerted on it. As a result, the barrier opening ratio, which as mentioned earlier strongly affects the shock wave attenuation, changes too. In this study, the feasibility of a dynamic barrier and the complex flow regime around it are investigated. The rapid pressure drop downstream of the barrier depends both on the shock wave strength and the barrier material and geometrical properties. Barriers with various geometries and properties are used to investigate the concept of a deflecting/rotating barrier as a response to the shock wave loads exerted upon it. For the first time, a new and exciting proven concept of a dynamic barrier, which reacts to the loads exerted upon it from a passing shock wave, and dramatically reduces the shock-induced pressure jump downstream of the barrier, is demonstrated.

AbstractThe benefits of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared with traditional open surgery, including reduced postoperative pain and a reduced length of stay, are well recognised. A significant barrier for MIS in paediatric populations has been the technical challenge posed by laparoscopic surgery in small working spaces, where rigid instruments and restrictive working angles act as barriers to safe dissection. Thus, open surgery remains commonplace in paediatrics, particularly for complex major surgery and for surgical oncology. Robotic surgical platforms have been designed to overcome the limitations of laparoscopic surgery by offering a stable 3-dimensional view, improved ergonomics and greater range of motion. Such advantages may be particularly beneficial in paediatric surgery by empowering the surgeon to perform MIS in the smaller working spaces found in children, particularly in cases that may demand intracorporeal suturing and anastomosis. However, some reservations have been raised regarding the utilisation of robotic platforms in children, including elevated cost, an increased operative time and a lack of dedicated paediatric equipment. This article aims to review the current role of robotics within the field of paediatric surgery.

Due to the increase in global terror threats, many resources are being invested in efforts to find and utilize efficient protective means and technologies against blast waves induced by conventional and nonconventional weapons. Bombs exploding in the entrance of military underground bunkers initiate a blast wave that propagates in a corridor-type structure causing injuries to human and damage both to the structures and the equipment. Rigid barriers of different geometries inside a tunnel can cause the blast wave to diffract and attenuate, leaving behind it a complex flow field that changes the impact on the target downstream of the barrier. In our earlier phase of the research that dealt with a single barrier configuration, it was shown that the opening ratio (i.e., the cross section that is open to the flow divided by the total cross section of the tunnel) is the most dominant parameter in attenuating the shock wave. Additionally, it was found that when the opening ratio was fixed at 0.375, the barrier inclination angle was significantly more effective than the barrier width in attenuating the shock wave. The present phase of the research focuses on the dependence of the shock wave attenuation on a double barrier configuration, while keeping the opening ratio fixed at 0.375. The methodology is a numerical approach that has been validated by experimental results. The experiments were conducted in a shock tube using a high-speed camera. The numerical simulations were carried out using a commercial code based on an MSC-DYTRAN solver under initial conditions similar to those in the experiments. A wide span of the barrier geometrical parameters was used to map in a continues manner the effect of the barrier geometry on the shock wave attenuation. By analyzing the geometrical parameters characterizing the double barrier configuration, better understanding of the physical mechanisms of shock wave attenuation is achieved. It was shown that for a double barrier configuration, the first barrier inclination angle was very dominant in attenuating the shock wave, as expected, while the efficiency of the second barrier inclination angle depended on the distance between the two barriers. Only when the distance between the two barriers was increased and the second barrier was far enough from the first barrier, it affected the attenuation regardless of the first barrier.

Abstract Background In Malawi, numerous barriers may prevent women from accessing cervical cancer screening services — including social factors such as male partner involvement. We conducted surveys that included open- and closed-ended questions with married Malawian men to evaluate their knowledge and beliefs about cervical cancer. Methods HIV-positive adult (≥18 years) men (married or in a stable relationship) were recruited from an antiretroviral therapy clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi. Men were asked a series of survey questions to assess their knowledge about cervical cancer, experience with cervical cancer, their female partner’s screening history, and their beliefs about gender norms and household decision-making. Following the survey, participants responded to a set of open-ended interview questions about cervical cancer screening, and men’s role in prevention. Results One hundred-twenty men were enrolled with average age 44 years and 55% having completed secondary school or higher education. Despite only moderate knowledge about cervical cancer and screening (average assessment score of 62% correct), all men expressed support of cervical cancer screening, and most (86%) believed they should be involved in their female partner’s decision to be screened. Over half (61%) of men said their female partner had previously been screened for cervical cancer, and this was positively correlated with the male respondent having more progressive gender norms around sexual practices. Some men expressed concerns about the screening process, namely the propriety of vaginal exams when performed by male clinicians, and whether the procedure was painful. Conclusions Male partners in Malawi want to be involved in decisions about cervical cancer screening, but have limited knowledge about screening, and hold rigid beliefs about gender norms that may affect their support for screening. Messaging campaigns addressing men’s concerns may be instrumental in improving women’s adoption of cervical cancer screening services in Malawi and similar settings.

AbstractLipopolysaccharides are major constituents of the extracellular leaflet in the bacterial outer membrane and form an effective physical barrier for environmental threats and for antibiotics in Gram-negative bacteria. The last step of LPS insertion via the Lpt pathway is mediated by the LptD/E protein complex. Detailed insights into the architecture of LptDE transporter complexes have been derived from X-ray crystallography. However, no structure of a laterally open LptD transporter, a transient state that occurs during LPS release, is available to date. Here, we report a cryo-EM structure of a partially opened LptDE transporter in complex with rigid chaperones derived from nanobodies, at 3.4 Å resolution. In addition, a subset of particles allows to model a structure of a laterally fully opened LptDE complex. Our work offers insights into the mechanism of LPS insertion, provides a structural framework for the development of antibiotics targeting LptD and describes a highly rigid chaperone scaffold to enable structural biology of challenging protein targets.

AbstractFull understanding the interaction mechanisms between flow-like landslides and the impacted protection structures is an open issue. While several approaches, from experimental to numerical, have been used so far, it is clear that the adequate assessment of the hydromechanical behaviour of the landslide body requires both a multiphase and large deformation approach. This paper refers to a specific type of protection structure, namely a rigid barrier, fixed to the base ground. Firstly, a framework for the Landslide-Structure-Interaction (LSI) is outlined with special reference to the potential barrier overtopping (nil, moderate, large) depending on the features of both the flow and the barrier. Then, a novel empirical method is casted to estimate the impact force on the barrier and the time evolution of the flow kinetic energy. The new method is calibrated by using an advanced hydro-mechanical numerical model based on the Material Point Method. The validation of the empirical formulation is pursued referring to a large dataset of field evidence for the peak impact pressure. Both numerical and empirical methods can appropriately simulate the physical phenomena. The performance of the newly proposed empirical method is compared to the literature methods and its advantages are outlined.

In this paper we consider the two-dimensional scalar scattering problem for Helmholtz’s equation exterior to a smooth open arc of general shape. The problem has a number of physical applications including the diffraction of sound by a rigid barrier immersed in a compressible fluid and by a crack in an elastic solid which supports a state of anti-plane strain (SH-motion). The mathematical method used here is the crack Green function method introduced by G. R. Wickham. This enables the scattering problem to be reduced to the solution of a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind with a continuous kernel. The numerical solution of this equation is discussed and a number of examples are computed.

Abstract Slit dam is an open-check barrier structure widely used in mountainous regions to resist the destructive impacts of granular flows. To examine the dynamics of granular flow impact on slit dams, a numerical study by discrete element method (DEM) is presented in this article. The study considers dry granular materials flowing down a flume channel and interacts with slit dams installed at the lower section of the flume. The particle shape is explicitly considered by particle clumps of various aspect ratios. The slit dams are modeled as rigid and smooth rectangular prisms uniformly spaced at in the flume. Four key stages of granular flow impact on the slit dams have been identified, namely, the frontal impact, run up, pile up, and static deposition stages. In the impact process, the kinetic energy of the granular flow is dissipated primarily by interparticle friction and damping. The trapping efficiency of the slit dams decreases exponentially with the relative post spacing, while it increases with the particle clump aspect ratio. The numerical results can provide new insights into the optimization of relative post spacing for slit dam design.

This special issue of Networking Knowledge really showcases the breadth and richness of the research being done by MeCCSA’s postgraduate community. Based on papers given at the PGN’s annual conference at the University of East Anglia last year, the articles below cover topics ranging from the promotion of the latest Bond film to the movement of Baltic artists around Europe, and methodologies including original archival discoveries, various forms of discourse analysis, and interviews with industrial and creative professionals. This shows that, as media forms and methods of communication become evermore diverse, fragmented, converged and fast-changing in the digital age, the future of research in these fields promises a suitably multi-faceted and adaptable approach to the challenge of understanding it all. The issue stays true to this journal’s title, bringing together, as did the conference, a fascinatingly interconnected set of subjects. Indeed, networking knowledge in this way is, I think, an indispensable habit for all scholars within MeCCSAs subject, if we are to remain relevant and effective as researchers in the current climate of fragmentation: working with and through the links between our many various questions, fields, methodologies and institutional priorities, and seeing them as innovative opportunities, rather than inconvenient barriers. The issue starts with four articles that each add a different perspective on the broad theme of re- viewing cinema’s history. Julia Bohlmann’s contribution gives insight into a previously untouched moment in the history of film censorship debates, focusing the broad issue of moral panic about early cinema’s impact on children through the perspective of regional (Scottish) jurisdictions. Filipa Antunes then picks up nicely on the same topic, but in a quite different ‘transitional moment’, at the other end of the twentieth century. Her article considers the ambiguities surrounding a new film classification in the United States in 1980s that arguably created a new sub-genre, the ‘tween’ horror. Through a case study of a single film, the article opens onto a set of issues that have been hotly contested in media and film studies in recent years beyond classification itself: genre, demographics and fan discourse. Adam Scales’ article on Nightmare on Elm Street 2 continues on the theme of horror, synthesising analysis of textual and reception discourses in order to understand the complex and ambiguous construction of ‘alternative’ – in this case queer – audiences. Moving from horror to an even more slippery label, Michael Ahmed then gives a timely consideration of what the ‘exploitation film’ might be in the British context. Like Scales, Ahmed shows how our frameworks for understanding exactly how films are received and defined by audiences and critics must not be rigid, but instead allow for the inevitable overlaps, fluid interconnections and confusion between categories. The following three articles examine media paratexts. Stephanie Janes offers a detailed explanation of the promotional alternate reality game, with original interviews with some of the creators and players of these new multi-media marketing experiences. Her interrogation of the player and ‘puppetmaster’ roles shows a complex negotation of power, collaboration and ownership at work that unsettles previous distinctions made between producers and users. Boundaries are questioned too in Dolores Moreno’s article, which encourages the developing field of screenplay studies to consider the after-lives of film scripts – in terms of finished films, award recognition for writing, and published screenplay – as equally important a part of ‘screenplay discourse’ as the strictly pre- production process of conception. Again, negotiations of power and ownership sit behind Moreno’s discussion, especially powerful in her critique of the pedagogical consensus on how screenwriters should be trained. Concluding this section, Sarah Kelley gives a survey of the means by which Skyfall was made into a comeback hit for the James Bond franchise. Isolating the key themes of nationality, nostalgia and notability, this article is an engaging reminder of the way in which contemporary media promotion works dynamically across platforms and cultural contexts and simultaneously towards a multitude of strategic ends.We return to the economy of cultural capital at work in generic classification with Patrick Bingham’s article on the television series Pretty Little Liars. This article also returns to the topics of teenage audiences and homosexual narratives, the two intersecting in the question of how ‘drama’, ‘mystery’ and ‘teen TV’ have been set into a value-laden hierarchy by the programme’s promoters and critics. Emma Duester presents her detailed ethnographic study of artists based in the Baltics, arguing that a new conception of ‘mobility’, rather than ‘migration’, is needed to account for the trans-national and fluidly networked experience of her subjects. This shifts the focus to the art world and to geography, showing how the impact of globalisation on creative industries throws up complex forms of experience that resist simplistic oppositions like ‘liminal’ and ‘central’. Finally, Thomas James Scott brings the issue back to where it started, with the early decades of feature- length cinema. Scott considers the representation of another example of mobility – that of Irish nationals to the United States – drawing on numerous instances from the archives to trace how depictions of Irish immigrants was refined and adapted as the medium matured, leading us to consider how ethnic difference, and immigration itself, were gradually built in to Hollywood’s image of the American Dream. With such an eclectic mix of topics and approaches, there really is something for all scholars in this issue. With that in mind, it serves as a perfect launch-pad for the new policy at Networking Knowledge of inviting articles on an open basis, to complement its usual themed collections. It is hoped that this will allow for the publication of more ground-breaking postgraduate and early career research even if it doesn’t fit within any of the upcoming themes, and so broaden further the network’s discussions and discoveries. I also hope it provides ample inspiration for new postgraduates to join the network and all members to submit their work to this year’s PGN conference at the University of Leeds. It is sure to be just as dynamic and stimulating as the work represented here.

Earthquake mechanics may be determined by the geometry of a fault system. Slip on a fractal branching fault surface can explain: 1) regeneration of stress irregularities in an earthquake; 2) the concentration of stress drop in an earthquake into asperities; 3) starting and stopping of earthquake slip at fault junctions, and 4) self-similar scaling of earthquakes. Slip at fault junctions provides a natural realization of barrier and asperity models without appealing to variations of fault strength. Fault systems are observed to have a branching fractal structure, and slip may occur at many fault junctions in an earthquake. Consider the mechanics of slip at one fault junction. In order to avoid a stress singularity of order 1/r, an intersection of faults must be a triple junction and the Burgers vectors on the three fault segments at the junction must sum to zero. In other words, to lowest order the deformation consists of rigid block displacement, which ensures that the local stress due to the dislocations is zero. The elastic dislocation solution, however, ignores the fact that the configuration of the blocks changes at the scale of the displacement. A volume change occurs at the junction; either a void opens or intense local deformation is required to avoid material overlap. The volume change is proportional to the product of the slip increment and the total slip since the formation of the junction. Energy absorbed at the junction, equal to confining pressure times the volume change, is not large enongh to prevent slip at a new junction. The ratio of energy absorbed at a new junction to elastic energy released in an earthquake is no larger than P/µ where P is confining pressure and µ is the shear modulus. At a depth of 10 km this dimensionless ratio has th value P/µ= 0.01. As slip accumulates at a fault junction in a number of earthquakes, the fault segments are displaced such that they no longer meet at a single point. For this reason the volume increment for a given slip increment becomes larger. A juction with past accumulated slip ??0 is a strong barrier to earthquakes with maximum slip um < 2 (P/µ) u0 = u0/50. As slip continues to occur elsewhere in the fault system, a stress concentration will grow at the old junction. A fresh fracture may occur in the stress concentration, establishing a new triple junction, and allowing continuity of slip in the fault system. The fresh fracture could provide the instability needed to explain earthquakes. Perhaps a small fraction (on the order of P/µ) of the surface that slips in any earthquake is fresh fracture. Stress drop occurs only on this small fraction of the rupture surface, the asperities. Strain change in the asperities is on the order of P/µ. Therefore this model predicts average strais change in an earthquake to be on the order of (P/µ)2 = 0.0001, as is observed.

Find your black holes and white walls, know them … it is the only way you will be able to dismantle them and draw your lines of flight.—Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Defined by originator David Belle as “an art to help you pass any obstacle”, the practice of “parkour” or “free running” constitutes both a mode of movement and a new way of interacting with the urban environment. Parkour was created by Belle (partly in collaboration with his childhood friend Sébastien Foucan) in France in the late 1980s. As seen in the following short video “Rush Hour”, a trailer for BBC One featuring Belle, parkour practitioners (known as “traceurs”), leap, spring, and vault from objects in the urban milieu that are intended to limit movement (walls, curbs, railings, fences) or that unintentionally hamper passage (lampposts, street signs, benches) through the space. “Rush Hour” was among the first media representations of parkour, and it had a significant role in introducing and popularizing the practice in Britain. Parkour has subsequently been widely disseminated via news reports, Nike and Toyota ads, the documentaries Jump London (2003) and Jump Britain (2005), and feature films, including Luc Besson’s Yamakasi – Les Samouraïs des Temps Modernes (2001) and Banlieu 13 (2004; just released in the U.S. as District B13), starring David Belle as Leto and Cyril Raffaelli as Damien. Sébastien Foucan will appear in the upcoming James Bond film Casino Royale as Mollaka, a terrorist who is chased (parkour-style) and then killed by Bond. (Foucan can also be seen in the film’s trailer, currently available at both SonyPictures.com and AOL.com; the film itself is scheduled for release in November 2006). Madonna’s current “Confessions” tour features an extended parkour sequence (accompanying the song “Jump”), albeit one limited to the confines of a scaffold erected over the stage. Perhaps most important in the rapid development of parkour into a world-wide youth movement, however, has been the proliferation of parkour websites featuring amateur videos, photos, tutorials, and blogs. The word “parkour” is derived from the French “parcours” (as the sport is known in France): a line, course, circuit, road, way or route, and the verb “parcourir”: to travel through, to run over or through, to traverse. As a physical discipline, parkour might be said to have a “poetics” — first, in general, in the Aristotelian sense of constructing through its various techniques (tekhnē) the drama of each parkour event. Secondly, one can consider parkour following Aristotle’s model of four-cause analysis as regards its specific materials (the body and the city), form or “vocabulary” of movements (drawn primarily from gymnastics, the martial arts, and modern dance), genre (as against, say, gymnastics), and purpose, including its effects upon its audience and the traceurs themselves. The existing literature on parkour (at this point, mostly news reports or websites) tends to emphasize the elements of form or movement, such as parkour’s various climbs, leaps, vaults, and drops, and the question of genre, particularly the ongoing, heated disputes among traceurs as to what is or is not true parkour. By contrast, my argument in this essay will focus principally on the materials and purpose of parkour: on the nature of the city and the body as they relate to parkour, and on the ways in which parkour can be seen to “remap” urban space and to demonstrate a resistance to its disciplinary functions, particularly as manifest in the urban street “grid.” The institution of the street “grid” (or variations upon it such as Haussmann’s Parisian star-configuration) facilitates both the intelligibility — in terms of both navigation and surveillance — and control of space in the city. It situates people in urban spaces in determinate ways and channels the flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The “grid” thus carries a number of normalizing and disciplinary functions, creating in effect what the philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari refer to as a “striation” of urban space. This striation constitutes “a process of capture of flows of all kinds, populations, commodities or commerce, money or capital, etc.” within a field of determinate spatial coordinates (Deleuze and Guattari 386). It establishes “fixed paths in well-defined directions, which restrict speed, regulate circulation, relativize movement, and measure in detail the relative movements of subjects and objects” (Deleuze and Guattari 386). Many of these aspects of striation can be seen in the ways urban space is depicted in the “Rush Hour” video: in the gridlocked traffic, the flashing tail-lights, the “STOP” light and “WAIT” sign, the sign indicating the proper directional flow of traffic, and the grim, bundled-up pedestrians trudging home en masse along the congested streets. Against these images of conformity, regulation, and confinement, the video presents the parkour ethos of originality, “reach,” escape, and freedom. Belle’s (shirtless) aerial traversal of the urban space between his office and his flat — a swift, improvisational flow across the open rooftops (and the voids between them), off walls, and finally down the sloping roof into his apartment window — cuts across the striated space of the streets below and positions him, for that time, beyond the constrictions of the social realm and its “concrete” manifestations. Though parkour necessarily involves obstacles that must be “overcome,” the goal of parkour is to do this as smoothly and efficiently as possible, or, in the language of its practitioners, for the movement to be “fluid like water.” The experience of parkour might, then, be said to transform the urban landscape into “smooth space,” in Deleuze and Guattari’s sense of “a field without conduits or channels” (371), and thus into a space of uninhibited movement, at least in certain ideal moments. Parkour seems to trace a path of desire (even if the desire is simply to avoid the crowds and get home in time to watch BBC One) that moves along a Deleuzean “line of flight,” a potential avenue of escape from the forces of striation and repression. Here the body is propelled over or through (most parkour movement actually takes place at ground level) the strata of urban space, perhaps with the hope that, as Deleuze and Guattari suggest, “one will bolster oneself directly on a line of flight enabling one to blow apart strata, cut roots, and make new connections” (15). In the process, parkour becomes “an art of displacement,” appropriating urban space in ways that temporarily disrupt their controlling logics and even imply the possibility of a smooth space of desire. One might see parkour as an overcoming of social space (and its various constrictions and inhibitions of desire, its “stop” and “wait” signs) through the interplay of body and material barriers. The body becomes an instrument of freedom. This, again, is graphically conveyed in “Rush Hour” through the opening scene in which Belle strips off his business suit and through the subsequent repeated contrasts of his limber, revealed body to the rigid, swathed figures of the pedestrians below. In part an effect of the various camera angles from which it is shot, there is also an element of the “heroic” in this depiction of the body. This aspect of the representation appears to be knowingly acknowledged in the video’s opening sequence. The first frame is a close-up, tightly focused on a model of a ninja-like figure with a Japanese sword who first appears to be contemplating a building (with an out-of-focus Belle in the background contemplating it from the opposite direction), but then, in the next, full shot, is revealed to be scaling it — in the manner of superheroes and King Kong. The model remains in the frame as Belle undresses (inevitably evoking images of Clark Kent stripping down to his Superman costume) and, in the final shot of that sequence, the figure mirrors Belle’s as he climbs through the window and ascends the building wall outside. In the next sequence, Belle executes a breath-taking handstand on a guard railing on the edge of the roof with the panorama of the city behind him, his upper body spanning the space from the street to the edge of the city skyline, his lower body set against the darkening sky. Through the practice of parkour, the relation between body and space is made dynamic, two reality principles in concert, interacting amid a suspension of the social strata. One might even say that the urban space is re-embodied — its rigid strata effectively “liquified.” In Jump London, the traceur Jerome Ben Aoues speaks of a Zen-like “harmony between you and the obstacle,” an idealization of what is sometimes described as a state of “flow,” a seemingly effortless immersion in an activity with a concomitant loss of self-consciousness. It suggests a different way of knowing the city, a knowledge of experience as opposed to abstract knowledge: parkour is, Jaclyn Law argues, “about curiosity and seeing possibilities — looking at a lamppost or bus shelter as an extension of the sidewalk” (np.). “You just have to look,” Sébastien Foucan insists in Jump London, “you just have to think like children….” Parkour effectively remaps urban space, creating a parallel, “ludic” city, a city of movement and free play within and against the city of obstacles and inhibitions. It reminds us that, in the words of the philosopher of urban space Henri Lefebvre, “the space of play has coexisted and still coexists with spaces of exchange and circulation, political space and cultural space” (172). Parkour tells us that in order to enter this space of play, we only need to make the leap. References Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. Jump London (2003). Mike Christie, director. Mike Smith, producer. Featuring Jerome Ben Aoues, Sébastien Foucan, and Johann Vigroux. Law, Jaclyn. “PK and Fly.” This Magazine May/June 2005 http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2005/05/>. Lefebvre, Henri. “Perspective or Prospective?” Writings on Cities. Trans. Eleonore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996. Rush Hour (2002). BBC One promotion trailer. Tom Carty, dir. Edel Erickson, pro. Produced by BBC Broadcast. See also: Wikipedia on parkour: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour> Parkour Worldwide Association: http://www.pawa.fr/> Parkour Net (multilingual): http://parkour.net/> NYParkour: http://www.nyparkour.com/> PKLondon.com: http://www.pklondon.com/> Nike’s “The Angry Chicken” (featuring Sébastien Foucan): http://video.google.com/videoplay? docid=-6571575392378784144&q=nike+chicken> There is an extensive collection of parkour videos available at YouTube A rehearsal clip featuring Sébastien Foucan coaching the dancers for Madonna’s Confessions tour can be seen at YouTube Citation reference for this article MLA Style Geyh, Paula. "Urban Free Flow: A Poetics of Parkour." M/C Journal 9.3 (2006). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0607/06-geyh.php>. APA Style Geyh, P. (Jul. 2006) "Urban Free Flow: A Poetics of Parkour," M/C Journal, 9(3). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0607/06-geyh.php>.

Introduction – Polish GrungeThe main objective of this article is to examine the grunge scene of the 1990s in Poland in the context of acculturation and assimilation processes. Polish grunge was, on the one hand, the expression of trends that were observable in music industry since the late 1980s. On the other hand, it was symptomatic of a rapid systemic transformation. Youth culture was open for the diffusion of cultural patterns and was ready to adopt certain patterns from the West.Thus, we suggest that the local grunge scene was completely modelled on the American one: the flow of cultural practices and subcultural fashion were the manifestations of the assimilation processes in Poland, observable not only in art (i.e. rock music), but also in the domains of politics and economy, as well as in the broader social sphere. We explore how young people were ready to adopt only the surface level of the phenomenon as they were familiar with it through the media coverage it received. Young people in Poland circa the early ‘90s primarily wanted to gain access to an imaginary Western lifestyle rather than learn about real living conditions in capitalist societies, and they could do this through their involvement in grunge culture.Grunge as a Cultural PhenomenonGrunge as a popular music trend arose in the USA during the late 1980s and early 1990s, in the work of bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Grunge was initially opposed to consumerism and capitalist values. Nevertheless, A&R scouts recognised the commercial potential of this music: for example, Nirvana’s Nevermind was released by Geffen Company, and Pearl Jam’s Ten by Epic. As Grzegorz Brzozowicz and Filip Łobodziński put it (313),the success of Nirvana was a post-mort triumph of punk rock and, more importantly, it indicated the potential of alternative music, which suddenly stepped outside an aesthetic ghetto and became a hot stuff. This influence was also visible as regards fashion and customs – Dr. Martens’ shoes, flannel shirts, frayed jeans, and wool caps became an outfit common for the young (…). Grunge influenced visual art, film and photography.In Poland, grunge as a subculture and sub-genre of rock music emerged in the early 1990s following the international commercial success of bands such as those listed above, and it entailed the assimilation of the Western cultural patterns. Although assimilation processes were typical primarily for youth culture, they were observed in the wider context of the changes and adaptations that Polish system underwent after the fall of the centrally planned economy and subjugation to the communist party power after the Yalta agreements (1945-1989/1990).In this context, the concept Centre/Periphery (Gopinathan, Saravanan and Altbach; Hannerz; Langholm; Pisciotta) appears as the field for the dissemination of popular culture. Popular culture is a battlefield for creating and negotiating the meanings that are inherent within cultural practices (Barker). Cultural practices play a double role in the dissemination of ideas or objects. Firstly, they come as a result of adaptation in a defined culture, and secondly, they make new cultural patterns stabile, visible, and easy to practice by people as flexible patterns of behaviour. This point is clearly visible in the context of the East European states that underwent rapid acculturation processes in which new patterns of economic and social solutions were established in centre-planned economies: the tensions of the “old” and the “new” patterns dominating in the political and social systems of those countries (e.g. Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.) were visible and affected societies to a considerable degree (Pisciotta). Thus, the practices generated in cultural Centres tend to disseminate easily and to “conquer” other cultural systems, especially in the Periphery.In the case of popular culture, the flow of influences usually takes a one-dimensional form and is disseminated from the Centre to the Periphery. As Marek Jeziński (162-163) argues, both Centre and Periphery are functional systems. These systems have generated their own mythology, which separates one from another. However, as in the case of mythological systems in general, Centre and Periphery tales overlap frequently, and there are evidence that the bands that originated in the Periphery were assimilated by the Centre. For example, Nirvana and Pearl Jam were both successful in market terms and both built their own status based on the Peripheral components that were skilfully overtaken by the Centre narrative. While the Peripheral narratives are concentrated mainly on the undermining of the definition of situation and present dysfunctional character towards cultural system as such, the Centre narratives aim to maintain the definition of situation supporting mainstream values and their prevailing position in a system (Jeziński 164). Grunge is the epitome of such an implementation of cultural patterns. That is, grunge started as a fringe peripheral cultural phenomenon. The major records companies, however, recognised its potential and provided the space in the music market to support the new bands. Most of the groups in the US started as independent local acts related to independent record companies that built their status.In relation to the assimilation of grunge culture in Poland, we can distinguish two key phenomena. The first is concerned with the adaptation of general subcultural components, e.g. fashion and group identification. Here, the acculturation processes run as a primary form of mimicry, as the Polish grunge scene adopted elements typical of the grunge subculture, such as oversize sweaters, flannel shirts, Dr. Martens shoes or Converse trainers, long hair, and beanies. A newly formed subculture was different from the others popular in the 1990s. For example, punk and metal subcultures implied strong group identity, style homogeneity, rigid group limitations, and firm membership rules. Conversely, it seems that the grunge subculture was based more on a level of liquid and fragmented patchwork identity than on very inflexible group values and internal ideology or political attitudes (cf. Muggleton). Such patchwork identity formation was a result of a rapid clash between the adaptation of grunge cultural patterns from the West and the Polish economic transformation of the early 1990s.Poland underwent rapid changes that were also visible in the politics, culture and social domain, joining liberal democracies and liberal free market economies of the West. These changes resulted from a transformation of the system as a whole: from a central planned system to decentralisation of the power at both local and state levels (Sarnecki). Equally important were the changes in the political culture of Poles and their value system: they accepted the democratic changes but simultaneously, the mentality of Poles remained traditionalist (which is visible in surveys— the most important values for them were “family” and “work”), and their attitude towards the processes of cultural and institutional changes was impermanent (Garlicki; Jasińska-Kania).During the transformation, the changes were visible in the everyday lives of Polish citizens: examples include the shortages in the market that were evident after the socialist regime ended, and the easy availability of Western clothes such as jeans, shirts, denim jackets in ordinary stores. Consequently, the economic rates in the 1990s were higher in comparison to the previous decade (Bałtowski and Miszewski). Those changes resulted in a phase shift in the modernisation process, where patterns of economic and cultural development and were faster than the enculturation and socialisation processes.On the one hand, the free market allowed for almost unlimited commodification with unprecedented access to goods and services. On the other hand, the low cultural capital and economic possibilities of the citizens evolved rapidly. The communist-shaped social division fell apart, and the new class designations based of consumption/commodification patterns were established (Jeziński; Wojtkowski). Those factors resulted in high cross-generational mobility, lower entrance barriers, and higher openness indicators (cf. Polska klasa średnia; O ruchliwości społecznej w polsce).Hence, in cultural conditions based on capitalist consumption practices, the grunge subculture evolved with a commodified sense of style rather than with a firm identity. Yet, in the case of grunge style, relatively high costs of subculture commodities (e.g. Dr. Martens shoes, Converse trainers, or band t-shirts) led to DIY practices such as buying cheaper no-name shoes, and sewing badges with the names of bands and albums on jackets or backpacks.The second phenomenon encompasses the adaptation of music patterns. The Polish grunge scene was not as diversified in terms of genre variations as its US counterpart. In the beginning, the Polish grunge scene was more distressed geographically, with no specific Centre-Periphery relations. However, one of the most important bands, Hey, was established in the Northwest. When one looks at Polish grunge evolution as a ‘clash’ of American genre and the specific character of a time and place where Polish bands were recording, she or he will notice multiple similarities with the US scene.Firstly, we could name two approaches to grunge music among Polish performers: ‘intellectual’ and ‘rebel’. The ‘intellectual’ approach encompasses the group Hey. This band was established in Szczecin (the Northwest Poland), but after the success of their first album – Fire (1993), they moved to Warsaw. Hey released 11 studio records, but only the first three could be classified as “grunge” (cf. Sankowski). On the level of musical references, Fire sounds like a mixture of early Pearl Jam combined with Alice in Chains. With English lyrics and song topics that were typical for grunge— e.g., The Choice (“You’ve got a gun/You can use it now”)—similarities with Pearl Jam, in particular, are striking. The band evolved, and on their second album, Ho! (1994), Hey mixed equally Polish and English lyrics with the dynamic and specific Seattle sound (cf. Prato). Hey’s most distinctive feature comparing with other Polish grunge bands is its highly developed melodic approach to music and the poetic, sensual style of its lyrics. The third record, ? (1995), closes the band’s early stage. The next album, Karma (1997), opens the period when the amalgamation of electronics, hard rock and grunge dominated Hey’s music, with the album [sic!] (2001) representing the turning point in the group’s music style. The band suspended their work in 2017 and will probably never reunite.Over time, Hey gained one of the most dedicated audiences in Polish rock music. The music industry and critics have acknowledged Hey as one of the best Polish groups in the post-communist period. Hey has received the most nominations in the history of Fryderyki, the key Polish music awards. The group and Nosowska have won twenty-three times in multiple categories. As the longest-operating grunge-origin band in the country, Hey could be considered as a most important trend setting and scene-forming group.The more “rebellious” approach to grunge encompasses bands such as Illusion (1992-1999, 2014-present) and Houk. The former was based on the grunge and hardcore mixture of influences from Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Rage Against the Machine (especially in terms of rap-oriented lyrics). With the preservation of certain consistency, the band named first three albums: Illusion (1993), Illusion II (1994), and Illusion III (1995). Illusion marks the band’s aggressive style and lyrics simplicity but the studio production flattens the whole and gives an impression of a post-punk DIY venture rather than a coherent composition. The second record, however, is entirely conceptualised and thought out in terms of music and lyrics. Sharp riffs, hard rock tuning of instruments and aggressive lyrics that were focused on Polish life gave the album a needed consistency. The band’s third record is the most varied stylistically and politically engaged in their history. The harder-edged tunes from previous releases are accompanied by more psychedelic compositions (Wrona) that recall Alice in Chains’ slow songs and Layne Staley’s voice.Houk’s music similarly to other Polish grunge bands was the amalgamation of various genres and their style evolved in time. Initially, the band was regarded as an example of alternative rock music. The first album Soul Ammunition (1992) was named by music monthly Tylko Rock as a debut of the year (polskirock.art.pl). The combination of grunge, hardcore, hard rock, reggae and socio-politically engaged lyrics helped the group to establish a strong fan base. The band’s unique style was recognised internationally and Houk supported New Model Army and Bad Brains during the performances in the mid-1990’s (polskirock.art.pl). The band’s second studio release Generation X (1995) was recorded prior the multiple membership reorganizations that finally ended the grunge-orientation period of Houk’s history. One of the songs, Sleep, was dedicated to Kurt Cobain and reflected Nirvana’s approach to songwriting, which can be heard in songs such as “Lithium” (1991). Such a commemoration of Cobain’s figure is characteristic of Polish grunge culture’s establishment of strong ties with the American equivalent. Here and in many similar cases, Cobain serves not only as a grunge hero (or even a martyr) but also as a commodified pop culture figure (cf. Strong). Concerning both spheres - that is, the adaptation of grunge subculture and a development of the music scene -Polish grunge follows a different pattern to the US genre. Grunge was introduced to Poland after it was popularised and commodified by the major labels and media industry in the USA, so the adopted version was the mainstream one rather than the underground movement. Hence, the simplistic dichotomy between “underground” and “mainstream” culture does not function in terms of the Polish grunge culture, and probably is misstated even when it comes to the American phenomenon. Grunge could be perceived in Poland as both the first and the last “true” subcultural trend. At the same time, though, it was an affirmation not of ‘the rebel’ and ‘the underground’ but of capitalism and the cultural values of the West. Indeed, the Polish grunge culture couldn’t be fully aware of what grunge was warning us against while Polish society faced the rapid market and cultural transformation that allowed for its opening to Western trends.Conclusion – Is Grunge Really Dead?Although the popularity of grunge phenomenon in Poland was relatively short, the most important groups of this sub-genre - Illusion, Hey, Ahimsa, Houk, and Kr’shna Brothers - widely contributed to the emergence of the new wave of fashion for rock and hard-rock music in Poland in the mid-1990s. The most successful group of the era, Hey epitomises the transformation of grunge in Poland. Starting as a typical grunge band (modelled heavily on the US groups), they underwent a serious transition, substantially changing their music into more mainstream-oriented rock (that is, as music that was considered acceptable by rock music and AOR-focused radio stations). At the same time, grunge as a rock sub-genre underwent the contrary changes: it broke into the mainstream relatively quickly in the first half of the 1990s, establishing new rock stars of the scene (Illusion, Houk, Ahimsa, Hey), but in the late 1990s it went back to being a rock niche again. It seems that today grunge serves as a point of reference (in fact, it was an important period of rock history) for the new bands that intentionally use this sub-genre as a form of commodified, media-friendly nostalgia.ReferencesBałtowski, Maciej, Miszewski, Maciej. Transformacja gospodarcza w Polsce. Warszawa: PWN, 2006.Biografia Houk. 25 Nov. 2018 <https://www.polskirock.art.pl/houk,z346,biografia.html>.Brzozowicz, Grzegorz, and Filip Łobodziński. Sto płyt, które wstrząsnęły światem: Kronika czasów popkultury. Warszawa: Iskry, 2000.Domański, Henryk. Polska klasa średnia. Wrocław: FNP i W. Wrocławskie, 2002.Domański, Henryk. O ruchliwości społecznej w Polsce. Warszawa: IFiS PAN, 2004.Garlicki, Jan. “Tradycje i dynamika kultury politycznej społeczeństwa polskiego.” Dylematy polskiej transformacji. Ed. Jan Błuszkowski. Warszawa: DW Elipsa, 2007. 155-174.Gopinathan, Saravanan, and Philip G. Altbach. “Rethinking Centre–Periphery.” Asia Pacific Journal of Education 25.2 (2005): 117-123.Hannerz, Ulf. “Culture between Center and Periphery: Toward a Macroanthropology.” Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology 54.3-4 (1989): 200-216.Houk. Soul Ammunition. 23 Nov. 2018 <https://www.polskirock.art.pl/soul-ammunition,houk,3051,plyta.html>.Jasińska-Kania, Aleksandra. “Dynamika zmian wartości Polaków na tle europejskim: EVS 1990-1999-2008.” Polska po 20 latach wolności. Eds. Marta Bucholc, Sławomir Mandes, Tadeusz Szawiel and Joanna Wawrzyniak. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2011. 225-239.Jeziński, Marek. Mitologie muzyki popularnej. Toruń: WN Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 2014.Jeziński, Marek, and Łukasz Wojtkowski. “Nostalgia Commodified: Towards the Marketization of the Post-Communist Past through the New Media.” Medien und Zeit 4 (2016): 96–104.Langholm, Sivert. “On the Concepts of Center and Periphery.” Journal of Peace Research 8.3-4 (1971): 273-278.Muggleton, David. Inside Subculture. The Postmodern Meaning of Style. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.Pisciotta, Barbara. “The Center-Periphery Cleavage Revisited: East and Central Europe from Postcommunism to Euroscepticism.” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 22.2 (2016): 193-219.Sankowski, Robert. “Hey, czyli któtka historia polskiego popu.” Wyborcza.pl, 3 Nov. 2012. 1 Aug. 2018 <http://wyborcza.pl/1,75410,12788097,Hey__czyli_krotka_historia_polskiego_popu.html>. Sarnecki, Paweł. “Od kumulacji do podziału władzy.” Transformacja ustrojowa w Polsce 1989-2009. Eds. Maria Kruk and Jan Wawrzyniak. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, 2011. 37-58.Strong, Catherine. Grunge and the Memory. London: Routledge, 2016.

A rhetoric of freedom characterises much of the literature dealing with online communities: freedom from fixed identity and appearance, from the confines of geographic space, and from control. The prevailing view, a combination of futurism and utopianism, is that the lack of order in cyberspace enables the creation of social spaces that will enhance personal freedom and advance the common good. Sherry Turkle argues that computer-mediated communication allows us to create a new form of community, in which identity is multiple and fluid (15-17). Marcos Novak celebrates the possibilities of a dematerialized, ethereal virtual architecture in which the relationships between abstract elements are in a constant state of flux (250). John Perry Barlow employs the frontier metaphor to frame cyberspace as an unmapped, ungoverned territory in which a romantic and a peculiarly American form of individualism can be enjoyed by rough and ready pioneers (“Crime” 460). In his 1993 account as an active participant in The WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link), one of the earliest efforts to construct a social space online, Howard Rheingold celebrates the freedom to create a “new kind of culture” and an “authentic community” in the “electronic frontier.” He worries, however, that the freedom enjoyed by early homesteaders may be short lived, because “big power and big money” might soon find ways to control the Internet, just as they have come to dominate and direct other communications media. “The Net,” he states, “is still out of control in fundamental ways, but it might not stay that way for long” (Virtual Community 2-5). The uses of order and disorder Some theorists have identified disorder as a necessary condition for the development of healthy communities. In The Uses of Disorder (1970), Richard Sennett argues that “the freedom to accept and to live with disorder” is integral to our search for community (xviii). In his 1989 study of social space, Ray Oldenburg maintains that public hangouts, which constitute the heart of vibrant communities, support sociability best when activities are unplanned, unorganized, and unrestricted (33). He claims that without the constraints of preplanned control we will be more in control of ourselves and more aware of one another (198). More recently, Charles Landry suggests that “structured instability” and “controlled disruption,” resulting from competition, conflict, crisis, and debate, make cities less comfortable but more exciting. Further, he argues that “endemic structural disorder” requiring ongoing adjustments can generate healthy creative activity and stimulate continual innovation (156-58). Kevin Robins, too, believes that any viable social system must be prepared to accept a level of uncertainty, disorder, and fear. He observes, however, that techno-communities are “driven by the compulsion to neutralize,” and they therefore exclude these possibilities in favour of order and security (90-91). Indeed, order and security are the dominant characteristics that less idealistic observers have identified with cyberspace. Alexander Galloway explains how, despite its potential as a liberating development, the Internet is based on technologies of control. This control is exercised at the code level through technical protocols, such as TCP/IP, DNS, and HTM, that determine disconnections as well as connections (Galloway). Lawrence Lessig suggests that in our examination of the ownership, regulation, and governance of the virtual commons, we must take into account three distinct layers. As well as the “logical” or “code” layer that Galloway foregrounds, we should also consider the “physical” layer, consisting of the computers and wires that carry Internet communications, and the “content” layer, which includes everything that we see and hear over the network. In principle, each of these layers could be free and unorganized, or privately owned and controlled (Lessig 23). Dan Schiller documents the increasing privatization of the Net and argues that corporate cyberspace extends the reach of the market, enabling it to penetrate into areas that have previously been considered to be part of the public domain. For Schiller, the Internet now serves as the main production and control mechanism of a global market system (xiv). Checking into Habbo Hotel Habbo Hotel is an example of a highly ordered and controlled online social space that uses community and game metaphors to suggest something much more open and playful. Designed to attract the teenage market, this graphically intensive cartoon-like hotel is like an interactive Legoland, in which participants assemble a toy-like “Habbo” character and chat, play games, and construct personal environments. The first Habbo Hotel opened its doors in the United Kingdom in 2000, and, by September 2004, localized sites were based in a dozen countries, including Canada, the Unites States, Finland, Japan, Switzerland and Spain, with further expansion planned. At that time, there were more than seventeen million registered Habbo characters worldwide with 2.3 million unique visitors each month (“Strong Growth”). The hotel contains thousands of private rooms and twenty-two public spaces, including a welcome lounge, three lobbies, cinema, game hall, café, pub, and an extensive hallway. Anyone can go to the Room-O-Matic and instantly create a free guest room. However, there are a limited number of layouts to choose from and the furnishings, which must be purchased, have be chosen from a catalog of fixed offerings. All rooms are located on one of five floors, which categorize them according to use (parties, games, models, mazes, and trading). Paradoxically, the so-called public spaces are more restricted and less public than the private guest quarters. The limited capacity of the rooms means that all of the public spaces are full most of the time. Priority is given to paying Habbo Club members and others are denied entry or are unceremoniously ejected from a room when it becomes full. Most visitors never make it into the front lobby. This rigid and restricted construction is far from Novak’s vision of a “liquid architecture” without barriers, that morphs in response to the constantly changing desires of individual inhabitants (Novak 250). Before entering the virtual hotel, individuals must first create a Lego-like avatar. Users choose a unique name for their Habbo (no foul language is allowed) and construct their online persona from a limited selection and colour of body parts. One of two different wardrobes is available, depending on whether “Boy” or “Girl” is chosen. The gender of every Habbo is easily recognizable and the restricted wardrobe results in remarkably similar looking young characters. The lack of differentiation encourages participants to treat other Habbos as generic “Boys” or “Girls” and it encourages limited and predictable conversations that fit the stereotype of male-female interactions in most chat sites. Contrary to Turkle’s contention that computer mediated communication technologies expose the fallacy of a single, fixed, identity, and free participants to experiment with alternative selves (15-17), Habbo characters are permitted just one unchangeable name, and are capable of only limited visual transformations. A fixed link between each Habbo character and its registered user (information that is not available to other participants) allows the hotel management to track members through the site and monitor their behavior. Habbo movements are limited to walking, waving, dancing and drinking virtual alcohol-free beverages. Movement between spaces is accomplished by entering a teleport booth, or by selecting a location by name from the hotel Navigator. Habbos cannot jump, fly or walk through objects or other Habbos. They have no special powers and only a limited ability to interact with objects in their environment. They cannot be hurt or otherwise affected by anything in their surroundings, including other Habbos. The emphasis is on safety and avoidance of conflict. Text chat in Habbo Hotel is limited to one sixty-one-character line, which appears above the Habbo, floats upward, and quickly disappears off the top of the screen. Text must be typed in real time while reading on-going conversations and it is not possible to archive a chat sessions or view past exchanges. There is no way of posting a message on a public board. Using the Habbo Console, shorter messages can also be exchanged between Habbos who may be occupying different rooms. The only other narratives available on the site are in the form of official news and promotions. Before checking into the hotel, Habbos can stop to read Habbo Today, which promotes current offers and activities, and HabboHood Happenings, which offers safety tips, information about membership benefits, jobs (paid in furniture), contest winners, and polls. According to Rheingold, a virtual community can form online when enough people participate in meaningful public discussions over an extended period of time and develop “webs of personal relationships” (Virtual Community 5). By restricting communication to short, fleeting messages between individual Habbos, the hotel frustrates efforts by members to engage in significant dialogue and create a viable social group. Although “community” is an important part of the Habbo Hotel brand, it is unlikely to be a substantial part of the actual experience. The virtual hotel is promoted as a safe, non-threatening environment suitable for the teenagers is designed to attract. Parents’ concerns about the dangers of an unregulated chat space provide the hotel management with a justification for creating a highly controlled social space. The hotel is patrolled twenty-four hours a day by professional moderators backed-up by a team of 180 volunteer “Hobbas,” or guides, who can issue warnings to misbehaving Habbos, or temporarily ban them from the site. All text keyed in by Habbos passes through an automated “Bobba Filter” that removes swearing, racist words, explicit sexual comments and “anything that goes against the “Habbo Way” (“Bad Language”). Stick to the rules and you’ll have fun, Habbos are told, “break them and you’ll get yourself banned” (“Habbo Way”). In Big Brother fashion, messages are displayed throughought the hotel advising members to “Stay safe, read the Habbohood Watch,” “Never give out your details!” and “Obey the Habbo way and you’ll be OK.” This miniature surveillance society contradicts Barlow’s observation that cyberspace serves as “a perfect breeding ground for both outlaws and new ideas about liberty” (“Crime” 460). In his manifesto declaring the independence of cyberspace from government control, he maintains that the state has no authority in the electronic “global social space,” where, he asserts, “[w]e are forming our own Social Contract” based on the Golden Rule (“Declaration”). However, Habbo Hotel shows how the rule of the marketplace, which values profits more than social practices, can limit the freedoms of online civil society just as effectively as the most draconian government regulation. Place your order Far from permitting the “controlled disruption” advocated by Landry, the hotel management ensures that nothing is allowed to disrupt their control over the participants. Without conflict and debate, there are few triggers for creative activity in the site, which is designed to encourage consumption, not community. Timo Soininen, the managing director of the company that designed the hotel, states that, because teenagers like to showcase their own personal style, “self-expression is the key to our whole concept.” However, since it isn’t possible to create a Habbo from scratch, or to import clothing or other objects from outside the site, the only way for members to effectively express themselves is by decorating and furnishing their room with items purchased from the Habbo Catalogue. “You see, this,” admits Soininen, “is where our revenue model kicks in” (Shalit). Real-world products and services are also marketed through ads and promotions that are integrated into chat, news, and games. The result, according to Habbo Ltd, is “the ideal vehicle for third party brands to reach this highly desired 12-18 year-old market in a cost-effective and creative manner” (“Habbo Company Profile”). Habbo Hotel is a good example of what Herbert Schiller describes as the corporate capture of sites of public expression. He notes that, when put at the service of growing corporate power, new technologies “provide the instrumentation for organizing and channeling expression” (5-6). In an afterword to a revised edition of The Virtual Community, published in 2000, Rheingold reports on the sale of the WELL to a privately owned corporation, and its decline as a lively social space when order was imposed from the top down. Although he believes that there is a place for commercial virtual communities on the Net, he acknowledges that as economic forces become more entrenched, “more controls will be instituted because there is more at stake.” While remaining hopeful that activists can leverage the power of many-to-many communications for the public good, he wonders what will happen when “the decentralized network infrastructure and freewheeling network economy collides with the continuing growth of mammoth, global, communication empires” (Virtual Community Rev. 375-7). Although the company that built Habbo Hotel is far from achieving global empire status, their project illustrates how the dominant ethos of privatization and the increasing emphasis on consumption results in gated virtual communities that are highly ordered, restricted, and controlled. The popularity of the hotel reflects the desire of millions of Habbos to express their identities and ideas in a playful environment that they are free to create and manipulate. However, they soon find that the rules are stacked against them. Restricted design options, severe communication limitations, and fixed architectural constraints mean that the only freedom left is the freedom to choose from a narrow range of provided options. In private cyberspaces like Habbo Hotel, the logic of the market rules out unrestrained many-to-many communications in favour of controlled commercial relationships. The liberating potential of the Internet that was recognized by Rheingold and others has been diminished as the forces of globalized commerce impose their order on the electronic frontier. References “Bad Language.” Habbo Hotel. 2004. Sulake UK Ltd. 15 Apr. 2004 http://www.habbohotel.co.uk/habbo/en/help/safety/badlanguage/>. Barlow, John Perry. “Crime and Puzzlement.” High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace. Ed. Peter Ludlow. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 1996. 459-86. ———. “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.” 8 Feb. 1996. 3 July 2004 http://www.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html>. Galloway, Alexander R. Protocol: How Control Exists after Decentralization. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 2004. “Habbo Company Profile.” Habbo Hotel. 2002. Habbo Ltd. 20 Jan. 2003 http://www.habbogroup.com>. “The Habbo Way.” Habbo Hotel. 2004. Sulake UK Ltd. 15 Apr. 2004 http://www.habbohotel.co.uk/habbo/en/help/safety/habboway/>. Landry, Charles. The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators. London: Earthscan, 2000. Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. New York: Random, 2001. Novak, Marcos. “Liquid Architecture in Cyberspace.” Cyberspace: First Steps. Ed. Michael Benedikt. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 1991. 225-54. Oldenburg, Ray. The Great Good Place: Cafés, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts and How They Get You through the Day. New York: Paragon, 1989. Rheingold, Howard. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. New York: Harper, 1993. ———. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 2000. Robins, Kevin. “Cyberspace and the World We Live In.” The Cybercultures Reader. Eds. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. London: Routledge, 2000. 77-95. Schiller, Dan. Digital Capitalism: Networking the Global Market System. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT P, 1999. Schiller, Herbert I. Culture Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Sennett, Richard. The Uses of Disorder: Personal Identity & City Life. New York: Vintage, 1970. Shalit, Ruth. “Welcome to the Habbo Hotel.” mpulse Magazine. Mar. 2002. Hewlett-Packard. 1 Apr. 2004 http://www.cooltown.com/cooltown/mpulse/0302-habbo.asp>. “Strong Growth in Sulake’s Revenues and Profit – Habbo Hotel Online Game Will Launch in the US in September.” 3 Sept. 2004. Sulake. Sulake Corp. 9 Jan. 2005 http://www.sulake.com/>. Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon, 1997. Citation reference for this article MLA Style McGuire, Mark. "Ordered Communities." M/C Journal 7.6 (2005). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0501/06-mcguire.php>. APA Style McGuire, M. (Jan. 2005) "Ordered Communities," M/C Journal, 7(6). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0501/06-mcguire.php>.

I was at Harry’s last night, ostensibly for a quick glass of wine. Instead it turned into a few over many hours and a rare experience of the “regular” identity. It was relatively quiet when I arrived and none of the owners were there. David [a regular] was DJing; we only vaguely acknowledged each other. He was playing great music though, and I was enjoying being there by myself for the first time in a while—looking about at other customers and trying to categorise them, and occasionally chatting to the girl next to me. My friend Angie came to join me about an hour later, and then Paul, a regular, arrived. He sat on my other side and alternated between talking to me, David [they are close friends], the staff, and other customers he knew who passed by. As the evening progressed a few more regulars arrived; the most “unconnected” regulars I can recall seeing at one time. We were sitting along the bar, making jokes about whether the manager for the evening would let us have a lock in. None of us thought so, however the joking seemed to engender a shared identity—that we were a collective of regulars, with specialised knowledge and expectations of privileges. Perhaps it only arose because we were faced with the possibility of having those privileges refused. Or because just for once there were more than one or two of us present. Evenings like that put the effort and pain of the work I put into gaining that identity into context. (Research note, 18 June 2011) Being a Harry’s Regular Harry’s is my favourite bar in my neighbourhood. It is a small wine bar, owned by three men in their late thirties and targeted at people like them; my gentrifying inner city neighbourhood’s 20 to 40 something urban middle class. Harry’s has seats along the bar, booths inside, and a courtyard out the back. The seating arrangements mean that larger groups tend to gather outside, groups of two to four spread around the location, and people by themselves, or in groups of two, tend to sit at the bar. I usually sit at the bar. Over the three or so years I’ve been patronising Harry’s I’ve developed quite an attachment to the place. It is somewhere I feel comfortable and secure, where I have met and continue to run into other neighbourhood residents, and that I approach with an openness as to how the evening may play out. The development of this attachment and sense of ease has been a cumulative process. The combination of a slow growing familiarity punctuated by particularly memorable evenings, such as the one described above, where heightened emotions coalesce into a reflexive recognition of identification and belonging. As a result I would describe myself as an irregular regular (Katovich and Reese 317). This is because whilst my patronage is sporadic, I have a regular’s expectation of recognition, as well as an awareness of the privileges and responsibilities that this identification brings. Similar processes of identification and attachment have been described in earlier ethnographic work on regulars within bars and cafes. These have described the ways that group identifications and broader cultural roles are continually renegotiated and reinforced through social interaction, and how physical and symbolic tools, such as business layout and décor, acquired knowledge, as well as non-regulars, are utilised in this process (Anderson 33–38; Katovich and Reese 324, 328, 330; Spradley and Mann 67, 69, 84). However the continuing shifts in the manner in which consumption practices shape our experiences of the urban environment (see for example Lloyd; Zukin), and of collective identification (see for example Cova, Kozinets and Shankar), suggest that ongoing investigation in this area would be fruitful. Accordingly, this paper extends this earlier work to consider the ways this kind of regular collective identification may manifest within consumption spaces in the contemporary Western inner city. In particular this research is interested in the implications for regular identification of the urban middle class’s use of consumption spaces for socialising, and the ways this can construct social realms. These realms are not fixed within physical pieces of space, and are instead dependent on the density and proportions of the relationship types that are present (Lofland 11). Whilst recognising, as per Ash Amin (“Collective Culture and Urban Public Space” 8), that physical and symbolic elements also shape our experiences of collective identification in public spaces, this paper focuses specifically on these social elements. This is not only because it is social recognition that is at the heart of regular identification, but more significantly, because the layers of meaning that social realms produce are continually shifting with the ebb and flow of people within these spaces, potentially complicating the identification process. Understanding how these shifting social realms are experienced, and may aid or undermine identification, is thus an important aspect of understanding how regular collective identification may be experienced in the contemporary city, and the key aim of this paper. To do so, this paper draws on autoethnographic research of my consumption experiences within an Australian inner city neighbourhood, conducted from September 2009 to September 2010. Through this autoethnography I sought to explore the ways consumption spaces can support experiences of place-based community, with a particular interest in the emotional and imaginative aspects of this process. The research data drawn on here comes from detailed research memos that recorded my interactions, identifications and emotional responses within these spaces. For this paper I focus specifically on my experiences of becoming a regular at Harry’s as a means of exploring regular identification in the contemporary inner city. The Shapes of Third Places in Contemporary Inner City Harry’s could be described as my third place. This term has been used to describe public locations outside of home and work that are host to regular, voluntary, informal and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals (Oldenburg 16). These regular’s bars and locals cafés have been celebrated in research and popular culture for their perceived ability to facilitate “that easier version of friendship and congeniality that results from casual and informal affiliation” (Oldenburg 65). They are said to achieve this by offering accessible, neutral spaces, where worries and inequalities are left at the door, and spirited, playful conversation is the focus of activity (Oldenburg 25, 29, 32). This is the idealised place “where everybody knows your name.” Despite the undeniable appeal of the third place concept, these types of social and inclusive consumption spaces are more likely to be seen on television, or in property development marketing, than on the shopping streets of our neighbourhoods. Instead many consumption spaces are purely that; spaces in which individual’s consume goods and services in ways that can encourage individualism, segregation, and stifle interaction. This has been attributed to a range of factors, including planning systems that encourage single use zoning, a reliance on cars limiting our use of public places, and the proliferation of shopping centres that focus on individualised consumption and manufactured experiences (Lofland 145, 205, 218; Oldenburg 61). In addition, the fundamentals of running a successful business can also work against a consumption space’s accessibility and neutrality. This is because location, décor, product offering, pricing, competition, and advertising practices all physically and symbolically communicate a desired target audience and expected behaviour patterns that can implicitly shape customer interactions, and the meanings we attach to them (Bitner 61; Sherry 4). More subtlety, the changing lifestyle preferences of residents of gentrifying neighbourhoods such as mine, may also work as a barrier to the development of third places. Research tells us that the urban middle class is a demographic which engages in a broad range of lifestyle-based consumption activities for socialising purposes and as part of their identity construction (Lloyd 122; Zukin 7). However this is also a demographic that is said to be increasingly mobile, and thus less restricted by geographic boundaries, such as of the neighbourhood they live in (Amin, “Re-Thinking the Urban Social” 107). As I noted above, it was not often that I experienced a critical mass of regulars at Harry’s, indeed I rarely expected to. This is because whilst Harry’s target demographic would seem likely candidates for becoming regular café or bar customers, they are also likely to be socialising in a number of different cafés, bars, and restaurants across a number of different neighbourhoods in my city, thus reducing the frequency of their presence within any one particular location. Finally, even those consumption spaces that do support social interaction may still not be operating as third places. This is because this sociality can alter a space’s level of openness, through the realms that it constructs (Lofland 11). Lofland (14) describes three types of social realms: public, parochial, and private. Private realms are dominated by intimate relations, parochial realms by communal relations, and the public realm by relations with people who are only categorically known. According to this classification, the regular’s café or bar is primarily operating as a parochial realm, identifiable by the shared sense of commonality that defines the regular collective. However naming the regular identification of the third place as the product of a social realm also highlights its fragility, and suggests that instead of being reliable and able to be anticipated, that the collective identification such spaces offers is uncertain, and easily disrupted by the shifts in patronage and patterns of interaction that consumption based socialising can bring. This is fluidity is articulated in the work of Veronique Aubert-Gamet and Bernard Cova, who describe two ways consumption spaces can support public collective identification; as anchoring and exposure sites. Anchoring sites are those within which an established collective gathers to interact and reinforce their shared identity (Aubert-Gamet and Cova 40). These are parochial realms in their more closed form, and are perhaps most likely to offer the certainty of the happily anticipated gathering that Ray Oldenburg describes. However because of this they are also more likely to be exclusionary. This is because anchoring can limit collective identification to those who are recognised as community members, thus undermining the potential for openness. This openness is instead found within exposure sites, in which individuals are able to observe and engage with the identification practices of others at limited risk (Aubert-Gamet and Cova 41). This is not quite the anomie of the public street, but neither is it the security of anchoring or the third place. This is because exposure realms can offer both familiarity, such as through the stability of physical setting, and strangeness, through the transience of customers and relationships. Furthermore, by hovering at the ever shifting boundary of parochial and public realms, these moments of exposure may offer the potential for the type of spontaneous conviviality that has been proposed as the basis for fleeting collective identifications (Amin, “Collective Culture and Urban Public Space” 10; Maffesoli). That is, it may be that when a potential third place is dominated by an exposure realm, it is experienced as open and accessible, whereas when an anchoring realm dominates, the security of collective identification takes precedence. It is the potential of social interaction at the boundaries of these realms and the ways it shapes regular identification that is of interest to this paper. This is because it is in this shifting space that identifications themselves are most fluid, unpredictable, and thus open to opportunistic breaches in the patterns of interaction. This unpredictability, and the interaction strategies we adopt to negotiate it, may also suggest ways in which a certain kind of third place experience can be developed and maintained in the contemporary inner city, where consumption based socialising is high, but where people are also mobile and less tied into fixed patterns of patronage. The remainder of the paper draws on my experiences of regular identification in Harry’s to consider how this might work. Becoming a Harry’s Regular: Anchoring and the Regular Collective The Harry’s regular collective is formed from a loose social network of neighbourhood residents, variably connected through long established friendships and more recently established consumption space based acquaintances. Evenings such as the one described above work to reinforce that shared identity and the specialised knowledge that underpins it; of the quirks of the owners and staff, of our privileges and responsibilities as regulars, and of the shared cultural identity that reflects a specific aspect of the gentrifying neighbourhood in which we live. However, achieving this level of identification and belonging has not been not easy. Whilst Oldenburg suggests that to establish third place membership one mainly just turns up regularly and tries not to be obnoxious (35), my experience instead suggests it’s a slightly more complicated, and emotional process, that is not always positive. My research notes indicate that discontent, worry, and shame, were as much a feature of my interactions in Harry’s, as were moments of joy, excitement, or an optimistic feeling of connection. This paper suggests that these negative experiences often stemmed from the confusion created by the shifting realms of interaction that occurred within the bar. This is because whilst Harry’s appeared to be a regular’s bar, it more often operated as an anchoring realm for a social network linked to the owners. Many of Harry’s regulars were established friends of the owners, and their shared identity definition appeared to be based on those primary ties. Whilst over time I became acquainted with some of this social network through my patronage, their dominance of the regular group had important implications for the collective identification I was trying to achieve. It created a realm that appeared to be parochial, but often became private, through simple acts such as the arrival of additional social network members, or a staff member shifting their orientation to another, from regular customer to friend. One consequence of these shifting realms was that my perceived inability to penetrate this anchored social network led me to doubt the value and presence of a broader consumption space based regular collective. The boundaries between private, parochial, and public appeared rigid, with no potential for cumulative impacts from fleeting connections in the public realm. It also made me question my motives regarding this desire to identify as suggested here: Thinking about tonight and Kevin [an owner] and Lucas [staff member] and introductions and realising I feel a bit let down/disappointed about the lack of something from them. But I realise also that is because I am wanting something more from them than the superficial I keep on going on about. I want recognition, as a person worth knowing. And that is perhaps where the thing of doing it by yourself falls down. I have an emotional investment in it. … Linking back to my previous thoughts about being able to be placed within a social network—having that emotional certainty of being able to be identified as part of a specific social network would reinforce to ME, who I am within this place. That I had some kind of identifiable position—which is not about superficial connections at all—it’s about recognisable strong ties. (Research note, 2 February 2009) As this excerpt suggests, I struggled to appreciate the identification within my interactions in Harry’s, because I had difficulty separating my emotional need for recognition from the implication that a lack of acknowledgement beyond the superficial I theoretically expected was a social rejection. That is, I had difficulty negotiating the boundary between the parochial realm of the regular collective, and its manifestation as a more closed private realm for the anchored social network. I expected regular, voluntary, informal and happily anticipated gatherings (Oldenburg 16), instead what I got was the brief hellos and limited yet enjoyable conversations that mark the sociality of public collective identifications. It could be suggested that what I also failed to grasp here is the difference between regularity as collective and as an individual identification. It is the collective identity that is reinforced in the parochial realm, as is evident in the description that opened this paper, and yet what I hoped for was recognition as an individual, “a person worth knowing.” However as the following section will suggest, the regular identity can also be experienced, and actively embraced, as an individual identity within realms of exposure. And it is through this version of the regular identity, that this paper suggests that some kind of personal recognition is able to be achieved. Becoming a Harry’s Regular: Exposing the Regular as Individual Given the level of comfort and connection expressed within the research excerpt that opened this paper, it is clear that I overcame the uncertainty described in the previous section, and was able to establish myself within the Harry’s regular collective. This is despite, as noted above, that both the presence and openness of Harry’s regular collective was unpredictable. However, this uncertainty also created a tension that could be said to positively increase the openness of the space. This is because it challenged the predictability that can be associated with anchored regularity, and instead forced me to look outside that identity for those reliable moments of easy friendship and congeniality within realms of exposure. That is, because of the uncertainty regarding both the presence and openness of established regulars, I often turned to fleeting interactions with non-regulars to generate that sense of identification. The influence of non-regulars can be downplayed in ethnographies of cafes and bars, perhaps because they tend to be excluded from the primary group’s identifications that are being investigated. Michael Katovich and William Reese provide the most detailed description of their relevance to the regular identity when they describe how the non-regulars in the Big Derby Lounge were used as tools against which established regulars compared their position and standing, as well as being a potential pool of recruits (336). This paper argues that non-regulars are also significant because their presence alters the realms operating within the space, thus creating opportunities for interactions at those boundaries that can be identity defining. My interactions with non-regulars in Harry’s generally offered the opportunity for spirited, playful and at times quite involved conversations, in which acquired knowledge, familiarity with staff or products, or simple statements of attachment were sufficient markers to establish an experience of regular identification in the eyes of the other. Whilst at times the density of these strangers altered Harry’s realms to the extent I did not feel at home at all, they nonetheless provided an avenue through which to remedy the uncertainties created by my interactions with the anchored social network. These non-regular interactions were able to do this because they operated at the low emotional involvement but high emotional gain boundary between fleeting public realm relations, and more meaningful experiences of exposure, where shared values and identities are on display. That is, I was confirming my regular identity not through an experience of the regular collective, but through an experience of being an individual and a regular. And in each successful encounter there was also the affirmation I had unsuccessfully sought through the regular collective, the emotional certainty that I had some kind of identifiable position within that place. Conclusion: Anchoring and Exposing in the Third Place This paper has drawn from my experiences in Harry’s to explore the process of regular identification as it operates at the boundaries of social realms. This focus provides a means to explore the ways that regular collective identification may develop in the contemporary inner city, where regularity can be sporadic and consumption based socialising is common. Drawing on autoethnographic work, this paper suggests that regularity is experienced both as an individual and a collective identity, according to the nature of the realms operating within the space. Collective identification occurs in anchoring realms, and supports the established regular group, whereas individual regular identification occurs within exposure realms, and relies on recognition from willing non-regulars. Furthermore, this paper suggests it is the latter of these identifications that is the more easily achieved, because it can be experienced at the exposure boundaries of the parochial realm, a less risky and more accessible place to identify when patronage is infrequent and social realms so fluid. It is this use of non-regular relations to balance the emotional work involved in the development of anchored relationships that I believe points to the true potential of third places in the contemporary inner city. Establishing a place where everybody knows your name is improbable in this context. 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