COMPAS

Abstract: . This paper presents the Meso-NH model version 5.4. Meso-NH is an atmospheric non hydrostatic research model that is applied to a broad range of resolutions, from synoptic to turbulent scales, and is designed for studies of physics and chemistry. It is a limited-area model employing advanced numerical techniques, including monotonic advection schemes for scalar transport and fourth-order centered or odd-order WENO advection schemes for momentum. The model includes state-of-the-art physics parameterization schemes that are important to represent convective-scale phenomena and turbulent eddies, as well as flows at larger scales. In addition, Meso-NH has been expanded to provide capabilities for a range of Earth system prediction applications such as chemistry and aerosols, electricity and lightning, hydrology, wildland fires, volcanic eruptions, and cyclones with ocean coupling. Here, we present the main innovations to the dynamics and physics of the code since the pioneer paper of Lafore et al. (1998) and provide an overview of recent applications and couplings.

Abstract: This essay addresses the link between sex trafficking and European citizesnhip by examining several anti-trafficking campaigns launched in post-socialist Europe. In illustrating which techniques are used in the production of images, it points to the highly symbolic and stereotypical constructions of femininity (victims) and masculinity (criminals) of eastern European nationals. A close analysis of female bodies dispayed in the campaigns indicates that the use of victimizing images goes hand in hand with the erotization of women's bodies. Wounded and dead women's bodies are read as attempts to stabilize the current political and social transformations in Europe by capturing women within the highly immobile boundaries of the sign 'Woman'. The essay suggests that the representation of violence is thus violent itself since it confirms the stereotypes about eastern European women, equates the feminine with the passive object, severs the body from its materiality and from the historical context in which trafficking occurs, and finally confines women within the highly disabling symbolic register of 'Woman' as to maintain an imaginary social order in Europe.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the ethical issues arising for researchers engaged in the study of irregular migration. Based on the authors' research experiences, the paper goes beyond analysis of ethical dilemmas and aims to provide some guidance to researchers in this field. Irregular migration is by definition an elusive phenomenon as it takes place in violation of the law and at the margins of society. The very nature of this phenomenon raises important issues, including the sensitivity and vulnerability of the research subjects and a whole series of other ethical issues to be addressed both when conducting fieldwork with irregular migrants and also at the later stage of data analysis, processing and dissemination. The paper first considers various methods in researching irregular migration and defines research ethics. It then discusses the differences between sensitivity and vulnerability and their particular implications for irregular migration research. Next, the paper looks at the ethical challenges arising from fieldwork and discusses the sensitive issues involved in the relationship between researcher, irregular migrant and society. Finally, it discusses the question of disseminating findings (both qualitative and quantitative) to wider audiences. In conclusion, we highlight the key points that we consider to be important when studying irregular migrant populations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: Three tower blocks and three low-rise blocks: nearly a hundred languages and over a hundred countries of origin. A council estate in a super-diverse neighbourhood is not only a space of concentrated difference and division, but also an intercultural space where new modes of living together emerge. At the same time, it is connected in an increasing number of ways with various outsides which make its internal space more complex. This article is based on a long-term collaborative research programme that included commissioned local policy research, academic ethnography and an artistic visual collaboration. It argues that multiple research strategies, including radically collaborative modes of inquiry, are required to represent the multiple, incommensurate perspectives co-present in the dense urban space of the estate.