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Transcription of the conversation with Ian McEwan that took place at the Centro de Estudios Püblicos on September 8, 2009. In the interview, directed by Arturo Fontaine and David Gallagher, and then during the exchange with the audience, the distinguished English writer discussed a variety of subjects and addressed significant aspects of literary creation. He provided his opinion on the relationship between fiction, reality and ideas and on the moral dimension in works of fiction. He discussed the validity of novels today, warning of the danger in the current trend to write mainly about emotional states and from a very subjective point of view. He also explored his own process of literary creation, the development of plots and of characters. Among other topics, he gave his opinion on the achievements that an educational system must attain and the importance of integral formation that includes both the sciences as well as arts and humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional simulations of the unsteady saltation process show that the transport rate's response depends on the amplitude and frequency of the wind fluctuations. At frequencies higher than f ~075 Hz the transport rate was found not to respond to the wind changes. The initial overshoot reported by previous investigators was found not to appear for simulation heights smaller than 50 to 60 cm. This is due tothe fast propagation of the grains' influence upward in the flow andthe immediate deceleration of the wind. Confirmation of these findings comes from reports of experiments conducted in wind tunnels of different sizes. Further test calculations show that the discretization time step size Delta t has an influence on the model's temporal behaviour. The reason for this is the better coupling of the wind-sand system when a smaller Delta t is used. The implications of bed area choice on the statistical accuracy of predicted transport rate is also demonstrated. In the one-dimensional case the grain cloud's total forward momentum equals transport rate, which is independent of model geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-dimensional numerical model of the saltation process was developed on a parallel computer in order to investigate the temporal behaviour of transport rate as well as its downwind distribution. Resultsshow that the effects of unsteady flow on the transportation of particulates (sediment) have to be considered in two spatial dimensions (x, y). Transport rate Q(x, t) appears in the transport equation for mass M(x, t): (1/A)(deltaM/deltat)=(-deltaQ/deltax)+S where A = deltaxW denotes unit area composed of unit streamwise length deltax and width W. S(x, t) (units kg m-2 s-1) stands for thebalance over the splash process. A transport equation for transport rate itself (deltaQ/deltat)=(-Uc (deltaQ/deltax))-Q(deltaUc/deltax)+((de lta/deltat)(deltaxS))is suggested with Uc (x, t) a mean particle velocity at location x as the characteristic velocity of the grain cloud. For a steadily blowing wind over a 50 m long sediment bed it was found that downwind changes in Q cease after roughly 10-40 m, depending on the strength of the wind. Theonset of stationarity (delta/deltat=0) was found to be a function ofthe friction velocity and location. The local equilibrium between transport rate and wind was obtained at different times for different downstream locations. Two time scales were found. One fast response (in the order of 1) to incipient wind and a longer time for equilibriumto be reached throughout the simulation length. Transport rate also has different equilibrium values at different locations. A series of numerical experiments was conducted to determine a propagation speed of the grain cloud. It was found that this velocity relates linearly to friction velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national collaborative has been launched in Canada to spread and scale up the Paramedics Providing Palliative Care model. This builds on the knowledge that paramedics in the 9-1-1 (emergency/unscheduled) and scheduled models of care are both historically and currently asked by the public to provide urgent symptom relief within the context of a palliative approach, and that approximately 40% of dying people visit the emergency department in the last two weeks of life despite 70% wishing to die at home. A model of care including a palliative care clinical practice guideline or protocol, specific training, and a mechanism for sharing of goals of care, has been proven to improve the palliative and end of life experience for patients with palliative care needs and their families. It increases the comfort and confidence of paramedics and has benefits to the broader health system. Meaningful and very broad stakeholder engagement and inter-sectoral collaboration is absolutely essential to the success of this innovative approach to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper briefly outlines the double-averaging methodology for studying environmental rough-bed flows. It focuses on the applications of this methodology in environmental hydraulics by providing several examples illustrating advantages of this methodology over conventional approaches. Examples include: (1) identification of specific flow layers and flow types; (2) vertical distribution of the double-averaged velocity between the roughness tops and troughs; (3) vertical distribution of momentum fluxes and sinks for typical roughness types due to turbulence, mean flow heterogeneity, secondary currents, form drag, and viscous drag; (4) estimates of form-induced (dispersive) stresses and evaluation of their structure using quadrant analysis; and (5) closure development for mass-transfer-uptake processes for stream periphyton. These examples illustrate the advantages of the double-averaging methodology over conventional approaches as well as highlight its potential for studying flows over very rough beds, highly mobile beds, permeable beds, and surface–subsurface exchanges of mass, heat, and momentum. This methodology may also significantly improve research tools for studying a wide range of flow–biota interaction phenomena such as those related to aquatic plants, mussel communities, biofilms, and many others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable isotope ratios of H, C, and O are powerful indicators of a wide variety of planetary geophysical processes, and for Mars they reveal the record of loss of its atmosphere and subsequent interactions with its surface such as carbonate formation. We report in situ measurements of the isotopic ratios of D/H and (18)O/(16)O in water and (13)C/(12)C, (18)O/(16)O, (17)O/(16)O, and (13)C(18)O/(12)C(16)O in carbon dioxide, made in the martian atmosphere at Gale Crater from the Curiosity rover using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)'s tunable laser spectrometer (TLS). Comparison between our measurements in the modern atmosphere and those of martian meteorites such as ALH 84001 implies that the martian reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established ~4 billion years ago, but that atmospheric loss or surface interaction may be still ongoing.

A discrete particle model is described which simulates bedload transport over a flat bed of a unimodal mixed-sized distribution of particles. Simple physical rules are applied to large numbers of discrete sediment grains moving within a unidirectional flow. The modelling assumptions and main algorithms of the bedload transport model are presented and discussed. Sediment particles are represented by smooth spheres, which move under the drag forces of a simulated fluid flow. Bedload mass-transport rates calculated by the model exhibit a low sensitivity to chosen model parameters. Comparisons of the calculated mass-transport rates with well-established empirical relationships are good, strongly suggesting that the discrete particle model has captured the essential elements of the system physics. This performance provides strong justification for future interrogation of the model to investigate details of the small-scale constituent processes which have hitherto been outside the reach of previous experimental and modelling investigations.