  The effect of large scales on the statistics and dynamics of turbulent
fluctuations is studied using data from high resolution direct numerical
simulations. Three different kinds of forcing, and spatial resolutions ranging
from 256^3 to 1024^3, are being used. The study is carried out by investigating
the nonlinear triadic interactions in Fourier space, transfer functions,
structure functions, and probability density functions. Our results show that
the large scale flow plays an important role in the development and the
statistical properties of the small scale turbulence. The role of helicity is
also investigated. We discuss the link between these findings and
intermittency, deviations from universality, and possible origins of the
bottleneck effect. Finally, we briefly describe the consequences of our results
for the subgrid modeling of turbulent flows.
