Controlling the Discipline: Education, Intention, Assumption, Prejudice

This paper explores, from a philosophical and speculative rather than empirical perspective, and within the design disciplines in general, the complex relationships, between practice and education, and their respective assumptions and prejudices. The paper begins by characterising design education from three perspectives: first, education 'about' the discipline, in the sense of providing information that explicates the general disciplinary ‘content’ and focus; second, education 'for' the discipline, which usually accords to notions of training; and third, education as the ‘instilling’ of discipline itself, the elucidation and establishment of rigour and control. It then explores the nature of disciplinary 'for practice' education and sets out the extensive range of presumptions which often underlies the relationship between education and practice. Examining the current relationship between disciplinary education and tertiary studies, the paper looks at critical inquiry and disciplinary research, before focusing on competing institutional values and their operational and material consequences. The paper concludes with the example of architectural education's response to the demise of modernism, and at the lessons that might be learned from such educational change. Keywords: design education; design philosophy; ideology; training; disciplinarity</p

Point-Particle Effective Field Theory III: Relativistic Fermions and the Dirac Equation

We formulate point-particle effective field theory (PPEFT) for relativistic spin-half fermions interacting with a massive, charged finite-sized source using a first-quantized effective field theory for the heavy compact object and a second-quantized language for the lighter fermion with which it interacts. This description shows how to determine the near-source boundary condition for the Dirac field in terms of the relevant physical properties of the source, and reduces to the standard choices in the limit of a point source. Using a first-quantized effective description is appropriate when the compact object is sufficiently heavy, and is simpler than (though equivalent to) the effective theory that treats the compact source in a second-quantized way. As an application we use the PPEFT to parameterize the leading energy shift for the bound energy levels due to finite-sized source effects in a model-independent way, allowing these effects to be fit in precision measurements. Besides capturing finite-source-size effects, the PPEFT treatment also efficiently captures how other short-distance source interactions can shift bound-state energy levels, such as due to vacuum polarization (through the Uehling potential) or strong interactions for Coulomb bound states of hadrons, or any hypothetical new short-range forces sourced by nuclei.Comment: 29 pages plus appendices, 3 figure

Point-Particle Effective Field Theory I: Classical Renormalization and the Inverse-Square Potential

Singular potentials (the inverse-square potential, for example) arise in many situations and their quantum treatment leads to well-known ambiguities in choosing boundary conditions for the wave-function at the position of the potential's singularity. These ambiguities are usually resolved by developing a self-adjoint extension of the original problem; a non-unique procedure that leaves undetermined which extension should apply in specific physical systems. We take the guesswork out of this picture by using techniques of effective field theory to derive the required boundary conditions at the origin in terms of the effective point-particle action describing the physics of the source. In this picture ambiguities in boundary conditions boil down to the allowed choices for the source action, but casting them in terms of an action provides a physical criterion for their determination. The resulting extension is self-adjoint if the source action is real (and involves no new degrees of freedom), and not otherwise (as can also happen for reasonable systems). We show how this effective-field picture provides a simple framework for understanding well-known renormalization effects that arise in these systems, including how renormalization-group techniques can resum non-perturbative interactions that often arise, particularly for non-relativistic applications. In particular we argue why the low-energy effective theory tends to produce a universal RG flow of this type and describe how this can lead to the phenomenon of reaction {\em catalysis}, in which physical quantities (like scattering cross sections) can sometimes be surprisingly large compared to the underlying scales of the source in question. We comment in passing on the possible relevance of these observations to the phenomenon of the catalysis of baryon-number violation by scattering from magnetic monopoles.Comment: LaTeX, 20 pages plus appendi

L’éthique politique de la sécurité

L’article examine les enjeux et l’intérêt d’une application politique du principe de précaution. Ce principe peut en effet être utilisé par la théorie de la décision appliquée à la sécurité, notamment au plan international. Comment faire face à l’accroissement du risque lié aux formes modernes de conflit ? Cet accroissement tend à entraîner une technologisation et une mondialisation croissantes des réponses sécuritaires. L’incertitude liée cet accroissement du risque appelle pourtant responsabilisation des dirigeants qui ont pour devoir éthique de recourir au principe de précaution comme guide d’orientation dans l’avenir, non seulement dans le domaine environnemental ou sanitaire, mais encore dans le domaine de la sécurité publique

CRYPTOCARYON IRRITANS BROWN, 1951 (CILIOPHORA): TRANSMISSION AND IMMUNE RESPONSE IN THE MULLET CHELON LABROSUS (RISSO, 1826)

A standardised procedure was established for the laboratory maintenance of C.irritans in thick-lipped mullet. Nine isolates of C.irritans were obtained of which eight were successfully established for up to 48 weeks. Studies on individual life cycle stages with regards to longevity, viability, and susceptibility to a chemotherapeutic agent, revealed the difficulties in eradicating the cysts. Transmission of the parasite both to and from the host correlated with darkness. High infection levels resulted in the death of host fish within five days following exposure to theronts. An acquired protective immune response developed in host mullet within 14 days after exposure to sub-lethal infection. The degree of immunity appeared to relate to infection dose, and was not fully protective in all fish. Protection persisted for six months after infection and appeared specific to C.irritans. Specific antibodies to trophont antigen were identified in mullet serum but not epithelial mucus following either natural exposure to theronts or intraperitoneal immunisation with trophont antigens. Serum from intraperitoneally immunised fish caused theront immobilisation and agglutination in vitro; however no evidence was found for a protective role for specific antibody. Major polypeptides were identified and characterised by molecular weight for both trophont and theront stages using SDS-PAGE. Significant homology in major polypeptide profiles was found between C.irritans and I.multifiliis, in respect to trophonts and particularly theronts. Murine monoclonal antibodies raised to trophonts identified two polypeptide components of molecular weights 20-21kDa and 68-69kDa, the latter being homologous with host immunoglobulin heavy chain. These results are discussed in relation to future management and control strategies for cryptocaryosis in warmwater mariculture systems and aquaria

Point-Particle Effective Field Theory II: Relativistic Effects and Coulomb/Inverse-Square Competition

We apply point-particle effective field theory (PPEFT) to compute the leading shifts due to finite-size source effects in the Coulomb bound energy levels of a relativistic spinless charged particle. This is the analogue for spinless electrons of the contribution of the charge-radius of the source to these levels, and we disagree with standard calculations in several ways. Most notably we find there are two effective interactions with the same dimension that contribute to leading order in the nuclear size. One is the standard charge-radius contribution, while the other is a contact interaction whose leading contribution to $\delta E$ arises linearly in the small length scale, $\epsilon$, characterizing the finite-size effects, and is suppressed by $(Z\alpha)^5$. We argue that standard calculations miss the contributions of this second operator because they err in their choice of boundary conditions at the source for the wave-function of the orbiting particle. PPEFT predicts how this boundary condition depends on the source's charge radius, as well as on the orbiting particle's mass. Its contribution turns out to be crucial if the charge radius satisfies $\epsilon \lesssim (Z\alpha)^2 a_B$, with $a_B$ the Bohr radius, since then relativistic effects become important. We show how the problem is equivalent to solving the Schr\"odinger equation with competing Coulomb, inverse-square and delta-function potentials, which we solve explicitly. A similar enhancement is not predicted for the hyperfine structure, due to its spin-dependence. We show how the charge-radius effectively runs due to classical renormalization effects, and why the resulting RG flow is central to predicting the size of the energy shifts. We discuss how this flow is relevant to systems having much larger-than-geometric cross sections, and the possible relevance to catalysis of reactions through scattering with monopoles.Comment: LaTeX, 22 pages plus appendices, v3: revised appendices, made more precise and concise discussion about proton radius for mesonic system

Implications for the U.S. of Anglo-French Defense Cooperation

The paper analyzes, from a predominantly UK perspective, the implications for the U.S. of the November 2, 2010, Anglo-French Defence Cooperation Treaty. The current pressures on British and French defence budgets were the primary driving force behind this cooperative effort. London and Paris have made steps toward improving joint efforts in a number of areas, with defence acquisition and industrial cooperation being prominent. In the UK, there appears to be strong political support at the highest levels, which has permeated to lower levels in the bureaucracy, while the UK defence industry appears to be cautiously optimistic about future business opportunities. The impact of enhanced Anglo-French cooperation on the U.S. would appear to be largely favourable for Washington. Rather than providing a basis for weakened UK attention to the U.S., as some fear, the efforts by London and Paris will potentially generate greater national military capability from scarce resources and could serve as a vehicle for broader European efforts to enhance their defence capabilities. While multinational European military development projects are viewed with scepticism in the UK, the Anglo-French arrangement could strengthen the prospects for bilateral projects in which other European states may elect to participate

Developing a multi-pollutant conceptual framework for the selection and targeting of interventions in water industry catchment management schemes

In recent years water companies have started to adopt catchment management to reduce diffuse pollution in drinking water supply areas. The heterogeneity of catchments and the range of pollutants that must be removed to meet the EU Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) limits make it difficult to prioritise areas of a catchment for intervention. Thus conceptual frameworks are required that can disaggregate the components of pollutant risk and help water companies make decisions about where to target interventions in their catchments to maximum effect. This paper demonstrates the concept of generalising pollutants in the same framework by reviewing key pollutant processes within a source-mobilisation-delivery context. From this, criteria are developed (with input from water industry professionals involved in catchment management) which highlights the need for a new water industry specific conceptual framework. The new CaRPoW (Catchment Risk to Potable Water) framework uses the Source-Mobilisation-Delivery concept as modular components of risk that work at two scales, source and mobilisation at the field scale and delivery at the catchment scale. Disaggregating pollutant processes permits the main components of risk to be ascertained so that appropriate interventions can be selected. The generic structure also allows for the outputs from different pollutants to be compared so that potential multiple benefits can be identified. CaRPow provides a transferable framework that can be used by water companies to cost-effectively target interventions under current conditions or under scenarios of land use or climate change