The impact of the neoliberal technological epoch and Covid-19 on the decolonization of the university curriculum

In this article we will argue that South Africa’s capitalist neoliberal agenda for higher education, where the focus is on the shift from a knowledge economy to a digital economy, will choke the life of indigenous knowledge out of the university curriculum. To support this claim the article discusses, firstly, the impact of the core neoliberal ideals on the university curriculum landscape. Secondly, drawing on the scholarly work of Martin Heidegger and his anticipation of the spirit of the time in the technological epoch, the article shows how humans in this era will be viewed as a heap of fungible raw materials, resources, or standing reserve (Bestand) awaiting optimisation. In this technological age knowledge is subject to the demands of the market, where the focus will be exclusively on knowledge that has a utilitarian value in and impact on the technological epoch. A direct consequence of this is that little space will be provided for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in the curriculum

Universal neural field computation

Turing machines and G\"odel numbers are important pillars of the theory of computation. Thus, any computational architecture needs to show how it could relate to Turing machines and how stable implementations of Turing computation are possible. In this chapter, we implement universal Turing computation in a neural field environment. To this end, we employ the canonical symbologram representation of a Turing machine obtained from a G\"odel encoding of its symbolic repertoire and generalized shifts. The resulting nonlinear dynamical automaton (NDA) is a piecewise affine-linear map acting on the unit square that is partitioned into rectangular domains. Instead of looking at point dynamics in phase space, we then consider functional dynamics of probability distributions functions (p.d.f.s) over phase space. This is generally described by a Frobenius-Perron integral transformation that can be regarded as a neural field equation over the unit square as feature space of a dynamic field theory (DFT). Solving the Frobenius-Perron equation yields that uniform p.d.f.s with rectangular support are mapped onto uniform p.d.f.s with rectangular support, again. We call the resulting representation \emph{dynamic field automaton}.Comment: 21 pages; 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1204.546

IMPACT OF SMALL COLUMN ION EXCHANGE STREAMS ON DWPF GLASS FORMULATION MELT RATE STUDIES

This study was undertaken to evaluate the potential impacts of the Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) streams - particularly the addition of Monosodium Titanate (MST) and Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) - on the melt rate of simulated feed for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Additional MST was added to account for contributions from the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) Melt Rate Furnace (MRF) was used to evaluate four melter feed compositions: two with simulated SCIX and SWPF material and two without. The Slurry-fed Melt Rate Furnace (SMRF) was then used to compare two different feeds: one with and one without bounding concentrations of simulated SCIX and SWPF material. Analyses of the melter feed materials confirmed that they met their targeted compositions. Four feeds were tested in triplicate in the MRF. The linear melt rates were determined by using X-ray computed tomography to measure the height of the glass formed along the bottom of the beakers. The addition of the SCIX and SWPF material reduced the average measured melt rate by about 10% in MRF testing, although there was significant scatter in the data. Two feeds were tested in the SMRF. It was noted that the ground CST alone (ground CST with liquid in a bucket) was extremely difficult to resuspend during preparation of the feed with material from SCIX and SWPF. This feed was also more difficult to pump than the material without MST and CST due to settling occurring in the melter feed line, although the yield stress of both feeds was high relative to the DWPF design basis. Steady state feeding conditions were maintained for about five hours for each feed. There was a reduction in the feed and pour rates of approximately 15% when CST and MST were added to the feed, although there was significant scatter in the data. Analysis of samples collected from the SMRF pour stream showed that the composition of the glass changed as expected when MST and CST were added to the feed. These reductions in melt rate are consistent with previous studies that showed a negative impact of increased TiO{sub 2} concentrations on the rate of melting. The impact of agitating the melt pool via bubbling was not studied as part of this work, but may be of interest for further testing. It is recommended that additional melt rate testing be performed should a potential reduction in melt rate of 10-15% be considered an issue of concern, or should the anticipated composition of the glass with the addition of material from salt waste processing be modified significantly from the current projections, either due to changes in sludge batch preparation or changes in the composition or volume of SCIX and SWPF material