Systems practice and the design of learning systems: orchestrating an ecological conversation

Human beings live in language and only they can take responsibility for how they think and act. So what understandings of response are possible? The relationship between responsibility and response-abilty is explored in the light of emerging critiques of the prevailing Western attitude to reason, viz: Lakoff and Johnson's (1999) fundamental challenge to prevailing models of Western thought. They argue that reason (on which much practice is built, including research practice) is: (i) not disembodied, but arises from the nature of our brains, bodies and bodily experience; (ii) evolutionary, in that abstract reason builds on and makes use of perceptual and motor inference present in 'lower' animals; (iii) is not universal in the transcendent sense but rather universal in that it is a capacity all humans share; (iv) mostly unconscious; (v) largely metaphorical and imaginative and (vi) not dispassionate but emotionally engaged. Systems practice is introduced as a means to orchestrate a particular type of conversation; it is also an ecological conversation. As a species our unique selling point is that we can engage in conversation. In the process we bring forth both ourselves and our world. To converse is to turn together, to dance, and thus an ecological conversation is a tango of responsibility. A conversation is inventive, unpredictable and is always particularizing to place and people. Drawing on experiences of teaching systems thinking and practice for environmental decision making a praxiology is outlined for stakeholder responsibility and response-ability. It is argued that capacity building in systemic inquiry and the design of learning systems are central to this praxiology

Phenomenological analysis of angular correlations in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions from the CMS experiment

A phenomenological analysis is presented of recent two-particle angular correlation data on relative pseudorapidity ($\eta$) and azimuth reported by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration for $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions. The data are described with an empirical jet-like model developed for similar angular correlation measurements obtained from heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The same-side (small relative azimuth), $\eta$-extended correlation structure, referred to as the {\em ridge}, is compared with three phenomenological correlation structures suggested by theoretical analysis. These include additional angular correlations due to soft gluon radiation in $2 \rightarrow 3$ partonic processes, a one-dimensional same-side correlation ridge on azimuth motivated for example by color-glass condensate models, and an azimuth quadrupole similar to that required to describe heavy ion angular correlations. The quadrupole model provides the best overall description of the CMS data, including the ridge, based on $\chi^2$ minimization in agreement with previous studies. Implications of these results with respect to possible mechanisms for producing the CMS same-side correlation ridge are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Techniques for Providing Outstanding Customer Service

Providing exceptional customer service should be one of the primary goals for all academic libraries. However, with the day- to- day interruptions, librarians sometimes forget all about customer service. By developing a Customer Service Task Force, Penfield Library has been able to develop a number of projects in the past two years to greatly improve its reputation. Such methods as surveys and small and large focus groups were conducted to determine what projects needed to be addressed. Tips and tricks to providing quality customer service in a small college/university library are also presented

Superconductivity and Dirac Fermions in 112-phase Pnictides

This article reviews the status of current research on the 112-phase of pnictides. The 112-phase has gained augmented attention due to the recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in \cl with a maximum critical temperature \tc\sim 47\,K upon Sb substitution. The structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of \cl bear some similarities with other superconducting pnictide phases, however, the different valence states of the pnictogen and the presence of a metallic spacer layer are unique features of the 112-system. Low-temperature superconductivity which coexists with antiferromagnetic order was observed in transition metal (Ni, Pd) deficient 112-compounds like \cn, \lpb, \lps, \lns. Besides superconductivity, the presence of naturally occurring anisotropic Dirac Fermionic states were observed in the layered 112-compounds \smb, \cmb, \lab which are of significant interest for future nanoelectronics as an alternative to graphene. In these compounds, the linear energy dispersion resulted in a high magnetoresistance that stayed unsaturated even at the highest applied magnetic fields. Here, we describe various 112-type materials systems combining experimental results and theoretical predictions to stimulate further research on this less well-known member of the pnictide family.Comment: 18 pages, 20 figure

How to Sample Soil for Testing

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A Renormalization Group for Dynamical Triangulations in Arbitrary Dimensions

A block spin renormalization group approach is proposed for the dynamical triangulation formulation of quantum gravity in arbitrary dimensions. Renormalization group flow diagrams are presented for the three-dimensional and four-dimensional theories near their respective transitions.Comment: 18 pages, 6 postscript figures, revte