The many faces of unification and pluralism in economics: The case of Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis.

The history of modern economics abounds with pleas for more pluralism as well as pleas for more unification. These seem to be contradictory goals, suggesting that pluralism and unification are mutually exclusive, or at least that they involve trade-offs with more of one necessarily being traded off against less of the other. This paper will use the example of Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis (1947) to argue that the relationship between pluralism and unification is often more complex than this simple dichotomy suggests. In particular, Samuelson's Foundations is invariably presented as a key text in the unification of modern economics during the middle of the twentieth century; and in many ways that is entirely correct. But Samuelson's unification was not at the theoretical (causal and explanatory) level, but rather at the purely mathematical derivational level. Although this fact is recognized in the literature on Samuelson, what seems to be less recognized is that for Samuelson, much of the motivation for this unification was pluralist in spirit: not to narrow scientific economics into one single theory, but rather to allow for more than one theory to co-exist under a single unified derivational technique. This hidden pluralism will be discussed in detail. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for more recent developments in economics.

The influence of content, task and sensory interaction on multimedia quality perception.

Human sensory interaction plays an important (but not yet fully understood) role in determining how individuals interact with the world around them. There are numerous types of sensory interaction and this paper examines the interaction of the auditory and visual senses for viewers of multimedia systems. This paper addresses two questions: first, does perception of quality in one modality affect the perception of quality in the other modality and, second, does focusing attention towards one modality affect the viewer's ability to detect errors in the other modality? The perception of audio quality and video quality are closely linked for certain multimedia content. To investigate this relationship, two experiments were conducted where participants were presented with multimedia content where varying distortion had been introduced into both the auditory and visual streams. Participants were asked to state their opinion of the audio, video or overall quality using a standardized scale. Results and subsequent statistical analysis showed that subjective audio quality varied with the video quality and vice versa. Furthermore, when a participant was attending to just one modality, they were less sensitive to reduced quality in the other modality.

Performance of industrial mist collectors over time.

Effective, economical control of metalworking fluid mists at the source is important, because exposure to these mists may cause adverse health effects. This study investigated performance changes over time for industrial collectors that removed metalworking fluid mist in the laboratory and in a transmission plant. Aerosizers were used to measure the efficiency of each stage in several multistage collectors as a function of mist droplet diameter, for up to one year of continuous operation. Metal-mesh, first-stage filters operated at low pressure drops and were effective at removing droplets larger than 3 to 5 microns in diameter. Some second-stage filters worked better than others. Both "65 percent" and "95 percent" cartridge filters failed after only a few weeks; their efficiencies decreased substantially over that time. Pocket filters and cylindrical cartridges used as second-stage filters also decreased in efficiency for submicron droplets. Whereas filters for solid particles load continuously to form a dust cake that increases efficiency, mist filters form no cake and load only to the point where collection equals drainage. As a mist filter loads, the interstitial gas velocity increases, so that efficiency decreases for small droplets that collect by diffusion. Although a third-stage 95 percent DOP filter showed important decreases in efficiency over time for submicron droplets, third-stage HEPA filters operated with efficiencies that consistently approaches 100 percent for droplets of all sizes, even after one year of operation. These results suggest that the performance of second-stage filters can be improved if they can be made to drain collected liquid more effectively. For high efficiency, mist collectors should use a HEPA filter as a final stage.

Comparison of metalworking fluid mist exposures from machining with different levels of machine enclosure.

This research investigated the efficacy of machine enclosures in reducing employee exposures to metalworking fluid mist. Four hundred fifty-five personal samples from automotive machining and grinding operations collected over six years were divided into three groups based on the type and extent of enclosure and local exhaust ventilation. The sample groups were (1) machining equipment with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) total enclosures and local exhaust ventilation, (2) machining equipment with partial or retrofit enclosures and local exhaust ventilation, and (3) machining equipment with little or no enclosure. The results of the Mann Whitney U test of the three data sets indicated that the employees operating equipment with OEM enclosures had significantly lower exposures than employees operating equipment that had either of the other two control methods. There was no difference between the exposures of operators of equipment with retrofit enclosures compared to operators of equipment without enclosures. The median exposure for operators of equipment with OEM enclosures was 0.21 mg/m3, about half that found with the other two control methods. Each of the data sets was compared to exposure criteria; 100% of the exposures associated with OEM enclosures were below 1.0 mg/m3, and 90% of the exposures were below 0.5 mg/m3. The other two methods were not as effective as OEM in reducing exposure to below these criteria. These results indicate that OEM enclosures provide the most effective control of metalworking fluid mist exposure.

Basic values are what this country needs.

Glenn Miles is right when he says we in the UK need to be aware of the dangers of losing our Christian heritage to 'other gods' (Spreading the word, Viewpoint, June 15).

IHF study tour: a lesson in Swedish.

The International Health Federation paid its first visit to Sweden in June. The study tour, which involved 35 people from 15 countries, spent ten days studying Swedish health care with the particular brief--'Co-ordinating health services within a region". Here David Hands, assistant director, Kings Fund Centre, describes the tour which was organised by the Swedish Hospital Association and the Swedish Planning and Rationalisation Institute in conjunction with the National Board for Health and Welfare, and the Federation of Swedish County Councils.