Prevention of mother-to-child transmission outcomes in the private sector in central Durban

The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme in the central region of Ethekweni Metro, KwaZulu-Natal (Durban central area), was investigated. Data for all HIV-exposed infants from eight private paediatric practices seen between January 2004 and June 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. One hundred and one black African infants were born to 100 HIV-positive women of average age 30 years. Median viral loads and CD4 counts were 11 391 copies/ml and 426 cells/μl, respectively. Eighty-six women received HAART and 5 had no prophylaxis. Of the 92 infants tested, 2 were HIV positive, giving a transmission rate of 2.2%. Both their mothers had received suboptimal prophylaxis, and if they are excluded, the transmission rate falls to less than 1%, a rate consistent with those in the developed world

Fixperts : models, learning and social contexts

Fixperts is a learner-centred, creative-problem-solving and project-based learning programme. In a Fixperts project, participants (Fixperts) team-up with an insight provider (Fix Partner) to identify a daily problem in the Fix Partner’s life that becomes the focus of a project aimed at delivering a solution or Fix. This paper introduces four pedagogic models developed via delivery of Fixperts projects at leading international design universities. It presents four approaches to the challenge of moving from the Person, to the Problem, to the Fix. These four models – Primary, Partnership, Community, Public - represent the evolution of the Fixperts framework to better enable the development of students as confident and empathetic socially-led designers. Fixperts builds competencies which are predicted to become essential to an ability to thrive in our increasingly uncertain future

Experimental Design Concepts for footwear

An intensive two day workshop convened three teams each made up of leading footwear designers, NHS foot clinicians and a design partner - a woman living with RA - in order to brainstorm breakthrough concepts for footwear. Their brief was to design an innovative ‘social occasion’ shoe for women that could accommodate foot damage associated with RA, be perceived as attractive and fashionable by wearers, and be suitable for mass production. The workshop aimed to raise awareness of key issues among shoe designers, manufacturers and clinical practitioners, to enable the design and provision of footwear for mobility, comfort and style, in both prescription and mainstream contexts. The challenge of the brief created a unique focus for the exchange of expertise between medicine and fashion, including the everyday experiences of marginalised shoe wearers. A large volume of experimental design material was created, along with digital documentation of final outcomes produced by each team. Several original shoe concepts were developed, which integrated e.g: modular forms and components, additional capacity for orthotics and shock absorption, experimental use of materials and construction for ease of putting on and removing, fastening mechanisms, heel adaptations, decorative and visual styling concepts

Critical user forums - an effective user research method for inclusive design

Inclusive or universal design is about designing more accessible products and services for the widest possible range of users, regardless of age and capabilities. It requires better understanding and empathy with all potential users. Traditional user research methods are limited in accommodating a wide range of users and hence there is a need to find more appropriate methods of user research for inclusive design. This paper describes a method called ?Critical User Forums' which involves direct interaction between design teams and a mixed group of users with severe disabilities. The evaluation of the effectiveness of this method for inclusive design is based on the interviews of eight UK design consultancies that took part in a design competition, emphasising inclusive design and involving users, known as the ?DBA Design Challenge?. The contribution of critical users to the DBA projects is discussed and the design teams? viewpoints on such user involvement in the process are investigated. The paper concludes that Critical User Forums provide an ideal chance for designers to understand a wider range of users through direct interaction with them, thus helping designers build empathy with all potential users

Development and integration of a capacitive sensor in a pleated woven structure using Tango chirimen production methods

This case study is an example of ongoing collaborative initiatives between the Kyoto Prefectural Institute for Northern Industry, Kyoto, Japan working with the international network created by the annual Textiles Summer School (Cassim et al, 2017)1 in Kyoto initiated and directed by Julia Cassim to explore new weave and product possibilities using the weave, yarn and technology of Tango chirimen crêpe, a traditional kimono fabric from Kyoto and the Japanese Jacquard loom. Written from a technical standpoint, it centres on the challenges of interpreting and realising the concept of the lead designer / educator to create a hybrid silk fabric with a pleated structure with integrated conductive fibre to allow the textile to be used as a capacitive sensor. Inspired by Issey Miyake’s ‘Pleats, Please!’ exhibition, this fabric was linked to an electric circuit and became an interactive system that changes pre-recorded sound according to the expansion and contraction of the pleats. The collaboration was facilitated exclusively online with all parties sharing ideas and the results of parallel prototyping through hybrid methods, which we designate as an “interpretative collaboration.” Lectures, instructional and contextual videos created for the Textiles Summer School 2022 (TSS 2022) were provided while academic papers, translated communication, and drawings were used to address the details of the project and supported the dialogue between parties which was facilitated by Cassim and the TSS 2022 team. Apart from the woven samples, a zine-like publication will be available to students interested in understanding the principles of e-textiles capacitance.</p