Senior Recital: Benjamin Dralle

Kemp Recital HallOctober 23, 2011Sunday Evening6:00 p.m

EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF BENEFITS AND BARRIERS OF THE INCLUSION OF CODING IN K-8 CURRICULUM: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

The 21st century has seen a rapid growth in technological use in schools. Many schools now use computers and other digital devices in order to meet the academic needs of their students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the benefits and barriers that K-8 educators experienced when integrating or teaching coding curriculum in their classrooms. This qualitative phenomenological study, informed by the Zais model of curriculum design (1976), Johnson (1977), and Beauchamp’s curriculum theory (1968), involved data collection through semi-structured interviews with six K-8 teachers, one instructional leader, one middle school principal, one assistant superintendent, and one superintendent, as well as completing a focus group with five participants. A document analysis that examined the coding curriculum and processes of the school was also completed. The results of the study found five themes that emerged from the data set that highlighted instances of how coding is integrated and taught in the classroom, the benefits associated with coding, the barriers associated with coding, and how K-8 educators overcame barriers that were experienced during the process

A method for obtaining a uniform electric field

"Reprinted from 1966 IEEE International Convention Record, Part 7.""Electric field meters are used for the measurement of the electric field at the surface of the earth, on airplanes and on satellites. For research work and calibration of the meters, a uniform electric field facility is necessary. The accessibility of the usual parallel plane configuration is very poor, so it was decided to investigate the possibilities of two and four-ring systems to produce very uniform electric fields. An analysis of these systems was made and the results are presented as tables and curves of the geometrical dimensions, the charge ratio, and size of the volume of uniformity.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2: achievements and current challenges

Incremental advances in medical technology, such as the development of sensitive hormonal assays for routine clinical care, are the drivers of medical progress. This principle is exemplified by the creation of the concept of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, encompassing medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytoma, and primary hyperparathyroidism, which did not emerge before the early 1960s

Surgical Approach of Synchronous Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma and Pheochromocytoma in MEN 2 Syndrome

In cases with concurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and pheochromocytoma, discussion regarding a one-stage versus two-stage treatment strategy approach remains open. From 1975 to 1990, 11 of 25 multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) patients presented with biendocrinopathies or triendocrinopathies synchronously. All patients were treated surgically and followed subsequently in our hospital. Of the group of nine patients with concurrent MTC and pheochromocytoma, five were treated in one-stage and four in two-stage procedures. No patient had major complications intraoperatively. For the two-stage group, the total hospital stay (preoperatively and postoperatively) averaged 35 days. For the one-stage group, the total hospital stay averaged 25 days. In patients with increased operative risks (patients with higher age and impaired physical condition or if neck surgery includes transstemal cervicomediastinal lymphadenectomy), two-stage procedures should be selected. However, in young patients with the MEN 2 syndrome or syndromes with small tumors detected by family screening, thyroidectomy, cervical lymphadenectomy, and adrenalectomy may be performed in a one-stage procedure without increasing surgically related morbidity

Progress towards the pyrrolizidine alkaloid xenovenine (223H) via hydroamination.

Master of Science in Chemistry.Many natural products, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals possess carbon-nitrogen bonds and thus the formation of such bonds is of great importance. Pyrrolizidine, indolizidine, quinolizidine and lehmizidine alkaloid skeletons all contain C–N bonds and are potentially accessible via a general synthetic route utilising hydroamination. The synthesis of the biologically active nitrogen containing pyrrolizidine alkaloid xenovenine 4 isolated from Solenopsis cryptic thief ants and Dendrobates poison dart frogs was attempted. One of the key intermediates, ethyl 2-[(5R)-5-methyltetrahydro-2Hpyrrol- 2-ylidene]acetate 127, was successfully synthesised in 7 steps from (S)-pyroglutamic acid through a lactim ether intermediate. The pivotal ring forming ZnCl2 catalysed 5-exo-dig hydroamination was unfortunately not attempted after the failed C-propargylation of ethyl 2-[(5R)-5- methyltetrahydro-2H-pyrrol-2-ylidene]acetate 127

Modelling volatility in financial time series.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.The objective of this dissertation is to model the volatility of financial time series data using ARCH, GARCH and stochastic volatility models. It is found that the ARCH and GARCH models are easy to fit compared to the stochastic volatility models which present problems with respect to the distributional assumptions that need to be made. For this reason the ARCH and GARCH models remain more widely used than the stochastic volatility models. The ARCH, GARCH and stochastic volatility models are fitted to four data sets consisting of daily closing prices of gold mining companies listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange. The companies are Anglo Gold Ashanti Ltd, DRD Gold Ltd, Gold Fields Ltd and Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd. The best fitting ARCH and GARCH models are identified along with the best error distribution and then diagnostics are performed to ensure adequacy of the models. It was found throughout that the student-t distribution was the best error distribution to use for each data set. The results from the stochastic volatility models were in agreement with those obtained from the ARCH and GARCH models. The stochastic volatility models are, however, restricted to the form of an AR(1) process due to the complexities involved in fitting higher order models

Sexism in children\u27s picture books

This researcher analyzed thirty-eight Caldecott and New York Time Choice of Best Illustrated Children\u27s Books of the Year from 1985-1990 by means of a checklist to determine if 1) twice as many male characters will be pictured or refered to than females 2) female characters will exhibit twice as many passive traits than do male characters 3) male characters will be portrayed in three times as many careers 4) females will be shown twice as often in domestic/nurturing roles as males 5) male characters will be shown in twice as many instances caring for and protecting female characters than being cared for and protected by female characters 6) award-winning books from 1985 to 1990 will show twice as many characters of both sexes have the possibility to reach their full human potential than in the Weitzman et al. study of Caldecott Award winners done in 1972. Data results led to acceptance of Hypotheses 2 and 6 and the rejection of Hypotheses 1 ,,3, 4, and 5

Catchment Processes Can Amplify the Effect of Increasing Rainfall Variability

By filtering the incoming climate signal when producing streamflow, river basins can attenuate—or amplify—projected increases in rainfall variability. A common perception is that river systems dampen rainfall variability by averaging spatial and temporal variations in their watersheds. However, by analyzing 671 watersheds throughout the United States, we find that many catchments actually amplify the coefficient of variation of rainfall, and that these catchments also likely amplify changes in rainfall variability. Based on catchment-scale water balance principles, we relate that faculty to the interplay between two fundamental hydrological processes: water uptake by vegetation and the storage and subsequent release of water as discharge. By increasing plant water uptake, warmer temperatures might exacerbate the amplifying effect of catchments. More variable precipitations associated with a warmer climate are therefore expected to lead to even more variable river flows—a significant potential challenge for river transportation, ecosystem sustainability and water supply reliability