"Learnerships - an informal learning experience" : an inquiry into the impact of informal learning on learnerships in the footwear industry.

Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.The Skills Development Act (97 of 1988) introduced a new approach to the development of workrelated skills in South Africa. This Act provided the legal underpinnings for learnerships, which include both structured work experience (Le. a practical component) and instructional learning (i.e. a theory learning component). Learnerships are offered in an accredited workplace environment and culminate in a qualification that is registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Research studies support the view that informal learning accounts for over 75%-90% of the learning that takes place in organizations today. Although the majority of learning that occurs in the workplace is informal, little is, however, known about how such learning is best supported, encouraged and developed in a learnership programme. The impact of informal learning on learnerships must be seen as an essential ingredient for effective workplace skills programmes and the advancement of skills acquisition leading to qualifications and career planning resulting in a highly skilled workforce. This research study was prompted by the perception that the majority of workers in the footwear industry have a low formal educational level and are either non-skilled or semi-skilled, financial sustainability of the footwear industry and global competition. Learnerships are perceived to be a creative vehicle whereby workers are able to acquire basic production and manufacturing skills in the workplace through a Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather (CTFL) learnership programme. This research study explores the factors in an education and training environment that enhance or inhibit informal learning opportunities and how these factors shape or impede informal learning, thus impacting on the performance of learners in a footwear learnership programme. Although no single theoretical framework of informal learning exists, this research study was informed and underpinned by the theoretical models of various experts in the field of informal 7 learning. Using an interpretivist paradigm the researcher opted to study the implementation of learnerships at one accredited training provider in the footwear industry. Data collection instruments provided rich, detailed qualitative data using semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis within a case study approach. The findings of this study identified a number of overarching factors that enhanced or impeded informal learning in a footwear learnership programme that also impacted on the performance of learners

Novel Reduced GWP Refrigerant Compositions for Stationary Air Conditioning

The current fluids most widely used for small and mid-sized air conditioning systems globally are R-410A and R-22. While these fluids have many positive attributes for cooling, they are the subject of valid criticisms regarding their high direct global warming potential (GWP) and, in the case of R-22, ozone depletion potential (ODP) also. In the interest of improved environmental sustainability, a new class of refrigerant molecule has been developed, the hydrofluoroolefin, or HFO. While the very low direct GWP values of these molecules are attractive, none of the HFOs by themselves are fully satisfactory for use in conventional stationary AC system designs, for reasons of concern about low capacity and flammability. Blended refrigerant candidates have been developed to provide better overall safety and performance, while retaining significant environmental sustainability properties versus the legacy refrigerants. There is as yet no universal agreement on what are the most critical properties for air conditioning fluids. No single candidate has yet been developed that meets every proposed requirement for a refrigerant fluid. This paper discusses three candidate fluids that have been developed to meet three of the most often cited sets of environmental, physical and performance properties for air conditioning. Each of these candidate fluids possesses desirable, but different sets of properties. The trade-offs and relative performance and environmental merits of each will be discussed. The three fluids vary in direct GWP values, flammability, capacity, and critical temperature. One is a 2L flammable gas that gives capacity performance near that of R-410A. One is a nonflammable composition for use to replace R-22 in high ambient temperature environments. The third is a 2L flammable replacement for R-22 with a direct GWP of less than 150. In designing and evaluating these new compositions, the trade-offs that exist between refrigeration capacity, efficiency (COP), temperature glide, GWP value, and flammability have been explored and assessed. We report on the comparisons of these compositions in AC measurement and modeling work. The new compositions have been evaluated with thermodynamic refrigeration cycle models at standard AC conditions, and at high ambient temperature operating conditions, and show good performance. Testing is underway to evaluate performance of these new compositions in laboratory equipment and in actual operating systems, as compared to R-22 performance in the same or similar systems. The status of the testing and some results generated to date will be reported in this paper. These new compositions should provide useful options to help maintain the quality of life and health benefits that accrue from air conditioning and refrigeration, but in an energy efficient and environmentally sustainable manner

‘Sink or swim?’: Learning from stories of becoming academics within a transforming university terrain

The meanings connected with becoming or being an academic are constantly shifting, on account of diverse forces that act on universities. The authors of this article portray their learning as a research team of four academics (including one early-career academic) and a doctoral student who took a narrative inquiry approach to listening and responding to their early-career colleagues’ stories of becoming and being academics within a transforming university landscape. Imaginative engagement with these stories through the evocative and reflexive medium of poetry awakened possibilities for navigating the uncertain terrain of academia. The article draws attention to collegial relationships as critical to the growth of self-belief and self-resourcefulness in becoming and being academics. It demonstrates how, through collective participation, novice and experienced academics can become valuable sources of learning and support for each other

Designing and Developing ICT Curriculum in the 21st Century using a Modernistic Curriculum Model in Contemporary Higher Education

The design and development of ICT curriculum at higher education institutions in recent times is highly complex. The aim of this paper is to present a product model for the design and development of a variety of three year ICT programme types. This is achieved by conducting an in-depth study into existing ICT product models as well as extrapolating the critical skills for students in the 21st century from the extant of literature. The strategy of inquiry employed was a case study of curriculum renewal in the Department of Information Technology at the Durban University of Technology. The research study was qualitative with Participatory Action Research and Focus Group Interviews employed for data collection. The findings resulted in the creation of a best practice product model for the renewal of ICT curriculum. This model impacts how ICT programmes are designed and developed at higher education institutions in the 21st century. As an implication of this study the researchers suggest that this model be reviewed and updated regularly to accommodate the dynamic nature of ICT. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p117

Carbohydrate metabolism in twin pregnancy

Carbohydrate metabolism was evaluated in 26 women with a twin pregnancy and 26 women with a singleton pregnancy. The groups were similar in respect of age, parity and gestational age. Each woman had an oral glucose tolerance test. Nosignificant differences in venous blood sugar values or insulin responses were found between singleton and twin pregnancies

A Case of Emmonsiosis in an HIV-Infected Child

Opportunistic fungal infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. We describe a paediatric case of an unusual disseminated fungal infection. A three-year-old HIV-infected child with severe immunosuppression (CD4+ T-cell count 12 × 106/L) was admitted to hospital with pneumonia, gastroenteritis and herpes gingivostomatitis. Despite antibacterial and antiviral therapy, he experienced high fevers and developed an erythematous maculopapular rash and abdominal tenderness. The child’s condition progressively worsened during the admission. A thermally dimorphic fungus was cultured from bone marrow and identified as an Emmonsia species on DNA sequencing. The patient made a good recovery on amphotericin B deoxycholate and antiretroviral therapy. Itraconazole was continued for a minimum of 12 months, allowing for immune reconstitution to occur. This case is the first documented description of disseminated disease caused by a novel Emmonsia species in an HIV-infected child in South Africa

Genetic variation of the HIV-1 subtype C transmitted/founder viruses long terminal repeat elements and the impact on transcription activation potential and clinical disease outcomes

A genetic bottleneck is a hallmark of HIV-1 transmission such that only very few viral strains, termed transmitted/founder (T/F) variants establish infection in a newly infected host. Phenotypic characteristics of these variants may determine the subsequent course of disease. The HIV-15' long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter drives viral gene transcription and is genetically identical to the 3' LTR. We hypothesized that HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) T/F virus LTR genetic variation is a determinant of transcriptional activation potential and clinical disease outcome. The 3'LTR was amplified from plasma samples of 41 study participants acutely infected with HIV-1C (Fiebig stages I and V/VI). Paired longitudinal samples were also available at one year post-infection for 31 of the 41 participants. 3' LTR amplicons were cloned into a pGL3-basic luciferase expression vector, and transfected alone or together with Transactivator of transcription (tat) into Jurkat cells in the absence or presence of cell activators (TNF-α, PMA, Prostratin and SAHA). Inter-patient T/F LTR sequence diversity was 5.7% (Renge: 2-12) with subsequent intrahost viral evolution observed in 48.4% of the participants analyzed at 12 months post-infection. T/F LTR variants exhibited differential basal transcriptional activity, with significantly higher Tat-mediated transcriptional activity compared to basal (p<0.001). Basal and Tat-mediated T/F LTR transcriptional activity showed significant positive correlation with contemporaneous viral loads and negative correlation with CD4 T cell counts (p<0.05) during acute infection respectively. Furthermore, Tat-mediated T/F LTR transcriptional activity significanly correlated positively with viral load set point and viral load; and negatively with CD4 T cell counts at one year post infection (all p<0.05). Lastly, PMA, Prostratin, TNF-α and SAHA cell stimulation resulted in enhanced yet heterologous transcriptional activation of different T/F LTR variants. Our data suggest that T/F LTR variants may influence viral transcriptional activity, disease outcomes and sensitivity to cell activation, with potential implications for therapeutic interventions

Acceleration of Diffusional Jumps of Interstitial Fe with Increasing Ge Concentration in Si1 − x Ge x Alloys Observed by Mössbauer Spectroscopy

Radioactive 57Mn isotopes have been implanted into Si1 − x Ge x crystals (x ≤ 0.1) at elevated temperatures for Mössbauer studies of the diffusion of interstitial 57Fe daughter atoms. The atomic jump frequency is found to increase upon Ge alloying. This is attributed to a lowering of the activation energy, i.e. the saddle point energy at hexagonal interstitial sites with Ge neighbour atom

Trends in NMR Structural Elucidation Of Polycyclic Cages, Namely: Adamantane, Pentacycloundecane and Trishomocubane

Advances in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a cornerstone in structure elucidation of polycyclic ‘cage’ scaffolds. Due to the&nbsp; compactness of these compounds, much overlap, as well as unique through-space and bond NMR interactions are frequently observed. This review&nbsp; serves as a guide for the NMR elucidation of future derivatives by providing some of the typical and relevant aspects of the characteristic trends,&nbsp; substituent patterns and chemical shift behaviour for the identification of the polycyclic structures, namely adamantane, pentacycloundecane and trishomocubane derivatives