South Africa, HIV/AIDS, and Education

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are huge problems in South Africa. HIV is a disease that attacks a person’s immune system and, if not properly treated, can lead to AIDS. While there is a treatment—antiretroviral drugs—HIV remains a highly stigmatized disease. This field project focuses on reducing stigma so people are unafraid to get tested or seek treatment. Created to benefit both teachers and their learners, the goal of this mathematics curriculum (consisting of 12 lesson plans and worksheets) is to begin HIV/AIDS awareness in school so accurate information is learned and stigma is reduced. The 12 lesson plans developed integrates HIV/AIDS content into the South African government-issued grade 4 curriculum. Each lesson plan reviews the mathematical concept being taught at that time, and also covers one component of HIV. HIV topics include transmission, statistical breakdowns by demographic factors, and HIV positive mothers. The data used in the lesson plans are based on current South African data. While education in the current school system is a promising tool to combat stigma related to HIV, additional research and considerations must be taken before implementation. This project has not researched the legal ramifications or barriers integration of HIV material may face in South Africa. A slow rollout with pilot testing is recommended. The information will need to be regularly updated based on current research. If successfully implemented, this curriculum has the possibility to bring great change in South Africa

Anding—The Dynamic in Education

The world exists in a dynamic that can be described as a web. The moment that you are born, you become part of this web by your every move through space, every encounter with people, and every interaction with objects. Never ending but changing direction, never moving up or down but always laterally, the web progresses and grows continuously. This metaphor also describes the singular existence of all of us by outlining the experiences that help form us. From the common details to the formative moments in life, our lives are a series of cumulative experiences. These experiences connect and build one on another. In other words, life is a series of ands where no period exists. I wake up and read in the paper about a Joan Mitchell exhibition and feed my dog and talk to my husband about our days and drive to the studio and see charged thunder clouds and paint with a little more freedom (thinking of Joan Mitchell) and paint the drama of the thunder clouds and eat lunch and ... Some moments may be stronger than others, but all of these ands describe our lives. Within these ands, one finds that no human can be alone; we all exist in relationship with one another and the world. The individual exists in connection with what we see and who we are and what we do (Lacy. 1995, p. 89). The relationships among people, places, and things give life significance and worth. In other words, making and noticing the connections through the ands produce meaning in life. From this philosophical attitude, I propose to explore the ands in relation to art, art making, and art education

Collaborative Environmental Chemistry Projects: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the Claremont Colleges

I received a course redevelopment grant from the Claremont Colleges EnviroLab Asia for my Environmental Chemistry (CHEM139) course. This allowed me to add a focus on environmental issues in Asia to the course and, more important, co-teach the class with a colleague at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).Te many results of that cross-Pacific teaching project are the key subject of this reflective essay

Mud Volcano Systems: Structure, Evolution and Processes

Mud volcano systems erupt sediment and fluid onto the Earth’s surface producing edifices up to 25 km3 in volume however, little is known about how such volumes are transported through the Earth’s crust. This thesis investigates whether transport is through mud-dyke-sill complexes, or is diapiric. Structural field mapping of exhumed mud volcano intrusive domains onshore in Azerbaijan, shows that feeder complexes are 200-800 m wide and roughly circular. These complexes consist of various fracture networks and a megabreccia of country rock blocks tens-of-metres-across that have rotated up to 90° in a matrix of mud. A structural domain model categorises regions within the feeder complex which formed during stoping processes. Structural mapping is combined with nearest neighbour and 2-point-azimuth statistical analysis of vent distributions described from nine mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan and Lusi mud volcano, East Java. Vent distributions are non-random, showing alignments with: 1) anticline crestal faulting, 2) fractures 3) ring faults, and 4) detachment faults indicating that fracture systems and regional stresses significantly influence feeder complex architecture. Lusi’s vent alignments change orientation from 2006-2010 implying regions 10 km east and west of the main vent are more likely to be impacted by new vents due to the onset of elongate-caldera collapse. Kilometre-scale, elongate scarps are identified as ‘sector collapses’ on mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan due to morphological similarity to those on igneous volcanoes. Shape parameters distinguish sector collapses and eruptive mud breccia flows allowing identification in field and satellite-based mapping. The updip domains are characterised by vents showing there is linkage to deeper mud volcano fluid flow pathways. A model of a deflating mud chamber triggering ‘thin-skinned’ sector collapse is proposed. This sector collapse model, vent alignment orientation analysis and intrusive domain structural model are ultimately integrated into a comprehensive schematic model of the mud volcano system

Five Steps of Evaluative Feedback that Promotes Teacher Development

The purpose of this article is to provide five succinct steps that effective leaders in education can implement when conducting teacher observations and evaluations. Through the analysis of current literature, the authors suggest that teacher evaluation includes (1) establishing norms, (2) building relationships, (3) conducting classroom observations, (4) providing feedback, and (5) setting goals and follow-up. The need for effective feedback delivery and evaluation is crucial for teacher development, and ultimately, student success

Braille Reader-Integrated Keyboard

ABSTRACT Systems, devices and methods of providing braille reader-integrated keyboard for use by both visually impaired and sighted users are disclosed. The keyboard is provided with a braille reader of 10 mm or less width, above the function keys of a normal laptop keyboard. Buttons are provided on the side of a regular QWERTY keyboard layout, that allow navigating the menus. The method envisages swapping the existing off-shelf keyboard of any laptop or other computing device for the braille reader-integrated keyboard. The integrated keyboard has several functions including being detectable by the system, and other accessible-friendly features such as audio feedback

Mount

This disclosure relates to a mount that allows a user to attach an electronic device such a camera, speaker, set top box, or specialized video conferencing system to another electric device or fixture. The mount may be affixed under a screen, to a wall, on the floor, or behind a screen inside a wall. The mount may include a screw hole for use with a screw to attach the mount to an electronic device. A user may insert a device such as a camera inside the U-shaped outwardly protruding portions of the mount prior to mounting. The user may remove and replace items from within the mount as desired

MOUNTING SCREW BASED SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION

A mounting screw identification system can be used to determine a software configuration for an electronic device based on a type of electronic device chassis. A Printed Circuit Board (PCB), having screw holes with an open electrical circuit formed upon them, is placed in an electronic device chassis with mounting screw receiving threads. Conductive mounting screws are then inserted through the aligned PCB screw holes into the mounting screw receiving threads of the chassis to hold the PCB in place with the device chassis and also fill the electrical gap in the PCB screw holes to close the electrical circuit. A processor in the electronic device reads values on general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins, which can be either high or low, that are connected to the PCB screw holes to determine which screw holes have inserted screws that complete the electrical connection. Subsequently, the processor decodes the GPIO pin values to identify a binary code for the device chassis and determines the corresponding software configuration for the electronic device

Dynamic framerate adjustment

Presentation of content from a computer or other device on a large screen, such as a projector or a television, is a common activity. The computer is connected to the large screen via a wired or a wireless connection. The content to be presented can include documents and presentation slides with static content such as text and graphics, or content that includes motion such as videos. Default encoders that target high frame rates do not account for content type. The content of a document or slide may appear blurry or include undesirable artifacts if presented at a high frame rate. If the default encoder is configured with a low frame rate, videos may appear jerky and unpleasant to view. This disclosure describes techniques to select an appropriate content presentation mode that targets a suitable frame rate. The selection is based on encoder statistics, e.g., the percentage of blocks that change in successive frames of the video content from the computer. The selected mode uses a suitable framerate based on the type of content for display on the large screen

CHARGE DIRECTION INDICATING USBC CABLE

A hardware based solution is proposed for indicating charging direction in a USB-C cable. The solution comprises of bi-color red/green LEDs attached to the connector of the USB-C cable. The LEDs are electrically connected and will glow when the USB-C supportive device is connected to the USB-C supportive system either for receiving or providing power. The device which is providing power or receiving power is identified by the color of the glowing LED at the specific end of the connector of USB-C cable, for example green could indicate providing end and red the receiving end. The LEDs are always connected in the opposite orientation on each end of the cable such that they always have opposing color