Experimental Study of Electrophoretic Deposited Carbon Nanotubes on Microstrip Transmission Line Resonators and Filters

The electrical properties of single-walled carbon nanotube electrophoreses deposition on different types of gold-plated microstrip devices are investigated. Simple transmission lines, transmission line resonators and filters were subjected to deposition of functionalized tubes in an aqueous solution. It is found that the process lowers the resonant frequency of the resonators and filters compared to the untreated devices, at the cost of increased insertion loss and reduced resonator Q-factor

Barriers and challenges private higher education institutions face in the management of quality assurance in South Africa

With globalisation and the rise of the knowledge economy, there has been a worldwide increase in demand for higher education (HE) which has resulted in the proliferation of private higher education institutions (PHEIs). Subsequently, quality assurance (QA) and the management of the QA processes of these institutions have become increasingly important.QA of PHEIs in South Africa is a contested area. On the one hand, it aims at protecting the public from unscrupulous providers, on the other, the complexity of the QA legislative framework has become a major concern to private providers. This qualitative study focused on the experiences of PHEIs in South Africa in the management of QA, while at the same time complying with QA and accreditation processes.Based on the Octet of Quality in Higher Education, a model adapted from Zaki and Zaki Rashidi (2013); the findings identified three major categories related to the barriers and challenges particular to PHEIs as they engage in the management of QA; namely, resources, such as physical and financial resources; capacity development, such as staff roles and responsibilities, academic leadership and development, and research; and programme design, including curriculum design

“Some of them are afraid of the language”: Perceptions of TVET college staff about the relationship between English language proficiency and academic performance among Engineering students

Despite the fact that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are seen as instrumental in addressing South Africa’s labour market skills shortages and high youth unemployment rate, the extremely low throughput and certification rates at these institutions prevent colleges from achieving this goal. The vast majority of students enrolled at TVET colleges come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and speak English as a second or additional language, yet English is the language through which teaching is conducted at all South African TVET colleges. Prior research has shown that there is a definite relationship between poor academic performance (AP) and learning in an additional language. Existing research of this nature has focused on schools and universities, but there is a dearth of research about the relationship between AP and English Language Proficiency (ELP) in the TVET sector. In order to address this gap, a mixed method study was conducted at one Eastern Cape TVET College to investigate whether the poor AP of National Vocational Certificate (NC (V)) Level 2 Engineering students can be related to their ELP. The initial quantitative phase of the study confirmed prior research by showing that NC (V) students’ ELP is indeed significantly associated with their throughput rate and their performance in each specific subject. This article reports in particular on the second qualitative phase of the study, which was based on interviews with TVET college staff involved in teaching Engineering students. The most significant finding is that teaching staff, who daily work at the proverbial coal face of TVET training, are from their practical experience, very well aware of the fact that there is a crucial link between the ELP and AP of their students, that they employ a variety of strategies to address associated problems, but that they feel these are often insufficient and ineffective in the face of students trying to learn in a second language. This study extends the research about the role of language as a cognitive tool in learning in the Engineering disciplines. It also provides an opportunity to rethink the hegemonic, normalised position of English in Engineering studies and consider possibilities to mobilise indigenous languages as resources for epistemological access in higher education

Measuring the Eco-Hydrological Performance of the Lower Bear River Basin through Experiential Learning – The Bear River Fellows Program

Measuring and evaluating the performance of river systems necessarily requires understanding the variety of environmental and ecological variables driving the decision-making process in managing river basins. Such variables are best understood with field measurements, data analysis and computational modeling. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Utah State University (USU), through a National Science Foundation project, has partnered with the Outdoor Recreation, and Parks and Recreation programs at USU to offer the Bear River Fellows Program - a new, unique river-based experiential learning opportunity for 5 freshmen Fellows to receive first-hand experience in collecting, synthesizing and analyzing environmental and ecological metrics. The Fellows collected field measurements and examined environmental and ecological variables from three different sites along the Lower Bear River between the Idaho-Utah state line and Cutler dam. Data collected includes flow measurements, channel cross section topology, riparian vegetation, beaver activity, and human-caused inflows and diversions. This poster presents the findings of the data analysis for one site at the confluence of the Bear and Cub Rivers. Fellows provide their insights related to their hydrological and ecological observations

Estimating the number of livebirths to Hepatitis C seropositive women in England in 2013 and 2018 using Bayesian modelling.

BACKGROUND: The UK National Screening Committee currently recommends against antenatal screening for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in England due to lack of HCV prevalence data and treatment licensed for use in pregnancy. We aimed to produce regional and national estimates of the number and proportion of livebirths to HCV seropositive women in England in 2013 and 2018. METHODS: A logistic regression model fitted in the Bayesian framework estimated probabilities of HCV seropositivity among 24,599 mothers delivering in the North Thames area of England in 2012 adjusted by maternal age and region of birth. These probabilities were applied to the underlying population structures of women delivering livebirths in England in 2013 and 2018 to estimate the number of livebirths to HCV seropositive women in these years nationally and by region. The Bayesian approach allowed the uncertainty associated with all estimates to be properly quantified. RESULTS: Nationally, the estimated number of livebirths to women seropositive for HCV for England was 464 (95% credible interval [CI] 300-692) in 2013 and 481 (95%CI 310-716) in 2018, or 70.0 (95%CI 45.0-104.1) per 100,000 and 76.9 (95%CI 49.5-114.4) per 100,000 in these years respectively. Regions with the highest estimated number of livebirths to HCV seropositive women in 2013 and 2018 included London with 118.5 and 124.4 and the South East with 67.0 and 74.0 per 100,000 livebirths. CONCLUSION: Few previous studies have investigated HCV among pregnant women in England. These findings complement and supplement existing research by providing national and regional estimates for the number of livebirths to HCV seropositive women in England. Bayesian modelling allows future national and regional estimates to be produced and the associated uncertainty to be properly quantified

Stevens’ Cure (Umckaloabo)—the vindication of a patent medicine

Stevens’ Cure (Umckaloabo) emerged as a patent medicine claiming to treat tuberculosis in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century. However, due to its identity being shrouded in secrecy, it was never truly accepted by the medical community. It was “rediscovered” in the 1970s and subsequently developed into a very popular and successful phytopharmaceutical for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections. Whether Stevens’ Cure contained the same ingredient(s) as the modern Umckaloabo has not yet been demonstrated. We attempted to elucidate for the first time the identity of the original ingredient by comparative analysis of historical product samples. Three historical samples of Stevens’ Cure were compared with Pelargonium sidoides DC. and P. reniforme Curt. root per UPLC-MS analysis. We confirm that the ingredient–P. sidoides DC.—is indeed the same as used in modern phytotherapy. We also attribute the first ethnopharmacological record of P. sidoides DC. being used for the treatment of tuberculosis to C. H. Stevens, the “creator” of Umckaloabo

Genetic Susceptibility to Acute Rheumatic Fever: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Twin Studies

Acute rheumatic fever is considered to be a heritable condition, but the magnitude of the genetic effect is unknown. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of twin studies of concordance of acute rheumatic fever in order to derive quantitative estimates of the size of the genetic effect.We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar from their inception to 31 January 2011, and bibliographies of retrieved articles, for twin studies of the concordance for acute rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease in monozygotic versus dizygotic twins that used accepted diagnostic criteria for acute rheumatic fever and zygosity without age, gender or language restrictions. Twin similarity was measured by probandwise concordance rate and odds ratio (OR), and aggregate probandwise concordance risk was calculated by combining raw data from each study. ORs from separate studies were combined by random-effects meta-analysis to evaluate association between zygosity status and concordance. Heritability was estimated by fitting a variance components model to the data.435 twin pairs from six independent studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled probandwise concordance risk for acute rheumatic fever was 44% in monozygotic twins and 12% in dizygotic twins, and the association between zygosity and concordance was strong (OR 6.39; 95% confidence interval, 3.39 to 12.06; P<0.001), with no significant study heterogeneity (P = 0.768). The estimated heritability across all the studies was 60%.Acute rheumatic fever is an autoimmune disorder with a high heritability. The discovery of all genetic susceptibility loci through whole genome scanning may provide a clinically useful genetic risk prediction tool for acute rheumatic fever and its sequel, rheumatic heart disease

Covid lockdowns in the UK: Estimating their effects on transmission

UK citizens have lived through three lockdowns over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. What effect have these restrictions had on the transmission of the virus? Emily Prestige, Julian Stander and Yinghui Wei investigate