The Subject Matter and Content Emphases of Secondary Home Economics Programs in South Dakota

The purpose of this study was to describe secondary home economics programs in South Dakota. Specifically, it was designed to identify subjects being taught and pervasive themes running throughout the subjects of home economics programs. A secondary objective was to investigate the relationship between curricular emphases and certain characteristics of the school and teacher. Variables studied were 1) teaching experience, 2) class enrollments, 3) school size, 4) personal preference of teaching subject, and 5) professional interaction. To determine the curriculum emphases of the teachers, the Curriculum Orientation Survey (COS), developed by Hall, was used to measure the extent to which selected home economics teaching objectives were included in the curricula. The instrument measures two different areas of emphasis: subject matter and content. Subject matter emphasis subscales included Human Development and the Family, Home Management and Family Economics, Foods and Nutrition, Textiles and Clothing, and Housing. Content emphasis subscales included Information and three process subscales which measured the integration of the unifying concepts of Human Development and Interpersonal Relationships, Management, and Values. Background information on the subjects for descriptive and statistical operation was obtained via a Demographic Data Sheet developed by this researcher. Data from the Curriculum Orientation Survey showed that teachers are including a variety of home economics subject matter areas in their curriculums. Foods and Nutrition received the most emphasis; Housing received the least emphasis. The most persistent theme running through all the subject matter areas was Information followed by Human Development and Interpersonal Relationships. Values received the least emphasis. Subject matter taught was shown to have a significant relationship to the content theme emphasized. Professional involvement was found to be a significant factor in determining both subject matter and content emphases. Results of the study also showed a significant relationship between subject matter emphasis and teaching experience. School size, enrollment in home economics classes, the number of males in home economics classes, and personal preference of teaching subject did not have a significant effect on subject matter and content emphases

Language Development and Changing Language Attitudes in a Small West African Language Group

The Anii people of Togo and Benin (West Africa) are a minority language group, surrounded by unrelated languages whose speaker populations are much bigger than those of Anii. For over fifty years, the Anii have also been exposed to conflicting language ideologies from outside their community. These ideologies come from governmental and non-governmental organizations that have both promoted the use of French as the language of education and government, and sought to encourage language development and literacy in the 'languages of the people', including Anii (cf. Author2 2014). This study uses interview data to explore the evolution of language attitudes among the Anii people in response to various language-development initiatives they have experienced. The earliest efforts to expand the use of Anii beyond its traditional use (as an oral means of communication within the Anii community), such as government-sponsored literacy classes starting in the 1970s, were often regarded as being directed towards the poor and uneducated. This impression was likely strengthened by the Marxist rhetoric of the time that treated such classes as alternatives to school-based education, and also by the teaching methods, which were considered odd (even amusing). These types of initiatives were generally not embraced by wealthy and educated Anii, and resulted in many Anii people viewing their language as rural, or even backwards. In contrast, more recent language-development initiatives such as the creation of Anii programs on local and national radio, and a magazine that is published in paper and on-line formats, appear to have given rise to much more positive attitudes towards Anii. In particular, the use of modern technologies has been viewed as making Anii more similar to (and thus more equal in value to) both European languages and (perhaps more importantly) the languages of the larger ethnic groups the Anii people come in contact with. The data presented here also illustrate how the Anii people's changing views of their language has affected their views of themselves, their history and culture, and their place in the multilingual and multiethnic environment in which they live. References: Author2. 2014. Ecriture de la langue anii: Tome 1. Bassila: SIL Bassil

A matched prospective study of human immunodeficiency virus serostatus, human papillomavirus DNA, and cervical lesions detected by cytology and colposcopy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence and type of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in the genital tract of human-immunodeficiency-virus- (HIV) seropositive and -seronegative women matched for cytology and to examine prospectively the relationship of HPV DNA, colposcopic findings and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) in these matched seropositive and seronegative cohorts. METHODS: A matched prospective study of HIV-seropositive and -seronegative women undergoing cytologic screening, colposcopy, and testing for HPV DNA and other infections at each visit. RESULTS: Twenty-three HIV-seropositive women were matched with 23 seronegative women by cervical cytology reading, lifetime number of sexual partners, age, and follow-up length. Fourteen pairs of these women had follow-up visits every 4 months, for 56 and 53 total visits in seropositive and seronegative women, respectively. After matching, the groups had a similar overall prevalence of HPV DNA and of HPV oncogenic (high risk) types at baseline. On follow up, HIV-seropositive women were more likely than seronegative women to develop SIL (38% vs. 10%), less likely to have negative cytology (34% vs. 60%, overall P = 0.03), more visits with HPV DNA detected (68% vs. 40% P = 0.04), and more visits with multiple HPV DNA types detected (18% vs. 0%, P = 0.02). Colposcopic lesions in the seropositive women were more likely to have sharp borders or mosaicism or to be thick white (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: After matching for baseline Papanicolaou smear readings, these data suggest that over time seropositive women have more visits that yield abnormal cytology, more persistent HPV DNA detection, and more colposcopic abnormalities than seronegative women

Benefits for Voice Learning Caused by Concurrent Faces Develop over Time

Recognition of personally familiar voices benefits from the concurrent presentation of the corresponding speakers' faces. This effect of audiovisual integration is most pronounced for voices combined with dynamic articulating faces. However, it is unclear if learning unfamiliar voices also benefits from audiovisual face-voice integration or, alternatively, is hampered by attentional capture of faces, i.e., "face-overshadowing". In six study-test cycles we compared the recognition of newly-learned voices following unimodal voice learning vs. bimodal face-voice learning with either static (Exp. 1) or dynamic articulating faces (Exp. 2). Voice recognition accuracies significantly increased for bimodal learning across study-test cycles while remaining stable for unimodal learning, as reflected in numerical costs of bimodal relative to unimodal voice learning in the first two study-test cycles and benefits in the last two cycles. This was independent of whether faces were static images (Exp. 1) or dynamic videos (Exp. 2). In both experiments, slower reaction times to voices previously studied with faces compared to voices only may result from visual search for faces during memory retrieval. A general decrease of reaction times across study-test cycles suggests facilitated recognition with more speaker repetitions. Overall, our data suggest two simultaneous and opposing mechanisms during bimodal face-voice learning: while attentional capture of faces may initially impede voice learning, audiovisual integration may facilitate it thereafter

Quantum frequency down-conversion of single photons in nonlinear optical waveguides

In this work, we experimentally study quantum frequency conversion of single photons from the visible spectral range (input) to a wavelength that lies in one of the low-loss telecom wavelength bands around 1.3 µm or 1.55 µm (output). To this end, we use difference frequency generation (DFG) in nonlinear optical waveguides made of periodically poled LiNbO₃. The DFG process is driven by a strong coherent light field that is delivered by a home-built 532-nm-pumped continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator based on bulk periodically poled LiTaO₃. We demonstrate two efficient schemes: frequency down-conversion from 738 nm to 1560 nm and from 711 nm to 1310 nm. In the first case, we have employed faint laser pulses to emulate single photons at 738 nm and extensively investigate noise effects. An external (internal) conversion efficiency of 8% (73%) was achieved and spontaneous Raman scattering was identified as a main noise source. In the second case, we used true single photons from an InP quantum dot. Here the external (internal) efficiency was 32% (≥ 64%). We demonstrate the preservation of the photon lifetime and of nonclassical intensity correlations under frequency down-conversion. Compared with the first process, a much better signal-to-noise ratio was observed in the second process. The results hold great promise with regard to the implementation of on-demand telecom single-photon sources and future quantum networks.In dieser Arbeit wird die Quantenfrequenzkonversion einzelner Photonen aus dem sichtbaren Spektralbereich (Eingang) zu einer Wellenlänge in einem der verlustarmen Telekombänder um 1.3 µm oder 1.55 µm (Ausgang) experimentell untersucht. Dazu wird Differenzfrequenzmischung (DFG) in optisch nichtlinearen Wellenleitern aus periodisch gepoltem LiNbO₃ benutzt. Der DFG-Prozess wird von einem intensiven, kohärenten Lichtfeld getrieben, welches von einem 532-nm-gepumpten optisch parametrischen Oszillator basierend auf periodisch gepoltem LiTaO₃ geliefert wird. Zwei effiziente Prozesse werden demonstriert: Frequenz-Abwärtskonversion von 738 nm nach 1560 nm und von 711 nm nach 1310 nm. Im ersten Fall wurden abgeschwächte Laserpulse benutzt, um einzelne Photonen bei 738 nm zu simulieren und Rauscheffekte zu untersuchen. Eine externe (interne) Konversionseffizienz von 8% (73%) wurde erreicht und spontane Ramanstreuung als Haupt-Rauschquelle identifiziert. Im zweiten Fall wurden echte Einzelphotonen von einem InP-Quantenpunkt benutzt. Hierbei lag die externe (interne) Konversionseffizienz bei 32% (≥ 64%). Die Erhaltung von Photonenlebensdauer und nichtklassischen Intensitätskorrelationen wurden demonstriert. Im Vergleich zum ersten Prozess konnte beim zweiten Prozess ein viel besseres Signal-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis beobachtet werden. Die Ergebnisse sind vielversprechend im Hinblick auf die Realisierung von Telekom-Einzelphotonenquellen und zukünftigen Quanten-Netzwerken

Two-photon interference using background-free quantum frequency conversion of single photons from a semiconductor quantum dot

We show that quantum frequency conversion (QFC) can overcome the spectral distinguishability common to inhomogeneously broadened solid-state quantum emitters. QFC is implemented by combining single photons from an InAs quantum dot (QD) at 980 nm with a 1550 nm pump laser in a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide to generate photons at 600 nm with a signal-to-background ratio exceeding 100:1. Photon correlation and two-photon interference measurements confirm that both the single photon character and wavepacket interference of individual QD states are preserved during frequency conversion. Finally, we convert two spectrally separate QD transitions to the same wavelength in a single PPLN waveguide and show that the resulting field exhibits non-classical two-photon interference.Comment: Supercedes arXiv:1205.221

Visible-to-telecom quantum frequency conversion of light from a single quantum emitter

Quantum frequency conversion (QFC), a nonlinear optical process in which the frequency of a quantum light field is altered while conserving its non-classical correlations, was first demonstrated 20 years ago. Meanwhile, it is considered an essential tool for the implementation of quantum repeaters since it allows for interfacing quantum memories with telecom-wavelength photons as quantum information carriers. Here we demonstrate efficient (>30%) QFC of visible single photons (711 nm) emitted by a quantum dot (QD) to a telecom wavelength (1,313 nm). Analysis of the first and second-order coherence before and after wavelength conversion clearly proves that important properties, such as the coherence time and photon antibunching, are fully conserved during the frequency translation process. Our findings underline the great potential of single photon sources on demand in combination with QFC as a promising technique for quantum repeater schemes.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure