Interview with Azizah al-Hibri

For transcript, click the Download button above. For video index, click the link below. Professor Azizah al-Hibri (L \u2785) is a Professor Emerita at the University of Richmond Law School, having served on the faculty from 1992 until her retirement in 2012. Her work has centered on developing an Islamic jurisprudence and body of Islamic law that are gender equitable and promote human rights and democratic governance. Professor al-Hibri has authored numerous book chapters, essays, and law review articles on these subjects, and her work has appeared in the highly respected Journal of Law and Religion, Harvard International Review, and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, among other venues. In 2011, Professor al-Hibri was appointed by President Obama to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. She received the Virginia First Freedom Award from the Council for America\u27s First Freedom in 2007, the Dr. Betty Shabazz Recognition Award from Women in Islam in 2006, and the University of Richmond\u27s Distinguished Educator Award in 2004, and was named a Fulbright scholar in 2001. Professor al-Hibri is the founding editor of Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, and founder and president of the organization KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights

European American Stratification in Ovarian Cancer Case Control Data: The Utility of Genome-Wide Data for Inferring Ancestry

We investigated the ability of several principal components analysis (PCA)-based strategies to detect and control for population stratification using data from a multi-center study of epithelial ovarian cancer among women of European-American ethnicity. These include a correction based on an ancestry informative markers (AIMs) panel designed to capture European ancestral variation and corrections utilizing un-thinned genome-wide SNP data; case-control samples were drawn from four geographically distinct North-American sites. The AIMs-only and genome-wide first principal components (PC1) both corresponded to the previously described North or Northwest-Southeast axis of European variation. We found that the genome-wide PCA captured this primary dimension of variation more precisely and identified additional axes of genome-wide variation of relevance to epithelial ovarian cancer. Associations evident between the genome-wide PCs and study site corroborate North American immigration history and suggest that undiscovered dimensions of variation lie within Northern Europe. The structure captured by the genome-wide PCA was also found within control individuals and did not reflect the case-control variation present in the data. The genome-wide PCA highlighted three regions of local LD, corresponding to the lactase (LCT) gene on chromosome 2, the human leukocyte antigen system (HLA) on chromosome 6 and to a common inversion polymorphism on chromosome 8. These features did not compromise the efficacy of PCs from this analysis for ancestry control. This study concludes that although AIMs panels are a cost-effective way of capturing population structure, genome-wide data should preferably be used when available

The Emirates at 2050: Balancing Development and Environmental Stewardship

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces the challenge of balancing rapid economic development with environmental preservation and conservation in the Anthropocene era. The nation’s unique ecosystems, characterized by arid desert, rugged mountains, and diverse marine habitats, are vulnerable to disturbances such as urbanization, habitat degradation, groundwater extraction and climate change. To chart a more sustainable course for the Emirates by 2050, the paper proposes policy recommendations such as adopting a national strategy for sustainable development, strengthening environmental policies, investing in urban planning and design, promoting sustainable water management, encouraging use of nature-based solutions, addressing climate change, fostering environmental education, supporting research in environmental sciences, encouraging national and regional cooperation, promoting sustainable business practices in the private sector, and monitoring the progress of environmental policies. By embracing a vision of development that respects the natural environment and safeguards its plant and animal life, the UAE can demonstrate its commitment and serve as a model for other nations to follow, becoming a shining example of responsible development by 2050

Graphical user interfaces in an engineering educational environment

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are being increasingly used in the classroom to provide users of computer simulations with a friendly and visual approach to specifying all input parameters and increased configuration flexibility. In this study, the authors first describe a number of software and language options that are available to build GUIs. Subsequently, a comprehensive comparative assessment of possible alternatives is undertaken in the light of a benchmark educational program used in a course on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) at the University of Michigan. For the GUIs presented, their educational value with respect to flexible data entry and post-processing of results has been demonstrated. In addition, the authors offer recommendations for pros and cons of available options in terms of platform independence, ease of programming, facilitation of interaction with students, and flexibility. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 13: 48–59, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20029Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35190/1/20029_ftp.pd

Interview with Azizah al-Hibri

For transcript, click the Download button above. For video index, click the link below. Professor Azizah al-Hibri (L \u2785) is a Professor Emerita at the University of Richmond Law School, having served on the faculty from 1992 until her retirement in 2012. Her work has centered on developing an Islamic jurisprudence and body of Islamic law that are gender equitable and promote human rights and democratic governance. Professor al-Hibri has authored numerous book chapters, essays, and law review articles on these subjects, and her work has appeared in the highly respected Journal of Law and Religion, Harvard International Review, and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, among other venues. In 2011, Professor al-Hibri was appointed by President Obama to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. She received the Virginia First Freedom Award from the Council for America\u27s First Freedom in 2007, the Dr. Betty Shabazz Recognition Award from Women in Islam in 2006, and the University of Richmond\u27s Distinguished Educator Award in 2004, and was named a Fulbright scholar in 2001. Professor al-Hibri is the founding editor of Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, and founder and president of the organization KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights

Using Greenfoot and games to teach rising 9th and 10th grade novice programmers

In a two-week residential game camp we used the Greenfoot IDE to teach java programming to rising 9th and 10th graders. Students created their own computer games which required learning how to write java programs, create a game design, and create art assets. In this paper we focus on the computer science pedagogy used and describe the initial design of an augmented game development framework for the Greenfoot environment. This framework includes classes for the following useful game elements: Animation, Projectiles, Side Scrolling Worlds, Text Boxes, Clocks and Timers. We describe these classes, discuss the effectiveness of each, and describe potential improvements to their implementation and design. We also report the results of a survey conducted during each of the camps. Categories and Subject Descriptor