us news today: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Video: Santelli's Midday Bond Report

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52047646/

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Twitter will now let you make as many as 1,000 lists (up from 20) with as many as 5,000 accounts (ra

Twitter will now let you make as many as 1,000 lists (up from 20) with as many as 5,000 accounts (rather than 500). Go nuts!

Source: http://gizmodo.com/twitter-will-now-let-you-make-as-many-as-1-000-lists-u-510551230

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Space Diving: Iron Man Meets Star Trek Suit In Development

If the astronaut moved her/his leg the wrong way, it could be melted off by the jets. Then what will (s)he do?

Why, scream, of course.
But as we all know, in space, no one....

The problem, in my limited understanding, is that any "suit" sturdy enough to support re-entry will in reality be a capsule. Even if it has dividers for arms and legs. With today's technology, it's going to be a far cry from "free flight", and more like going over the Niagara falls in a steel barrel. Some would want to, but I doubt it would be very enjoyable.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/G0lC3BZYQPg/story01.htm

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Wife of Philadelphia abortion doctor sentenced to prison

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The wife of a Philadelphia doctor convicted of murdering babies during late-term abortions was sentenced on Wednesday to up to 23 months in prison for helping her husband.

Pearl Gosnell, 52, whose husband, Dr Kermit Gosnell, ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia, had pleaded guilty to performing an illegal abortion, being part of a corrupt organization and conspiracy.

Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner ordered Pearl Gosnell to serve seven to 23 months behind bars for her role in the clinic, which prosecutors described as a "house of horrors."

Earlier this month her 72-year-old husband was sent to prison for three life terms without parole after being convicted by a jury of murdering babies during late-term abortions at his squalid clinic.

The graphic testimony at Kermit Gosnell's trial, which cast a spotlight on the controversial practice of late-term abortions, recounted the doctor cutting the necks of babies who were expelled and breathing after botched abortions.

Also sentenced on Wednesday was Adrienne Moton, 36, a key witness who testified against the doctor.

Moton took a cellphone picture of one victim, identified only as Baby A, who another clinic worker testified the doctor described as "big enough to walk me to the bus stop."

Moton, who had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, participating in a corrupt organization and conspiracy in a deal that required her to testify against the doctor, faced 36 months in prison.

Lerner said she had already served 28 months in jail and, since there was no benefit in keeping her locked up any longer, she would be freed immediately.

Lerner credited Pearl Gosnell with three months already served, meaning she could be freed after serving little more than four months.

"I don't like to put people in prison," the judge said. "But I can't overlook the offenses that you have committed over time. I can't overlook your role in this operation."

"First let me say how sorry I am," responded Gosnell in a tear-choked voice. "It is my fault for not being diligent about what was going on around me ... I relied on what my husband told me."

Prosecutor Joanne Pescatore told the judge Gosnell wasn't sympathetic.

"It makes me sick," Pescatore said of what she called the greed and money that flowed into the clinic, which served a predominantly black and low-income community.

"She was a key participant," Pescatore said, adding that both Gosnells took advantage of "these desperate women that were at the end of their ropes."

(Reporting by Dave Warner; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wife-philadelphia-abortion-doctor-sentenced-prison-003040879.html

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Live rabbit wears contact lenses with light-emitting diode: New class of transparent, stretchable electrodes developed

May 30, 2013 ? Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST) has demonstrated that a live rabbit could wear contact lenses fitted with inorganic light-emitting diode with no side effects. This new class of hybrid transparent and stretchable electrode paves the way for flexible displays, solar cells, and electronics.

The scientists have combined graphene with silver nanowires to form a thin, transparent and stretchable electrode which overcome the weaknesses of each individual material, resulting in a new class of electrodes with widespread possible applications including picture taking and scanning using soft contact lenses.

Transparent electrodes have been widely used in things like touch screens, flat-screen TVs, solar cells and light-emitting devices. Commonly made from indium tin oxide(ITO), it is brittle and cracks thus losing functionality if flexed. It also degrades over time, and is expensive due to the limited quantities of indium metal.

As an alternative, the networks of randomly distributed mNWs have been considered as promising candidates for next-generation transparent electrodes, due to their low-cost, high-speed fabrication of transparent electrodes. However, the number of disadvantages of the mNW networks limited their integration into commercial devices. They have low breakdown voltage, typically high NW-NW junction resistance, high contact resistance between network and active materials, material instability and poor adhesion to plastic substrates.

Graphene is also well known as good a candidate for transparent electrode because of their unique electrical properties and high mechanical flexibility. However, scalable graphene synthesis methods for commercialization produces lower quality graphene with individual segments called grains which increases the electrical resistance at boundaries between these grains.

Silver nanowires, on the other hand, have high resistance because they are randomly oriented like a jumble of toothpicks facing in different directions. In this random orientation, there are many contact between nanowires, resulting in high resistance due to large junction resistance of nanowires. Due to these drawbacks, neither is good for conducting electricity, but a hybrid structure, combined from two materials, is.

The hybrid material presents a high electrical and optical performance with mechanical flexibility and stretchability for flexible electronics. The hybrid transparent electrode has a low "sheet resistance" and high transmittance. There's almost no change in its resistance when bent and folded. Where the ITO is bent, its resistance increases significantly. Additionally the hybrid material preserve its electrical and optical properties against thermal oxidation condition

The graphene-mNW hybrid structure developed by the UNIST research team is a new class of electrodes and may soon find use in a variety of other applications. The research team demonstrated Inorganic light-emitting diode (ILED) devices fitted on a soft eye contact lens using the transparent, stretchable interconnects of the hybrid electrodes as an application example.

As an in vivo study, this contact lens was worn by a live rabbit eye for five hours and no abnormal behavior, such as bloodshot eye or the rubbing of eye areas were observed in the live rabbit. Wearing eye contact lenses, picture-taking and scanning, is not science fiction anymore.

The research was led by Jang-Ung Park, professor of the School of Nano-Bioscience and Chemical Engineering at UNIST. "We believe the hybridization between two-dimensional and one-dimensional nanomaterials presents a promising strategy toward flexible, wearable electronics and implantable biosensor devices, and indicate the substantial promise of future electronics," said Prof. Park.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/OpOIdbClOGU/130530110959.htm

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Google Adds Nutrition Info For Over 1,000 Fruits, Vegetables, Meats And Meals To Its Search Results

Google keeps adding new information to its Knowledge Graph, and today it is bringing nutrition info to its search results pages. Want to know how many calories there are in an avocado or how much protein there is in your chow mein? Google will now happily provide you with an answer. All of this information is, of course, also available through voice search and this new feature works on the web and mobile.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Hh99NME7aLU/

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Father and son to present their respective cancer research at ASCO

Public release date: 29-May-2013
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Contact: Dorsey Griffith
dorsey.griffith@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9118
University of California - Davis Health System

16-year-old Davis High School student recipient of Blue and White Foundation grant

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) What started as a dinner-table conversation between a teen and his father has become a bonafide cancer research study for Matthew Lara, a Davis High School sophomore and the son of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center medical oncologist and researcher Primo (Lucky) Lara Jr.

Matthew, 16, will put on a suit and present his findings on non-small-cell lung cancer during a poster session in Chicago on Saturday at the annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), a 30,000-member cancer research organization.

Matthew's poster, entitled "Predictors of survival for younger patients less than 50 years of age with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): a California Cancer Registry analysis," describes his findings that younger people with lung cancer tend to have better survival rates than older patients with lung cancer. His poster represents the largest analysis of age-related survival in lung cancer ever conducted. The work was based on data from the California Cancer Registry, a massive, statewide repository for demographic and epidemiological cancer case data.

Primo Lara also will present research at ASCO on Saturday. His study unrelated to Matthew's work analyzed survival variables associated with small cell lung cancer patients who had previously been treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Matthew's project was born at the dinner table.

"We were talking about lung cancer, and I asked my dad if young people get lung cancer and if they do better than older people," said Matthew. "My Dad said, 'Well, you can certainly try to find the answer to that yourself!' So we did."

The two enlisted the help of an analyst, statistician and epidemiologist as well as support from top lung cancer experts at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Matthew began with a database of 130,000 lung cancer cases diagnosed in California between 1998 and 2009. The cases were eventually narrowed to 108,062 cases of older patients (over 50 years of age) and 6,389 patients younger than 50.

After an epidemiological and demographic analysis, Matthew and his co-authors found a general decrease in the rate of lung cancer diagnoses in younger patients over time. Between 1998 and 2001, for example, 37 percent of lung cancers were found in young patients compared to 29 percent from 2006 to 2009. They also uncovered an 18 percent reduction in the risk of death in the patients who were diagnosed under age 50.

Because the Cancer Registry does not collect data on individual treatments or tumor phenotypes, Matthew said one can only speculate about why the rate of lung cancer among younger people has dropped and why younger patients tend to do better than older individuals. He and his co-authors hypothesized that decreasing smoking rates may be why there are fewer lung cancers in younger people over time, and that younger patients may have better outcomes because they are more likely to have lung-cancer types that respond well to treatment.

"We are learning about the important role of the immune system in fighting lung cancer," added Karen Kelly, associate director for clinical research at the cancer center, a lung cancer expert and a co-author on Matthew's poster. "Younger patients may have a more intact immune system."

Kelly called the 16-year-old "a bright student and budding researcher," adding "I am sure Matthew has already thought of several questions and is planning his next project."

After Matthew's research poster was accepted at ASCO, he received a $500 grant from the Davis High School Blue and White Foundation to support his trip to Chicago, where he will present his poster to other oncology researchers Saturday morning.

Not surprisingly, after high school and college, Matthew hopes to follow in his father's footsteps as an oncologist and cancer researcher.

"There are so many people who still die from cancer," he said. "I want to understand it better, how it works and how we can make it better for people."

###

In addition to Kelly, Matthew Lara's other co-authors include Ann Brunson, Ted Wun, Ben Tomlinson, Lihong Qi, Rosemary Cress, Primo Lara Jr., David R. Gandara, all of UC Davis.

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated center serving the Central Valley and inland Northern California, a region of more than 6 million people. Its specialists provide compassionate, comprehensive care for more than 9,000 adults and children every year, and access to more than 150 clinical trials at any given time. Its innovative research program engages more than 280 scientists at UC Davis, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Jackson Laboratory (JAX West), whose scientific partnerships advance discovery of new tools to diagnose and treat cancer. Through the Cancer Care Network, UC Davis collaborates with a number of hospitals and clinical centers throughout the Central Valley and Northern California regions to offer the latest cancer care. Its community-based outreach and education programs address disparities in cancer outcomes across diverse populations. For more information, visit cancer.ucdavis.edu.

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Father and son to present their respective cancer research at ASCO

Public release date: 29-May-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Dorsey Griffith
dorsey.griffith@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9118
University of California - Davis Health System

16-year-old Davis High School student recipient of Blue and White Foundation grant

Matthew's project was born at the dinner table.

Kelly called the 16-year-old "a bright student and budding researcher," adding "I am sure Matthew has already thought of several questions and is planning his next project."

Not surprisingly, after high school and college, Matthew hopes to follow in his father's footsteps as an oncologist and cancer researcher.

"There are so many people who still die from cancer," he said. "I want to understand it better, how it works and how we can make it better for people."

###

In addition to Kelly, Matthew Lara's other co-authors include Ann Brunson, Ted Wun, Ben Tomlinson, Lihong Qi, Rosemary Cress, Primo Lara Jr., David R. Gandara, all of UC Davis.

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uoc--fas052913.php

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Shape-shifting nanoparticles flip from sphere to net in response to tumor signal

May 28, 2013 ? Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have designed tiny spherical particles to float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue. An enzyme produced by a specific type of tumor can trigger the transformation of the spheres into netlike structures that accumulate at the site of a cancer, the team reports in the journal Advanced Materials this week.

Spherical nanoparticles labeled with red or green dye shift their shapes and accumulatte into netlike structures when they encounter a protease secreted by some kinds of cancerous tumors (Click on image for larger view).

Targeting treatments specifically to cancerous or other diseased cells depends on some means of accumulating high levels of a drug or other therapeutic agent at the specific site and keeping it there. Most efforts so far depend on matching a piece of the drug-delivering molecule to specific receptors on the surface of the target cell.

Inspiration for this new strategy came from biological systems that use shape to alter the ability of something to lock in place or slip away and escape, said Nathan Gianneschi, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who led the project.

"We wanted to come up with a new approach," Gianneschi said. "Specifically, we wanted to design switchable materials that we could inject in one shape and have them change to another between the blood and tumors."

Some cancerous tissues produce high levels of a class of molecules called MMPs, for matrix metalloproteinases. These enzymes change how other proteins behave by altering their molecular configuration, leading to metastasis. Gianneschi and colleagues harnessed this ability to alter their nanoparticles in ways that would cause them to linger at the site of the tumor.

"We figured out how to make an autonomous material that could sense its environment and change accordingly," Gianneschi said.

Each nanoparticle is made of many detergent-like molecules with one end that mixes readily with water and another that repels it. In solution, they self assemble into balls with the water-repellant ends inside, and in that configuration can easily be injected into a vein.

When mixed with MMPs in vials, the enzymes nicked the peptides on the surface of the spheres, which reassembled into netlike threads.

The team tested the concept further by injecting their new nanoparticles into mice with human fibrosarcomas, a kind of cancer that produces high levels of MMPs.

To mark when the spheres broke down to form other structures, the chemists placed one of two fluorecent dyes, rhodamine or fluorescein, inside the spheres. In close proximity, the dyes interact to create a specific light signal called FRET for F?rster Resonance Energy Transfer, when energy jumps from rhodamine to fluorescein.

Within a day they detected FRET signals indicating that the spheres had reassembled at the sites of the tumors, and the signal persisted for at least a week.

The treatment is not inherently toxic. It did not appear to change the tumors in any way, and liver and kidney, the organs most vulnerable to collateral damage from treatments because they clear toxins from the body, were normal and healthy eight days after injection.

Different versions of these nanoparticles could be designed to respond to signals inherent to other types of cancers and inflamed tissue, the authors say. The spheres can also be engineered to carry drugs, or different diagnostic probes.

Right now, this same team is developing nanoparticles that carry an infrared dye, which would enable them to visualize tumors deeper inside the body along with other materials that can be imaged with instruments commonly available in the clinic.

Co-authors include Miao-Ping Chen and Matthew Thompson in Gianneschi's group, and Christopher Barbak and David Hall in UC San Diego School of Medicine's Department of Radiology. Funding agencies include National Institutes of Health, Army Research Office and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Gianneschi was also supported by a New Faculty Award from the Henry and Camille Dreyfus Foundation and a Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/mNHJpL6mNQA/130528143729.htm

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To Celebrate Birth of a Museum, TCA Abu DhabiPresents Artscape ...

May 30, 2013

ManaratAl Saadiyat, the arts exhibition centre on Saadiyat Island, will host Artscape: Cultures in Dialogue ? a special evening forvisitors of all ages to explore an ?inter-cultural bazaar?, from 6pm-10pm on Tuesday 4 June, 2013. The evening will include workshops and live performances inspired by the Birth of a Museum exhibition, a preview of the Louvre Abu Dhabi permanent collection, ongoing and open to the public until 20July, 2013.

Highlights of theevent will include traditional and contemporary artists and practitioners as the Kathakali theatrical dance troupe from India, a rhythmic routine by Dubai Drums, and a performance from the much-loved Lebanese singer and composer, JahidaWehbe. Street graffiti artist Ruben Sanchez will be creating a large-scale work live on-site, and well-known French chefs Alexandre Pernatta and Philippe Gar?onwill be leading a workshop to explore the connections between Arabic and French cuisines.

Artscape: Cultures in Dialogue will have a number of interactive and inviting stalls and workshops for all to engage with, such as an Arabic lettering and calligraphy learning stand with Khalifa El Shimy, Lara Assouad Khoury and Dubai-based graphic design team M?bius, as well as a workshop led by artist Laura Colantonio, on the art of perspective drawing.In addition, German artist, Wolfgang Stehle, will be demonstrating the intricate art of wood-carving animal figures from the Middle Ages.

For more information on this evening of culture learning,the exhibitions, upcoming events and workshops, please visit to www.saadiyatculturaldistrict.ae or call 026575800.

Related Press Releases:

Source: http://web-release.info/2013/05/30/to-celebrate-birth-of-a-museum-tca-abu-dhabipresents-artscape-cultures-in-dialogue-an-evening-of-visual-and-performing-arts/

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the shields family: Baby Shower Joy - Nicole Shields

I have been so blessed by the generosity, love and support of our family and friends during this exciting season. This pregnancy has been a little stressful for a couple reasons - but it was such a joy to stop and celebrate?the blessing that this little child is!?

The first baby shower was thrown by my best friends from college. It was so wonderful to get together at Jody's house and celebrate! Also it meant so much to me that my sweet Audrey drove all the way from Charlotte to be there :)

Adorable balloons that made me tear up when I saw them outside :) #pregnancyhormones

Adorable diaper cake made by the one and only Courtney Samuelson! I wish I had taken more pictures of all the decorations that Court made - she really made so many adorable?things!?

With the sweet hosts of the shower! Court, me and Jodes

All the girls at the shower! So blessed by each one of these friends in my life and so humbled by their friendship.

One last pic with Shanny :)

The second shower was thrown by my mom and my sisters. They invited a lot of our family friends - the women from our church growing up who have known me since I was a toddler. It was so special to celebrate with them as well - get lots of advice and just be around these wise women who have loved me so well for all my life. It was a great reminder to me of how truly blessed I am.

The decorations for this shower were straight out of a magazine. Seriously my sisters are amazing at making things look exactly like Pinterest!

The punch was seriously the best punch I've ever had. The flowers were given by sweet Tracy from Springwell Gardens - she did the flowers for my wedding too. Those jars/vases on the mantle and on the table were spray painted the prettiest baby pink!?

The best gift: our stroller and carseat!!! My sisters all pitched in to give us this gift and I was so surprised and thankful and excited! :) It made everything so much more real.

And to cap it off, my sweet friend, Kristi, from work threw me such a sweet shower at her beautiful home in Durham. Almost all my co-workers (and former co-workers) were there and it was such a sweet time to be with these incredible women that I work with every day. I was totally spoiled by all their gifts (and the amazing food - yes Kristi did include caffeine free Coke! Does she know me or what?)... and the best part was when they asked how they could be praying for me and we spent some time in prayer. I really feel so humbled to work with such an amazing group of women who just showered their love on our little family. I am also SO sad because I didn't take a single dang picture! But it was such a special time and I left feeling so overwhelmed by God's grace in my life.

Source: http://www.nicoleshields.com/2013/05/baby-shower-joy.html

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Despite Strong Early Numbers, Netflix Stock Drops After ?Arrested Development? Debut; Parents Also Angry Over Lost Kids Shows

Maybe Netflix's original content isn't quite ready yet, after all. Today, a spate of bad news for the streaming service: its "Arrested Development" reboot failed to impress TV critics, and shares fell 5 percent as a result this morning. Meanwhile, angry parents are giving Netflix hell for its decision to drop popular kids' shows like "Dora the Explorer" and "SpongeBob Squarepants" from its network - a result of the company's decision to end its licensing deal with Viacom, as previously announced.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0H_aWOV3IhU/

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Sentencing for would-be Chicago backpack bomber

FILE - This Sept. 21, 2010 file photo shows Sluggers Sports Bar and Grill near Wrigley Field, background, before a Chicago Cubs baseball game in Chicago. On Thursday, May 30, 2013, Sami Samir Hassoun, a Lebanese immigrant, is scheduled to be sentenced at federal court in Chicago for placing a backpack he thought held a bomb outside the bar in September 2010. Prosecutors want a 30-year prison sentence for the 25-year-old, who pleaded guilty to weapons charges last year. The defense filing argues Hassoun deserves no more than 20 years, in part because they contend he was egged on by an FBI informant to concoct the bombing scheme. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? The defense depicts Sami Samir Hassoun as a uniquely gullible youth sucked into a terrorist plot during an alcohol-addled stretch of his life by an informant eager to please his FBI handlers.

Prosecutors, though, say the 25-year-old showed enthusiasm and initiative, including by selecting a crowded street near Wrigley Field as the place to plant a backpack he thought held a real bomb.

A federal judge will consider those competing portraits Thursday at the Lebanese immigrant's sentencing hearing in Chicago.

The one-time bakery worker pleaded guilty last year to two explosives charges. As part of his plea deal with the government, he faces a sentence of between 20 and 30 years in prison.

The Chicago man's sentencing comes in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing ? a deadly attack prosecutors could point to as an example of the chaos Hassoun allegedly hoped to wreak himself.

At Thursday's hearing, government attorneys planned to display the fake bomb undercover agents gave to Hassoun on a September weekend in 2010. It's a paint can fitted with blasting caps and a timer.

They also intend to play a surveillance video of Hassoun dropping the device into a trash bin near the Chicago Cubs' baseball stadium shortly after receiving it. FBI agents arrested him moments later.

Before Thursday's sentencing, Hassoun apologized in a seven-page letter to his sentencing judge, Robert Gettleman. He also insisted he has worked at becoming a better person, including by doing yoga in jail.

Hassoun, who was born in Beirut, also blamed his actions, in part, on trauma he said stayed with him since childhood living in Ivory Coast when bloody civil strife broke out in that African nation.

To dampen his emotional pain, he wrote, he drank alcohol "all day, every day" for months before the would-be attack. He favored whole bottles of Johnnie Walker Black, he wrote.

The multilingual Hassoun immigrated with his parents and a younger brother to the U.S. in the late 2000s and once aspired to become a doctor, his attorneys and relatives have said.

In a recent presentencing filing, the defense suggested investigators may have entrapped Hassoun in their sting ? arguing the paid informant egged Hassoun on to acquiesce to ever-more ominous-sounding plots.

Hassoun did waffle about his plans, allegedly talking about profiting monetarily and then broaching the idea of poisoning Lake Michigan or assassinating then-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, prosecutors have said.

But far from being led on, prosecutors say, Hassoun himself concluded that maximum damage could be inflicted by a blast next to the popular Sluggers World Class Sports Bar, just steps from Wrigley Field.

"He selected the day and time at which to strike ? midnight on a Saturday night ? to maximize the number of prospective casualties," prosecutors said. He walked away expecting "chaos and carnage."

Undercover agents also repeatedly asked Hassoun if he wanted to back out, telling him there would be no shame in doing so. But he repeated declined, saying he wanted to press ahead, government filings say.

Another point of contention is motive.

The defense argues religious fervor did not drive Hassoun, making him less of a long-term threat. But prosecutors say he's dangerous, no matter the motive.

"His alleged lack of religious motivation would not have, in any way, dissipated the death and destruction caused by his actions," the government's presentencing filing says.

Hassoun had an incentive to agree to a plea deal since terrorist suspects rarely prevail at trial. If convicted at trial, he would have faced a maximum life sentence.

___

Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-30-US-Chicago-Bomb-Arrest/id-b3642a6a76e94078afcabd96f40e9d92

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New treatment for stroke set to increase chances of recovery

May 29, 2013 ? University of Leicester researchers have contributed to a landmark study which has revealed a new way to treat strokes caused by bleeding inside the brain.

The study found that intensive blood pressure lowering in patients with intracerebral haemorrhage, the most serious type of stroke, reduced the risk of major disability and improved chances of recovery by as much as 20 per cent.

The study, which involved more than 2800 patients from 140 hospitals around the world, was announced today at the European Stroke Conference in London, and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Professor Thompson Robinson, Deputy Head of the University of Leicester's Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, was the UK co-ordinator for the study and co-authored the paper.

The study was led by the George Institute for Global Health, in Sydney, Australia.

Professor Thompson Robinson said: "Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK and the most common adult cause of neurological disability. Approximately 1 million people are living with the consequences of stroke in the United Kingdom, a third with life-changing severe disability. Every year an estimated 152,000 people in the UK have a stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage -- spontaneous bleeding within the brain most often due to hypertension -- accounts for at least 10 per cent of all cases.

"Intracerebral haemorrhage kills about half of those affected within one month and leaves most survivors disabled, and to date there is no specific treatment for this type of stroke.

"The results of the study show that intensively reducing high blood pressure within 6 hours of onset of a bleeding-related stroke is safe, and results in a significant shift from being dead and dependent to being alive and independent after stroke. Because it involves treatment with already available blood pressure-lowering treatments, the results should be easy to implement in all hospitals and be of benefit to patients. It is important to reinforce that stroke is a medical emergency, and individuals who suspect that they may have had a stroke should dial 999 and seek urgent medical attention.

"Leicester has a long-standing interest in acute stroke and blood pressure research, and hosts the NIHR Trent Stroke Local Research Network. There are many opportunities for Leicester patients presenting with stroke to participate in research to improve outcomes for future patients with stroke."

Professor Bruce Neal of The George Institute and The University of Sydney said the study challenges previous thought about blood pressure lowering in intracerebral haemorrhage.

He said: "The study findings will mean significant changes to guidelines for stroke management worldwide. They show that early intensive blood pressure lowering, using widely available therapies, can significantly improve the outcome of this illness.

"We hope to see hospital emergency departments around the world implement the new treatment as soon as possible. By lowering blood pressure, we can slow bleeding in the brain, reduce damage and enhance recovery.

"The study findings are tremendously exciting because they provide a safe and efficient treatment to improve the likelihood of a recovery without serious disability -- a major concern for those who have experienced stroke.

"The only treatment option to date has been risky brain surgery, so this research is a very welcome advance."

The study found patients who suffered an acute intracerebral haemorrhage and received the blood pressure lowering treatment were better off from both a physical and psychological perspective.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/MPsBSvpexqo/130529111248.htm

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

How Cell Phones Can Aid The Learning Process Education Essay

In this review we look at mobile learning specifically at cell phone devices and if this can aid South African high school learners. It will look at what learning is and look deeper into some of the learning models supported by mobile learning. It will take a critical look at mobile learning: what it is, how it is defined, how it should be implemented and the critical success factors for implementation. Where cell phones are concerned as a learning medium it investigates three potential models to aid learning: SMS, MMS and Mobile Internet Models and support the models through case study examples, conducted across the world. The review takes a look at the state of education in South Africa through its teaching support and infrastructure and then looks towards an adoption theory of cell phone learning for South African learners.

Introduction

Mobile technologies are networked, entrenched and everywhere. It allows for social interactivity, contextualisation and always available internet allowing for information at your fingertips. Technologies like this can make a great difference to learning. As learning is becoming more focused on the students and moving away from the rigid education infrastructures, into the secret worlds of students, learning has become meaningful. The task lies in finding ways to make learning so much part of a student?s life where they would no longer classify it as learning at all (Naismith, Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, 2004).

As new technologies emerge, new possibilities are born and education is not left unchanged. Educators are looking for ways to deliver learning content that is not fixed by location or time. Imagine how to enhance the learning experience through online schedules, grades and homework, through collaboration and debate and immediate access to a world of online information wealth to contextualise the learning content. All of this available on a cheap wireless device: a cell phone (Ismail, Johari, & Idrus, 2010; Roschelle, 2003).

Cell phones are already seen as the more popular choice when it comes to voice communication technology. This is evident in the rise of new cell phone owners in developing countries. In South Africa it can be largely contributed to the increasingly popular prepaid subscriptions and cheap readily available cell phones devices (Kreutzer, 2009).

South African disadvantaged communities are broken down not only by poverty and job loss, but also by a lack of basic services. All though the issues of inequality in the education system of the apartheid era has been addressed, the lack of resources, access to qualified teaching staff and overpopulated classrooms remain key issues, hindering successful learning (Chrisholm, 2005).

Through mobile learning, learners are able to grow their knowledge base through different perspectives enabling them to build solid understandings of the learning content. It allows them the space and time to learn anywhere anytime without the restricitons of a building or equipment (Winters, 2006). These characteristics make mobile learning very suitable for the South African learning environment.

Learning Models

The information age has brought much change to education, of which the most important is the change in focus to learner-centred education as opposed to teacher-centred (Ismail, Johari & Idrus, 2010; Geddes, 2004). Therefore a theory of learning must be grounded in modern day practices, which in turn facilitates successful learning (Sharples, Taylor & Vavoula, 2005).

Cognotive psychologists see the integral parts of learning as: motivation; the ability to recall on previous learning experience; the ability to think; and the ability to reflect (Ally, 2005). All though there are plenty of learning concepts, models and theories, we will focus on the use of senses, contextualised, collaborative and informal learning which are some of the models addressed by mobile learning.

Learning ? the dual coding theory

Research with reference to the brain and learning shows that when a new concept is learned, continued exposure and practice using various senses is required, so the neural network path for the concept can be developed and laid down. Psychologists suggest that learning happens internally and that the quantity of learning material absorbed is dependant on how much information the learner is able to process, the depth of that processing, the input attempted from the learner and the knowledge already obtained. The dual coding theory confirms that when learning material is offered in both visual and verbal formats it is remembered for longer. With enough repetition, the recognition of the concept will become routine. This type of learning is the objective especially when teaching concepts like a foreign language (Ally, 2005; Thornton & Houser, 2004; Genesee, 2000).

Contextualised Learning

Contextualised learning look for the significance of the content to real life. It takes a critical approach towards the study of the content and apply it with caution, drawing on experience already gained (Ramsden, 1997). Learning is most successful when it can be contextualised. This contextualisation is facilitated through mobile learning because of its personalised and roaming characteristics (Ally, 2005).

Collaborative Learning

Dillenbourg (1999) explained that pinning a definition to collaborative learning would be too restrictive as it has many different meanings depending on the context and field in which it is used. However he agrees that collaborative learning broadly explains a process of learning by two or more people. Gokhale (1995) adds that this learning must be towards an academic goal (Dillenbourg, 1999; Gokhale, 1995).

There are two major categories in collaborative learning: Communication and problem solving. When faced with a difficult problem with which the learner needs help answering, the learner can swop ideas with peers. This way, learners develop critical thinking through gaining insight into other peoples? opinions and ways of solving problems, but also find discrepancies in their own frameworks. These interactions can occur synchronously or asynchronously (Okamoto, Kayama, & Cristea, 2001; Gokhale, 1995).

Interactivity in the class room leads to a healthy learning environment, builds collaborating learning communities, serves the lecturer with feedback indicators and help to motivate students (Markett et al., 2006).

Informal Learning

Informal learning can be recognised as learning that happens outside the boundaries of a formal education. It is a personal experience and unique to each person as it is founded in their requirements, experiences and interests. It is independent, autonomous, voluntary and sometimes in a social environment. It is the type of learning, where knowledge is gained as and when it is required, in smaller quantities compared to that of formal learning (Bull, et al., 2008; Hoffman, 2005).

Informal learning can be categorized under four types as: accidental, intentional, non-formal and social. Accidental learning occurs when the learner reads or hears information he was not specifically looking for or not specifically looking for any information at all. Intentional learning is when the learner is looking for information on a specific topic and e.g. researches a book, the web or phone a specialist, but the learning does not occur in the structure of formal course content. Non-formal learning happens in the space where a learner would complete an online course on specific course content and social learning happens when the learner intentionally watch other people to learn their actions so in order to mimic them later (Hoffman, 2005).

Mobile Learning

Modern day classroom environments are faced with challenges of overpopulated classes, diverse differences in learner backgrounds, high pass rate requirements and a lack in student engagement, which makes traditional learning methods insufficient (Ng'ambi, 2005). Mobile learning addresses these issues through its motivational and collaborative qualities (Naismith & Corlett, 2006). But what is mobile learning and how can it be a successful tool in the learning process?

Towards a definition

Learning is the end result of a focused awareness and consideration with a facet of the world (Pachler, Bachmair & Cook, 2009). Mobile learning is the ability to acquire knowledge and skill in new and always changing circumstances. It is about creating a learning environment from our real-world experiences. It is about the mobility of learners, empowering them to interact with educational content while on the go ? not limited by a physical location. Through mobile learning, students are able to access contextual knowledge and interact with each other and educators, without the limitations of geography and time (Pachler, Bachmair & Cook, 2009; Markett et al., 2006; Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005; Geddes, 2004).

Geddes(2004) describes mobile learning as a change in behavior through the ?acquisition of any knowledge and skill? using mobile technology, which is not bound by place or time. Laouris and Eteokleous(2005) took this further by adding that this knowledge acquisition should happen in a learning environment with at least a paper and pen, a facilitator, contact to knowledge, a planned program with objectives and tasks and a competing ?learning community?. This is in contrast with Geddes?(2004) definition where he specifically excludes terminology such as teaching and training, not because he feels that it will disappear, but that there will be a shift of focus from facilitated learning, pedagogical, to self learning, andragogical. However Geddes agrees to the importance of a learning community and that it focus the learner?s attention on the considered content. Figure 1 shows the primary level of learning i.e. physical contact with teachers, peers and content and that mobile learning gives learners a secondary level of access to learning that other learners have gained through their teachers, peers and content (Geddes, 2004). This contact with an international learning community would not have been possible without the internet which, in this instance, facilitates mobile learning (Laouris & Eteokleous, 2005; Geddes, 2004).

Figure 1 A Learning Community- Primary and Secondary Levels of Learning (Geddes, 2004)

Laouris and Eteokleous(2005) also stress the significance of the curricula content and frameworks that are restructured. In his research Geddes(2004) refers to the philosophy that learning happens in a pracitcal manner where a student test a concept, fail and gain knowledge from that experience. This is supported by the study Bay?a and Daher(2009) did in Saudi Arabia, where mathematical concepts were taugt through sending real world problems, to be solved mathematically, to learners? cell phones. This was enabled by mobile applications, allowing them to enter different values to experience first hand what the change to a variable can have on their solution. The students found that they were able to learn with ease and efficiency by ?visualizing mathematics and investigate it dynamically?. In contrast Thornton and Houser(2004) followed a learning philosophy of learning by repetition in their study of learning a foreign language. They sent new vocabulary words to students? mobile phones every day. The students receiving their words via mobile phone learnt 6.5 new words each week compared to the three learnt by computer based, web mail students. Both these philosophies refer to the method in Laouris & Eteokleous? definition relating to the ?delivery and interaction with content? (Baya'a & Daher, 2009; Laouris & Eteokleous, 2005; Geddes, 2004; Thornton & Houser, 2004).

Laouris and Eteokleous(2005) adds a mental component to their definition. This encompasses intelligence, experience, enthusiasm, attention span and preference. In past research it has found that students had an increased motivation and enthusiasm towards their studies with the introduction of mobile learning. Geddes(2004) refers to metacognition. This is the process of reconsidering a thinking pattern and to be in command of cognitive processes. In the shift of facilitated learning to self learning, it becomes important for learners to learn from their experiences so that they and other learners in their learning community can further their tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be shared in a wider learning community (Learning Cultures Consulting Inc., 2006; Laouris & Eteokleous, 2005; Attewell & Savill-Smith, 2004; Geddes, 2004).

Early efforts towards defining mobile learning placed technology at the heart of the definition referring to the mobility of the technology used for learning. Laouris and Eteokleous(2005) argues that the device implication on the definition is to the benefit of mobile device manufacturers, which increase the digital divide. Due to the rapid rate at which new technologies come to market, future learners will have access to new and different devices, therefore arguing that a definition should move away from a device towards the learner himself. Learning is no longer restricted by the corners of a classroom; it is expanded into the everyday lives of learners with real-world examples. However the technical infrastructure affects the quality of the learning experience and therefore justifies merit towards considering a definition (Traxler, 2009; Laouris & Eteokleous, 2005).

There is a noteworthy increase of mobile technologies in high school education. It has an effect on learning and teaching and forms an integral link between informal and formal learning. This is due to the inexpensiveness of mobile devices relative to PC?s and the unstructured entry into a wealth of educational resources on the internet. These learning activities can be regulated and supervised between settings when combined with wireless technologies. Mobile learning is one part learning and one part globalised mobile computing and is fast becoming an important ingredient of online learning (Ismail, Johari & Idrus, 2010; Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005).

Mobile learning can be categorised into four general themes: the technocentric perspective view mobile learning through the actual mobile technology used; the relationship to e-learning perspective looks at mobile learning as an expansion to electronic learning in a mobile environment; augmenting formal education as a form of distance learning; and learner-centred view which focus on the mobility of the learner (Winters, 2006). For this study we will follow a technocentric perspective.

The nature of mobile technology is complex (referring to the device, the supporting infrastructure and services). In recent years a great new range of mobile technologies have come to market, but there are important features to regard for a mobile learning device such as mobility, functionality, multimedia capabilities, ubiquity, ownership, collaboration capabilities, contextual relevance, locations based services and personalisation. Devices such as, but not limited to, PDAs, cell phones, smart phones, net books, laptops, tablet PCs and multimedia devices can be and are already used for mobile learning (Pachler et al., 2009; Traxler, 2009; Laouris & Eteokleous, 2005; Geddes, 2004). For the purposes of this study we will focus specifically on cell phones as a mobile learning enabler.

Requirement Models

The design of a mobile learning framework, suitable for the implementation context, involves elaborate and challenging activity planning. An impact analysis and estimation is required into new mobile technology (Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler, 2005). Taylor et al. name three core requirements for a mobile learning model: allowance for collaboration and communication; allow for description of current and future activities; and an activity analysis framework with clear definition of the relationship between activities and goals. The activities associated with the requirements include: the support for the social aspects of learning between all the stakeholders; information capturing support featuring all the parts associated with learning e.g. preparation, record, reflect; identification of content context and alternatives; and access to adequate resources (Taylor, Sharples, O'Malley, Vavoula & Waycott, 2006).

Critical Success Factors

Niasmith and Corlett (2006) refer to five key success factors in mobile learning. They are the availability of technology, the institutional support, connectivity, integration and ownership (Naismith & Corlett, 2006).

The availability of technology is an import success factor. Studies have always looked at providing learners with technology instead of using the technology already available to the learners. Even though mobile technology is in the hand of the learner, institutional support is still an important factor. These include training of staff, resources to support the initiative and the maintaining of used technologies. The lack of device to network connectivity can harm the success of mobile learning. It can either hold the class back while waiting for everyone to connect or deny those without connectivity an equal opportunity in learning. Mobile learning must not be seen separate from the learning process, but be integrated with course content and context. The ownership of technology increases learning motivation, where learners can brand their devices according to their tastes and so, creating a favorable learning environment (Naismith & Corlett, 2006).

While all these factors are critical, it is important not to lose sight that the implementation of technology must be so, that it can have an effective outcome for the students? learning efforts (Ng'ambi, 2005). There must be buy-in to the technology from both teachers and students and it is also important that learners take responsibility for their own learning, only then can learning be truly successful (Colley & Stead, 2004a).

Cell Phones as a learning medium

In a school, learners move from class to class, however their cell phones are with them all the time ? in fact far longer than the hours they are at school. The use of cell phones as a learning medium, have need of little technical or monetary help. Most learners already own a cell phone with the necessary software and communication happens through established service provider networks. Generally students are confident cell phone users and would therefore not require any additional technical instruction on the devices (Markett et al., 2006).

Technology terminology associated with cell phones

There are various technologies associated with cell phone learning. In Table 3 we look at some of the technologies and definitions associated, discussed in this paper.

Technology

Description

SMS

Short Message Service used to send text messages

MMS

Multi Media Message Service used to send picture or video messages

MiniBrowser

Allow you to view websites from your cell phone

Java ME

A programming language, mobile edition used for writing applications for cell phones

Midlet

A Java ME based application that run on cell phones

Table 1 Technologies definitions in cell phone learning (Baya'a & Daher, 2009;Colley & Stead, 2004)

Cell phone Models

We will look at SMS models for in class and outside of class as well as how MMS can be incorporated into students? learning experience.

The SMS model

Academic content is largely presented in text and as Short Message Service (SMS) is text based it makes sense to explore the ability of SMS in learning environments (Ng'ambi, 2005). SMS models can be used in class and after class for the use of course work or clarification between the learner and teacher and collaboration between learners. The SMS model for student support services and teacher ? parent communication, facilitates comment and administration of course enrolment (Vucetic & Odadzic, 2010; Markett et al., 2006).

SMS has a lot of potential as an in class model, assisting with the taught content. It allows for quiet and unobtrusive communication as part of class discussion, two way service interfacing, model for language taught vocabulary components and as a study and learning support service (Markett et al., 2006).

In a similar study, to that of Markett et al., (2006), conducted by Ng?ambi (2005) he observed that learning was positively effected through the shared experiences of concept questioning and answering, that it created a non intrusive learning environment where students could remain anonymous, that students could keep track of their learning development and the teachers were provided with valuable response information (Ng'ambi, 2005).

Shortcomings of the SMS model

In some of the studies conducted, students identified the following shortfalls when using cell phones as a mobile learning device for the in class model: credit availability on their phone; remembering to bring their handset to class; limiting keypad of cell phone makes typing cumbersome; cell phone reception; and sending SMS in class was distracting. Most students make use of a pre-paid model rather than a cell phone contract. However, using a free SMS number can circumvent this. Very few students actually forgot to bring their handsets to class. 58% of learners brought their handsets 100% of the time, the remaining 42% reported to have their phones with them 75% to 100% of the time. Most cell phones only have a 12 button keypad, which makes typing slow and difficult when it comes to the use of special characters. Smart phones come with a full QWERTY keyboard and in future we will have the ability to plug a keyboard into a phone which would eliminate this problem. Cell phone reception is a difficult problem to work around, there are some things one can do, like opening windows and the classroom door, but even then it is not a certainty that reception will increase. Each student will be connected to their choice of service provider and will be bound to the reception provided (Lindquist et al., 2007; Markett et al., 2006).

In Table 2 Markett et al. (2006) show that 42% of students read their text messages in class as the message arrives and 16% of students sent SMS either to someone in class, or to someone outside of class. Markett et al. (2006) argues though that this distraction replaces other distractions and that students quite possibly are not more distracted than they were before. However, students noted that using the SMS to comment or ask a question for example inhibited them from listening attentively to what the lecturer was saying or taking notes as they were concentrating on the text message (Markett et al., 2006).

Table 2 Percentage of students using cell phones for non-class purposes (Markett et al., 2006)

The MMS Model

Investigations into computer assisted learning shows the usefulness of multimedia content in learning. Its effectiveness was noted when the media contextualized the study material, when the taught content had visual modules or allowing for rich presentation when learning a foreign language (Thornton & Houser, 2004). The use of video through Multi Media Messaging (MMS) can improve the result of learner outcome where: the visual aid forms the basis of tangible problem; a visual model assists learning; it can review work completed to lay a foundation; and where real world artifacts are incorporated into formal taught curricula (Pachler et al., 2009;Sharples et al., 2005; Thornton & Houser, 2004).

Shortcomings of the MMS Model

Some remote areas do not have a strong enough connection to their service provider, which makes the use of MMS unfeasible and MMS typically costs more to. Students also raised concern on the relevance of the content sent (Lindquist et al., 2007; Benta & Cremene, 2004; Colley & Stead, 2004a).

The Mobile Internet Model

The internet provides a flexible and dynamic infrastructure and accessed with a cell phone it is capable to do almost anything. As cell phones are a cost effective device to provide learners with access to the internet, it is also able to address the divide between those who have and those who don?t have readily access to information (Naismith, et al., 2004; Roschelle, 2003).

Mobile internet will allow learning to move, away from the classroom itself, with the learner into their surroundings. It allows for the contextualisation of content and the collaboration with peers, turning learning into a richer experience. It further allows for learners to note their experiences down as they occur, so they can reference it later and share in collaborative learning efforts (Naismith, et al., 2004).

Shortcomings of the Mobile Internet Model

There are a few practical implications with the use of internet over a cell phone. First off is the small size of cell phone screens which makes it difficult to browse the internet. Secondly it could be that not all learners? cell phone devices have browsing capabilities or a strong enough connection in their area to access the internet, especially true for rural areas. There is also a cost implication ? as the data usage usually incurs a high cost (Motlik, 2008; Roschelle, 2003).

Access to the internet is also cause for unruly behavior and allows for dishonest behavior in testing environments. This is of great concern to educators (Roschelle, 2003).

Examples on the use of Cell Phones in learning

There are many examples of formal use of cell phones in learning. There seems to be gap in the studies that look into the informal use of cell phones for learning outside the formal structures of education. In this section we will discuss some of the studies conducted.

Thornton and Houser (2004) conducted an experimental study in Japan with learners studying English as a foreign language. In the study, vocabulary course work was sent to the learners via SMS and MMS videos were used to explain idioms. The study found that students who received their vocabulary work via their cell phone were able to learn 6.5 new words per week compared to the three learnt by students who pulled their course work from internet email via a PC. They also found that informal learning occurred where 25% of respondents used a dictionary from their phone and 70% used the web from their phone, but not necessarily for learning purposes. Emails and SMS were also sent via cell phone devices, but only sometimes to confirm lecture times, lecture location or homework assignments (Thronton & Houser, 2004).

Baya?a and Daher (2009) conducted a study in Saudi Arabia looking at mathematical models taught with real-world problems with the use of cell phones as a teaching medium. The students used midlets for linear graphs and could see how the graphs changed when they changed the variable values. Students could also collaborate by sharing their results via MMS. The students found that through the use of cell phone technology they were able to learn with ease and efficiency by ?visualizing mathematics and investigate it dynamically? (Baya'a & Daher, 2009).

BBC Bitesize is a program based in the United Kingdom. The program offers revision material via cell phones, using a Java game and SMS. The program has been running since 2003. Despite its original rapid growth it has recently seen a decline in users as the originally free SMS service is now charged for by the BBC. Other criticisms include the cross device compatibility of the application, despite the Java platform. Learners also complained about the lack of detail on responses of questions posted. This is due to cell phone screen size and memory capacity constraints (Naismith, Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, 2004).

Markett et al. (2006) suggests a model where students would send the SMS to a service number. An application will run, picking up all incoming messages and deliver it to the lecturer via web based application in a spreadsheet like interface. If the lecturer was unable to answer during class time, the lecturer can log on after class, view and respond to messages at their leisure. It will also allow further discussion by the participating class members. In Table 1 Markett et al. (2006) show an analysis of a study conducted on an in class SMS model. The table shows the type of questions raised and an example of such SMS content. The percentage column indicates if the lecturer answered their question in class (Markett et al., 2006).

Table 3 Analysis of in class SMS model content (Market et al., 2006)

Ng?ambi?s (2005) study also looked into the development of a SMS to Web system at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The Mobile Dynamic Frequently asked Questions (DFAQ) system would allow students to interact with their teacher and peers via SMS anonymously. This would allow for questioning and clarification outside of the restricted time allotted for student-teacher meetings. Learners will SMS a question to the service number which will then post the question on the registered website for the service. Teachers or students can then answer and / or discuss either via the website or SMS (Ng'ambi, 2005).

Benta and Cremene (2004) tested a model for a biology lesson. In this model, the learners received a SMS text based message with a description of a plant followed with a MMS picture of the plant. The students then had to recognise the plant. The model platform allows for collaboration between peers and teacher, allowing them to share pictures and discuss the subject matter. In future the model will allow learners to send pictures to an artificial intelligent encyclopaedia system which will recognise the plant species and allow them to track the plant?s growth in a particular area through a location based information system. The learners were positive about the collaboration capabilities, but had concerns around the significance of the content itself (Benta & Cremene, 2004).

Education in South Africa

The new South Africa has seen a lot of change. For education it has obliterated an unfair and discriminatory educational system and developed a new system for 12 million learners of which the majority is schooled in rural areas. However, the opinion amongst South Africans is that nothing has really changed and that the new system has made matters worse (Chrisholm, 2005).

Compared to other countries, South Africa spends the highest percentage of its budget on education. However, contrary to the budget percentage, the infrastructure percentages look bleak: 79% have no library space; 60% have no laboratory space; 25% have more than 45 learners per class; 56% have no desks and / or chairs for more than 10% of its learner corps; and 97% have no access, ramps and / or facilities for differently able learners (Department: Education Republic of South Africa, 2007). On 22 March 2007, the Cape Times reported that 1,000 out of 33,000 teachers in the Western Cape, South Africa, were on leave in the first seven weeks of school. In addition some classes were reported to have between 50 and 75 learners. This has a definitive impact on the quality of teaching provided (Kassiem, 2007).

Some of the most important factors of learning is the ratio of student to teacher and the level of teaching excellence received by learners. In an effort, by the South African Department of Education, to evenly spread the teaching resources, teachers failed to relocate to the under resourced areas in the education system. The schools in affected areas were obliged to hire new teachers, numerous of them being under qualified (Chrisholm, 2005). In 2000 a sufficiently qualified teacher should have had a three year qualification; in 2007 a teacher must have a four year bachelor in education degree or a three year junior degree followed up by a one year postgraduate diploma to be deemed as sufficiently qualified. In 2004 less than half (47.9%) of the teachers in South Africa had obtained the necessary levels of education, 37.4 % were still on par with the 2000 standard and 14.7% were below any standard and deemed them as under qualified. The 14.7% equals to 50,000 teachers in the South African education system (Carnoy, M., Chisholm, L., et al., 2008).

Cell phone accessibility amongst youth

A third of the world?s population is teenagers (age 12 to 18). They are growing up in a world with technology readily available and they are exposed to the fast growing market of cell phones and other wireless technologies. The social aspect of humanness is a deep-seated need for teenagers and cell phones facilitates the connection and communication between peers (Schiano et al., 2002).

When rating technology over the last twenty years, cell phones are seen as one of the most successful with the International Telecommunications Union reporting, that more than a half of the people on earth (3.3 billion) having a cell phone (Pachler, Bachmair & Cook, 2009). Ownership amongst European youth range from 91% to 95% (Markett et al., 2006), in the United States there has been an increase in teen ownership from 45% in 2004 to 71% in 2008 (Lenhart, 2009) and in South Africa, studying ownership amongst low-income Cape Town youth show that, at least 77% of respondents own a cell phone (Kreutzer, 2009).

In a motivational study done by Chigona, Kankwenda and Manjoo (2008) tertiary students noted that entertainment was only their second biggest motivation for having a cell phone. Their biggest motivation for owning a cell phone was for safety purposes: in case a car broke down or when out at night to call someone in an emergency (Chigona, Kankwenda, & Manjoo, 2008).

Cell phones enjoy vast popularity with South African youth, because of access to cheaper phones and prepaid subscription packages. They use cell phones for calling, texting and make use of the Internet. Internet usage on cell phones is on the rise, due to the shortage of access to computers linked up to the web. The majority of respondents reported that they configured their phones for internet usage mainly for the purposes of access to MXit??and downloading of music and videos (Kreutzer, 2009). Only 5% of respondents in both Kreutzer (2009) and Chigona, Kankwenda and Manjoo?s (2008) studies had access to internet via a personal computer at home. One of the respondents (Chigona, Kankwenda, & Manjoo, 2008) noted that mobile internet was convenient as no subscription was required, and could be accessed via a cell phone as and when it was needed (Kreutzer, 2009; Chigona, Kankwenda, & Manjoo, 2008).

In Chigona, Kankwenda, & Manjoo?s (2008) study into the internet content accessed via mobile phones, they have identified four themes: Research, Access to Information, Entertainment and Education (Chigona, Kankwenda, & Manjoo, 2008). When we look at Table 3 from Kreutzer?s (2009) study, 67% used Google Search, 60% accessed for information on Movies, Music etc., 59% for news and 38% for health of medical information, 82% downloaded content for entertainment purposes and 61% of respondents noted that they have used their phone for educational purposes (Kreutzer, 2009).

Download songs, videos, games or ringtones

82%

Browse or 'Google' for no reason

67%

School research

61%

Movie, TV show, music, or sports fan site

60%

Online news

59%

Facebook or other Social Networking site

43%

YouTube or other video site

41%

Health or medical information

38%

Table 4 Internet content accessed via mobile phones (Kreutzer, 2009)

Towards Mobile Learning Adoption

In Figure 2 Foley (2004) describes an ICT adoption Framework for internet usage. The same model can be applied to mobile learning. The awareness speaks to the consciousness of a mobile learning platform. This will include knowledge on the device and application requirements. Access will have to be gained to a suitable device and application loaded or accessed via the device. Through skills and training the user will gain confidence to finally effectively use it to have a positive impact (Foley, 2004; Foley, 2002).

Figure 2 ICT Adoption Framework (Foley, 2004)

We already know that South African youth have access to cell phones and with multi-media capabilities (Kreutzer, 2009), that the necessary skill set exist to use the capabilities (Kreutzer, 2009; Markett, et al., 2006) and that 61% of learners use cell phone technology for some form of educational gratification (Kreutzer, 2009). The gap in analysis and research lies in the awareness, how they have gained access to the and the impact of mobile devices and learning on South African high school students lives.

Summary

As shown by this review mobile learning address some of the core learning models in that it allows for dual coding, contextualised, collaborative and informal study. Where the majority of learners in South Africa already have access to a cell phone it is the perfect low cost solution to a learning methodology of mobile learning, in a country where the education infrastructures seem non-existent or falling apart. The collaboration efforts would give learners in rural disadvantaged communities? access to resources in advantaged communities through secondary levels of learning. It would also contextualise the learning content which they might experience only for the first time especially in schools where there are no science laboratories. Mobile internet gives learners access to information for assignments where they don?t have access to libraries and learners who are differently able, can have access to a world of learning they would not otherwise have had access to.

Teenagers are resourceful beings, overcoming unimaginable restrictions, rules and shortcomings. There seems to be gap in literature on how South African youth are currently using their cell phone devices in overcoming the issues they have around learning, the lack of educational infrastructure and access to qualified educators. There are also no case studies available on the informal learning that occurs and the impact it has amongst South African learners. Furthermore it would be good to have a look at how learners from poorer communities fund these cell phone learning activities and how they gain access to their devices.

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

US, Russia discuss peace plan as Syria worsens

PARIS (AP) ? The top U.S. and Russian diplomats met Monday to try to accelerate frustratingly slow peace efforts in Syria, where the signs point only to a worsening conflict.

Capping off an eight-day trip to the Middle East and Africa, Secretary of State John Kerry flew into the French capital to see Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and exchange updates on their respective diplomatic efforts.

The United States and its Arab allies are attempting to secure the participation of Syria's fractured opposition at an international peace conference in Geneva, planned for next month. Russia is pledging to deliver Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime to the talks.

But despite claims of progress by both powers, there is little evidence to suggest either side in Syria is ready to halt more than two years of violence that has killed more than 70,000 people. President Barack Obama has demanded that Assad leave power; Russia has stood by its closest ally in the Arab world.

Kerry said the U.S. and Russia each are committed to starting a political transition that "would allow the people of Syria to decide the future of Syria."

"We are committed to this," Kerry told reporters upon conclusion of the meeting. "We both want to make this conference happen, if possible, together with many other countries that will join up."

"It is our hope that we will come out of here with greater clarity about some of the issues that need to be worked on in the days ahead," he added.

Lavrov suggested much work remains if any peace conference is going to make headway, calling it a "very tall order." He also signaled continued disagreement between Washington and Moscow on the participants at the conference, saying it should include more interested parties than previous diplomatic gatherings. It was an apparent reference to Iran, which the United States and the Syrian opposition don't want to see involved in any negotiation.

The one-on-one Paris meeting between Kerry and Lavrov, to be immediately followed by a dinner that includes French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, occurred as Sen. John McCain slipped into Syria Monday to meet with rebels, and at an increasingly dangerous time for the country.

For the past week, regime troops and allies from Lebanon's Hezbollah ? and even some Iranian fighters ? have waged an offensive in Qusair, gaining ground against the rebels behind intense bombardments of the strategic western Syria town.

Hezbollah's enhanced role poses an assortment of concerns for the Obama administration, with the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, vowing over the weekend that his militants would back Assad to victory.

Beyond providing powerful reinforcements to Assad's regime, Hezbollah's involvement increases the risk of spillover into Lebanon, a country as ethnically divided and fragile as Syria. Two rockets struck a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut on Sunday, raising fears that the country could be plunged back into civil war.

And any conflict with Hezbollah threatens to drag in Israel, which has proven with airstrikes it won't tolerate large-scale and advanced weapons transfers to its northern border. Lebanon's state-run news agency reported one missile fired from that area toward the Jewish state on Sunday night.

For Kerry and other would-be peacemakers, the confluence of developments only reaffirms the need for a serious peace process to begin.

The Americans have stressed that any talks be carried out in good faith and lead to the full transfer of power to an interim government. Logic, they say, compels that this government not include Assad or other members of his government culpable in widespread abuses.

Getting to the talks hasn't been easy. Kerry is waiting for Syria's Sunni-led opposition coalition to unearth itself from a mountain of internal divisions, from adding new representatives to determining how Islamist or how secular to define their movement.

Opposition leaders met among themselves Monday in Istanbul for the fifth straight day. And while they've grappled for unity, they haven't given a firm yes to the peace strategy outlined by Kerry and Lavrov earlier this month.

McCain spokeswoman Rachel Dean confirmed the Arizona Republican met with rebels in Syria. She declined further comment. McCain has been a leading proponent of arming the rebels and other aggressive military steps against the Assad regime.

Russia has achieved, rhetorically at least, greater success. The Syrian government said Sunday it agreed "in principle" to send delegates to Geneva, strengthening Moscow's hand ahead of any direct ? and potentially proxy ? U.S.-Russian diplomatic negotiations.

With Syria's opposition scrambling politically and militarily, some European countries are looking to change the equation. However, the bloc remained divided Monday on whether to scrap its arms embargo to allow Britain and France to provide the rebels with military aid.

The Obama administration has been mulling a similar step for months. Despite Assad's military advances and evidence that his forces used chemical weapons against the rebels, the Obama administration remains wary about getting too involved.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-27-EU-US-Syria-Diplomacy/id-18a39567c89c4821b55e5e4b93b0bd97

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