Mother Tongue ICT Instruction in Cameroonian Languages

This article presents the feasibility of conveying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) content in Mmɛn, a Bantu Grassfields language of Cameroon; a process which would imply a modernisation of the language, with a view to increasing its scientific knowledge base. It explores the processes used to create ICT terminology in this language in a bid to make such concepts relevant to the community. The focus is placed on the translation of a computer science manual used in primary schools within Cameroon’s language teaching project. Issues raised relate to translation, lexical innovation and mother tongue ICT instruction. Some solutions are proposed to problems inherent to official language into mother tongue translation, and the lexification of new phenomenon where adequate terminology is currently lacking. The results obtained highlight the role of translation and terminology in developing our languages, and indicate how ICT instruction in our languages justifies the claim that an idea expressed in one language can be expressed in any other. If well harnessed, this instruction will ensure access to innovative educational resources for rural and semi-urban Cameroonians alike, and will improve literacy and standards of living within a context of globalisation.

Some Physical Properties and Mass Modelling of Pepper Berries (Piper nigrum L.), Variety Kuching, at Different Maturity Levels

Pepper berry (Piper nigrum L.) is known as the king of spices and has sharp, pungent flavour and aroma. In this study, the physical properties (weight, dimensions, sphericity, volume, surface area, and projected area) were measured, and the mass of pepper berries of the Kuching variety at different maturity levels (immature, mature, and ripe) was predicted using four models: linear, quadratic, s-curve, and power. When the models were based on volume and projected area, the mass could be predicted with maximum precision. The Quadratic model was best fitted for mass prediction at all mass maturity levels (immature, mature, and ripe). The results showed that mass modelling based on the actual volume of pepper berries was more applicable compared to other properties with the highest determination coefficient, 0.995, at the 1% probability level. From an economical point of view, mass prediction based on actual volume in the Quadratic form, M= 0.828 − 0.015 V + 7.376 ×10−5V2, is recommended. The findings of physical properties and mass modelling of the berries would be useful to the scientific knowledge base, which may help in developing grading, handling, and packaging systems.

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes. 24 October 1932—18 May 2007

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was one of the leading physical scientists of his generation. Awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1991, he made outstanding contributions to both solid state physics (magnetism, superconductivity) and so-called soft matter ( matière molle in French, a term he coined in his Nobel lecture), which includes among other systems polymers and liquid crystals. He was the first to realize the deep mathematical analogies that exist between these areas—for instance between polymers and magnetism, and (separately) between superconductors and liquid crystals. These abstract and surprising insights were those of a theorist par excellence , yet de Gennes was closely concerned with experiments throughout his career and was a sought-after contributor to industrial research. In several cases, such as his work on wetting and adhesion, de Gennes’s intense curiosity, combined with an unerring ability to detect weak points in the ‘received wisdom’, led him to rebuild the scientific knowledge base, with profound consequences for subsequent research in these areas.

Curriculum Development and Scientific Research

As a science, knowledge created during curriculum development should be both generated and placed within a scientific research corpus, peer reviewed, and published. In the context of science, the knowledge generated during the process of developing curriculum should be generated and placed within the public domain in a scientific manner. This chapter will describe a framework for curriculum development, study and evaluation of research based curricula. It will also provide a description of the framework, which will include three categories of activities and 10 phases that are embedded within those categories. It will propose that curriculum research should provide an ideal context for building a scientific knowledge base for education curriculum development.

Interactions of Art and Art Pedagogy : Theory and Practice

The article raises the issue of the link between art and its variet expressions of form with pedegaogy of art. A number of important directions of scientific research in art pedagogy are highlighted on the basis of the scientific knowledge base in the world and Latvian Education Area, guidelines of National Strategic Guidance, trends in art and art education, and summary of survey data. Object of the research is the interaction process between art and art education for improvement of pedagogical work performance; the objective of the study is: to identify major research issues in the process of interaction of art and art pedagogy in today's context, providing the basis for a balanced, cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and social development of a personality.

Assessing Acute Risk of Violence in Military Veterans

Research has shown aggression toward others is a problem in a subset of military veterans. Predicting this kind of aggression would be immensily helpful in clinical settings. To our knowledge, there currently are no risk assessment tools or screens that have been validated to specifically evaluate acute violence among veterans. This chapter reviews what we do and do not know about violence in veterans so that clinicians who are making decisions about acute violence can be informed by the existing scientific knowledge base. Examining these empirically supported risk and protective factors using a systematic approach may optimize clinical decision making when assessing acute violence in veterans.

Designing the Visualization of Information

The construction of an artifact to visually represent information is usually required by Information Visualization research projects. The end product of design science research is also an artifact and therefore it can be argued that design science research is an appropriate research paradigm for conducting Information Visualization research. Design science research requires that, during the Rigor Cycle, the design of the artifacts should be based on a scientific knowledge base. This article provides a knowledge base in the form of design guidelines that can guide the design of the view for an Information Visualization solution. The design principles and guidelines presented in this article are identified by means of a literature review.