43 research outputs found
Optimization of synthesis process directed at FPGA circuits with the usage of non-disjoint decomposition
No full textStephanie Linus, director. Dry. 2015. 1 hour, 42 minutes, 16 seconds. English and Hausa. Nigeria and United Kingdom. Next Page Productions. Subscription required on irokotv.com.
No full textFrom hand holes to vent holes: what’s next in innovative horticultural packaging?
Get PDFInaugural lecture delivered on 2 February 2011.Umezuruike Linus Opara was born on 1 July 1961 in a rural subsistence
farming and hunting village, Umunam, in Imerienwe, Imo State, Nigeria,
where he lived and obtained his primary and secondary education. He attended
Upe/Umunam CMS (Anglican) Primary School, Upe Primary School and
Umunam Central Primary School, receiving most of the first three years of
classes in nearby rubber plantations, tree shades and other makeshift shelters
during the Nigerian Civil War. At the end of his primary education in 1974, he
baby-sat for one year before attending Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe.
He completed the West African Examination Council School Certificate
examination in 1980 and won the annual Senior Essay Competition of the School
for his essay entitled 1980 – The year of changes, in which he prematurely and
naively predicted a sudden end of apartheid in South Africa. After high school,
he travelled to northern Nigeria and joined his parents in Yola, the capital city
of present day Adamawa State in Nigeria, where he worked for two years at
UTC (Nig.) Ltd, rising from the position of Sales Assistant to First Sales/Storekeeper. During this
period, he used his weekends for self-study and in 1982 sat as an external candidate and passed
both the General Certificate of Education examination and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation
Board examination, and gained admission to study Agricultural Engineering at the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, in the same year.
Based on his first-year results, he was awarded the University of Nigeria Foundation
Undergraduate Scholarship for Academic Merit in 1983, which he successfully retained throughout
his undergraduate studies. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1987
with first-class honours (cum laude) and received the Department Prize for Best Graduating Student.
He was an elected member of the University of Nigeria Students Union Senate (Upper House) and
president of the National Association of Ngor-Okpala Local Government Students. In December
1987, he was awarded the prestigious Prize for Academic Excellence by the Mezie Owerri national
community development organisation in Nigeria. For his National Youth Service Corps assignment,
he spent one year as agricultural engineer at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization,
Ilorin. He returned to the University of Nigeria in 1988 with a Federal Government Postgraduate
Scholarship and completed his master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering (cum laude) in record
time in 1989. The results of his BEng honours thesis on Nomograph models for selective agricultural
mechanization and his MEng thesis on Computer-aided model for selective agricultural mechanization
(CAM-SAM) provided major inputs for the Agricultural Mechanization Study component of the
1989–2004 National Agricultural Development Strategy of Nigeria, of which he was co-leading
author with the late Prof UGN Anazodo and Dr Taiwo Abimbola.
In 1988 he was awarded a New Zealand University Grant’s Committee PhD Scholarship reserved
for local students who made first class. He commenced his PhD studies in Agricultural Engineering
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at Massey University 1990 and completed in 1993. His dissertation on Studies on stem-end splitting in
apples under the supervision of Prof Cliff Studman and Prof Nigel Banks provided the first scientific
evidence linking the development of stem-end splitting with a precursor internal ring-cracking.
Through the combination of engineering knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of fruit and
horticultural science, industry guidelines were developed and disseminated on practical measures
to predict and reduce the incidence of fruit-splitting damage. He subsequently held the position of
postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Agricultural Engineering from 1993 to 1994.
He joined Lincoln Technology in Hamilton briefly as Postharvest Research Engineer but returned
to Massey in 1995 as lecturer in Postharvest Engineering, was promoted to senior lecturer in 1999
and to program director for Engineering Technology in 2001, and was a founding member of the
Centre for Postharvest and Refrigeration Research. He held several management and administrative
positions, including that of coordinator of the Agricultural Engineering programme and coordinator
of the BApplSc (General) programme. In 1993 he was awarded the inaugural Dean’s Prize for
Meritorious Contributions to the Affairs of the Faculty of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences.
He was an elected member of the Massey University Governing Council (1993–1997),
representing all internal and extramural students, and served on several council committees, panels
and other university-wide committees, including the University Disciplinary Appeals Committee,
chaired by the chancellor, and the panel for the appointment of a new vice-chancellor (1994–
1995). He was also the residential community coordinator (1995–2001) responsible for mentoring
and overseeing the welfare of students living in on-campus university accommodation. He was
executive committee member of the Africa Association of New Zealand, president of the African
Students Association, elected member of the Massey University Students’ Association Executive,
and president of International Students.
He is a chartered engineer (UK), currently chair of Section VI: Postharvest Technology and
Process Engineering and executive committee member of the International Commission of
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), vice-chair of the Roots and Tuber section of
the International Society for Horticultural Science, section chair for Engineering and Information
Technology of the International Society for Food, Agriculture and Environment, and former vicepresident
(Postharvest Technology and Biotechnology) of the Asian Association for Agricultural
Engineering (AAAE). He is a life member of the AAAE and the American Society of Agricultural and
Biological Engineers, and member of several international and national scientific societies. At the
80th anniversary of the CIGR and the World Congress in Quebec in 2010, he received the CIGR
Presidential Citation for significant contributions to the advancement of agricultural engineering
in Africa.
He is founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation
and member of the editorial board and regular reviewer for several international peer-reviewed
journals. He has published over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, co-edited
three special issues of the International Journal of Engineering Education documenting recent advances
in agricultural and biological engineering education, was the editor of two conference proceedings
and made over 150 oral presentations at international conferences, including keynotes and invited
lectures.
Prior to joining Stellenbosch University, he worked at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman (2002–
2008), where he held the positions of associate professor of Agricultural Engineering, director of the
Agricultural Experiment Station, assistant dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research, and acting
dean during summer periods. During this period, he also developed a new research programme
and courses in postharvest technology and received the university’s Distinguished Researcher
Award in 2006. He also served in many university and national policy and advisory committees,
including the university’s Academic Council (Senate), he was a member of the University Quality
Audit Committee, which prepared the first quality audit report, and is a certified quality auditor of
the Oman Accreditation Council.
He is active in the international development arena, serving as visiting expert on postharvest
technology at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations (UN) in Rome (2000–2001), agricultural mechanisation expert in Iraq for the FAO/UN
(2001–2002), FAO expert panel on microbial safety of green leafy vegetables (2008), FAO expert
on postharvest and marketing systems and member of the technical panel that developed an
agricultural development strategy for Timor-Leste (2009) as well as a member of the International
Advisory Board of the USAID Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (Hort CRSP).
Prof Opara holds the South African Research Chair in Postharvest Technology at Stellenbosch
University, and his current research programmes focus on cold chain technologies, non-destructive
technologies for quality measurement and mapping and reducing postharvest food losses.
He is married to Gina and has two daughters, Ijeoma (15) and Okaraonyemma (13), who both
enjoy playing the piano and watching their dad play football
Not a scintilla of light: Darkness and despondency in Yvonne Vera’s Butterfly Burning
Get PDFThe paper makes an attempt at exploring the concept of the absurd as it applies to Yvonne Vera’s Butterfly Burning. The inordinate quest for survival and human dignity is graphically etched on the sordid canvas of angst, grime and abject poverty. The author deftly links this quest with the quest of identity which is manifested in a stream of endless waiting. The world of the novel is patently portrayed as irrational. The absurd is depicted, in the vein of Camus, as the function of the conflict between the irrational world and the human being’s passionate desires. The grossly traumatised and colonised humanity in Makokoba, a microcosm of Southern Africa, represents a scathing human condition. The female protagonist Phephelaphi is cast as an emblem of a subjugated and struggling African person seeking an identity as well as self-fulfilment. Phephelaphi, as a matter of course, bears the Sisyphean burden which remains unmitigated for the stone continuously rolls to the foot of the hill. This futile, endless and laborious feat which is symptomatic of the individual’s relentless struggles on earth echoes the absurd in an irrational milieu. This is inextricably linked with an indomitable and immortal time against which African men, women and children contend as they are kept waiting in stark futility
Marcin Rosienkiewicz : co-founder of emigrant literary circle in the 19th century United States
No full textCelem niniejszego artykułu jest przypomnienie postaci i działalności Marcina Rosienkiewicza, niemal zapomnianego patrioty, autora pierwszej książki dla Polaków wydanej w Stanach Zjednoczonych, założyciela pierwszej polskiej szkoły w tym kraju, jak również biblioteki polskiej w Filadelfii, a także współzałożyciela Komitetu Polskiego, pierwszej polskiej organizacji w Ameryce. Praca stanowi pokłosie kilkumiesięcznych badań źródłowych prowadzonych przez autorkę w ramach stypendium Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej między innymi w Muzeum Polskim w Chicago, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University oraz Bibliotece Polskiej w Paryżu. W artykule szczególny nacisk kładzie się na nieznane fakty biograficzne, a także na literacką działalność Rosienkiewicza, nauczyciela krzemienieckiego, który po powstaniu listopadowym został internowany do Stanów Zjednoczonych w grupie 234 Polaków. W artykule została omówiona jego współpraca z Julianem Ursynem Niemcewiczem, a także próby współtworzenia polsko-amerykańskiego środowiska literackiego oraz ocalenia od zapomnienia pamięci Polaków tworzących w Stanach Zjednoczonych w XIX wieku.The purpose of the present article is to remind the public about the life and work of Martin Rosienkiewicz, a patriot who has virtually sunk into oblivion. He was the author of the first coursebook for Polish learners published in the United States, the founder of the first Polish school established therein and of the Polish library in Philadelphia, as well as the co-founder of the Polish Committee, the very first Polish organisation in the U.S. This work comes as an outcome of a series of studies being conducted by the author as part of the Kosciuszko Foundation scholarship in the following institutions: The Polish Museum in Chicago, the Historical Society in Pennsylvania, Ohio State University and the Polish Library in Paris, which altogether took several months. The article lays a special emphasis on so far unknown biographical facts together with the literary activity of Rosienkiewicz, who used to work as a teacher in Krzemieniec and after the November Uprising was interned to the United States in a group of 234 Poles. Another aspect discussed in the present work is Rosienkiewicz's cooperation with Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz. Finally, it describes how the former author attempted to have his share in shaping the literary life of Polish community in the U.S. and how he managed to make the memory of the Polish writers creating in the 19th century America preserved from obscurity
Writing African women : gender, popular culture and literature in West Africa /
No full textThis unique book brings together a wide variety of African academics and other researchers to explore the links between literature, popular culture and theories of gender. The first part looks at African gender theory. The book then goes to on analyse women's writing, uncovering the ways in which different writers have approached, appropriated and subverted issues of female creativity, stereotypes of 'African Women' and colonial history. Part three looks at the interaction of sexual politics, polemics and popular culture, including explorations of the gender dynamics of mask performance and oral story-telling. This major analysis of gender in popular and postcolonial cultural production is essential reading for students and academics in women's studies, cultural studies and literature.Includes bibliographical references and index.Narrative technique and the politics of gender: Ama Ata Aidoo's Our Sister Killjoy and No sweetness here / Chioma Opara -- Hausa women as oral storytellers in northern Nigeria / Sani Abba Aliyu -- Gender politics in West African mask performance / Chinyere Grace Okafor -- Anatomy of masculine power: three perspectives on marriage and gender in Nigerian non-fiction / Stephanie Newell -- Gender tempered through metal: women in metal-casting in Benin City, Nigeria / Adepeju Layiwola.Reading towards a theorization of African women's writing: African women writers within feminist gynocriticism / Nana Wilson-Tagoe -- Masculinity: the military, women and cultural politics in Nigeria / Bayo Ogunjimi -- Women's role in Ghana's social development / Akosua Gyamfuaa-Fofie -- A life on the women's page: Treena Kwenta's diary / Jane Bryce -- Recovering lost voices: the short stories of Mabel Dove-Danquah / Naana Jane Opuku-Agyemang.Rewriting popular myths of female subordination: selected stories by Theodora Adimora-Ezeigbo and May Ifeoma Nwoye / Chinyere Grace Okafor -- Gender conflict in Flora Nwapa's novels / Theodora Akachi Ezeigbo -- Culture and gender semantics in Flora Nwapa's poetry / Obododimma Oha -- Behind the veil in northern Nigeria: the writing of Zaynab Alkali and Hauwa Ali / Margaret Hauwa Kassam -- The onus of womanhood: Mariama Bâ and Zaynab Alkali / Ibiyemi Mojola.This unique book brings together a wide variety of African academics and other researchers to explore the links between literature, popular culture and theories of gender. The first part looks at African gender theory. The book then goes to on analyse women's writing, uncovering the ways in which different writers have approached, appropriated and subverted issues of female creativity, stereotypes of 'African Women' and colonial history. Part three looks at the interaction of sexual politics, polemics and popular culture, including explorations of the gender dynamics of mask performance and oral story-telling. This major analysis of gender in popular and postcolonial cultural production is essential reading for students and academics in women's studies, cultural studies and literature
Martin Rosienkiewicz’s debuts in the United States
No full textThe present paper discusses Martin Rosienkiewicz’s triple debut on the American soil. Firstly, as an author of the first known English coursebook for Polish learners pub lished in the United States. Secondly, as a poet who introduced the American citizens with the story of exiles after the November Uprising by taking not only his individual point of view but also acting in unison with his suffering countrymen. Thirdly and finally, as a writer who, having in mind future generations, described his participation in the Podolia Uprising in the form of a diary, which remained unpublished until the present day. The literary oeuvre of Martin Rosienkiewicz (1792-1859), despite the pioneer and versatile character of his activity in the New World, currently does not, regretfully, attract much scholarly attention. Indeed, some of his works still remain in manuscript, and the very knowledge of his biography contains significant lacunae. He went down in history as the founder of the first Polish library, the originator of a school for Poles in the United States, as well as a co-founder of the Polish Committee, the oldest Pol ish organization in the New World. Last but not least, he is chiefly remembered for his Rozmowy... (Dialogues), considered to be the first Polish book published in the United States, which marks a turning point in the overall Polish-American publishing history. The author of this article during her academic research managed to reach so far unknown or virtually undiscussed output and biographical facts related to Martin Rosienkiewicz as well as to locate and uncover his gravestone in Cincinnati. All of that was possible thanks to her studies conducted as part of the Kosciuszko Foundation and SYLFF in the United States and preceded by a survey carried out in the Polish Library in Paris
August Antoni Jakubowski : author of the first book on Polish literature published in the United States, exceptionally talented poet, precursor of Young Poland pessimism, son of Antoni Malczewski
No full textThe Exile’s Song and It is weary – American poems by August Antoni Jakubowski
No full textThe subject of this article is the forgotten works of August Antoni Jakubowski, The Exile’s Song and It is weary, discovered on the last pages of a rare 1835 edition of The Remembrances from Auburn. After the November Uprising, Jakubowski, an illegitimate son of Antoni Malczewski, was sent to America, where he became the author of The Remembrances of a Polish Exile – the first publication about Polish history, literature, and education written in English and published in the United States.So far, Jakubowski’s short life (ended by suicide), torn between two continents, is shrouded in more mysteries and secrets than confirmed facts. Much has been verified through the research of Przemysław Bloch, a New York-based lawyer, together with the author of this article in the United States. The Exile’s Song and It is weary complete the picture of the last American stage of Jakubowski’s work. They are a concentrated expression of all his characteristic moods, and testify to the extreme alienation, hopelessness, and despair that he felt. Despite its intimate tone, the work in large measure constitutes a general testimony of the experience of Polish exiles forced to travel across the ocean.</jats:p
The inter-relationships of normal nerve conduction parameters in the lower extremity
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityPLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you.Nerve conduction tests were performed on veterans who were
referred to the Electromyography laboratory of the Boston Veterans
Administration Out Patient Clinic. Results from these tests in addition to
other nerve conduction tests performed between January 1984 and August
1986 in this laboratory were used to establish a database of normal nerve
conduction parameters for the motor and sensory nerves commonly
studied in the lower extremity, namely common peroneal, posterior
tibial, superficial peroneal and sural nerves. Nerve conduction
measurements including latency of onset, F wave latency, amplitude and
conduction velocity were analyzed for inter-relationships and
correlations with the independent variables which included age,
temperature, and leg length.2999-01-0
