Evaluating unfavorable attitudes to pragmatic use of language in multilingual contexts in the learning of Science and Technology

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Music as an aid to story telling in Nollywood: Interrogating hybridization in selected films

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Gender construction, domestic crisis and the communication of femininity and masculinity in selected Nigerian films

This paper examines the construction of gender identities in marital unions in Nigerian films, and further interrogates how these identities communicate femininity and masculinity to the level of generating domestic crisis. The research is conducted using the interpretative and content analysis approach of the qualitative method to critically analyze two films produced in the Nigerian film industry for purposes of determining how the construction of gender identities in marital unions engender domestic crisis. The findings reveal that in an attempt to establish gender identities and self assertion, domestic crisis often erupts and continues to rage to the detriment of the expected peaceful co-existence and companionship in marital unions. The study concludes that the construction of gender identities in marital relationships generate crisis especially in situations where couples engage in struggles to dominate and suppress the other or to resist domination by another. Based on the findings, the study advocates for a better understanding among couples which will lay the foundation for mutual peaceful coexistence and encourages film directors to give more exposition to gender domination in films as it relates to both male and female

Gender inequality and female struggles for property ownership: An examination of Pat Obi Nwagbo’s When Women Go Naked and Julie Okoh’s Our Wife Forever

Nigeria women often encounter oppression, subjugation and disempowerment in their daily interactions. Drama being a veritable means for the propagation of societal values, developmental issues and socio-political concerns, has become an avenue for the propagation of women's rights and concerns. Nigerian playwrights have over the years, attempted to present critical issues of women's empowerment for societal reflections and possible re-assessment of values. However, much of the representations in drama have been centered on general issues of women empowerment, with little attention paid on women's disinheritance and struggles to own properties. The study adopts the content analysis approach of the qualitative research methodology in undertaking a critical assessment of two purposively selected plays that deal with issues of property rights and inheritance; for purposes of ascertaining the extent of exposure and the role of traditional and cultural structures in perpetuating inequality. The play texts are When Women Go Naked by Pat Obi Nwagbo, and Our Wife Forever by Julie Okoh. The theory used in the evaluation of this research is Stiwanism. The problem of women struggling to own property is seen in two different dimensions using the play texts, which includes female struggles to own property through Widowhood as seen in Our Wife Forever, and female struggle to own property in their family of origin, as seen in When I. Nnamah & T. Utoh- zeajugh: Gender Inequality and Female Struggles for Property Ownership 47 Women Go Naked.. Findings based on an analysis of the scenario created in the plays, show that there are hardly any restrictive measures taken against the denial of women's inheritance rights in Nigeria. The study recommends that the existing laws that accord women certain rights to inherit the property that belongs to their fathers and husbands where no wills exist, should be publicized and made more functional and that avenues should be created for societal re-orientation

Intra-gender relationships and the role of women in sustaining widowhood practices in Nigeria: Ifeoma Okoye’s The Trial as a paradigm

The concept of widowhood in the African cultural milieu appears to be that of trauma, peril and dehumanization. This study attempts to interrogate the practice of widowhood in some Nigerian communities using “The Trial” a short story in Ifeoma Okoye's literary text titled The Trial and Other Stories with a view to exposing the faulty frameworks within which cultural norms are established for the widow, and in the process, initiate an intragender scholarly dialogue. Using context analysis approach of the qualitative research method, the study presents the opinions of various traditional Igbo women as represented by the characters in “The Trial” to ascertain their perception on obnoxious widowhood practices. The findings revealed that apart from the victim (widow), almost all the traditional women accept the practice as a norm that should be sustained. This makes them to protect the practices rather than protest. The theory of motherism is adopted for the analysis.  The researcher recommends a proper re-orientation to expunge the negative notion from the psyche of women generally.Keywords: widowhood, tradition, women, perception, nor

Power exhaust concepts and divertor designs for Japanese and European DEMO fusion reactors

Concepts of the power exhaust and divertor design have been developed, with a high priority in the pre-conceptual design phase of the Japan-Europe broader approach DEMO design activity (BA DDA). Common critical issues are the large power exhaust and its fraction in the main plasma and divertor by the radiative cooling (P radtot/P heat 0.8). Different exhaust concepts in the main plasma and divertor have been developed for Japanese (JA) and European (EU) DEMOs. JA proposed a conventional closed divertor geometry to challenge large P sep/R p handling of 30-35 MW m-1 in order to maintain the radiation fraction in the main plasma at the ITER-level (f radmain = P radmain/P heat ∼ 0.4) and higher plasma performance. EU challenged both increasing f radmain to ∼0.65 and handling the ITER-level P sep/R p in the open divertor geometry. Power exhaust simulations have been performed by SONIC (JA) and SOLPS5.1 (EU) with corresponding P sep = 250-300 MW and 150-200 MW, respectively. Both results showed that large divertor radiation fraction (P raddiv/P sep 0.8) was required to reduce both peak q target (10 MW m-2) and T e,idiv. In addition, the JA divertor performance with EU-reference P sep of 150 MW showed benefit of the closed geometry to reduce the peak q target and T e,idiv near the separatrix, and to produce the partial detachment. Integrated designs of the water cooled divertor target, cassette and coolant pipe routing have been developed in both EU and JA, based on the tungsten (W) monoblock concept with Cu-alloy pipe. For year-long operation, DEMO-specific risks such as radiation embrittlement of Cu-interlayers and Cu-alloy cooling pipe were recognized, and both foresee higher water temperature (130 °C-200 °C) compared to that for ITER. At the same time, several improved technologies of high heat flux components have been developed in EU, and different heat sink design, i.e. Cu-alloy cooling pipes for targets and RAFM steel ones for the baffle, dome and cassette, was proposed in JA. The two approaches provide important case-studies of the DEMO divertor, and will significantly contribute to both DEMO designs

Pressure Induced Topological Phase Transitions in Membranes

Some highly unusual features of a lipid-water liquid crystal are revealed by high pressure x-ray diffraction, light scattering and dilatometric studies of the lamellar (bilayer $L_{\alpha}$) to nonlamellar inverse hexagonal ($H_{II}$) phase transition. (i) The size of the unit cell of the $H_{II}$ phase increases with increasing pressure. (ii) The transition volume, $\Delta V_{bh}$, decreases and appears to vanish as the pressure is increased. (iii) The intensity of scattered light increases as $\Delta V_{bh}$ decreases. Data are presented which suggest that this increase is due to the formation of an intermediate cubic phase, as predicted by recent theoretical suggestions of the underlying universal phase sequence.Comment: 12 pages, typed using REVTEX 2.

Transport lattice models of heat transport in skin with spatially heterogeneous, temperature-dependent perfusion

BACKGROUND: Investigation of bioheat transfer problems requires the evaluation of temporal and spatial distributions of temperature. This class of problems has been traditionally addressed using the Pennes bioheat equation. Transport of heat by conduction, and by temperature-dependent, spatially heterogeneous blood perfusion is modeled here using a transport lattice approach. METHODS: We represent heat transport processes by using a lattice that represents the Pennes bioheat equation in perfused tissues, and diffusion in nonperfused regions. The three layer skin model has a nonperfused viable epidermis, and deeper regions of dermis and subcutaneous tissue with perfusion that is constant or temperature-dependent. Two cases are considered: (1) surface contact heating and (2) spatially distributed heating. The model is relevant to the prediction of the transient and steady state temperature rise for different methods of power deposition within the skin. Accumulated thermal damage is estimated by using an Arrhenius type rate equation at locations where viable tissue temperature exceeds 42°C. Prediction of spatial temperature distributions is also illustrated with a two-dimensional model of skin created from a histological image. RESULTS: The transport lattice approach was validated by comparison with an analytical solution for a slab with homogeneous thermal properties and spatially distributed uniform sink held at constant temperatures at the ends. For typical transcutaneous blood gas sensing conditions the estimated damage is small, even with prolonged skin contact to a 45°C surface. Spatial heterogeneity in skin thermal properties leads to a non-uniform temperature distribution during a 10 GHz electromagnetic field exposure. A realistic two-dimensional model of the skin shows that tissue heterogeneity does not lead to a significant local temperature increase when heated by a hot wire tip. CONCLUSIONS: The heat transport system model of the skin was solved by exploiting the mathematical analogy between local thermal models and local electrical (charge transport) models, thereby allowing robust, circuit simulation software to obtain solutions to Kirchhoff's laws for the system model. Transport lattices allow systematic introduction of realistic geometry and spatially heterogeneous heat transport mechanisms. Local representations for both simple, passive functions and more complex local models can be easily and intuitively included into the system model of a tissue