Manifestations of Power and Marginality in Marriage Practices: A Qualitative Analysis of Sukuma Songs in Tanzania

This study examined manifestations of power and marginality in Sukuma marriage practices. The study was conducted in Kishapu District, Tanzania. It drew its materials from Sukuma marriage rituals, which include singing and performance of songs. The study adopted an ethnographic research design and used both primary and secondary data to analyse the construction of gender roles in songs and societal views. The songs were observed at live performances, and data related to their composition, interpretation, and impact were gathered through interviews with the singers. Thematic Code Analysis was used to analyze the data, which were then interpreted based on poststructuralist theory. The results obtained showed that Sukuma marriage songs present and propagate imbalanced gender roles. It was further found that these songs impliedly bolster gender inequality leading to women’s subordination and men’s authority over women in Sukuma society

Grey-box Modelling of a Household Refrigeration Unit Using Time Series Data in Application to Demand Side Management

This paper describes the application of stochastic grey-box modeling to identify electrical power consumption-to-temperature models of a domestic freezer using experimental measurements. The models are formulated using stochastic differential equations (SDEs), estimated by maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), validated through the model residuals analysis and cross-validated to detect model over-fitting. A nonlinear model based on the reversed Carnot cycle is also presented and included in the modeling performance analysis. As an application of the models, we apply model predictive control (MPC) to shift the electricity consumption of a freezer in demand response experiments, thereby addressing the model selection problem also from the application point of view and showing in an experimental context the ability of MPC to exploit the freezer as a demand side resource (DSR).Comment: Submitted to Sustainable Energy Grids and Networks (SEGAN). Accepted for publicatio

Molecular analysis of genetic stability in long-term micropropagated shoots of banana using RAPD and ISSR markers

A large number of micropropagated plantlets of banana, Musa acuminata var. Nanjanagudu Rasabale (NR), that were developed from axillary shoot bud explants over 10 years ago were screened for genetic variation, if any, using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) and ISSR (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats) markers. Of the 4000 in vitro plantlets, 11 were used for screening that involved shoot cultures with distinct variation in morphological characteristics (morphotypes). Similarly, the mother maintained in the field was also subjected for genetic analysis. Out of the 50 RAPD and 25 ISSR primers screened, 30 RAPD and 5 ISSR primers produced totally 424 clear, distinct and reproducible band classes resulting in a total of 5088 bands where the banding patterns for each primer was highly uniform and comparable to the field-grown mother clone from which the cultures had been established. These results indicate that the micropropagation protocol developed by us for rapid in vitro multiplication is appropriate and applicable for clonal propagation of banana var. NR over a long period. This is the first report on the use of genetic markers to establish genetic fidelity of long-term micropropagated banana using RAPD and ISSR