Globalization a disservice to human development in Africa: the impact of ICT

Published ArticleLibraries in Africa are a product of the underdevelopment of the continent. To understand the current state of libraries in Africa it is important to appreciate the broader ramifications of global machinations and, in particular, the impact of globalization on the African continent. Rather than concentrate on libraries per se the paper attempt to demonstrate how globalization has diminished prospects for human development in Africa. The paper expounds on inequalities that have emanated from the integration of world economies but focuses on how adoption of ICT has failed to make meaningful contributions to uplift the social and economic circumstances of the majority of the population in Africa. In the same light diffusion of ICT in libraries has only produced half measures, at best. In many instances it has been a flop

LIBRARIES RE-LOADED IN SERVICE OF THE MARGINALIZED

Published ArticleFrom inception the journey of public libraries in Africa has been very bumpy for reasons well documented in literature. Some of the key issues are discussed. The main thrust of this article is that public libraries as we know them today have failed the cause of the majority of Africans who are disadvantaged and marginalised. A radical shift to the general principles underpinning public library practice is proposed to give way to a recipe of an ‘African public library’: A model which is essentially based on relationship building and networking

Optimal finite horizon approximation of unstable linear systems

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76580/1/AIAA-19973-738.pd

Safety Margins for Flight Through Stochastic Gusts

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140648/1/1.g000299.pd

Contributions of U-Th-Pb dating on the diagenesis and sediment sources of the Lower Group (BI) of the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup (Democratic Republic of Congo)

In this paper, we present new age constraints for the lower part of the Meso-Neoproterozoic sedimentary Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC). This Supergroup preserves a large diversity of organic-walled microfossils, evidencing the diversification of early eukaryotes for the first time in Central Africa. We use different methods such as in situ U-Pb geochronology by LA-ICP-MS and U-Th-Pb chemical datings by Electron Microprobe on diagenetic and detrital minerals such as xenotimes, monazites and zircons. We attempt to better constrain the provenance of the Mbuji-Mayi sediments and the minimum age of the Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup to constrain the age of the microfossils. Results with LA-ICP-MS and EMP provide new ages between 1030 and 1065 Ma for the diagenesis of the lower part of the sedimentary sequence. These results are consistent with data on biostratigraphy supporting the occurrence of worldwide changes at the Mesoproterozoic/Neoproterozoic boundary

Comparison of local pole assignment methods

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76770/1/AIAA-20171-818.pd

The V

This work is motivated by the need forr tools for the analysis of disturbance model uncertainty in feedback control systems. Such tools are developed in this paper for the case where the disturbance is modeled as the output of a first-order filter which is driven by white noise and whose bandwidth, ωd, and gain, K, are uncertain. An analytical expression for the steady-state output variance as a function of ωd is derived: This function is referred to as a V-transform, and is denoted by V(G)(ωd) , where G(s) is the closed-loop transfer function from disturbance to output. Properties of V-transforms are investigated and the notions of disturbance gain margin and disturbance bandwidth margin, both measures of robustness with respect to disturbance model uncertainty, are introduced. Using these new tools, it is shown that there is a fundamental robustness performance limitation if the plant has nonminimum-phase zeros, but no such limitation in the minimum-phase case

Controller Design Using Adaptive Random Search for Close-Coupled Formation Flight

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76190/1/AIAA-11377-210.pd

Stability robustness in closed loop vibrational control

In this paper, we consider the robust stability analysis and synthesis problems for closed-loop vibrational control. In the analysis problem, we derive an upper bound on the allowable unstructured uncertainty which preserves the stability of a closed-loop vibrationally stabilized system. In the synthesis problem, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a single vibrational controller that stabilizes a polytope of plants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35136/1/374_ftp.pd

Limited sampling models to predict the pharmacokinetics of nevirapine, stavudine, and lamivudine in HIV-infected children treated with pediatric fixed-dose combination tablets.

Full 12-hour pharmacokinetic profiles of nevirapine, stavudine, and lamivudine in HIV-infected children taking fixed-dose combination antiretroviral tablets have been reported previously by us. Further studies with these formulations could benefit from less-intensive pharmacokinetic sampling. Data from 65 African children were used to relate area under the plasma concentration versus time curve over 12 hours (AUC) to plasma concentrations of nevirapine, stavudine, or lamivudine at times t = 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 hours after intake using linear regression. Limited sampling models were developed using leave-one-out crossvalidation. The predictive performance of each model was evaluated using the mean relative prediction error (mpe%) as an indicator of bias and the root mean squared relative prediction error (rmse%) as a measure of precision. A priori set criteria to accept a limited sampling model were: 95% confidence limit of the mpe% should include 0, rmse% less than 10%, a high correlation coefficient, and as few (convenient) samples as possible. Using only one sample did not lead to acceptable AUC predictions for stavudine or lamivudine, although the 6-hour sample was acceptable for nevirapine (mpe%: -0.8%, 95% confidence interval: -2.2 to +0.6); rmse%: 5.8%; r: 0.98). Using two samples, AUC predictions for stavudine and lamivudine improved considerably but did not meet the predefined acceptance criteria. Using three samples (1, 2, 6 hours), an accurate and precise limited sampling model for stavudine AUC (mpe%: -0.6%, 95% confidence interval: -2.2 to +1.0; rmse%: 6.5%; r: 0.98) and lamivudine AUC (mpe%: -0.3%, 95% confidence interval: -1.7 to +1.1; rmse%: 5.6%; r: 0.99) was found; this model was also highly accurate and precise for nevirapine AUC (mpe%: -0.2%, 95% confidence interval: -1.0 to +0.7; rmse%: 3.4%; r: 0.99). A limited sampling model using three time points (1, 2, 6 hours) can be used to predict nevirapine, stavudine, and lamivudine AUC accurately and precisely in HIV-infected African children