Estimating and testing the effect of allelic recombination on the correlation between genotypic relatives

This paper provides estimates of the correlation between genotypic relatives and the effect of allelic recombination on the correlation assuming random mating. It is shown that the correlation is a non negative quantity and that allelic recombination has the effect of reducing total variation and doubling the correlation between genotypic relatives with respect to measurements on the character of interest. The significance of the correlation coefficient as well as the fitted regression model was obtained using Analysis of Variance method.Key words: Allele, genotype, regression, correlation, F-ratio, analysis of variance

Gulf War Era II Veterans\u27 Cognitive Information Processing and the Civilian Employment Transition

Gulf-War-era-II combat veterans have made professional contributions to the civilian workforce since returning from Iraq and Afghanistan combat operations. Service members in California encounter transition issues related to employment and adjusting their self-identity in the civilian employment culture. These complexities have led to career problems. Using Peterson, Sampson, Reardon, and Lenz\u27s theory of cognitive information processing and Mincer & Becker\u27s theory of human capital, the purpose of this phenomenological study was designed to provide a holistic account of the lived experiences of 11 Gulf War era II veterans who have successfully integrated into civilian employment with a focus on mitigating factors and decision making processes. Purposeful sampling and semistructured interviews were completed with Los Angeles Gulf-War-era-II veterans employed as civilians for more than 1 year. Data collected were analyzed using the Stevick-Colazzi-Keen method. Five themes emerged from the data represented the transitional experiences of the participant veterans\u27: (a) presence of self-validating values, (b) love of country and social responsibility, (c) importance of veteran networking and social support, (d) continued self-improvement, and (e) self-awareness to adapt to decision-making skills required in civilian employment. The findings identified the phenomenon that veterans evolved personally and professionally after securing meaningful civilian jobs and continued to adapt using career problem solving. This study contributes to the positive social change by aggregating resources for employment stability for veterans, increasing dialogue regarding veteran career transitions, and increasing awareness of veteran human capital values in civilian employment

Digitally Fabricated Epidermal Transfer Tattoo UHF Radio Frequency Identification Tags

This thesis focuses on the inkjet printing of UHF RFID tags in the form of transfer tattoos for use on the skin. Inkjet printing of these tags is proposed as a cheaper and more appropriate alternative to conventional etching. The work seeks to assesses the performance of inkjet printed epidermal RFID tags using parameters such as read range, transmitted power and backscattered power. The effect of different printing parameters such as the number of conductive ink layers, sintering time and temperature on the performance of the tags are assessed by simulation and measurement. Additionally, techniques to reduce the volume of conductive ink used for the fabrication of the tag are also examined and compared with an aim to determine which has the best achieved read range and ink utilization balance. This would help to reduce the cost of fabrication of the tags. Also, due to some defects being introduced to the tags during the printing process because of printing conditions and characteristics inherent to the printing technology, the effects of these defects on the performance of the printed tag is also examined by simulation and measurement. The robustness of the epidermal transfer tattoo tag was further experimentally determined by exposure to everyday use conditions and situations involving sweat and mechanical friction. Finally, a diversity study on an inkjet printed tag integrated with a medical sticking plaster was performed. This involved the use of two to four tags placed horizontally and vertically in order to determine which orientation offers better read coverage in each of the diversity setups while a volunteer carried out a set of motions

The Alpha Phallus and the Moderated Space for the Igbo Woman: A Sociolinguistic Approach

The phallus symbolizes the power of the male reproductive organ. The societal perception of the phallus reflects in language which is one of the crucial factors in the societal construction of the world. It is observed that elevated expressions are used for the phallus while lower ones are used for the female reproductive organ in the Igbo society. The study sets out to examine the alpha phallus and the moderated space for the Igbo woman, with a view to finding out the elevated expressions and their lower counterparts, classifying them according to their meanings, the reason(s) behind them and the societal attitude towards them. A qualitative approach was adopted and primary data was sourced through interviews. Fifty adult male and female respondents from different Igbo communities were purposively sampled and interviewed. The research adopted the muted group theory for analysis of this work. Findings illustrate that the Igbo society is a patriarchal one and women have traditionally been subordinate to men. The imbalance reflects in language, hence, the more names and the exalted position for the phallus and a moderated one for the vagina. While thirty-five percent of the women interviewees see nothing wrong with the moderated space for the vagina, sixty-five percent acknowledge and admit the adverse effect of the slant both in the naming and the meanings for the two reproductive organs has on women. For the men, they see nothing wrong with the names and meanings. The positions given the two organs affect both sexes, men positively and women negatively. The study advocates that equal expressions should be used for the two reproductive organs as they complement each other. More so, Igbo maxims which express the power of the vagina should not only be documented, but should be used in mixed company; this will go a long way in helping the women to see themselves from a positive position and encourage them to contribute maximally to the running of the society

Strategies in obituary announcements of married Igbo women: a review

Death is a necessary end for every mortal. Conveying the news of a married woman’s death to her ancestral home in Igbo land is a delicate task that requires tact and skills. This work sets out to investigate how the message of the passing of a married woman is conveyed to her ancestral home to find out who breaks the news, the strategies involved in doing so, and the reason(s) behind employing such strategies. Five communities were purposively selected in Anambra State for the study. A mixed-method was used to source data. Face and Politeness theory propounded by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson serves as a guide for the study. Findings reveal that a spokesman from the deceased’s marital family or the deceased’s children might break the news of their mother/wife’s death. The breaking of the news is done stage by stage - from the stage of their daughter taking ill, to the stage of the ill-health being severe and finally leading to death. The stages involve the use of both verbal and non-verbal communications like idiomatic expressions, proverbs, euphemisms, snapping of fingers, and hisses to show members of her ancestral family how important their daughter was to them, the efforts they made to save her life, and indirectly exonerating themselves from complicity in her death. Additionally, a eulogy is outstanding as a rhetorical device in the exchange between the two families. The study concludes that the Igbo attach a high premium to a wife’s ancestral family, hence the tact in conveying the message

Euphemisms as Substitutes for Verbal Taboos in Igbo Language Dynamics

Some Igbo words and expressions are hardly used openly, especially in mixed company. Such lexemes refer to in this study as verbal taboos play crucial roles in the understanding of certain aspects of the world view in Igbo society This paper examines and describes the various categories of some of such words, the reason(s) behind their avoidance, and the strategies involved when the concepts referenced in such words or expressions must be employed. Data comprising one hundred and fifty of the taboo words/expressions were elicited through oral interviews from two hundred Igbo native speakers representing various individuals without recourse to age, sex, educational background, occupation, and location. The respondents were randomly selected and interviewed based on convenience random sampling. The researcher equally relied on her intuitive knowledge of the language. The theoretical framework adopted for the analysis is Politeness and Face approach as proposed in Brown and Levinson (1978, 1987). Findings show that the open usage avoidance of the words/expressions in question is conditioned by cultural and religious norms of the society; and that euphemisms are mostly used as replacements for the avoided lexemes in certain contexts. The adoption of new lexemes, however, also brings about changes in the context of use of the items in the language

Effect of conductive area trimming on the read range of inkjet printed Epidermal RFID tags

The effect of reducing the volume of conductive ink used in the fabrication of Epidermal RFID tags on the read range of the tag is investigated in this paper. The ink usage reduction is achieved by redesigning of the conductive parts of the designed tag

Moments of Continuous Bi-Variate Distributions: An Alternative Approach

We propose a method of obtaining the moment of some continuous bi-variate distributions with parameters........

Statistical Analysis of Case Recovery Rate

This paper propose to develop statistical measures of case recovery rate assuming that patient recovery is influenced by two factors acting simultaneously, that is, to develop a two way analysis of case recovery rate for a disease. The specific rates which are useful in identifying segments of the population that are at elevated risk of a given disease and would need a more aggressive medical and health interventionist measures to alleviate the disease compared with the average number of the general population at risk were estimated. Case recovery rate has shown to possibly serve as a measure of morbidity of a disease in a population especially if the disease is not virulent.  It is shown that the smaller this rate is, the more likely is the disease morbid in the population and vice versa.  It is also shown under certain condition that case recovery rate when used as a measure of survivorship or morbidity from a disease must be used and interpreted with great caution because of definitional problems. The propose method was illustrated with some data. Keywords: Case fatality, Recovery rate, Crude rate, Adjusted and Unadjusted rates, Treatment, Survivorship, Morbidit