HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, DRB3, DRB4, DRB5 and DQB1 polymorphism detected by PCR-SSP in a semi-urban HIV-positive Ugandan population.

PCR-SSP was used to HLA-type a cohort of Ugandan HIV-positive individuals. The results represent a more comprehensive description of HLA in an African population than previously described and are in concordance with data from a general Black population. Substantial differences exist between this population and Caucasoid populations in which immunological responses to HIV have been investigated; this emphasises that the main HLA-restrictive elements for HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes will most likely be different for each population

Depiction of Women’s Oppression and Gender-based Domestic Violence against Girls in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions

This article examines women’s oppression and gender-based domestic violence against girls in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions (1988). The novel is set between two families in the Shona community of Zimbabwe. The focus is on women’s entrapment in the institution of marriage and gender-based violence inflicted on girls by male patriarchs to force them to bow down to patriarchal authority. Tambudzai, the main narrator and protagonist tells a story of how her mother, Ma’ Shingayi (a peasant housewife), and her uncle’s wife, Maiguru, (a teacher with a Master’s degree) get entrapped in the marriage institution where they have no voice, how she is discriminated against as a child and denied education by both her father, Mukoma, and her uncle Babamukuru until her only brother Nhamo dies and she gets the chance to go to school; and how she and her cousin Nyasha suffer gender-based violence in Babamukuru’s home. When Tambudzai and Nyasha choose the path of rebellion against the injustice and discrimination they are subjected to because of their gender, Babamukuru uses physical and psychological violence to establish and maintain his power over them. Consequently, Nyasha’s mental health breaks down. She suffers from schizophrenia and develops eating disorders. Her bulimia is symbolic of what awaits any woman who tries to liberate herself from male hegemony in a patriarchal home. Tambudzai is relieved of Babamukuru’s patriarchal control when she goes to the boarding school to further her education, which eventually enables her to establish her life as a single woman free from male control. Through her mouthpiece characters, Tambudzai, and Lucia (Ma’ Shingayi’s sister), Dangarembga underscores single womanhood as a form of women’s emancipation. In this article, I argue that Dangarembga’s notion of single womanhood aims at eliminating the concept of gender through isolation rather than the integration of women into the already male-dominated society

The Prospects of Integrating Traditional Religion and Orthodox Psychiatric Healing Methods Among the Baganda of Uganda.

The main objective of this study is to analyse the possibility of integrating traditional psychiatric healing methods among the Baganda into Orthodox healing practices. The debate was influenced by the resistance of some ailments to the orthodox medication and the proven efficacy of traditional healing processes in the treatment of some complications. This paper has singled out psychiatric complications. In Uganda, the ambience of psychiatric victims on the streets of Kampala and towns has raised concern about the efficiency of the psychiatric hospital at Butabika in Kampala. The primary data were obtained through interviews and questionnaires through a survey in five counties of Buganda kingdom. On the other hand, secondary data were obtained through a review and synthesis of relevant literature on Buganda, psychiatric healing, religion and African culture. The empirical analysis was done through descriptive analysis using analytical and critical tools. This paper established that the need for alternative approaches to psychiatric cases led to new interest in traditional healing which has shown some positive responses. Consequently, traditional practitioners under their association of native healers have availed themselves the opportunity of this debate to call for recognition as partners in the provision of effective and affordable health care. This paper explored the traditional psychiatric healing process in Buganda, Uganda by analysing the various concepts, perspectives and dimensions and argued for the integration of traditional methods with modern ones

Production Allocation Under Uncertainties

In developing oil and gas projects, constraints limit the production potential of the field’s hydrocarbons. They include lack of adequate surface facilities, low oil prices, and contractual restrictions. This study investigated Guide rate and Priority allocation options available in Eclipse software for conventional wells. It was found that Guide rate option generally exhibited better performance than the Priority option with oil production initiated from low producer well

How the Centre Cannot Hold in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: Objectification and Alienation of Children.

This article examines objectification and alienation of children in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The Ibo culture portrayed in the novel does not treat children as human beings but as the property of the father and the community. The community exercises absolute powers over children. They have no voice within the family and community. As children, Ikemefuna and a young virgin girl suffer deracination in order for their village, Mbaino, to avoid war and bloodshed against Umuofia after the former killed a daughter of Umuofia. Children born twins are sacrificed because they are considered an abomination on the land; and Nwoye is subjected to corporal punishment by his father because he wants to mould the child into a culturally acceptable man in future. Although Achebe attempts to portray the Umuofia community as an organic whole prior to the entry of European colonialism, the Ibo culture’s objectification and alienation of children, categorization and consequent discrimination between its members undermined the harmony and cohesion of the society. Nwoye, and mothers of twins whose children were sacrificed never embraced the Ibo culture that promoted various crimes against children. Their desertion of the Ibo culture to join Christianity shows that they were not fully incorporated into clan life. In this article, I argue that the harmony and cohesion of the pre-colonial Ibo society that Achebe attempts to depict in Things Fall Apart is highly illusory. Key words: child sacrifice, corporal punishment, deracination, objectificatio

Interrogating the Male-Female Gender Dichotomy in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero

This article examines the male-female gender dichotomy in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. Firdaus, the woman protagonist in the novel, after a careful observation of her own life and the status of women in her patriarchal society, postulates that men are criminals and women are prostitutes. Firdaus’ dichotomy of the male and female gender into criminals and prostitutes respectively is the focus of the discussion in this article. This paper analyzes Firdaus’ life of captivity by the forces of oppression right from childhood to womanhood and eventually to prison awaiting execution for committing murder. It applies Nawal El Saadawi’s strand of feminism, particularly the theory’s main tenet of the links among patriarchy, class, and religion, to examine the systems responsible for women’s oppression. The focus is on class oppression, male hegemony, and deception. Using Frantz Fanon’s theory of violence, the article discusses Firdaus’ use of women’s liberative violence to extricate themselves from men’s captivity. Firdaus kills Marzouk, the pimp, to free herself and achieve total liberation. Consequently, her refusal to live and her fearlessness of death when sentenced to die by the Egyptian court of law symbolize her resolve to achieve freedom and dignity not in her phallocentric society but in death. In this article, I argue that the male oriented justice system criminalizes Firdaus and gives her the maximum sentence of death to permanently silence her and thwart her struggle for liberation through physical and moral attacks on the male hegemony and religious idiosyncrasy of her society

Seismological structure of the 1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson Orogen of North America

Precambrian tectonic processes are debated: what was the nature and scale of orogenic events on the younger, hotter, and more ductile Earth? Northern Hudson Bay records the Paleoproterozoic collision between the Western Churchill and Superior plates—the ∼1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson Orogeny (THO)—and is an ideal locality to study Precambrian tectonic structure. Integrated field, geochronological, and thermobarometric studies suggest that the THO was comparable to the present-day Himalayan-Karakoram-Tibet Orogen (HKTO). However, detailed understanding of the deep crustal architecture of the THO, and how it compares to that of the evolving HKTO, is lacking. The joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave data provides new Moho depth estimates and shear velocity models for the crust and uppermost mantle of the THO. Most of the Archean crust is relatively thin (∼39 km) and structurally simple, with a sharp Moho; upper-crustal wave speed variations are attributed to postformation events. However, the Quebec-Baffin segment of the THO has a deeper Moho (∼45 km) and a more complex crustal structure. Observations show some similarity to recent models, computed using the same methods, of the HKTO crust. Based on Moho character, present-day crustal thickness, and metamorphic grade, we support the view that southern Baffin Island experienced thickening during the THO of a similar magnitude and width to present-day Tibet. Fast seismic velocities at >10 km below southern Baffin Island may be the result of partial eclogitization of the lower crust during the THO, as is currently thought to be happening in Tibet

Teaching Religion OR about Religion: The Paradox of Religious Education in Secondary Schools in Uganda

The article reviews the teaching of Religious Education in schools in Uganda. Uganda is a religiously pluralistic country with Christianity and Islam the most popular. Ugandans are theists, their worldview is religious and they are passionate about their faiths. Therefore, Religious Education is a fundamental subject since the early years of education as it marked the beginning of formal education in Uganda.  However, whilst Uganda has a diversity of religions such as Christianity with its different sects, Islam and its sects, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, the education system considers only Islam and Christianity. Therefore, the article discusses whether the teaching of Religious Education where only Christianity and Islam are considered is justified to be referred to as Religious Education. The article concludes that there is a mismatch between the NCDC (2008) stated goals, objectives and content of Religious Education. The objectives and goals portray a false image that RE is intended to expose learners and to achieve educational purposes. Yet, the content, approaches and teaching methods are quite contradictory. The implementation of RE in Uganda is purely confessional; it does not aim at educational goals but at deepening learners' faith distinctively. Instead of teaching about religion, learners are taught religion. The article is based on documentary analysis of the Religious Education curriculum, syllabi and teachers' and learners' handbook documents. In addition, the article analysed literature about the teaching of Religious Education including the aims and goals of Religious Education, the pedagogical approaches, methods and techniques in Religious Education in modern pluralistic communities. In identifying the appropriate literature, suitable databases were identified and used Boolean operators and proper search terms, phrases and conjunctions were used. To further ensure the credibility of the reviewed publications for analysis, only peer-reviewed journal articles with ISBN numbers and Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) were use

The Physical and Electronic Payment Interface and its Influence on Consumer Payment Choices and Informal/Fraudulent Practices: A Case Study of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NSWC) Uganda (Final Report)

Uganda has seen fast growth in the use of mobile money as a payment method and its acceptance by corporations like the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Uganda. This study used a logit model to analyze the drivers of consumer choice in using mobile money as a payment method to the NWSC. Data was collected from a survey of 238 domestic NWSC customers in the districts of Kampala, Luwero and Mukono. Results of the study that failed to conclude as to the effect of payment innovations on corruption show that consumer characteristics like marital status, income level and location could increase the probability that a consumer uses mobile money to pay bills