D. O. Fagunwa's Igbo Olodumare (The Forest of God) is a novel about the story of Olowo-aiye's adventure in the Forest of God. Olowo-aiye sets out to Igbo Olodumare (The Forest of God) out of sheer love for an adventure and a quest for an opportunity to prove himself as a powerfulhunter who cannot be daunted by the awe of the unknown--a basic characteristic of the traditional Yoruba hunters. Thus Fagunwa, in his characteristic vividness of imagination, artistic prowess, dazzling language, and a compelling descriptive skill, projects events and episodes around Olowo-aiye as he moves along on his journey to, in and from Igbo Olodumare. The events and the episodes are those of Olowo-aiye's struggle with the trolls, gnomes, weird creatures, and his visits to the sage, (Mr.) Death, and Miss Disease. After this experience-packed sojourn in the Forest of God, he finally returns home to join his family and to rejoice at the sight of his son Akara-ogun--who is now grown. Akara-ogun, of course, is the hero of Fagunwa's first novel Ogboju Ode minu Igbo Irunmale translated by Wole Soyinka as The Forest of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter's Saga.This dissertation translates and annotates D. 0. Fagunwa's Igbo Olodumare with a critical introduction which is divided into seven parts. Part one deals with the literature review; while part two deals with a brief biography of D. 0. Fagunwa--the author whose Judeo-Christian background, his culture, and the tradition and the world-view of his ethnic group--Yoruba--shape his thought-pattern and his imagination. These cultural traditional and philosophical background strongly inform his work of art.Part three briefly comments on the thought-pattern that informs his works, emphasizes and explains the nature of Fagunwa's dichotomized world--a concept that emanates from his cultural and traditional background. Part four gives a synopsis of his (Fagunwa's) Igbo Olodumare with a brief comment on the structure and the symbolic aspects of the novel.Part five briefly discusses the structure, syntax and the tone of the language in which Fagunwa wrote--Yoruba--a linguistic parameter which makes the task of translating Yoruba literature to English a difficult task. As a corollary to that part, part six discusses Fagunwa's rhetorical prowess as evident in 1is esoteric use of Yoruba--a technique which saturates his entire novels, and makes him the master of his mother tongue, Thus it is the translator's task to adequately convey in English-a nontonal language--the rhythm and the verbal gymnastics which Fagunwa displays particularly in his Igbo Olodumare (The Forest of God).The last part, part seven, spells the translator's main objective, Philosophy, and the method of translation. The overriding objective, the note explains, is readability, intelligibility and an equivalent effect.In order to achieve this end, the translation is annotated; while the idea of narrative bridge is ventured as a mechanism which allows a smooth flow of the narratives in the translated edition. Furthermore, the translator's stylistic idiosyncrasy is sacrificed in order to unveil the author's meanings in his own words and style.

Objective: Study the effects of vitamin D on viral driven innate immune responses, by looking at differences in cytokine production, receptor expression, and endogenous vitamin D levels. Methods: Primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and epithelial cells (EC) were cultured in the presence of viral ligands and vitamin D. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to determine cytokine production and mRNA expression. Results: PBMC stimulated with toll-like receptor 4 ligand (TLR4L), but not viral TLR8L, led to decreased pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production in the presence of 1,25(OH)2D3. RIG-like receptor (RLR) activation, on the other hand, in primary EC exhibited decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine production in the presence of vitamin D. Conclusions: Our findings are among the first to show differences between bacterial and viral driven innate immune responses in the presence of vitamin D. As responsiveness in RLR activated primary EC was altered in the presence of vitamin D, our data reveal the importance of studying the immune system as a whole.

This research is concerned with the question of performance in scientific research, and focusses on the potential of Adaption-Innovation theory (Kirton, 1976) for providing insights into individual innovativeness. Using empirical data from four large research organisations, a taxonomy of scientists is developed using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation (KAI) inventory. This taxonomy breaks new ground in its use of the sub-scales of KAI. It shows that the use of the total KAI scale, as in previous research in the literature, is a conflation which conceals important insights. The research also breaks new ground in its conceptualisation of research performance. Two dimensions of performance are hypothesised: creative performance and skills performance. The evidence suggests that the distinction is meaningful and that the two dimensions are essentially orthogonal. The taxonomy developed in this research identifies four types of scientists according to their location on the '0' and 'E' sub-scales of the KAI. It is in the distinction between two types possessing similar mid-range KAI scores that the research makes a notable contribution to the literature. These two types are shown to be very different in terms of their performance, job satisfaction and other characteristics. It is through these insights that the research offers the prospect of an instrument of value in the deployment of research scientists. Finally, concerns about the conceptual status of the KAI are developed. The KAI is critically reviewed, and the evidence presented seriously challenges the claim that the KAI is purely a measure of cognitive style. Criticism is focussed on the 0 sub-scale which, it is argued, contains items measuring level of cognitive ability. A refined KAI is developed and evaluated using a sample of post-graduate students of management. It is demonstrated that sub-scales can be derived which are more homogeneous conceptually and give nearly orthogonal measures.

No description available.

This thesis illustrates a comprehensive study on the PVT, solubility and surface tension properties of polylactic acid (PLA) with dissolved CO2 based on thermodynamic models. The solubility of CO2 in PLA melt was calculated by means of a gravimetric method, using a Magnetic Suspension Balance (MSB). The swelling volume of the polymer/gas mixture due to dissolution of gas was compensated for by direct measurement through a view cell or by theoretical models such as Simha Somcynsky (SS) - Equation of State (EOS) and Sanchez Lacombe (SL) - Equation of State (EOS). Three grades of PLA (i.e., PLA3001D, PLA8051D, and PLA4060D) were chosen. It was observed that the pressure, temperature, D-content and Molecular weight variance had an effect on the swelling and solubility. The surface Tension of PLA/CO₂ mixture was also calculated from the captured image using the Axsymmetric Drop Shape Analysis (ADSA). The effects of varying the pressure, temperature, and molecular weight on surface tension were investigated.

This thesis is a study of the Muslim woman saint and mystic, Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyah, as envisioned by her main biographer, Farid al-Din 'Attar. Part I is a brief review of previous works and scholarship in order to situate Rabi'ah within an historical context and to judge the consistency of earlier interpretation with the actual source material concerning Rabi'ah, 'Attar's account in particular. Part II is an exploration of 'Attar's image of Rabi'ah, based on his Tadhkirat al-awliya' and complemented by related material from his poetical works. This discussion is presented according to three themes, 'Attar's understanding of Rabi'ah as a mystic, a Muslim and a woman: the three themes from which 'Attar draws to express some aspect of Rabi'ah's spiritual personality, or to manifest, in outward form, the paradox of her inner mystical secret.

No description available.

In this study the apparent conflicts between the concept of nature and the concept of God, and the relationship between the concept of God and the concept of world provide the basis for analysing how Gordon D. Kaufman reformulates the concept of God. For Kaufman the concepts of world and nature are religiously relevant insofar as they call for a theology for our contemporary life centred in this world rather than in some metaphysical beyond. This study examines how Kaufman articulates a concept of God that is not necessarily bound by the traditions of a particular religion, but also whether he offers a concept of God for the so-called 'secular' modern world. / Chapter one examines how Kaufman conceives of the difference between world and nature. Chapter two relates the analysis of these concepts to the concept of God as well as Kaufman's treatment of revelation in light of his attempts to reconstruct the concept of God. Chapter three considers some of Kaufman's recent suggestions for reformulating the concept of God that take into account the relativist and historicist perspectives.

Diss. Uppsala : Univ., 2003.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2003.