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Yes / It is an increasingly acknowledged fact that one of the most effective ways universities in war-affected countries can be functionally relevant to the everyday needs and challenges of their immediate environment is by promoting peacebuilding through peace education. This paper explores the role of universities in fostering peace education in diverse post-conflict and conflict-prone countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the research investigates the contending models and strategies (notably the Bradford Model and the Centralized Unitary Model) of conflict-sensitive peace education in the context of universities in post-conflict and volatile societies in Africa. The study also analyses the problems and challenges associated with promoting peace education in Sub-Saharan Africa and recommends policy-relevant intervention measures designed to strengthen the process. Data for the study have been generated from secondary sources, as well as a raft of conflict intervention, regional security and peacebuilding projects the researcher has taken part in across a number of conflict-prone and war-affected African countries (notably, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and South Sudan).

Bacterial taxonomy is the science of classifying, naming, and identifying bacteria. The scope and practice of taxonomy has evolved through history with our understanding of life and our growing and changing needs in research, medicine, and industry. As in animal and plant taxonomy, the species is the fundamental unit of taxonomy, but the genetic and phenotypic diversity that exists within a single bacterial species is substantially higher compared to animal or plant species. Therefore, the current "type"-centered classification scheme that describes a species based on a single type strain is not sufficient to classify bacterial diversity, in particular in regard to human, animal, and plant pathogens, for which it is necessary to trace disease outbreaks back to their source. Here we discuss the current needs and limitations of classic bacterial taxonomy and introduce LINbase, a Web service that not only implements current species-based bacterial taxonomy but complements its limitations by providing a new framework for genome sequence-based classification and identification independently of the type-centric species. LINbase uses a sequence similarity-based framework to cluster bacteria into hierarchical taxa, which we call LINgroups, at multiple levels of relatedness and crowdsources users' expertise by encouraging them to circumscribe these groups as taxa from the genus-level to the intraspecies-level. Circumscribing a group of bacteria as a LINgroup, adding a phenotypic description, and giving the LINgroup a name using the LINbase Web interface allows users to instantly share new taxa and complements the lengthy and laborious process of publishing a named species. Furthermore, unknown isolates can be identified immediately as members of a newly described LINgroup with fast and precise algorithms based on their genome sequences, allowing species- and intraspecies-level identification. The employed algorithms are based on a combination of the alignment-based algorithm BLASTN and the alignment-free method Sourmash, which is based on k-mers, and the MinHash algorithm. The potential of LINbase is shown by using examples of plant pathogenic bacteria. / Doctor of Philosophy / Life is always easier when people talk to each other in the same language. Taxonomy is the language that biologists use to communicate about life by 1. classifying organisms into groups, 2. giving names to these groups, and 3. identifying individuals as members of these named groups. When most scientists and the general public think of taxonomy, they think of the hierarchical structure of “Life”, “Domain”, “Kingdom”, “Phylum”, “Class”, “Order”, “Family”, “Genus” and “Species”. However, the basic goal of taxonomy is to allow the identification of an organism as a member of a group that is predictive of its characteristics and to provide a name to communicate about that group with other scientists and the public. In the world of micro-organism, taxonomy is extremely important since there are an estimated 10,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 different bacteria species. Moreover, microbiologists and pathologists need to consider differences among bacterial isolates even within the same species, a level, that the current taxonomic system does not even cover. Therefore, we developed a Web service, LINbase, which uses genome sequences to classify individual microbial isolates. The database at the backend of LINbase assigns Life Identification Numbers (LINs) that express how individual microbial isolates are related to each other above, at, and below the species level. The LINbase Web service is designed to be an interactive web-based encyclopedia of microorganisms where users can share everything they know about micro-organisms, be it individual isolates or groups of isolates, for professional and scientific purposes. To develop LINbase, efficient computer programs were developed and implemented. To show how LINbase can be used, several groups of bacteria that cause plant diseases were classified and described.

In this dissertation, four test approaches were developed to characterize the adhesion performance and durability of adhesive bonds for specific applications in areas spanning from structural adhesive joints to popular confectionaries such as chewing gum. In the first chapter, a double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen geometry is proposed for combinatorial fracture studies of structural adhesive bonds. This specimen geometry enabled the characterization of fracture energy vs. bondline thickness trends through fewer tests than those required during a conventional "one at a time" characterization approach, potentially offering a significant reduction in characterization times. The second chapter investigates the adhesive fracture resistance and crack path selection in adhesive joints containing patterns of discreet localized weak interfaces created using physical vapor deposition of copper. In a DCB specimen tested under mode-I conditions, fracture energy within the patterned regions scaled according to a simple rule of mixture, while reverse R-curve and R-curve type trends were observed in the regions surrounding weak interface patterns. Under mixed mode conditions such that bonding surface with patterns is subjected to axial tension, fracture energy did not show R-curve type trends while it was observed that a crack could be made to avoid exceptionally weak interfaces when loaded such that bonding surface with defects is subjected to axial compression. In the third chapter, an adaptation of the probe tack test is proposed to characterize the adhesion behavior of gum cuds. This test method allowed the introduction of substrates with well-defined surface energies and topologies to study their effects on gum cud adhesion. This approach and reported insights could potentially be useful in developing chewing gum formulations that facilitate easy removal of improperly discarded gum cuds from adhering surfaces. In the fourth chapter we highlight a procedure to obtain insights into the long-term performance of silicone sealants designed for load-bearing applications such as solar panel support sealants. Using small strain constitutive tests and time-temperature-superposition principle, thermal shift factors were obtained and successfully used to characterize the creep rupture master curves for specific joint configurations, leading to insights into delayed failures corresponding to three years through experiments carried out in one month. / Ph. D.

Ion sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs) are semiconductor sensors that have the capability to determine the selected concentration of a specific ion in a solution. Most modern ISFETs utilize their ion selective properties for glucose monitors for diabetics. However, in this thesis, the ISFET fabricated is for the selective detection of K+. The goals of this thesis are to develop a functioning ion-selective polymer membrane, manufacture a working FET device, and implement the two aspects together into a working bench-top K+ selective ISFET device. Properties of a polymer composed of 33 wt.% polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 66 wt.% dioctyl sebacate (DOS) and 1 wt.% valinomycin applied to an ion-sensitive electrode (ISE) were investigated. The membrane generated a sensitivity value of -9.864E-08 Ω/log10(CK). Though this data set was affected by both the maximum resolution of the I-V curve tracing device and the thin-membrane effect. Selectivity tests following the IUPAC two-solution method in the presence of Na+ as the interfering ion, provided selectivity values of 0.228 and 0.443 with higher ratios of primary ion to interfering ion resulting in higher selectivity coefficients. Additionally, utilizing an illumination test, dielectric constants of 17.71 and 10.88 were calculated dependent on the amount of solvent used during formulation. Fabrication of the FET device also resulted in developments in metal contact materials, nitride film processing, and physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. With further improvements, it is possible to fabricate a biocompatible, wearable K+-selective monitor for continuously testing dialysis patients.