Gender, Politics and Democratisation in Cameroon

Gender perceptions, religious belief systems, and political thought have excluded women from politics, for ages, around the world. Combining feminist and modernisation theorists in my theoretical framework, I examine the trends in patriarchal Europe and I highlight the gender-sensitive model of the Nordic countries. Retracing local gender patterns from precolonial to postcolonial eras in sub-Saharan Africa, I explore the links between perceptions, needs, resources, education and women's political participation in Cameroon. Democratisation is supposed to open up political participation, to grant equal opportunities to all adults. One ironic feature of the liberalisation process in Cameroon has been the decrease of women in parliamentarian representation (14% in 1988, 6% in 1992, 5% in 1997 and 10% in 2002). What social, cultural and institutional mechanisms produced this paradoxical outcome, the exclusion of half the population? The gender complementarity of the indigenous context has been lost to male prevalence privileged by education, church, law, employment, economy and politics in the public sphere; most women are marginalised in the private sphere. Nation building and development have failed; ethnicism and individualism are growing. Some hope lies in the growing civil society. From two surveys and 21 focus groups across Cameroon, in 2000 and 2002, some significant results of the processed empirical data reveal low electoral registration (34.5% women and 65.9% men), contrasted by the willingness to run for municipal elections (33.3 % women and 45.2% men). The co-existence of customary and statutory laws, the corrupt political system and fraudulent practices, contribute to the marginalisation of women and men who are interested in politics. A large majority of female respondents consider female politicians more trustworthy and capable than their male counterparts; they even foresee the appointment of a female Prime Minister. The Nordic countries have institutionalised gender equality in their legislation, policies and practices. France has improved women's political inclusion with the parity laws; Rwanda is another model of women's representation, thanks to its post-conflict constitution. From my analysis, Cameroonian institutions, men and more so women, may learn and borrow from these experiences, in order to design and implement a sustainable and gender-balanced democracy. Keywords: democratisation, politics, gender equality, feminism, citizenship, Cameroon, Nordic countries, Finland, France, United Kingdom, quotas, societal social psychology.

Vapor phase oxidation of p-xylene

The kinetics of the vapor phase oxidation of p-xylene over ferric molybdate catalyst were studied in an isothermal, differential, tubular flow reactor in the temperature range of 360 to 420° C. The major product obtained was p-tolualdehyde with small amounts of maleic anhydride and p-toluic acid. No terephthalic acid or CO2 were observed. The reaction rate data collected fit the redox model given by Equation 1. The values of activation energies Ex, Eo and frequency factors Ax, Ao obtained are 72, 63 kJ/mol and 0.64, 2.89 m3/kg catalyst s respectively. The reaction mechanism was established by studying the oxidation of p-tolualdehyde, toluic and terephthalic acids. It is concluded that the reaction follows a parallel-consecutive scheme. On a étudié la cinétique de l'oxydation, en phase gazeuse, du para-xylène sur un catalyseur consistant en molybdate ferrique; cette oxydation s'est faite dans un réacteur à écoulement tubulaire, isothermique et différentiel, dans une échelle de températures comprises entre 360°C et 420°C. Le produit principal obtenu a été le para-tolualdéhyde; on a aussi trouvé de faibles quantités d'anhydride maléique et d'acide para-toluique, mais on n'a pas noté la présence d'acide téréphtalique ni d'anhydride carbonique (CO2). Les résultats obtenus en ce qui a trait à la vitesse de réaction concordent bien avec les données du modèle redox indiquées par l'équation 1. Les valeurs des énergies d'activation Ex et Eo ainsi que des facteurs de fréquence Ax et Ao obtenus sont respectivement 72 et 63 kilojoules/mol. et 0.64 × 103 et 2.89 m3/kg de catalyseur. On a établi le mécanisme de la réaction en étudiant l'oxydation du para-tolualdéhyde et des acides toluique et téréphtalique. On conclut que la réaction se fait d'une manière parallèle et consécutive.

Predicting the Timing of Spikes Evoked by Tactile Stimulation of the Hand

Kim SS, Sripati AP, Bensmaia SJ. Predicting the timing of spikes evoked by tactile stimulation of the hand. J Neurophysiol 104: 1484-1496, 2010. First published July 7, 2010; doi: 10.1152/jn.00187.2010. What does the hand tell the brain? Tactile stimulation of the hand evokes remarkably precise patterns of neural activity, suggesting that the timing of individual spikes may convey information. However, many aspects of the transformation of mechanical deformations of the skin into spike trains remain unknown. Here we describe an integrate-and-fire model that accurately predicts the timing of individual spikes evoked by arbitrary mechanical vibrations in three types of mechanoreceptive afferent fibers that innervate the hand. The model accounts for most known properties of the three fiber types, including rectification, frequency-sensitivity, and patterns of spike entrainment as a function of stimulus frequency. These results not only shed light on the mechanisms of mechanotransduction but can be used to provide realistic tactile feedback in upper-limb neuroprostheses.

Influence of strain softening on the fracture of plain concrete beams

Fracture behaviour of notched and un-notched plain concrete slender beams subjected to three-point or four-point bending is analyzed through a one-dimensional model, also called Softening Beam Model. Fundamental equations of equilibrium are used to develop the model. The influence of structural size in altering the fracture mode from brittle fracture to plastic collapse is explained through the stress distribution across the uncracked ligament obtained by varying the strain softening modulus. It is found that at the onset of fracture instability, stress at the crack tip is equal to zero. The maximum load and fracture load are found to be different and a unique value for the fracture load is obtained. It is shown that the length of the fracture process zone depends on the value of the strain softening modulus. Theoretical limits for fracture process zone length are also calculated. Several nonlinear fracture parameters, such as, crack tip opening displacement, crack mouth opening displacement and fracture energy are computed for a wide variety of beam specimens reported in the literature and are found to compare very well with experimental and theoretical results. It is demonstrated that by following a simple procedure, both pre-peak and post-peak portions of load versus crack mouth opening displacement curve can be obtained quite accurately. Further, a simple procedure to calculate the maximum load is also developed. The predicted values of maximum load are found to agree well with the experimental values. The Softening Beam Model (SBM), proposed in this investigation is very simple and is based on rational considerations. It can completely describe the fracture process from the beginning of formation of the fracture process zone till the onset of fracture instability.A l'aide d'un modèle unidimensionnel dit ldquoSoftening Beam Modelrdquo (SBM), on analyse le comportement à rupture de poutres élancées pleines entaillées ou non, soumises en flexion en trois ou quatre points. Des équations fondamentales d'équilibre sont utilisées pour développer le modèle. On explique l'influence de la taille du composant sur l'altération du mode de rupture en rupture fragile et en effondrement plastique par la distribution par la distribution des contraintes sur le ligament non fissuré lorsque varie le module d'adoucissement. On trouve que la contrainte à l'extrémité de la fissure est nulle est nulle au début de l'instabilité de la rupture. La charge maximum et la charge à la rupture sont trouvées différentes, et on obtient une valeur unique de la charge à la rupture. On montre que la longueur de la zone concernée par le processus de rupture d'pend de la valeur du module d'adoucissement. On calcule également les limites théoriques de longueur de cette zone. Divers paramètres de rupture non linéaire sont calculés pour une large gamme d'éprouvettes en poutres reprises dans la littérature; on trouve qu'il existe une bonne concordance avec les résultats expérimentaux et théoriques. On démontre qu'en suivant une procédure simple on peut obtenir avec une bonne précision la courbe reliant les portions avant et après le pic de sollicitation en fonction du COD de la fissure. En outre, on développe une procédure simple pour calculer la charge maximum. Les valeurs prédites sont en bon accord avec les valeurs expérimentales. Le modèle SBM proposé est très simple et est basé sur des considérations rationnelles. Il est susceptible de décrire complètement le processus de rupture depuis le début de la formation de la zone intéressée jusqu'à l'amorçage de la rupture instable.

Transplanting the n-terminus from Kv1.4 to Kv1.1 generates an inwardly rectifying K+ channel

A chimeric channel, 4N/1, was generated from two outwardly rectifying K+ channels by linking the N-terminal cytoplasmic domain of hKv1.4 (N terminus ball and chain of hKv1.4) with the transmembrane body of hKvl.l (Delta 78N1 construct of hKvl.l). The recombinant channel has properties similar to the six transmembrane inward rectifiers and opens on hyperpolarization with a threshold of activation at -90 mV. Outward currents are seen on depolarization provided the channel is first exposed to a hyperpolarizing pulse of -100mV or more. Hyperpolarization at and beyond -130mV provides evidence of channel deactivation. Delta 78N1 does not show inward currents on hyperpolarization but does open on depolarizing from -80mV with characteristics similar to native hKvl.l. The outward currents seen in both Delta 78N1 and 4N/1 inactivate slowly at rates consistent with C-type inactivation. The inward rectification of the 4N/1 chimera is consistent with the inactivation gating mechanism. This implies that the addition of the N-terminus from hKv1.4 to hKvl.l shifts channel activation to hyperpolarizing potentials. These results suggest a mechanism involving the N-terminal cytoplasmic domain for conversion of outward rectifiers to inward rectifiers. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Electroluminescence from GaN-polymer heterojunction

Inorganic and organic semiconductor devices are generally viewed as distinct and separate technologies. Herein we report a hybrid inorganic-organic light-emitting device employing the use of an air stable polymer, Poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) as a p-type layer to create a heterojunction, avoiding the use of p-type GaN, which is difficult to grow, being prone to the complex and expensive fabrication techniques that characterises it. I-V characteristics of the GaN-polymer heterojunction fabricated by us exhibits excellent rectification. The luminescence onset voltage is typically about 8-10 V. The device emits yellowish white electroluminescence with CIE coordinates (0.42, 0.44). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Substrate nitridation induced modulations in transport properties of wurtzite GaN/p-Si (100) heterojunctions grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Phase pure wurtzite GaN films were grown on Si (100) substrates by introducing a silicon nitride layer followed by low temperature GaN growth as buffer layers. GaN films grown directly on Si (100) were found to be phase mixtured, containing both cubic (beta) and hexagonal (alpha) modifications. The x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy studies reveal that the significant enhancement in the structural as well as in the optical properties of GaN films grown with silicon nitride buffer layer grown at 800 degrees C when compared to the samples grown in the absence of silicon nitride buffer layer and with silicon nitride buffer layer grown at 600 degrees C. Core-level photoelectron spectroscopy of Si(x)N(y) layers reveals the sources for superior qualities of GaN epilayers grown with the high temperature substrate nitridation process. The discussion has been carried out on the typical inverted rectification behavior exhibited by n-GaN/p-Si heterojunctions. Considerable modulation in the transport mechanism was observed with the nitridation conditions. The heterojunction fabricated with the sample of substrate nitridation at high temperature exhibited superior rectifying nature with reduced trap concentrations. Lowest ideality factors (similar to 1.5) were observed in the heterojunctions grown with high temperature substrate nitridation which is attributed to the recombination tunneling at the space charge region transport mechanism at lower voltages and at higher voltages space charge limited current conduction is the dominating transport mechanism. Whereas, thermally generated carrier tunneling and recombination tunneling are the dominating transport mechanisms in the heterojunctions grown without substrate nitridation and low temperature substrate nitridation, respectively. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3658867]

Threshold-Independent QRS Detection Using the Dynamic Plosion Index

Detection of QRS serves as a first step in many automated ECG analysis techniques. Motivated by the strong similarities between the signal structures of an ECG signal and the integrated linear prediction residual (ILPR) of voiced speech, an algorithm proposed earlier for epoch detection from ILPR is extended to the problem of QRS detection. The ECG signal is pre-processed by high-pass filtering to remove the baseline wandering and by half-wave rectification to reduce the ambiguities. The initial estimates of the QRS are iteratively obtained using a non-linear temporal feature, named the dynamic plosion index suitable for detection of transients in a signal. These estimates are further refined to obtain a higher temporal accuracy. Unlike most of the high performance algorithms, this technique does not make use of any threshold or differencing operation. The proposed algorithm is validated on the MIT-BIH database using the standard metrics and its performance is found to be comparable to the state-of-the-art algorithms, despite its threshold independence and simple decision logic.

Double Gaussian distribution of barrier height observed in densely packed GaN nanorods over Si (111) heterostructures

GaN nanorods were grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on intrinsic Si (111) substrates which were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence. The current-voltage characteristics of the GaN nanorods on Si (111) heterojunction were obtained from 138 to 493K which showed the inverted rectification behavior. The I-V characteristics were analyzed in terms of thermionic emission model. The temperature variation of the apparent barrier height and ideality factor along with the non-linearity of the activation energy plot indicated the presence of lateral inhomogeneities in the barrier height. The observed two temperature regimes in Richardson's plot could be well explained by assuming two separate Gaussian distribution of the barrier heights. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Early postnatal exposure to lithium in vitro induces changes in AMPAR mEPSCs and vesicular recycling at hippocampal glutamatergic synapses

Lithium is an effective mood stabilizer but its use is associated with many side effects. Electrophysiological recordings of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) mediated by glutamate receptor AMPA-subtype (AMPARs) in hippocampal pyramidal neurons revealed that CLi (therapeutic concentration of 1 mM lithium, from days in vitro 4-10) decreased the mean amplitude and mean rectification index (RI) of AMPAR mEPSCs. Lowered mean RI indicate that contribution of Ca2+-permeable AMPARs in synaptic events is higher in CLi neurons (supported by experiments sensitive to Ca2+-permeable AMPAR modulation). Co-inhibiting PKA, GSK-3 beta and glutamate reuptake was necessary to bring about changes in AMPAR mEPSCs similar to that seen in CLi neurons. FM1-43 experiments revealed that recycling pool size was affected in CLi cultures. Results from minimum loading, chlorpromazine treatment and hyperosmotic treatment experiments indicate that endocytosis in CLi is affected while not much difference is seen in modes of exocytosis. CLi cultures did not show the high KCl associated presynaptic potentiation observed in control cultures. This study, by calling attention to long-term lithium-exposure-induced synaptic changes, might have implications in understanding the side effects such as CNS complications occurring in perinatally exposed babies and cognitive dulling seen in patients on lithium treatment.

Trap modulated photoresponse of InGaN/Si isotype heterojunction at zero-bias

n-n isotype heterojunction of InGaN and bare Si (111) was formed by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy without nitridation steps or buffer layers. High resolution X-ray diffraction studies were carried out to confirm the formation of epilayers on Si (111). X-ray rocking curves revealed the presence of large number of edge threading dislocations at the interface. Room temperature photoluminescence studies were carried out to confirm the bandgap and the presence of defects. Temperature dependent I-V measurements of Al/InGaN/Si (111)/Al taken in dark confirm the rectifying nature of the device. I-V characteristics under UV illumination, showed modest rectification and was operated at zero bias making it a self-powered device. A band diagram of the heterojunction is proposed to understand the transport mechanism for self-powered functioning of the device. (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Modification of metal-InGaAs Schottky barrier behaviour by atomic layer deposition of ultra-thin Al2O3 interlayers

The effect of inserting ultra-thin atomic layer deposited Al2O3 dielectric layers (1 nm and 2 nm thick) on the Schottky barrier behaviour for high (Pt) and low(Al) work function metals on n- and p-doped InGaAs substrates has been investigated. Rectifying behaviour was observed for the p-type substrates (both native oxide and sulphur passivated) for both the Al/p-InGaAs and Al/Al2O3/p-InGaAs contacts. The Pt contacts directly deposited on p-InGaAs displayed evidence of limited rectification which increased with Al2O3 interlayer thickness. Ohmic contacts were formed for both metals on n-InGaAs in the absence of an Al2O3 interlayer, regardless of surface passivation. However, limited rectifying behaviour was observed for both metals on the 2 nm Al2O3/n-InGaAs samples for the sulphur passivated InGaAs surface, indicating the importance of both surface passivation and the presence of an ultra-thin dielectric interlayer on the current-voltage characteristics displayed by these devices. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Temperature dependent electrical characterisation of Pt/HfO2/n-GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) Schottky diodes

This paper reports an improvement in Pt/n-GaN metal-semiconductor (MS) Schottky diode characteristics by the introduction of a layer of HfO2 (5 nm) between the metal and semiconductor interface. The resulting Pt/HfO2/n-GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) Schottky diode showed an increase in rectification ratio from 35.9 to 98.9(@ 2V), increase in barrier height (0.52 eV to 0.63eV) and a reduction in ideality factor (2.1 to 1.3) as compared to the MS Schottky. Epitaxial n-type GaN films of thickness 300nm were grown using plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The crystalline and optical qualities of the films were confirmed using high resolution X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. Metal-semiconductor (Pt/n-GaN) and metal-insulator-semiconductor (Pt/HfO2/n-GaN) Schottky diodes were fabricated. To gain further understanding of the Pt/HfO2/GaN interface, I-V characterisation was carried out on the MIS Schottky diode over a temperature range of 150 K to 370 K. The barrier height was found to increase (0.3 eV to 0.79 eV) and the ideality factor decreased (3.6 to 1.2) with increase in temperature from 150 K to 370 K. This temperature dependence was attributed to the inhomogeneous nature of the contact and the explanation was validated by fitting the experimental data into a Gaussian distribution of barrier heights. (C) 2015 Author(s).

Enhancing photoresponsivity using MoTe2-graphene vertical heterostructures

MoTe2 with a narrow band-gap of similar to 1.1 eV is a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications, especially for the near-infrared photo detection. However, the photo responsivity of few layers MoTe2 is very small (<1mAW(-1)). In this work, we show that a few layer MoTe2-graphene vertical heterostructures have a much larger photo responsivity of similar to 20mAW(-1). The trans-conductance measurements with back gate voltage show on-off ratio of the vertical transistor to be similar to(0.5-1) x 10(5). The rectification nature of the source-drain current with the back gate voltage reveals the presence of a stronger Schottky barrier at the MoTe2-metal contact as compared to the MoTe2-graphene interface. In order to quantify the barrier height, it is essential to measure the work function of a few layers MoTe2, not known so far. We demonstrate a method to determine the work function by measuring the photo-response of the vertical transistor as a function of the Schottky barrier height at the MoTe2-graphene interface tuned by electrolytic top gating. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Carbon nanotube Schottky diode and directionally dependent field-effect transistor using asymmetrical contacts

We demonstrate the fabrication and operation of a carbon nanotube (CNT) based Schottky diode by using a Pd contact (high-work-function metal) and an Al contact (low-work-function metal) at the two ends of a single-wall CNT. We show that it is possible to tune the rectification current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the CNT through the use of a back gate. In contrast to standard back gate field-effect transistors (FET) using same-metal source drain contacts, the asymmetrically contacted CNT operates as a directionally dependent CNT FET when gated. While measuring at source-drain reverse bias, the device displays semiconducting characteristics whereas at forward bias, the device is nonsemiconducting. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.