Arts and Social Sciences

В статье рассматриваются различные пути угроз потери индивидуальности личности на примере профессиональной деятельности языковой личности, а также людей, живущих за рубежом и членов билингвальной семьи. Подчеркивается, что в условиях многоязычной поликультурной среды язык является средством, а культура способом самосохранения и самозащиты личности в процессе ее инкультурации и аккультурации. Инкультурация и аккультурация личности в многоязычной , поликультурной среде закономерны как ожидаемый результат социализации. Ассимиляция возможна при ярко выраженном проявлении конфликта интересов, в результате которого одни идут на компромисс с доминантами социума. Авторы также представляют наиболее актуальные примеры и рекомендации к самозащите личности от угроз ассимиляции.

How might writers use the art of writing to stoke up the consciousness of the Nigerian public to the nation's security challenges? How might authors deploy the writing skill to channel a way out of the nation's security dilemmas in order for her to reach Platonic Nirvana, which is said to be the desire of nation-states and political entities? In other words, how can writers help solve the socio-political, economic, and security crises in which the nation is stuck? Should writers occupy the position of passive witnesses or take up active roles through the medium of writing in order to effect change? Should they tell the truth and be damned or tell lies and be done for? These questions are premised against the current state of insecurity bedeviling Nigeria as a nation and the consequent negative image it continues to suffer on the local and foreign media. The paper is equally hinged on the assumption that writing as an art is a plausible means through which safety and security could be promoted especially in a crumbling nation such as Nigeria. The paper benefits from a blend of methods including historical, descriptive and analytical. It derives its discussion from such writers as Edward Said, Najib Mahfuz, Christopher Okigbo, Maman Jiya Vatsa and Ken Saro-Wiwa to mention but a few.

This article examines the theme of Pan-Africanism in Yoruba literature in Arabic and analyzes the perspectives of Yoruba literati on how unity of the African nations and leaders could function in evolving a new Africa that would withstand socio-economic and political challenges. The article investigates the following questions: how might the views and insights of Yoruba writers and critics benefit Africa in achieving unity for development? And how might Yoruba Arabic literature on Pan-Africanism contribute to switching and shifting the paradigm of development in Africa? To provide answers to these questions, I selected the works of three Yoruba Arabic scholars namely, Adam al-Ilorī, Isa Abu-Bakre and Abdul Aziz Azakawī for analysis. The article benefits in its discussion from historical, descriptive and analytical methods. Employing several historical and analytical methods, the article draws on some of the views of prominent Pan-Africanist intellectuals such as Du Bois, Kwame Nkrum...

The effects of temperature, water activity (a w ), and nutritional status, and their interactions, on the radial growth rate (mm day À1 ) and lag phase of Trichoderma atroviride (T-15603.1), a strain with high biocontrol potential against wood-decay fungi, was monitored for 20 days on nutrient-rich (MEA) and nutrient-poor (LNA) media. Five levels of a w (0.998, 0.982, 0.955, 0.928, 0.892) were combined with five incubation temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30°C). The growth rate dropped and the lag prior to growth increased as the temperature, a w and nutrient status of the medium decreased. T-15603.1 appeared to be more sensitive to a w reduction than to temperature or nutrient status. The use of response surface methodology to model the combined effects of these environmental factors on the radial growth rate of T. atroviride completed the experimental results and showed that the radial growth rate was particularly limited at low a w values on the nutrient-rich medium (MEA) and at incubation temperatures P25°C. Internal and external mathematical evaluations (RMSE,%SEP, A f , B f , pRE) demonstrated that the model provides a useful and accurate method for predicting the growth rate of T-15603.1. This study should contribute towards a better understanding of the biocontrol efficacy of T-15603.1 in urban tree management.

The white-rot basidiomycete, Inonotus hispidus, produces a characteristic pattern of decay in naturally infected London plane (Platanus ihispanica) in which zones of severely decayed wood, traversed by relatively undegraded xylem rays, alternate with relatively undegraded, gummous ' reaction zones '. Microscopic observations of London plane wood both naturally colonized and artificially inoculated with I. hispidus indicated that the resistance of reaction zones and xylem rays to degradation is due respectively to obstruction of cell lumina by tyloses and polyphenols, and infiltration of intercellular spaces by polyphenols. Inonotus hispidus was apparently able to circumvent these impedances by forming soft-rot like tunnels through the wood cell walls.

Colonisation and wood degradation by three brown-rot fungi, Coniophora puteana, Gloeophyllum trabeum and Poria placenta, were studied in wood of Norway spruce (Picea abies) subjected to three different treatments: hygro-thermal (TH) (160 and 1808C), mechanical densification and thermo-hygro-mechanical (THM) treatment including densification and post-treatment under saturated steam conditions at different temperatures (140, 160 and 1808C). The weight loss induced by all three fungi was lowest in THM-densified wood post-treated at 1808C. Highest weight losses were recorded for controls and TH-treated wood. Fungal colonisation varied in its intensity, depending on the treatment applied to the wood. Hyphal growth in controls and TH-treated wood was abundant, whereas in densified and THM-densified wood it was sparse and confined predominantly to the cell lumina of earlywood tracheids. Also, penetration of large-diameter hyphae and associated degradation in THM-densified wood was impeded by occlusion of the lumina, associated with irreversible compression (loss in shape memory). In contrast to C. puteana and P. placenta, which showed typical brown-rot behaviour, G. trabeum frequently showed hyphal tunnelling within the secondary walls of tracheids and xylem ray parenchyma of controls and thermally treated wood. Such growth was never observed in THM-densified wood post-treated at 1808C.

A radial basis function (RBF) neural network was developed and compared against a quadratic response surface (RS) model for predicting the specific growth rates of the biotechnologically important basidiomycetous fungi, Physisporinus vitreus and Neolentinus lepideus, under three environmental conditions: temperature (10–30 °C), water activity (0.950–9.998), and pH (4–6). Both the RBF network and polynomial RS model were mathematically evaluated against experimental data using graphical plots and several statistical indices. The evaluation showed that both models gave reasonably good predictions, but the performance of the RBF neural network was superior to that of the classical statistical method for all three data sets used (training, testing, full). Sensitivity analysis revealed that of the three experimental factors the most influential on the growth rate of P. vitreus was water activity, followed by temperature and pH to a lesser extent. In contrast, temperature in particular and then water activity were the key determinants of the development of N. lepideus. RBF neural networks could be a powerful technique for modeling fungal growth behavior under certain parameters and an alternative to time-consuming, traditional microbiological techniques.

• Violins produced by Antonio Stradivari during the late 17th and early 18th centuries are reputed to have superior tonal qualities. Dendrochronological studies show that Stradivari used Norway spruce that had grown mostly during the Maunder Minimum, a period of reduced solar activity when relatively low temperatures caused trees to lay down wood with narrow annual rings, resulting in a high modulus of elasticity and low density.• The main objective was to determine whether wood can be processed using selected decay fungi so that it becomes acoustically similar to the wood of trees that have grown in a cold climate (i.e. reduced density and unchanged modulus of elasticity).• This was investigated by incubating resonance wood specimens of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) with fungal species that can reduce wood density, but lack the ability to degrade the compound middle lamellae, at least in the earlier stages of decay.• Microscopic assessment of the incubated specimens and measurement of five physical properties (density, modulus of elasticity, speed of sound, radiation ratio, and the damping factor) using resonance frequency revealed that in the wood of both species there was a reduction in density, accompanied by relatively little change in the speed of sound. Thus, radiation ratio was increased from ‘poor’ to ‘good’, on a par with ‘superior’ resonance wood grown in a cold climate.Violins produced by Antonio Stradivari during the late 17th and early 18th centuries are reputed to have superior tonal qualities. Dendrochronological studies show that Stradivari used Norway spruce that had grown mostly during the Maunder Minimum, a period of reduced solar activity when relatively low temperatures caused trees to lay down wood with narrow annual rings, resulting in a high modulus of elasticity and low density.The main objective was to determine whether wood can be processed using selected decay fungi so that it becomes acoustically similar to the wood of trees that have grown in a cold climate (i.e. reduced density and unchanged modulus of elasticity).This was investigated by incubating resonance wood specimens of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) with fungal species that can reduce wood density, but lack the ability to degrade the compound middle lamellae, at least in the earlier stages of decay.Microscopic assessment of the incubated specimens and measurement of five physical properties (density, modulus of elasticity, speed of sound, radiation ratio, and the damping factor) using resonance frequency revealed that in the wood of both species there was a reduction in density, accompanied by relatively little change in the speed of sound. Thus, radiation ratio was increased from ‘poor’ to ‘good’, on a par with ‘superior’ resonance wood grown in a cold climate.

The white rotting Armillaria mellea induced a spatially very distinctive pattern of degradation in sycamore wood, under both natural and artificial conditions. Degradation began preferentially within groups of fibres containing intercellular spaces, whereas fibre regions lacking such spaces were undegraded and remained largely intact even when decay had become advanced elsewhere. The two types of fibre region differed not only in the presence of intercellular spaces, and hence in the potential for gas exchange, but also in their degree of lignification. This was higher in the more resistant type, as shown by staining of undecayed wood with toluidine blue-O, by microspectrometry after staining for the Ma$ ule colour reaction, and by uv-microscopy. A spatially similar pattern of cellulose degradation was induced by the brown rotting Laetiporus sulphureus, which is known to cause preferential degradation of less strongly lignified cell walls. By contrast, the white-rotting Ganoderma pfeifferi showed a tendency to degrade the stronger lignified cell walls. Thus, in combination with the application of conventional histological methods, the wood degradation modes observed give additional evidence for stronger and weaker lignified fibre regions within the wood of sycamore.

By vision and design, the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development carries two integrated and distinct features, identified as both challenge and opportunity in international development. These are notably its game-changing “results framework” and an objective to “leave no one behind” - a political imperative linked to the concept of universality, which tends to close the margin between developing and developed countries in the agenda’s applicability. These features do not only respond to change in approach to international development action for greater effectiveness, they also offer avenues for studies into susceptible changes in the perception of certain established concepts and rudiments, including those linked to reforms in global governance, management and Africa’s specificity. Through a qualitative analysis of selected contemporary debates around the Agenda 2030, this essay aims to underscore some possible alterations to perceptions of international development within the fram...

The study examined the effects of context cueing instructional strategy on secondary school students' achievement in and attitude to English Language reading comprehension. The research adopted pre-test, post-test and control quasi experimental design. One hundred and twenty students' participants constituted the sample used in the research. English language reading comprehension achievement test (ELRCAT) and Questionnaire on students' attitude to reading comprehension (QSARC) were the main instruments used for the study. Findings revealed that context cueing instructional strategy had significant effect on students' achievement in (F (1, 117) = 23.697; p < .05) and attitude to (F (1, 117) = 9.762; p < .05) English language reading comprehension. The independent variable had significant effect of treatment on students' achievement in and attitude to reading comprehension.The implications of the study along with suggestions for practice and research were highlighted.

Reading skills are specific abilities that enable a reader to read the written form as meaningful language and to mentally interact with the message. Reading is seen as an instrument that induces learning which involves a variety of interrelated activities. Comprehension in reading occurs when the reader takes hold of the writer’s message. It is seen as the basic mechanical side of the reading process because the higher order cognitive processes are not called into play as they are with the more sophisticated side of reading that involves understanding and interpreting what is read. Research findings that have identified differences between gender groups in reading performance are not as clear cut. Various interpretations given by researchers often reported discrepancies between males and females in reading outcome. Not much work has been done on the investigation of gender differences, achievement in and attitude to reading, though there are general consensus that girls have been found in many Nigerian researches to have only a slight positive but statistically insignificant edge over boys in language performance. Also, it has been proven that a positive attitude often leads to successful learning and that students learn more effectively and achieve better when they are interested in what they learn. This study is interested in the provision of clear evidence that gender and attitude influence achievement in reading comprehension.

This study investigates the effect of phonological perversion in the use of spoken English among secondary school English Teachers in Ogun State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all English Language teachers in the selected schools with the sample size of 120. The validated instruments used for collecting data were pronunciation test and questionnaire. A reliability index of 0.84 was achieved using Cronbach’s alpha. The data collected were statistically analyzed using frequency, percentages and t-test at 0.05 level of significant. The findings revealed that the English Language teachers in Ogun State whose language background is Yoruba had problems in pronouncing some English sounds, e.g., /v/ and /f/, /z/ and /s/, /ei/ and /e/, /iǝ/ and /ea/, /i:/ and /i/ and h-dropping (hard as add). It is recommended that Nigerian teachers of English Language be professionally developed in the rudiments of English sounds for intelligent communication.

This study investigated the perceptions of the teachers and the students on the preferred learning styles and their perceptions on reading comprehension. A survey research design was used in the study using Likert Scale. Questionnaires were administered to teachers and students in senior secondary school in Ogun West Senatorial District of Ogun State. Two hundred and thirty participants were used for the study. One hundred and eighteen (118) were students while one hundred and twelve (112) were English Language teachers. The study discovered that reading is enhanced when students are taught with different learning styles. Also, both students and teachers perceived that students learn best when teachers use fun oriented activities when teaching reading comprehension. The study recommend that teachers should use different learning styles in impacting knowledge and that there will often be differences between teachers and students’ perception regarding language learning and that understanding this differences will help to reduce conflicts and facilitate learning.