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Propositional Attitude Verbs And Complementizers In Medumba
Get PDFWe present the preliminary results of an investigation on complementizers and their interaction with propositional attitude verbs in Medumba (Grassfields Bantu, Niger-Congo). This initial sketch of the Medumba C-system opens up questions about the syntactic distribution and semantic force of the various Cs. There are two clause-initial Cs, /mbʉ/ and /ndà/, of which /mbʉ/ has three syntactically conditioned allomorphs: [mbʉ̀ ]-L, [mbʉ́ ʉ̀ ]-HL and [mbʉ̀ ʉ́ ]-LH. The clause-final [lá] obligatorily co-occurs with two of the clause-initial Cs, namely [mbʉ́ ʉ̀ ]-HL and [ndà]. Additionally, the inventory of propositional attitude verbs (pavs) is quite small, with only four identified thus far: two are monomorphemic ([lεn] ‘know’, [t͡ʃúp] ‘say’) and two are are bi-morphemic ([kwὲ-də̀ ] ‘think-iter’, [bέt-tə́ ] ‘askiter’). We make the case for a syntactically conditioned floating H-tone. Additionally, we propose a basic structure of the Medumba CP and raise questions about the scope of polarity and the nature of the clause-final particle /lá/
BIOASSAY-GUIDED ISOLATION OF FURIN INHIBITORS FROM LEAF EXTRACT OF Momordica charantia L.
Get PDFProprotein convertase-furin is involved in numerous physiological and pathogenic processes, such as viral propagation, bacterial toxin activation, cancer, and metastasis. Because of its involvement in these disease-related processes, the inhibition of this enzyme could be a promising drug target. The several existing synthetic inhibitors of furin are associated with side effects. Hence, we focused on natural sources, in particular, medicinal plant with antiviral capabilities. This study was designed to isolate the bioactive secondary metabolites present in Momordica charantia leaf extract and determine their potential bioactivity on furin.
M. charantia leaves were air-dried, ground to fine powder and extracted using 80% (v/v) methanol. The methanolic extract was concentrated in vacuo at 40 oC and the crude extract obtained was partitioned successively with n-hexane (HEX), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and n-butanol (BuOH). A bioassay-guided screening of the crude extract and solvent fractions was carried out against the activity of recombinant human furin with the release of fluorescent 7-amino-4-methyl coumarin (AMC) liberated from the substrate, Pyroglutamic acid-Arg-Thr-Lys-Arg-methyl-coumaryl-7-amide, in a fluorimeter plate reader. Thereafter, the most potent fraction was subjected to chromatographic separation using thin layer (TLC) and column chromatographic techniques. The eluted fractions and subfractions were screened for bioactivity.
The crude extract showed inhibition percentages of 51.9 and 100% at 7 and 12.5 ng/μl, respectively. The HEX fraction (7 ng/μl) exerted the highest inhibition (72%) on furin compared to other fractions while the BuOH fraction activated the enzyme by 1.5%. The chromatographed HEX fraction yielded seven (7) fractions with different physical properties. Five of these fractions gave single spot on TLC plate. Six fractions (MC I to VI) exhibited potent inhibition against furin with inhibition percentages ranging from 67 to 100% when 0.5 ng/μl of the inhibitor was used. Further fractionation of MC VI on preparative thin layer chromatography gave two sub fractions (A and B) which gave 50% inhibition, respectively.
Overall, the presence of these potent inhibitors of furin in the leaf extract of M. charantia could provide a rationale for the ethnomedicinal use of the plant for viral infection in Nigerian folk medicine. Also, further investigations are underway for a better understanding and structural elucidation of the secondary metabolites responsible for the bioactivity observed on furin
Impact of Remote Working Environment in Kenyan Organizations
Get PDFA remote working environment refers to working outside the traditional workspace. Such environments define working as a mobile activity rather than needing a specific space to accomplish it. Remote work has been around for some time before the pandemic however, the quarantine and lockdown protocols pushed many organizations to adopt the system. Other organizations have found the conveniences of remote working, including reduced rental expenses and other organizational amenities while maintaining profitability and productivity. The remote working environment is here to stay in the professional realm; hence this seminar paper seeks to look at organizations in Kenya. Most sectors in Kenya were adversely affected by the remote working environment. The study adopted the review and analysis methodology of the existing literature, through the Google Scholar search engine and Z- library by use of keywords to investigate the impact of remote working environments on employee productivity, attitudes, and challenges to Kenyan organizations. The paper also looks at the overall organizational performance in a remote working environment. The study reveals that employee performance and attitude are significantly boosted in the remote working environment. Distractions and lack of proper utilities were highlighted as the key challenges faced by employees in remote working environments. The study also recommends the formulation of policies and procedures that will guide employees while choosing a framework for evaluating performance in the remote working environment
Mitchells Plain, a Documentary by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information, Republic of South Africa (1980). Transcript and Screenshots
No full textMitchells Plain, 1980, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information (17:48 minutes)
Director/Cameraman: Steve Theunissen
Production Manager: Ria Coetzer
Editor: Alastair Henderson
Script and producer: Sakkie Van der Walt
The archival material here presented, namely documentary film stills from the documentary cited above and its complete transcript, are the property of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) of South Africa. GCIS has granted the publisher Africae and Ludmilla Ommundsen Pessoa, author, permission to use and reproduce this material, which is also included in this book: Ommundsen Pessoa, Ludmilla. 2023. Welcome to Mitchell’s Plain : Filming a ‘Model Township’ during Apartheid. Nairobi, Johannesburg, Paris : Africae. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.africae.3939.
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The theory of the Collatz process and the method of dynamical balls : The theory of the Collatz process
Get PDFIn this paper we introduce and develop the theory of the Collatz
process and the method of dynamical balls. We leverage this theory to study the Collatz conjecture. This theory also has a subtle connection with the infamous problem of the distribution of Sophie germain primes. We also provide several formulation of the Collatz conjecture in this language. Furthermore, we introduce and develop the notion of dynamical systems induced by a fixed a ∈ N and their associated induced dynamical balls. We develop tools to study problems requiring to determine the convergence of certain sequences generated by iterating on a fixed integer
Epistemiology of the South - “Navigating and Traversing the Proverbial Avalanche Post Phd in the 21st Century – A Narrartive Reflection”
No full textKnowledge can be transmitted, facilitated, developed, and produced in a variety of ways through education. As a matter of fact, universities, in particular, are defined in terms of knowledge generation. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that discussions about decolonizing (Western) education have expanded to encompass provincializing (Western) epistemology, given the close ties between education and educational institutions and epistemology. This presents a danger as epistemological pathways inform thinking partners and behavioural dynamics of societies. Deconstructive debate that seeks to discuss educational decoloniality from the Global South cannot articulate that with exclusion of southern epistemological position towards reality with the lens of its inhabitants. This is what confronts the post-doctoral scholar of the Global Centre for Academic Research and South Valley University, as independent entities within the Global South. This narrative reflection provides a baseline for a cogent discourse in favour of deconstruction of southern epistemological trajectory in education and social perspectives
Predicate Partition For Predicate-Centred Focus And Meeussen's Proto-Bantu "Advance Verb Construction"
No full textMeeussen’s (1967: 121) extensive grammatical reconstructions for Proto-Bantu contain a so-called “advance verb construction” that is comprised of an infinitive followed by a finite form of the same verb (typologically commonly called “cognate”verb) and conveys a marked type of information structure (IS) in which a predicate component is highlighted pragmatically. While Güldemann (2003: 335–337) already characterised this construction to pertain to the IS subdomain of so-called “predicate-centred focus”, he had to leave open some important structural and functional details. Since then, much more relevant data have become available, both inside and outside of Bantu. In this chapter, we attempt to specify Meeussen’s (1967) proposal about his “advance verb construction” and its “relatives” by providing a cross-linguistic perspective of the relevant domain, presenting and analysing a wide range of relevant structures from across the Bantu family, and finally discussing the results of this comparative family survey regarding both the synchronic variation and the diachronic dynamics of change
On Reconstructing The Proto-Bantu Object Marking System
No full textThis chapter critically examines the divergent hypotheses about the Proto-Bantu (PB) object marking system proposed by Meeussen (1967) and Polak (1986). It then builds on their insights with additional data and details of analysis and develops a new reconstruction of PB object marking, including its place in a larger system of topicality marking also involving the subject marker
“Accused of a Sodomy Act”: Bible, Queer Poetry and African Narrative Hermeneutics
No full textThis article explores the role of poetry and narrative methods in African-centred queer biblical studies and theology. As a case in point, it presents a poem, titled “Accused of a Sodomy Act,” by Tom Muyunga-Mukasa, that was written as part of a queer Bible reading project with Ugandan LGBTQ refugees. The poem is a contemporary re-telling of the gospel story about Jesus and the “woman caught in adultery” in the context of socio-political homophobia in Uganda. The poem is complemented by an autobiographical reflection by the writer, providing insight into his personal experiences of growing up as gay and religious in Uganda. This is embedded in a more general discussion, relating the poem to trends of life storytelling in African LGBTQ activism, and to established narrative methodologies in African theological and biblical studies scholarship. Overall, the article makes a methodological contribution, by foregrounding queer poetry and storytelling as innovations in African narrative hermeneutics that expand the established concern with gender and sexuality beyond a heterosexual framework, and that include the marginalised voices and experiences of LGBTQ people
