Anecdote as a Persuasive Stylistic Technique in Pusonnam Yiri's Blindness of Mind: No one is Useless

The paper explores anecdotes as a stylistic technique in the language of persuasion using samples from Yiri’s Blindness of the Mind (2011). It attempts a textual analysis of some extracts from the novella using a Functional Stylistics Framework of M. A. K. Halliday. It analyses the writer’s ability to manipulate situations with the addition of verbal language to convey, persuade, influence and project convincing messages to persons in order to achieve or elicit specific positive results. This paper focuses on anecdotes and how they advance the plot of the text. The study equally examines the metaphorical manipulation of language through anecdotes to support an opinion and also to catch the reader(s) attention. It foregrounds the persuasive importance of anecdotes by bringing to the fore the anecdotal evidence deployed. The analyses show that anecdotes have effectively helped to enhance the linguistic and literary/aesthetic appeal of the text. It concludes that anecdotes are creative and active ways often used to gain the reader’s interest in the written text. This persuasive technique is used not only to draw the reader (audience) into an argument or reasoning but also to reinforce, re-orientate, incite, subvert, clarify or simplify a particular point in an apt and forceful manner

Microbial growth and substrate utilization kinetics

Microbial growth on and utilization of environmental contaminants as substrates have been studied by many researchers. Most times, substrate utilization results in removal of chemical contaminant, increase in microbial biomass and subsequent biodegradation of the contaminant. These are all aimed at detoxification of the environmental pollutants. Several microbial growth and biodegradation kinetic models have been developed, proposed and used in bioremediation schemes. Some of these models include Monod’s, Andrews, Bungay’s weighted model, general substrate inhibition models (GSIM) and sum kinetic models. Most research on microbial potentials to degrade chemical pollutants has been performed on a laboratory scale. There is a need to extend such studies to pilot scale as well as to fullscale field applications.Keywords: Microbial growth, substrate utilization, biodegradation, kinetics, detoxification, organic contaminants, models, environmental pollutant

Drilling fluid base oil biodegradation potential of a soil Staphylococcus species

Staphylococcus sp. isolated from oil-contaminated soil was grown in 1% drilling fluid base oil, HDF- 2000, as a sole source of carbon and energy. The organism has strong affinity for the substrate, growing at the rate of 0.16 h-1. It uses adherence and emulsification as mechanisms for oil uptake. In a nutrient-rich marine broth, base oil (up to 2.0% v/v) and glucose (up to 1.6% w/v) have no significant effect on the growth rates. This showed that the Staphylococcus sp. is a strong primary utilizer of the base oil and has potential for application in bioremediation processes involving oil-based drilling fluids. Key words: Drilling fluid base oil, Staphylococcus sp., biodegradation African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.2(9) 2003: 293-29

Determination of amylase activity of crude extract from partially germinated mango seeds (Mangifera oraphila)T

Amylase activity of crude extract from partially germinated mango seeds ( Mangifera oraphila) was determined using Caraway-Somogyi  iodine/potassium iodide (IKI) method. The effects of varied pH and temperature were also investigated. The amylase was extracted with 0.1 M acetate buffer (pH 4.2). Amylase activity of the crude extracts was measured by monitoring the amount of starch hydrolyzed by the crude extract over time. The result showed the presence of amylase activity in the extract, depicted by its ability to gradually decrease the concentration of the starch solution used as substrate. The optimum pH and temperature of the crude enzyme were about 6.0 and 60°C respectively. This study demonstrated that the abundant waste mango seeds in the south-eastern Nigeria, particularly Ebonyi state, could be exploited for production of amylase

Gender and career Choice Differences on Bakare Vocational Interest Inventory: Implications for Vocational Counseling In Nigeria

The study examined gender and aspired occupational differences on Bakare Vocational Interest Inventory (BVII). Two hundred and twenty (56 males and 164 females) undergraduate students participated in the study. Their ages ranged between 16-30 years with a M age of 21.79 and SD age of 2.61. The BVII by Bakare (1977) was used to gather information on the participants’ interest areas. A survey research design involving MANOVA statistical analysis was used in data analysis. The result of the findings showed significant gender differences on the Outdoor F(1,890) = 11.74, Mechanical F(1,189) = 8.28 and Computational F(1,189) = 1.47 interest areas of BVII. Similarly, aspired occupational choices differed significantly on Outdoor, F(5,189) = 3.24, Computational F(5,189) = 7.77, Artistic F(5,189) = 6.16, Musical F(5,189) = 3.25 and Clerical, F(5,189) = 2.28. Conversely, significant gender and aspired occupation interactions were found on the Outdoor F(5,189) =2.29 interest area of BVII all at p< .05 level. The discussions centered on the import of gender item bias, gender and occupational influences as well as societal influences on vocational interests.Keywords: Career choice differences, Gender, BVII, Vocational counseling, NigeriaInternational Journal of Development and Management Review (INJODEMAR) Vol. 7 June, 201

Assessment of Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure among University Students in, Enugu, South East, Nigeria

Body Mass Index (BMI) has been described as a significant predictor of Blood Pressure (B.P) but few studies have demonstrated this associationin our environment. The study aims to determine the pattern of relationship between BMI and blood pressure in our environment Two thousand and ninety six (2096) students in two Universities located in Enugu, South East Nigeria completed the study. The blood pressure, weightand height were measured. Body mass index was calculated as weight in Kilograms divided by height in meters square (kg/m ). More females than males were underweight (9.4% versus 4.7%). More males than females were overweight (8% versus 4%).Obesity occurred more in males than females (7% versus 0.9%).Blood pressure parameters increased significantly with BMI (

In vitro effects of metals and pesticides on dehydrogenase activity in microbial community of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) rhizoplane

Effects of heavy metals and pesticides on cowpea (Vigna unquiculata) rhizoplane microbial community  were assessed in vitro via dehydrogenase activity. The microbial community was exposed to various concentrations of heavy metals and pesticides in a nutrient broth-glucose-2,3,5-triphenyl chloride (TTC) medium. At 0.2 mM, iron and cadmium stimulated the dehydrogenase activity of the microbialcommunity. For all the metal ions, there was progressive inhibition with each successive increase in the concentration of metal ion, reaching near 100% at 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 0.12 and 12 mM for cobalt, cadmium,iron, mercury and nickel, respectively. Between 0.2 and 0.4 mM, zinc sharply inhibited dehydrogenase activity and at concentration above 0.4 mm, inhibition of dehydrogenase activity became lesspronounced. The order of toxicity is Hg2+ > Co2+ > Cd2+ > Zn2+ > Fe2+ > Ni2+. The herbicides Cotrazine (Atrazine 80W) and Northrin®10EC stimulated dehydrogenase activity of the microbial community at 0.2% and inhibited it at higher concentrations. The median inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of Cotrazine(Atrazine 80W) and Northrin®10EC were 0.552 ± 0.028 and 0.593 ± 0.051%, respectively. The dehydrogenase activity varied significantly (p < 0.05) with the type and concentrations of metals orpesticides. The result indicates that the heavy metals and pesticides are potentially toxic to V. unquiculata root surface microorganisms. In soil, this toxicity may affect nitrogen fixation processes and by extrapolation affect crop yield

Monitoring of microbial hydrocarbon remediation in the soil

Bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants is advantageous owing to the cost-effectiveness of the technology and the ubiquity of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms in the soil. Soil microbial diversity is affected by hydrocarbon perturbation, thus selective enrichment of hydrocarbon utilizers occurs. Hydrocarbons interact with the soil matrix and soil microorganisms determining the fate of the contaminants relative to their chemical nature and microbial degradative capabilities, respectively. Provided the polluted soil has requisite values for environmental factors that influence microbial activities and there are no inhibitors of microbial metabolism, there is a good chance that there will be a viable and active population of hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganisms in the soil. Microbial methods for monitoring bioremediation of hydrocarbons include chemical, biochemical and microbiological molecular indices that measure rates of microbial activities to show that in the end the target goal of pollutant reduction to a safe and permissible level has been achieved. Enumeration and characterization of hydrocarbon degraders, use of micro titer plate-based most probable number technique, community level physiological profiling, phospholipid fatty acid analysis, 16S rRNA- and other nucleic acid-based molecular fingerprinting techniques, metagenomics, microarray analysis, respirometry and gas chromatography are some of the methods employed in bio-monitoring of hydrocarbon remediation as presented in this review

Microbial growth and substrate utilization kinetics

Microbial growth on and utilization of environmental contaminants as substrates have been studied by many researchers. Most times, substrate utilization results in removal of chemical contaminant, increase in microbial biomass and subsequent biodegradation of the contaminant. These are all aimed at detoxification of the environmental pollutants. Several microbial growth and biodegradation kinetic models have been developed, proposed and used in bioremediation schemes. Some of these models include Monod's, Andrews, Bungay's weighted model, general substrate inhibition models (GSIM) and sum kinetic models. Most research on microbial potentials to degrade chemical pollutants has been performed on a laboratory scale. There is a need to extend such studies to pilot scale as well as to fullscale field applications