From dialectal variation to standardisation, production of literature, and pedagogical implications: Revisiting the case of Ghɔmálá’, a Grassfields‑Bantu language from Cameroon

Cameroon is officially a French English bilingual country, but it is actually highly multilingual with 286 local languages, all at various levels of standardisation. But from colonial times, and despite the Independence in 1960, none of the local languages has been granted an official status to be used in education, the administration or the public media. The two official languages of the country are still French and English, inherited from colonial times. These two languages are the ones mainly used in schools, the public administration, the official communication and the media. Local languages in Cameroon therefore stand at a crossroads of contradictions in the 21st century: whereas the majority of Cameroonian communities still use them daily in their linguistic interactions and socio cultural communication primarily in the oral realm, those same languages paradoxically are absent in those key areas of community life that matter most, namely the educational arena, and the public administration and official discourses. To add to the contradictions and paradoxes, the vast majority of Cameroonians do not have any native fluency or mastery of those official languages that are ubiquitous in education and public communication. This chapter examines the case of Ghɔmálá’, a Grassfields Bantu language from the West region of Cameroon, Africa, building its discussion on document analyses, field notes, and some data collected on the current teaching of Ghɔmálá’ within the local speech community in the West of Cameroon. Ghɔmálá’, which was adopted by UNESCO in the 1960s as one of nine languages of wider communication for Cameroon, is considered to be one of those Cameroonian languages that are thriving in comparison to the majority of the Cameroonian languages, and in terms of its print richness and use in formal education, i.e. schools and literacy classes

Studies on the reactivity of a tertiary allylic alcohol in an acetophenonic series, a model for natural products synthesis

The synthesis of benzopyranic simplified analogues of dibenzopyranic natural compounds is described, together with the access to a precursor of a new furobenzopyranic natural product. These natural products have anti-cancer activity. The 1,3-diacetoxy-2-acetyl-4-(3-hydroxy-3-methylbut-1-enyl)benzene synthone is used as a common precursor to these structures

Toxicity of neem oil to Bemisia tabaci biotype B nymphs reared on dry bean.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar o estágio ninfal de Bemisia tabaci biótipo B mais suscetível ao óleo de nim (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) aplicado em feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), em casa telada. Foram avaliados o tempo letal (TL) e concentração letal (CL) do óleo comercial de sementes de nim Dalneem. Para CL, concentrações de 0, 0,1, 0,25, 0,5, 1 e 2% do produto foram pulverizadas diretamente sobre as ninfas em cada ínstar. Para TL, o produto foi avaliado a 0, 0,5 e 1% de óleo de nim em cada ínstar. Ninfas vivas e mortas foram contadas cinco dias após a pulverização para CL e diariamente para TL durante seis dias. Para o quarto ínstar, a CL50 foi de 0,56% de óleo de nim. Considerando todos os ínstares, CL50 e CL95 foram estimadas em 0,32 e 2,78% de óleo de nim, respectivamente. Os TL50 para 1% de nim foram estimados em 2,46, 4,45, 3,02 e 6,98 dias para o primeiro, segundo, terceiro e quarto ínstares, respectivamente. Os TL50 estimados para 0,5 e 1% de óleo de nim foram de cinco e quatro dias, respectivamente, considerando todos os ínstares. No sexto dia, foi observada mortalidade superior a 80% para o primeiro, segundo e terceiro ínstares a 1% de óleo de nim. Os três primeiros ínstares foram mais suscetíveis ao óleo de nim que o quarto ínstar

Magnetization of carbon-coated ferromagnetic nanoclusters determined by electron holography

The magnetic properties of carbon-coated Co and Ni nanoparticles aligned in chains were determined using transmission electron holography. The measurements of the phase change of the electron wave due to the magnetization of the sample were performed. The ratio of remnant magnetization to bulk saturation magnetization Mr/Ms of Co decreased from 53% to 16% and of Ni decreased from 70% to 30% as the particle diameter increased from 25 to 90 nm. It was evident that the inhomogenous magnetic configurations could diminish the stray field of the particles. After being exposed to a 2-Tesla external magnetic field, the Mr/Ms of Co increased by 45% from the original values with the same dependency on the particle size. The Mr/Ms of Ni particles, on the other hand, increased only 10%. The increased magnetization could be attributed to the merging of small domains into larger ones after the exposure to the external magnetic field. The validity of the interpretation of the holograms was established by simulatio

Novel Cytotoxic 4-Phenylfuranocoumarins from Calophyllum dispar

Eight new 4-phenylfuranocoumarins (1−8) have been isolated from the stem bark and the fruits of Calophyllum dispar, together with three known coumarins. The structures of 1−8 were established by means of spectroscopic analysis, including extensive 2D NMR studies. Some of these furanocoumarins exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against KB cells