Implications of Gender Disparity in Concepts of Conflict Resolution for Peace and Stability among Residents of Gombe Town

This paper examined the implications of the concept of conflict resolution which male and female residents of Gombe town have on peace and stability.  In attempt to provide solution to the problem raised by the topic, an instrument was designed that consists of twelve items.  One hundred and fifty residents of Gombe were served the instrument to which they responded.  Seventy five of them were males and seventy five were female.  Their responses were subjected to t-test analysis. Generally, there was no significant difference in the way they think of conflict resolution.  However, on examination of each of the responses using their mean scores to determine how they rank the items, differences were observed.  Based on this analysis, five implications were drawn out.  Recommendations were made at the end of the paper.   Keywords: Implications, Gender Disparity, Concepts, Conflict Resolution, Peace and Stabilit

An Exploration of the Generic Structures of Problem Statements in Research Article Abstracts

Studies on research article abstracts have examined the abstracts in their entirety. Besides, while some of these works concentrate on conference abstracts, most of them analyse a combination of research abstracts from a variety of disciplines outside arts-based disciplines. Problem statement segments of the abstracts are yet to be exclusively studied. Motivated by the paucity of work of this kind, this article therefore explores the generic structures of problem statements in arts-based research article abstracts. The study got its data from purposively selected three hundred arts-based research article abstracts published in learned journals in the inner circle between 2001 and 2010. The data were analysed using insights from the generic structure potential, mood and modality aspects of SFG. Out of the five generic structural features that were found to characterise the abstracts, only two namely; Picking Out Inexistent Works(PIW) and Picking Out Inadequacy of Existing Works(PIEW) were found to be obligatory while the rest are optional. Variants of gap identification mood categories ( e.g. gap identification moods that pick out inexistent work and those that pick out inadequacy of existing works etc.) and modality categories (possibility modals) were also found in the  data. These enhance effective statement of the communicative goals of research problems in the abstracts.  The article concludes that studying the generic structure of problem statements in the abstracts has potency of providing useful insights into how, in what form and where the research problems are stated in the abstracts. Keywords: Research Article Abstracts, Problem Statements, Generic Structural Potential(GSP), Mood,  Modalit

Comparative Study of Generic Structural Elements in Research Article Abstracts of Selected Arts-Based Disciplines

Academic genre analysts have over the last few decades preoccupied themselves with the description of rhetorical organisation of different academic genres This is done with a view to providing writers most especially young entrants into academic discourse community with knowledge on academic genre literacy Extant literature reveals that generic structural elements of arts-based research article abstracts have not been much explored using generic comparative analytical approach perspective and this creates a research vacuum in the literature This study therefore fills the vacuum as it carries out a comparative study of Generic Structural Elements in Research Article Abstracts of Selected Arts-Based Disciplines This is done with a view to determining the generic structural variations across disciplines The study utilised as data three hundred abstracts 100 from each group purposively selected from 27 journals in Languages and Communication LC 13 in Literary and Creative Arts LCA and 25 in Cultural Studies and Philosophy CSP published between 2001 and 2010 The journals selected are domiciled in universities in the inner circle countries where English is spoken as mother tongue The generic structural elements of these abstracts are comparatively analysed using insights from the Generic Structural Potential analytical tool of SF

Strength Properties of Shea-Butter Nuts Under Compressive Loading

Compression tests were performed on heat-treated Shea-butter nuts to study the effects of temperature and loading position on rupture force, deformation, toughness and firmness of the nuts. The factors examined had significant effects on the measured parameters (rupture force, deformation, toughness and firmness) at 95% confidence level. Rupture force, deformation and toughness decreased while firmness increased with increases in temperature in both axial and lateral loading positions. Higher values of firmness but lower values of rupture force, deformation and toughness were obtained when Shea-butter nuts were compressed in lateral loading position compared with axial loading position under the same conditions.

A Sociolinguistic Study of Conversations in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People

This paper examines sociolinguistic features of conversational interactions among characters in Achebe’s A Man of the People. The aim is to differ from the largely stylistic examination of the text, and therefore, to study conversations in the mediated arena of literature to see how societal structures and beliefs are projected through the voices of fictive characters. For data, all the conversations in the text were sampled and analysed, using ethnographic theories with particular reference to Hymes’ SPEAKING. Our findings reveal that social and contextual variables such as cultural norms, topics, gender, situational impositions, etc. influence the interactions between and/ or among the characters in the text. These, as our findings reveal, constrain the linguistic choices made by the characters. These social-contextual variables also facilitate readers’ understanding of both the text and the world views advanced by the writer through the voices of the characters. This paper concludes that analyzing literary texts most especially prose works using Hymes’ SPEAKING aids a better understanding of the texts and the world views projected in the texts

Improved Photocatalytic Performance via Air-Plasma Modification of Titanium Dioxide: Insights from Experimental and Simulation Investigation

Commercial titanium dioxide is successfully plasma-treated under ambient conditions for different time periods, leading to reduced crystallite size and the creation of oxygen vacancies. Density functional theory-based calculations reveal the emergence of additional localized states close to the conduction band, primarily associated with under-coordinated titanium atoms in non-stoichiometric titanium-oxide systems. The plasma-treated samples exhibit improved photocatalytic performance in the degradation of methylene blue compared to untreated samples. Moreover, the 4-hour plasma-treated photocatalyst demonstrates commendable stability and reusability. This work highlights the potential of cost-effective plasma treatment as a simple modification technique to significantly enhance the photocatalytic capabilities of titanium dioxide.Comment: Manuscript and Supplementary material include

DEVELOPING GOOD QUALITY CASTING-SANDS FROM NIGERIAN SOILS

The suitability and the range of application of termite soil in sand moulds have been investigated both experimentally and practically through castings (ferrous and non-ferrous) of engineering components. The experimental tests were conducted in accordance with the American foundry society specifications to determine the moulding properties. The experimental results of the termites soil based sands and bentonite based sands were compared and various sand conditions based on the comparison were selected for castings of bronze, aluminum and cast iron. The investigation show that 37%, 40% and 45% termite soil at 5% to 7.5%moisture content ,and 8% to 10% bentonite at 2% to 4%moisture content are comparable in terms of their moulding properties, and these are in good correlation with the standard properties. The practical castings revealed that the sand conditions between 30% and 40% termite soil at 60% to 8% moisture content are most recommended for casting of engineering components

Knowledge, attitude and practice of safety measures among cooking gas refill attendants in Zaria Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Cooking gas refill attendants play important role in the use of gas in Zaria. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and safety measure practices among cooking gas refill attendants in Zaria metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A cross sectional study was conducted in January, 2019 among cooking gas refill attendants using structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and checklist. It was a whole-population study of 121 participants. The data was collected using Open Data Kit (ODK) software version 1.21.1 installed in an android device and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. The results were summarized and presented in tables and charts; p value was set at < 0.05 for statistical significance. Majority (79.6%) of the respondents were within the productive age group of 25 to 44 years with median age 36 years, married (57.9%) and more than half (52.1%) of the respondents had secondary education and all respondents were males. The overall scores for knowledge, attitudes and safety practices were 81.0%, 90.1% and 75.2% respectively but with various deficiencies. Those that attended training were 78.0%. Finding from the checklist showed that 5.8% of the inspected fire extinguishers were expired. The respondents’ knowledge, attitude and safety measures practices were associated with level of education, age and ethnicity. Majority of the gas refill attendants had good knowledge, attitude and safety measure practice, however, with some deficiencies. There is need for training and supervision to ensure use of personal protective equipment and replacement of the expired fire extinguishers

Vitamins C and E attenuate lipid dystrophy in tissues of rats administered aluminium

To investigate the effects of aluminum chloride (AlCl3) in the deviation of tissue lipid profiles and ways to reduce its effect using antioxidant vitamins C and E, thirty-six male albino rats (120-150g) were divided into six groups with six rats each. Group (1) received normal saline and served as control, Group (2) was administered with AlCl3 (20mg/kg body weight b.wt)), Group (3) was administered with vitamin C (200mg/kg b.wt), Group (4) was administered with vitamin E (200mg/kg b.wt), Groups (5) and (6) were administered aluminium (20mg/kg b.wt) along with vitamins C and E (200mg/kg b.wt) respectively. At the end of the experiment, blood samples and organs (liver, testis, heart, kidney and brain) were harvested and used for lipid profile determination. The results showed that oral administration of aluminum significantly (p<0.05) increased cholesterol level in plasma and VLDL+LDL and significantly decreased in erythrocyte, HDL and testis. Cholesterogenesis was induced in the brain, liver, kidney and heart. Plasma and VLDL+LDL triglyceride were significantly (p<0.05) increased while erythrocyte and brain triglyceride were significantly decreased. Plasma, VLDL+LDL and brain phospholipid levels were significantly (p<0.05) decreased and that of erythrocyte significantly increased. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in rats supplemented with vitamin C and vitamin E compared with control. The vitamins significantly attenuated the affected lipid levels in the tissues affected. It was concluded that administration of vitamin C and vitamin E supplements may be used as therapies against the effects of Aluminium exposure on lipids.Keywords: Aluminium exposure, lipid dystrophy, vitamin C, vitamin E, tissue