Teaching Academic Writing Features through Literature Reviews (LRs)

This research is written with the belief that carefully reading and examining the LR sections in research papers published in academic peer-reviewed international journals warrants learning from others’ practices, regardless of any shortcomings that might be there. Hence, it presents the researcher’s practical teaching guidelines on how to use already published LR sections in helping tertiary level students learn about and acquire the academic writing conventions of LRs. It begins with a general discussion of the features of academic writing, how all these are all embedded in the LR sections, and then introduces the steps for sensitizing students to these features and their pragmatic uses. Adopting such strategies will, hopefully, bring about good understanding of the LR function, contents, structure, linguistic features, and will ultimately enable students produce informative LR sections for their research projects. This study utilized qualitative and quantitative tools to gauge the impact of the teaching method used. Results show improvements in students’ post teaching written productions. The paper concludes with a discussion of how such an exercise impacted students’ understanding of the LR writing process

Footnotes in academic written discourse : a formal and functional analysis.

This thesis presents a formal and functional analysis of footnotes In academic journal articles. In Chapter One a brief account of the recent history of Genre Analysis Studies leading to a definition of footnotes Is given. Also given is an account of the differences and similarities between footnotes and some other germane conventional structures (viz, parentheticals and asides) that may carry out similar functions to those that footnotes realize. Reasons why writers use footnotes are suggested and discussed. The work Is based on a corpus of 10 linguistics journal articles comprising 113 footnotes. In the search for a framework in Chapter Two, the relevant literature on text and discourse analysis studies is carefully examined and applied to a sample of the data used for the present work. A classification of the functions to which the article writers have put their footnotes Is offered In Chapter Three. The Chapter ends with a discussio. of the. cxttexta wttte.cs lzase. their footnoting decisions on. The cohesion and coherence relations between footnotes, the 'matrix text exit sentence' (i.e. the sentence tagged by the footnote) and the 'matrix text re-entry sentence' (i.e. the sentence following the one tagged by the footnote) had been Investigated In the context of cohesion and coherence theories and Winter's "Clause Relations". An experiment was conducted to test the coherence and cohesion relations between 'matrix text exit sentences' and footnotes. The issue of whether footnotes present new or old information Is then taken up and the literature on the THENE-RHEME dichotomy is reviewed with a view to shedding further light on footnotes. Chapter Five Is concerned with the question of whether footnotes help or hinder the reader and the reading process and the results are statistically analyzed. Readers' attitudes towards footnotes are surveyed through the use of a questionnaire. Also addressed are the Issues of: the utility of footnotes to readers and the purposes for which readers consult footnotes. In Chapter Six some linguistic features recurring In footnotes (e.g. formulaic expressions, the frequent use of proper names, hedges, etc.) are studied. The results of the study suggest that the employment of footnotes Is a compensatory strategy on the part of writers to overcome the problem of being over/under informative especially when an article is targeted at a multiple audience. This thesis, In addition to the fact that It provides a coverage of a neglected but intrinsically InterestIng and important genre (FOOTNOTES), makes certain theoretical and pedagogical suggestions and identifies further issues for future research which are presented on in Chapter Seven

Aeração e adição de sais na produção de ácido indol acético por bactérias diazotróficas

The production of indolic compounds by Azospirillum brasilense Cd, A. lipoferum Br 17, Herbaspirillum seropedicae Z 67, H. rubrisubalbicans M4, and strain 34 isolated from rice, which does not fit into the described Herbaspirillum species, was measured under aeration ratio and salt concentrations. Aeration of the medium increased growth and production of indole compounds by these bacteria. Under static condition, the production was higher both in nitrogen-free medium for Azospirillum, and in amended N medium for the Herbaspirillum strains. Increasing salt concentration into the medium inhibited the production of indole compounds, although a small increase in production was observed, when CaCl2 concentration was raised above 1 g L-1. Deleterious effect of salinity was more pronounced in the presence of NaHCO3, followed by NaCl and Na2SO4. Azospirillum produced more indolic compounds in semi-solid cultures, and Herbaspirillum in liquid medium, but at lower levels.Foi analisada a produção de compostos indólicos por Azospirillum brasilense Cd, A. lipoferum Br 17, Herbaspirillum seropedicae Z 67, H. rubrisubalbicans M4 e a estirpe 34 isolada de arroz, que não se enquadra em nenhuma das espécies de Herbaspirillum já descritas, em relação a diferentes condições de aeração e concentrações de sais. A maior aeração do meio propiciou aumento na produção de compostos indólicos pelas bactérias testadas. Foi verificado aumento desses compostos, em culturas estáticas, em meio sem nitrogênio no caso de Azospirillum, e na presença de N para as estirpes de Herbaspirillum. O aumento da concentração de líquido, mas sais no meio de cultivo inibiu a produção de compostos indólicos, embora tenha sido observado um pequeno aumento quando a concentração de CaCl2 foi de 1 g L-1. O efeito mais deletério da salinidade foi observado com a presença de NaHCO3, seguido de NaCl e Na2SO4. Azospirillum produziu mais compostos indólicos em meio semi-sólido e Herbaspirillum em meio em menor nível

The Effect of Mulching on the Biological and Physical Properties of Soil in Maize

To study the effect of different mulching levels on the physical and biological properties of the soil. A field experiment was conducted in Gödöllő Szárítópuszta of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences experimental farm (Pest county). The experiment was laid down in a random block design with five treatments, namely M0%= control, M25%= 25%, M50%= 50%, M75%= 75%, and M100%= 100% level of mulch cover. Soil moisture content (SMC), soil penetration resistance (SPR) and earthworm abundance were measured. SMC, SPR and earthworm abundance were taken at 15-day intervals unless the weather prevented sampling. The experiment was set up from May 2019 until September 2019. The statistical data was carried out using one-way variance analysis with Tukey HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) multiple comparisons post hoc tests. The significance level used in the statistical studies was 5%. Mulch treatments improved water significantly in the first two months (June and July) of crop growth at 10 and 20 cm, however, moisture was not conserved for too long. Mulch treatment did not affect penetration resistance in all treatments. SPR was high after July in all the treatments due to low SMC. The measured SPR reached 5.3 MPa in August in M25%. The highest earthworm abundance was measured at M100% in August while the lowest was measured in control treatments. The grain yield was highest at M50% (1704 kg/ha) compared to the control. Mulch treatments were assessed based on factors such as soil moisture content, biological activity and penetration resistance and mulch was partially found to be advantageous

Effect of inoculation with Azospirillum and Herbaspirillum on production of indolic compounds and growth of wheat and rice seedlings

Bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio podem contribuir para o crescimento vegetal pela produção de auxinas. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram quantificar a produção de hormônios de crescimento por estirpes de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio e avaliar o efeito da inoculação destas estirpes em plântulas de milho e trigo. Todas as estirpes avaliadas começaram a produzir indóis no final da fase logarítmica. Houve efeito da adição de diferentes concentrações de triptofano ao meio de cultivo no aumento da produção de indóis até o nível de 200 µM. Nas estirpes de Azospirillum, as formas de N: NH4Cl, (NH4)2SO4, NH4H2PO4 e NH4NO3 estimularam a produção de indóis em níveis baixos. A adição de KNO3, NaNO3 e KNO2 inibiu a produção de indóis em todas as bactérias testadas e no crescimento de células de Azospirillum. Os efeitos da inoculação foram também comparados com concentrações crescentes do ácido 3-indolacético, KNO3 e triptofano. Em condições axênicas, a elevada produção de indóis reduz o comprimento das raízes e colmos na presença de triptofano, especialmente quando submetidas à inoculação de Azospirillum.Nitrogen fixing bacteria can contribute to plant growth by the production of auxin. The objectives of this work were to quantify the production of plant growth hormones by different nitrogen-fixing bacteria and to evaluate the effect of this inoculation on growth of wheat and rice seedlings. All strains tested produced indoles during the late logarithmic phase. Increasing the amount of tryptophan in the medium enhanced the production of indoles by the bacteria up to the level of 200 µM. For the Azospirillum strains studied, the nitrogen sources: NH4Cl, (NH4)2SO4, NH4H2PO4 and NH4NO3 stimulated indoles production in low levels. The addition of KNO3, NaNO3 and KNO2 inhibited the production of indole compounds for all bacteria tested as well as the Azospirillum growth. The effects of inoculation were also compared to those caused by increased concentrations of IAA, KNO3 and tryptophan alone. In vitro conditions, the high amounts of indoles produced by the bacteria reduce the length of roots and stems in the presence of tryptophan, especially in the case of Azospirillum strains

Effect of Transition Period in Buffalo Cows on Some Biochemical Parameters

The transition period is defined as the period from three week before calving until three weeks after calving; however, there is insufficient available data reflecting changes in this period in buffaloes. The present study is carried out in Assuit Governorate, Egypt on 30 Egyptian buffalo cows from 4 to 6 years old. The average body weight between 350 and, 450 kg and her average daily milk yield was 10 kg per animal/day during the transition period. Whole blood samples were collected from these buffaloes for determination of Liver function enzymes (Aspartate aminotransferase, Alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, Total bilirubin and Total proteins), Kidney function test (Blood urea nitrogen and Creatinine), some Lipid profile (Total cholesterol and Triglyceride) and Minerals (Calcium, Potassium and Chloride). Blood samples were collected seven times from every animal every week three times before, after and during parturition. The result appeared that a highly significant increase in Aspartate aminotransferase, Alanine aminotransferase, Creatinine, Total cholesterol, Triglyceride and calcium in the Prepartum period. But Lactate dehydrogenase, Total bilirubin, Total protein and, Blood urea nitrogen were a highly significant increase in Post-partum period. Non-significant changes in Potassium and Chloride along transition period