Tungo za kujibizana: `Kuambizana ni sifa ya kupendana´

Different labels have been used for marking the reciprocity in Swahili dialogue poetry, varying between the more neutral `malumbano´ or `kujibizana´ and the more marked `ukinzani´ or `mashindano´. By showing a sample from the Zanzibari newspaper Mwongozi (1956) of a poetic dialogue on wife-husband relationships, the paper argues that the poetical form and the strong language used are not a mere expression of what has been called `rivalry´, but instruments in expressing views and opinions that have been observed in other literary devices (mithali, misemo, vijembe) and their usage. At the same time it is demonstrated that different types of poems (tenzi, mashairi, nyimbo) and different styles (plain, metaphoric, riddle) are used side by side. The ambiguity, incompleteness and strength of the language that is used in this poetry, make it all possible to express views on sensitive issues in the society

True Stories: New Zealand Narrative Nonfiction: A Bibliography Based on Appeal Theory

Research problem: Readers’ advisory services are generally recognised as a core service offered in New Zealand public libraries. Currently no readers’ advisory resources or tools exist based solely on New Zealand content, either for narrative nonfiction or fiction. The aim of this bibliography was to provide librarians with a tool to find New Zealand narrative nonfiction books within the context of a readers’ advisory framework. Methodology: The bibliography is based on appeal theory and takes the approach of creating a narrative nonfiction readers’ advisory tool. 112 New Zealand narrative nonfiction books are described, classified by genre and identified by their appeal elements, characteristics that give readers insight into a book’s qualities: character, mood, pacing and story line. Results: The development and dissemination of a readers’ advisory tool increases awareness of New Zealand narrative nonfiction genres and content. It offers a New Zealand point of reference that supports nonfiction leisure reading and promotes narrative nonfiction readers’ advisory services. Implications: The organisation of the bibliographic records into a library using Zotero referencing software enables the material to become an online New Zealand narrative nonfiction readers’ advisory tool. An online environment increases the utility by broadening the scope of access to librarians, readers or other individuals with an interest in sourcing references relating to New Zealand narrative nonfiction writing

Tungo za Mzee Kimbunga: Haji Gora Haji

Haji Gora Haji (1933) is a Swahili poet from Tumbatu. Some people in Zanzibar call him `The Old Hurricane´ after the title and the first poem of his anthology Kimbunga (1994 Dar es Salaam: Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili) that made him well-known all over Taniania. While making a living from the sea, as a fisherman, porter in the harbour, sailor and transporter of cloves, he has been composing, since 1955, a large amount of ngoma and taarab songs, riddles, tenzi and mashairi, short stories and, recently, a short novel. This paper discusses metaphors and images that are characteristic of Haji Gora`s work, the way in which they reveal his identity and how they have been put in terms of contradictions and oppositions

Characterization of Recombinant Human PRG4 as an Ocular Surface Boundary Lubricant

Introduction: Dry-eye disease involves tear film instability that can result in surface-to-surface contact between the cornea and eyelid or contact lens, where boundary lubrication can be dominant1. Motivated by the recent discovery that proteoglycan 4 (PRG4, a mucin-like glycoprotein originally discovered in synovial fluid as a boundary lubricant2), functions as an ocular surface boundary lubricant3, advances in recombinant protein expression technology4, and PRG4’s potential use as a friction-reducing contact lens coating, the objectives of this study were to: 1) biochemically characterize recombinant human PRG4 (rh- PRG4); and 2) assess the boundary lubricating properties of rh-PRG4, both before and after autoclave sterilization, at a cornea-contact lens material (PDMS) biointerface. Methods: SDS-PAGE western blot analysis using a variety of anti-PRG4 antibodies and lectins was performed on native PRG4 (nPRG4) and rh-PRG4 samples, both nonreduced and reduced, with and without enzymatic removal of O-linked glycosylations. Human corneas and PDMS were articulated against each other, subject to physiological loads of 8-25 kPa, at effective sliding velocities of 0.3-30 mm/s. Test lubricant sequences were A) saline, rh-PRG4 @300μg/mL, nPRG4 @300μg/mL, and saline; and B) saline, autoclaved rh-PRG4 @300μg/mL, rh-PRG4 @300μg/mL, and saline. Static and kinetic coefficients of friction were calculated. Results: rh-PRG4 demonstrated similar immunoreactivity to nPRG4, and effectively lowered friction at the cornea-PDMS biointerface. Western blotting indicated immunoreactive rh-PRG4 bands had a similar apparent molecular weight (MW) to nPRG4, and decreased appropriately upon reduction as well as enzymatic removal of glycosylations. Kinetic friction coefficients, which were highest in saline (0.31±0.06 to 0.40±0.06, mean±SEM), were similar in rh-PRG4 (0.12±0.01 to 0.25±0.03) and nPRG4 (0.19±0.02 to 0.28±0.03) across all velocities. Autoclaved rh-PRG4 had similar values to rh-PRG4 as well (0.19±0.02 to 0.26±0.04, 0.16±0.02 to 0.26±0.02, respectively). Conclusions: rh-PRG4 demonstrates similar biochemical and ocular surface lubricating properties to nPRG4, and may function as an effective friction-reducing contact lens coating

‘Hammatbihi wahammabiha’: fasihi ya Kiswahili na kisa cha Yusuf

The story of Joseph (in the Bible), Yusuf (in the Quran), has inspired literatures in many languages. This paper explores how some Swahili writers and translators have dealt with this inspiration, the implications for their language use and the way they have interpreted Yusuf as a theme for their writings. After a brief introduction on the importance of the story itself and putting the focus on a major theme of the plot, the following works are discussed: the new Quran translation by Sh Ali Muhsin (1995), a short novel by Mzee Salim A. Kibao (1975), two short stories by Amur bin Nasur il-Omeiri (1894), the utenzi Qissat-il Yusuf (l913) and Abdulrazak Gurnah\''s English written novel Paradise (1995). The paper concludes with the observation that in analyzing how these Swahili writers have integrated the story of Yusuf in their writings, prose as well as poetry, it becomes clear that attempts in defining what is ‘foreign’ (or ‘Oriental’) and what is ‘indigenous’ (or ‘African’) are bound to fail

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii Strain HTF-F and Its Extracellular Polymeric Matrix Attenuate Clinical Parameters in DSS-Induced Colitis

Date of Acceptance: 26/02/2015 Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Kiinimacho cha mahali: kiambishi tamati cha mahali -ni

The locative suffix -ni: In this article we discuss two hypotheses about the origin of the locative suffix -ni. The better known hypothesis (Raum 1909; Meinhof 1941/42) assumes that the suffix -(i)ni developed out of a class 18 demonstrative, though the details of the assumed phonological changes have never been made clear. The competing hypothesis by Sacleux (1939) suggests that locative nouns with -ni started out as compounds with the noun ini `liver´. We think that this second hypothesis is phonologically more plausible and that it also accounts for the specific link with the meaning of class 18 `inside´. Comparison of the spread of the locative suffix -(i)ni and of the word ini `liver´, together with other historical considerations, point to Kiswahili (or Sabaki) as the most likely origin of this locative suffix