Despite numerous studies have placed the emphasis on an examination of individual differences in humor styles, the investigation of this topic in Thai context has been overlooked and needs to be explored. As a consequence, the objective of this present study was to examine individual differences including gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) in humor style of Thai managers in real estate companies. Seventy-nine managers in all hierarchical levels of two real estate firms listed in Stock Exchange of Thailand were gathered for data collection by using Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) as the instrument. The result of independent sample t-test showed that male managers had a higher score on the use of self-defeating humor style than female managers (t = 2.806, p = 0.007). In addition, the result of KruskalWallis H test demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in selfenhancing humor between the different age groups (χ2 (3) = 8.731, p = .033). Nonetheless, results of Kruskal-Wallis H test indicated no statistically significant differences in all four humor styles between the different BMI groups. Discussion and recommendations for further studies were also discussed.

The main objectives of the study are to further explore the connection between conceptual metaphor and the language expression structures through the comparative analysis of the conceptual metaphor in the commencement speeches of universities between English and Chinese. It also studies the meaning, cultural characteristics, similarities and differences of the two languages so that it can give a proper interpretation of how the cultural factors works on the language structure and semantic expressions. The conceptual metaphor was regards as a system of human conceptualization. Speeches addressed on graduation ceremonies by great people who are admired by the university students play a vital role in their lives. So the comparative study of conceptual metaphor in Chinese and American commencement speeches is necessary.

In current competitive environment of the construction industry, continuous quality improvement is becoming a need of the day. One important tool for continuous quality improvement is PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, and act) which can be effectively used for quality improvement and subsequently improvement in the performance by the construction firms. The objectives of the study were to identify the extent to which the firms are utilizing the PDCA cycle, and its effects on the firm performance in the context of small scale construction firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Measure were adapted from previous sources to develop a survey questionnaire and through convenience sampling, responses were generated from staff from 20 selected small scale construction firms (n=157). Descriptive statistics indicate that the level of utilization of PDCA cycle among the sample firm is moderate level. Further, the three stages of PDCA cycle including plan, do, and act is having positive and significant effects on the firm performance. Based on the findings, it is recommended that small scale construction firms should focus on greater utilization of the PDCA cycle.

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan responsible for cyclosporosis, it is a digestive coccidiosis in the tropical and intertropical area. The human being constitutes the only reservoir and his transmission is related to the fecal content based on the ingestion of water and / or food contaminated by infectious oocysts. This infection is mainly responsible for watery diarrhea which can be severe in immunocompromised patients. We report a case of a little girl with acute lymphoid leukemia type B in whom we diagnosed a digestive infection with Cyclospora cayetanensis.

Odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) characterized by a single lesion, with greater frequency in the mandibular jaw. The diagnostic approach is based on a combined analysis of the medical history, the clinical appearance and the radiographic appearance. The diagnosis may be confirmed by the anatomical pathology report. Finally, treatment consists of surgical excision and follow up is characterized by a high rate of recurrence. The authors report an unusal case of OKC of the upper jaw and review the various diagnoses and therapeutics.

Workplace stress is one of the most challenging issues in many institutions. Recently due to the competitive nature of many institutions in this global age, employers have placed more demands on employees work especially in the private educational sector. This has brought excessive pressure which is beyond employees‟ abilities and their capacity hence inhibiting individual functioning, productivity and performance. The increase level of this stress has led to a change in the behavior of employees and their attachment with the work. Stress is therefore seen to be detrimental to the health of employees, health of organization and its performance. This research examines the studies on workplace stress and its effects on performance and how these effects can be managed in the organization. The objective of the research was to identify the stressors at the workplace, to examine the effect of workplace stressors on employees‟ performance and lastly, to identify strategies used in handling stress at the workplace. Both primary and secondary data collection method were used. The total population for the study was 100 and the sample size used was 50 whereas systematic sampling technique was employed. It was found that workload, longer working hours, not designing job to meet employees strength, weakness and their pressure point were workplace stressors. It was recommended that the management needs to know the employees strength, weakness and their pressure point, balancing work life, with better social support in order to reduce stress and to improve performance.

In this theoretical investigation, a mathematical model is developed to study the effect of multiple stenoses on flow characteristics of streaming blood through the atherosclerotic artery. The Bingham plastic fluid model of blood has been utilized in the study to represent the non-Newtonian character of blood. The geometry of the asymmetric shape of the stenosis assumed to be manifested in the arterial segment is given due consideration in the analysis. An extensive quantitative analysis is performed through numerical computations on flow resistance, wall shear stress and their variations are presented graphically for different stenotic and other rheological parameters. It is observed that the stenotic and physical parameters have considerable effect in the flow behaviour. Some important observations having medical interest on the flow of blood in the stenosed arteries are presented. The investigation bears the potential to explore a variety of information regarding some phenomenological aspects of the physiological problem. The output of the investigation may provide supplementary support to the physician in the treatment of the fatal disease.

The operational status of a hydropower dam is described as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. The ability of existing and proposed hydropower dams to operate satisfactorily under wide range of possible future demands and hydrologic conditions is an important system characteristic that can be assessed by estimating the reliability (the probability that a system will remain in a non-failure state), resilience (the ability of a system to return to non-failure state after a failure has occurred) and vulnerability (the likely damage of a failure event) of the system. The main sources of the data and other useful information for this research were previous research works, government documents, bulletins and gazettes from hydropower related ministries, agencies and organizations. Desktop analysis was carried out to estimate the water requirement to generate power by various combinations of units at the Jebba hydroelectric dam. Linear programming was used to obtain the monthly reservoir releases that maximized annual total energy generation. Both monthly and annual simulations were carried out using the operation policies from the LP optimization algorithm and the generated inflow series. Duration of the failure event (d(j)), the total number of failure events (M) and the deficit volume of the failure event (v(j)) were obtained from the simulation processes and used to evaluate the reliability, resilience and vulnerability of the Jebba dam. The results obtained showed that the performance of Jebba hydropower dam when three or more units are in use is generally poor. The reliability obtained over the period of historical record varied from 0.024 for six units to 0.994 for one unit in use. Reliability based on the optimized operation policy was not less than 60% and was as high as77%. The resilience was 0.292 and vulnerability was 3298.19 Mm3 at 60% reliability. These results confirm that the operational status of the dam can be improved by adopting real time reservoir release policies obtained by optimization of the reservoir operation.

Groundwater is a natural resource that is of immense importance to life and its characteristics are greatly determined by the properties of the immediate geologic formations. Generally, the development of groundwater resource involves three main stages: exploration, evaluation and exploitation. This study focuses on the evaluation stage, which generally encompasses measurement of hydrologic parameters, and estimation of aquifer yield. The analysis of pumping test data collected for 17 wells spread across Kogi state was used to determine the hydraulic parameters of the aquifers within the study area. Transmissivity values ranged from 0.751 – 8.92 m2/day, hydraulic conductivity ranged from 0.0867–1.33 m/day, pumping rates ranged from 1.13 – 8 l/s, while the borehole depths ranged from 11.3 – 202 m. Groundwater maps of the hydraulic parameters were also developed for the study area. These results show that the aquifers within the study area can provide between 5000 to 40,000 litres of water per day. The aquifers can therefore serve as sustainable and dependable sources of water all year round with sufficient water to meet the domestic needs in many small rural communities of Kogi state.

A single cylinder, 4-stroke spark ignition engine type Prodit; fueled with supplementary Natural gas to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was used in this paper to investigate the emitted CO pollutants. The effect of equivalence ratio, spark ignition timing, engine speed, and the added NG volumetric ratio on CO emissions were tested experimentally. The study outcomes revealed that CO levels depend mainly on the equivalence ratio, as the maximum value of CO concentrations existed at the very rich equivalence ratios and it low at lean side. Retarding spark timing increased the CO concentrations by a significant percentage. The CO levels became higher at high speeds and reduced at medium speeds. Increasing natural gas volumetric ratio in the mixture caused a reduction in CO levels.

The study aimed to determine the radioactivity concentration and radiological assessment in Soil samples around Abu Jubayha, Eastern Nuba Mountains was made by gamma spectrometry technique equipped with NaI (Tl). The result of activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were varied from 23.58 ±7.86 (18.02-29.14), 36.14 ± 5.17 (32.48 -39.79) and 381.88± 127.43 (291.78 - 417.99) Bqkg-1 respectively. Absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose were estimated to evaluate radiological hazards and were varied from 39.47±8.6 (33.38-45.55) nGyh- 1and 38.43±10.56 (40.97-55.9)µSvy-1, respectively .Upon comparing the results with global data, they were found to be within the recommended limits. The result will be serving as a base line for future studies. GIS apocalyptic map was originated and has shown that there were some hot spots with high activity distribution and concentrations of the measured radionuclide and similarly Dose Rate.

Abstract: It is always important to determine distribution of insurance claims in order to estimate future expected values. This study seeks to determine the normality fit to the population data of health insurance. Secondary data collected from Dormaa Municipal Health Insurance Scheme and Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), Excel spreadsheet, and Easy fit. It was found that the population data submitted by 28 health facilities to Dormaa Municipal Health Insurance Scheme follows normal distribution.

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the bandgap energy, lattice constants, optical confinement factor, and physical properties of InGaN based quantum well lasers for 1.55 µm applications. Linear interpolation between the experimentally determined values of InN and GaN is used to calculate the lattice constants and the composition of the composite InGaN for the desired bandgap energy. Solving the Schrödinger equation in conjunction with k.p method and Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian matrix operator, the band profiles are calculated for the quantum well structure. First, the probability distribution is calculated, later which describes the electron density in the quantum well, and a value of 10-18 cm-3 is found from the calculations. In addition, the energies of conduction and valence bands are clearly demonstrated, and the corresponding heavy and light holes states are examined clearly. Determination of these parameters is of immense important for the microstructural fabrication, laser pumping power requirements, and practical applicability of the proposed laser structure.

Abstract: This paper centred on the utilization of electronic resources on Islamic Studies in Nigerian Universities. The paper highlighted the types and importance of electronic resources in teaching and learning of Islamic Studies. It discussed the challenges faced by staff and students in the utilization of such resources. Possible solutions to the challenges were proffered. This is followed by conclusion and recommendations.

Abstract: Ocular drug delivery to the scientists is a fascinating field because of challenges and exquisite barriers encountered in the ocular milieu. Till now, non-invasive approaches in ocular delivery are not yet successful with respect to intervention/treatment of long term ocular diseases. In spite of adverse effects with invasive techniques, they have been demonstrated promise in the treatment of sight threatening complications. The use of intravitreal injections or intraocular implants is gaining momentum with paramount progress in design, safety and efficacy from last two decades. Various intravitreal injections and ocular implants were developed with a wide array of therapeutic application potentials targeting drug localization for an extended period of time. Miniaturization of implants for their direct injection eliminating surgical process is currently being explored. In this review, various modalities comprising these invasive techniques targeting posterior ocular tissues namely retina and vitreous humor are summarized.