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Abstract The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of homework writing as an academic extra-curricular activity on second language vocabulary development of upper-intermediate Iranian EFL learners. To do so, having reviewed the related literature thoroughly, the researcher designed the present quasi-experimental study. One hundred homogenized upper intermediate learners (both males and females) in an institute in Tehran, Iran, took part in the study in two groups (experimental and control groups) and the experimental group received separate trainings based on the specific extracurricular activities. The participants received a standard TOEFL PBT as the test of language proficiency as well as the validated pretest of second language vocabulary, the treatment, and posttest of second language vocabulary. Findings of the present study firstly revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups’ means on the posttest of vocabulary. Thus it was concluded that homework writing as an academic extra-curricular activity significantly affects second language vocabulary development of Iranian Upper-intermediate EFL learners. The findings also showed no statistically significant difference between the male and female learners concerning their second language vocabulary development affected by homework writing as an academic extra-curricular activity. The present study contributes to the fields of SLA and ELT instruction as its findings are in line with the previous research in the ESL context and some studies done in the EFL context. Also, this research not only could improve our understanding of second language vocabulary development in an EFL context, but also would enable us to incorporate effective methods of teaching vocabulary in the EFL classrooms through considering various homework types. The study findings could be employed by a variety of ELT community members in Iranian schools and language institutes: materials developers, foreign language teachers, and educational policy makers. It was stressed that homework writing could pave the way for the learners in an EFL situation to improve their performance in second language vocabulary.

This study was conducted to ascertain the level of pollution caused by industrial and domestic wastes in New Calabar Rivers and their effects on the benthic fauna of the river between July – September, 2010. Three stations were selected within the study area. Sediments samples were collected using hand trowel twice a month for the period of three months while water samples were aseptically taken from the three stations using sterile screw capped bottles. The result showed that 12 taxa of benthic invertebrates were identified from the New Calabar River. Gastropoda and crustacean were the most abundant classes. The class Gastropoda had the highest number of families (4) with 4 species while crustacean consisted of 3 families with 3 species. Oligochaeta had 2 families and was represented by 2 species other classes such as Hirudinea 2 families and 2 species and Insecta with a single family and 1 speciies. Class Gastopoda had the highest percentage species composition (30.8%). Insecta 23.1%, Oligochaeta, Crustacea and Hirudinea had 15.4%. Turbificid sp. and Libyodrilus sp. had 33.8% relative abundance, Gastropoda 27.0%, while Hirudinea, Insecta and Crustacea had least abundance of 4.1%. Physico-chemical parameters for the various stations were analyzed as: Biochemical Oxygen Demand ranged from 3.6mg/L – 15.5mg/L, COD (4.0mg/L – 19.3mg/L), Ammonia (0.01mg/L – 0.4mg/L), temperature (240C – 270C) and Dissolved Oxygen 8.0mg/L to 0.8mg/L. The deterioration of this water body has cause adverse effects on human and the ecosystem, therefore a constant supervision of companies operating within the area is required to ensure effective treatment of the effluents before discharge. Keyword: Effluents, Sediments, Species, Companies & Samples.

The main purpose of investors from investing in the stock of companies is “wealth increase” which this is achieved through "stock return". Stock return is one of the most important factors in choosing the best investment. Therefore, each investor in their best choice, in order to be able to achieve stock with more efficiently and less risk, need information about that stock. This study investigated the correlation coefficient P / E as a measure of performance evaluation index companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange in the automotive and construction segments Tobin Q is the current version. The study Listed Companies the Tehran Stock Exchange There are parts in the automotive industry. The population size was 33 companies Among the 24 companies in deletion (Census sampling) have been selected. Hypotheses have been proposed, using multiple linear regression method and Pearson correlation test were the results of the three hypotheses indicate that the ratio P / E and versions of conventional Q Tobin (Qs, Q-LR and CP-Q) in the automotive industry during 2001 to 2004 there was no correlation of construction components.

In Nigeria credit has been recognized as an essential tool for promoting Small and Medium Enterprises since over 70 percent of the population are engaged in the informal sector. Thus, the government have recognized that for sustainable growth and development, the financial empowerment of the rural areas is vital being repository of SMEs. It is against this background that this paper seeks to examine the impact of commercial banks activities on SMEs in Nigeria Consistent with the objective, hypothesis was formulated. The population and the sample of the study were all the Commercial banks in Nigeria. The study utilized data from secondary source. Data were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Statistical bulletin. The time frame for the study is eighteen (18) years, covering the period of 1993 to 2010. The technique of analysis used in testing the data was Linear Regression Analysis. We concluded that even though commercial banks activities such as giving out loans and receiving deposits have positive impact on SMEs, there is room for the Commercial banks to gear more of its activities towards SMEs development in Nigeria. The study calls on appropriate authority such as the government to ensure the consistency of policies that will enhance SMEs development. Similarly, the Regulatory Authority and the Bankers Committee should encourage activities by Commercial banks to provide adequate funding to SMEs through SMEEIS.

Since the 1980s, African economies especially those from the least developed and developing countries were prostrate owing to dwindling fortunes in the international market, and in the process industries closed shop, prices of commodities in international market fell, with much impact on mono-export countries such as Nigeria. The effect was job cuts that led to increased poverty and worsening living conditions of the people. Children were withdrawn from schools, health conditions of people traumatized and the economies plunged into doldrums. African nations extended their ‘begging’ bags to the International Monetary Fund IMF and the World Bank not minding their harsh and stringent conditionalities. Life became unbearable and prompted many people to seek for an improved standard of living outside Africa. In the process these immigrants entered Europe and America etc legally and illegally and sought for asylum in the host nations. The trend is still on today. The paper discovered that people migrated because of worsening human development record as a result of unemployment, poor education, poor functional democracy, lack of access to functional medical facilities, insecurity of lives and property among others. The paper concludes that governments should muster the necessary political will and begin to address the problems –create job opportunities, improve and fund education; put a functional democracy where the rule of law prevails; and above all, provide adequate security for the people and property. The paper used historical analysis as its methodology.

Thiamine hydrochloride (VB1) has been used as an environmentally benign catalyst for one pot synthesis of 14-aryl-4H-dibenzo[a, j]xanthenes derivatives by the three-component reaction of two equivalants of ?-naphthol and aldehydes at 1100C under solvent-free conditions. Various type of aldehyde bearing electron donating as well as electron withdrawing substituents underwent smooth reaction under the optimized reaction conditions and products were obtained in good to excellent yield.

Water quality issues are a major challenge that humanity is facing in the twenty-first century. Here, we review the main groups of aquatic contaminants, their effects on human health, and approaches to mitigate pollution of freshwater resources. Emphasis is placed on chemical pollution, particularly on inorganic and organic micro pollutants including toxic metals and metalloids as well as a large variety of synthetic organic chemicals. Some aspects of waterborne diseases and the urgent need for improved sanitation in developing countries are also discussed. The review addresses current scientific advances to cope with the great diversity of pollutants. It is organized along the different temporal and spatial scales of global water pollution. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have affected water systems on a global scale for more than five decades, during that time geogenic pollutants, mining operations, and hazardous waste sites have been the most relevant sources of long-term regional and local water pollution. Agricultural chemicals and wastewater sources exert shorter-term effects on regional to local levels. Pollution control is a term used in environmental management. It means the control of emissions and effluents into air, water or soil. Without pollution control, the waste products from consumption, heating, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation and other human activities, whether they accumulate or disperse, will degrade the environment. In the hierarchy of controls, pollution prevention and waste minimization are more desirable than pollution control.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the university tuition fees on the education market in the UK. The aim is to identify university tuition fees and whether they are important in the decision making when choosing a university and the extent of this importance in different students. 100 students from the north campus of the London Metropolitan University were chosen as the sample for this research. Because of the significant differences between the respondents of this research and previous studies (which are mentioned in this paper’s literature review), a structured interview was conducted to find out the importance of the factors for choosing a university. A multi answer survey is conducted to collect data about the extent of each factor plus. This study uses the mix method approach; Qualitative and Quantitative method. The result of this study shows increasing university fees is more important for young students than mature students and there is a relation between increasing fees and the students expectation of university facilities.

Graph theory is a branch of Mathematics deals with the study how networks can be encoded and their properties can be measured. Graph theory is becoming most significant as it is most frequently used too many other areas of Mathematics, science and Engineering etc. It is being actively used in varies fields such as biochemistry, Communication networks and Coding theory), Algorithms and Computation and operations research etc. The powerful combinatorial methods found in graph theory have also been used to prove fundamental results in other areas of pure mathematics. This paper, besides giving a general outlook of these facts, includes new graph theoretical proofs of Fermat’s Little Theorem. In this paper we also discussed the timetabling problem and the assignment of frequencies in GSM mobile phone networks.

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the population variance when some information on two auxiliary variables is available. It is shown that the proposed estimator is more efficient than the usual mean estimator and other existing estimators. The study is also extended to two-phase sampling. Theoretical results are supported by an empirical study.