Archives-June 2012

Conflict, in some forms and degrees, is part and parcel of virtually every facet of human life. Workplace conflict is varied, pervasive, and costly to the organization in many ways. Conflict management strategy has an important place in the study of organizational commitment. The commitment of the workers of an organization is a very important factor for an organization to be successful. This research examined the influence of conflict management strategies on perceived organizational commitment. Subjects for the study were 253 respondents which comprised 198 males and 55 females. Three hypotheses were tested and the findings of the study revealed that there was a joint effect of yielding and problem-solving on organizational commitment {F(2,250) = 7.857; R = .243, R2 = .059, Adj. R2 = 0.052; P < .05}. The result also showed that the joint effect of problem-solving, compromising, avoiding, forcing and yielding was significant {F(5,247) =7.514; R = .363, R2 = .132, Adj. R2 = 0.114; P < .05}. Lastly, the result also showed that there was no significant difference in the organizational commitment of male and female respondents {t(251) = 1.96; p > .05}. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that managers should develop diverse but appropriate strategies to resolve and manage conflicts as they arise before it escalates to unmanageable levels. Hence, organizations should take time to analyze the source, type and amount of conflict before making a decision on which strategy to adopt for the effective management of the conflict.

Fish farming can provide employment for women thus helping to alleviate poverty among women and improve the standard of living. Proceeds from fish sales can provide funds for women and contribute to the development of the society. Fish farmers are known to be confronted with difficulties when establishing commercial fish ponds. This research is intended to cover both Northern and Southern Nigeria. One hundred and thirty questionnaires were distributed randomly in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria to ascertain the constraints to fish farming among women in Nigeria. Ninety questionnaires were retrieved from females. Analysis of results indicated that female respondents were interested in fish farming but they lacked financial capacity to establish fish farms. Education was also identified as another constraint. About 56% of the respondents had basic education therefore were uniformed about fish culture in ponds. Fish farming was identified as a means of providing employment for the women folk and enhancing development among women.

This paper presents a hybrid optimization approach for the determination of the optimum laser welding process parameters which minimize the weld bead width and maximize weld bead depth together in pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding of thin plates of SS 304 having thickness 2.9 mm. An exhaustive experimental study has been conducted with various process parameters like, pulse width, pulse height, stand-of distance, frequency, welding speed, gas flow angle and gas flow rate. Each of the parameters has three levels. Thus, an orthogonal array L18 has been adopted to accommodate all the above factors at their respective levels. The weld bead width and the weld bead depth are considered as process performances. A multi-response optimization has been carried out by using grey relational analysis (GRA). Also the significant process parameters have been found out for the above process optimization by performing an ANOVA.

Phyllanthus niruri L belongs to family Euphorbiaceae is a field weed. Effect of aqueous and ethanolic extract of P.niruri was investigated on in vitro human blood platelet aggregation in terms of PT (prothrombin time) and APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time). In PT activity was observed maximum in aqueous extracts of aerial parts at 1000 µgmL-1, which was 28 times higher than the standard value. Among the plant parts, aerial parts gave better activity than roots. APTT activity was higher in aqueous extract of roots at 750 µgmL-1 and aerial parts at 1000 µgmL-1 that was 10.75 and 9 times higher, respectively over the standard values. The study revealed that P. niruri has potent anti-platelet aggregation properties.

This paper describes an experimental investigation to clarify flexural cracking behavior of reinforced concrete beams. The effects of thickness of concrete cover of tension reinforcement on the crack width were carefully investigated. It was found that flexural crack width proportionally increases with increase in thickness of concrete cover. To control these crack widths and to enhance durability, different codes prescribes limiting crack width based on environment in which the structure exists. The latest revision of the Indian code stresses the importance of durability and has introduced formulae to calculate the crack widths. A simple formula involving the clear cover and calculated stress in reinforcement at service load has been included in latest revision of ACI code. A total six under reinforced beams with varying concrete cover (25 mm and 30mm) were fabricated and tested. Data presented include the deflection characteristics and cracking behavior. The experiment results compare reasonably well with the current codes of practice. It was observed that a beam with less concrete cove (25mm) reduces the flexural crack width.

Aims & Objective: Objective of this study was to investigate the lipid peroxidation and enzymatic antioxidants status in women with preeclampsia and compare with that of women with normal pregnancy and postpartum preeclamptic women. Materials and Methods: The study comprised of 100 cases out of which 25 were normal healthy non pregnant controls, 25 were normal healthy pregnant women in third trimester, 25 were in third trimester with preeclampsia and 25 were postpartum preeclamptic women. Whole blood was used to detect Malondialdehyde (MDA) a product of lipid peroxide, Enzymatic antioxidants like Superoxide dismutase, Glutathione peroxidase, Glutathione reductase and Catalase. Results: There was 0significant increase in lipid peroxidation (MDA) in all the groups as compared to nonpregnant controls (P< 0.001). Elevated levels of malondialdehyde in pre-eclamptic subjects declined significantly (p<0.001) after delivery. A significant decrease (P<0.001) in the levels of enzymatic antioxidants viz. Superoxide dismutase, Glutathione peroxidase, Glutathione reductase and Catalase was observed in all the groups as compared to nonpregnant controls. In the postpartum preeclamptic group Glutathione reductase and Catalase levels were increased whereas the increase in the levels of Glutathione peroxidase and Glutathione reductase was not significant. Conclusion: Our study shows clear insight into disturbances associated with preeclampsia with enhanced lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidants which are help full in understanding the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.

This work has been done in two phases. In the first phase, the controllable parameters (cutting speeds, feed rates, type of drill tool, cutting fluids) which influence the responses (torque, cutting force, surface roughness, material removal rate, power) in drilling of En8 steel are identified and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model has been developed to predict the responses. The developed ANN model has been trained and tested with experimental data of drilling process which is conducted under Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) condition. ANN tested results are closely matched with experimental results. In the second phase, the ANN predicted results are analyzed by performing Taguchi’s S/N ratio analysis and optimum combinations of input parameters are determined. Further, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) is employed to find the contribution of input parameters on output parameters. This work is useful in predicting the multi responses while cutting different materials in different processes.

The amino acid composition of the yolk and albumen of the egg of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acid ranged from (g/100 g crude protein, cp): 48.0-46.1 or from 49.3-49.2 % respectively of the total amino acid. The amino acid scores showed lysine ranged from 1.27-1.31 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern) and 1.21-1.24 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a pre-school child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 3.74-2.59, the essential amino acid index range was 1.44-1.38 and the calculated isoelectric point range was 5.69-5.48. The correlation coefficient (rxy) was positive and significant at r = 0.05 for the amino acids, amino acid scores and the isoelectric point in the two samples.

The case of Non-native English Speaking Teachers (Non-NESTs) teaching English in EFL contexts deserves more attention and research. While it has been argued that these teachers do have their competitive edge, their unique situation has always been underplayed on the notion of the image of a line along which non-natives move towards the native end. The downside of the story is that their linguistic environment is dominated by L1 through life and ridden with errors (student errors when using L2) through work. Yet, they are expected to maintain and improve their proficiency in English and function as perfect models for students. A possible way in which they do this is through strategy use. This study attempts to shed light on the strategies for success local English teachers gradually develop to cope with their unique situation. 23 experienced local teachers of English and 23 advanced non-teachers both Iranian and both balanced by a proficiency test took an 80-item strategy inventory for language learning. The result showed contrastive strategy use for each group. To find out the details of this difference, qualitative analysis was used which highlights the strategies for success which local teachers gradually develop to manage their unique situation.

Clarias gariepinus larvae were reared in the laboratory, at five different densities to assess the effects of stocking density on growth, survival rate and condition factor. Larvae (mean weight, 0.05g, mean total length, 1.63cm) were stocked in five densities 20, 30, 60, 90, 120 larvae, each with a replicate. Temperature range was 24 to 260 C, while oxygen content was 5.8mg/L. The experiment lasted for 30 days from 2nd September, to 1st October, 2011. The specific growth rate, survival and condition factor (± s,e) of larvae stocked at densities of 20, 30, 69 ,90, 120-were : 29.71%,30.42%,29.81%,28.37%,and 27.00%, while condition factor were 8.13, 8.83, 7.95,8.1,and 7.77%.Mortality recorded in the various stocking densities were : 10 .00%, 16.66%,25.00%, 27.22% and 66.67%.The survival rate of the larvae were 90.00%, 83.33%, 75.00%, 72.00% and 33.33%.The result showed that stocking density of 30 fish m-3 had the highest specific growth rate, condition factor and mean weight gain.