Archives-December  

The main objectives of this study were to analyze the energy efficiency of broiler production of Mazandaran province in north of Iran based on traditional and modern farms. For these purposes the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach was applied to the data on energy use in broiler production in individual farms. The results indicated that the percentage of efficient units were founded about 17% and 34% in technical (CCR model) and pure technical (BCC model) for both systems. Also, about 17% of total units of traditional and modern farms had the efficient score fore scale efficiency index. Based on CCR and BCC models of DEA, the average of technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores of traditional farms was calculated as 0.837, 0.927 and 0.906, respectively; while the modern farms results indicated that technical, pure technical and scale efficiency scores was founded as 0.873, 0.978 and 0.892, respectively. The total saving energy of traditional and modern farms was about 19907 and 6740 MJ 1000 birds-1, respectively. Accordingly, it can be said, comparing to present farms, the total energy requirement of DEA method decreased as 11.16% and 3.57% for traditional and modern farms, respectively. The last part of this research illustrated that diesel fuel, feed and electrical energy had the highest share for total saving energy by the DEA method in both systems of broiler production.

The main purpose of the current research is evaluating the effect of successful implementation of information systems on firms’ performance; case study is Bojnourd Cement Company during 2001 to 2004. Productivity, managers’ decision-making process, information quality, and human resources are considered as variables of the study. Research method is of questionnaire type, using general and professional questions in Likert scale. Research type, in terms of aim, is considered as applied research type. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics is used. In inferential statistics-part of the study, to answer and to make decisions regarding study hypothesis as well as generalization of them to the statistical population under investigation, various tests such as one-tailed Student's t-test, one-tailed variance analysis test and Duncan Compare Means Test is used after converting study variables from ordinal scale to interval scale. The results of the study indicate that implementation of a successful accounting information system is effective on all performance components except productivity.

This experiment was conducted to evaluation of forage potential of intercropping barley with alfalfa under agrohumic fertilizer .The experimental treatments were intercropped barley/alfalfa with 25/75; 50/50, 75/25 ratios along with their sole crops as control plots. Treatments were arranged in a split plot design based on a RCBD with 3 replications. Main factor included agrohumic at four levels (0, 5, 7 and 10 lit/1000lit water per ha). According to result, we suggest using of 7 liter/1000 liter water per ha for intercropping of barley and alfalfa, also using of 50/50 ratio for barley and alfalfa is better ratio for intercropping.

This study tries to investigate why some Persian learners have difficulty in learning certain structures of English language. To answer this question, a general proficiency test was administered to a total of 98 female high school students who were at intermediate level at English language institutes, with the same level and age, out of which 46 participants whose scores ranged from 65-85 out of 100 were chosen as the Intermediate Level. The instruments used in the study consist of a Translation test and participants' PET scores. In order to do this, the translation test administered to the participants included one aspect of grammatical errors which were predicted to be problematic parts of learning. That is, the participants were required to translate 50 Persian sentences into English and then the erroneous parts were determined. A hierarchy of difficulty was developed, to determine the level of difficulty of using English 11 grammatical items namely, using the wrong preposition, infinitive, tense, un-English expressions, incorrect omissions and etc, for Iranian Intermediate participants. After that, the number of errors on each grammatical item in the test was counted. Then by use of descriptive and inferential statistics (Independent Samples T-test, Pearson correlation and Friedmantest) were applied to analyze. The results indicated that L1 grammar negative transfer does affect L2 writing skill (translation in English) among Iranian EFL learners. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that we would probably be able to enhance the L2 writing skill of Iranian EFL learners by drawing the EFL learner's attention to those problematic areas of L2 and so L1 negative transfer would be, to some extent, reduced. In addition, the findings show that L2 teachers, can probably be successful in their teaching and can have successful learners as well.

Health is a familiar component for policy makers around the globe. Health services are provided in different qualities and quantities.The effect of complementary insurance and health care services to vulnerable individuals such as chemical victims and accurate identification of their needs and physician induced demand is a critical issue. This study was conducted to address the effect of complementary insurance on induced demand among 25% or more chemical veterans in Nesar-e- Deereh village, in Kermanshah province, in the first half of 2009. A cross-sectional study was performed in the first half of 2009. Data were collected through a two-part questionnaire, interview with veterans (n=300), general practitioners (n=8) and specialists (n=12). The validity of the questionnaire was verified by obtaining expert opinions of non-contracting specialist and general practitioners, insurance officers, and university professors. Data were analyzed by descriptive tests using the SPSS software. All primary care services were provided free of charge by three general hospitals, two laboratories and three specialist pharmacies and all individuals were covered by complementary insurance. Sixty percent of veterans stated that they visited a specialist only to make sure that they are not sick and that they required check-up tests like CT scanning and etc. According to pharmacists, 85% of prescribed medications lack a therapeutic rationale. According to 44% of patients, general practitioners were more likely to prescribe expensive medications and 38% of patients stated that general practitioners sensitize them to check their health by various treatments and repeated visits. The fact that care is provided free of charge has created this attitude among some that they should make the most of the service as long as physician visits, medication and facilities are available freely. Induced demand can be largely reduced by changing patient attitude, wise use of insurance and more strict supervision of contracting physicians.

Nitrate is a major pollutant of groundwater in semiarid, agricultural dominated areas. An attempt has been made to understand the level, distribution of nitrate in the groundwater in parts of Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. Thirty three groundwater samples were collected and analysed for major physic-chemical as well as nitrate concentration. Nitrate concentration exceeded the permissible limit of 45mg/l in Thirty nine percent of samples. Spatial distribution diagram of Nitrate shows a higher concentration in the southwest and central part of the district. Fertilizer as well as the failure of proper sewage systems is identified as the major cause for nitrate contamination.

This paper presents the modeling and design of State Feedback with Integral controller on Twin Rotor MIMO System. In this two SISO systems are considered (i) main rotor (ii) tail rotor. Main Rotor is used to control the pitch axis and the Tail Rotor is used to control the yaw axis. By using the state feedback the both the axis are controlled as desire. The main aim of this paper is to compare the control performance between State Feedback and PID controller that is designed with Relay feedback method. The entire work has been carried out in MATLAB environment and the performance is compared in the terms of settling time, peak overshoot, offset and overall performance. The regulatory response of the system is also presented.

We are very happy to announce that from 21st October 2013, Mr.Ayad Mohammed Nattah has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mechanical Engineering. Mr.Ayad Mohammed Nattah is currently working as Assistant Lecturer in Babylon University, Iraq. The appointment of Mr.Ayad Mohammed Nattah as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

We are very happy to announce that from 16th April 2013, Mrs.H. Basak Yildirim has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Solar Energy Estimation, Solar Energy Technologies, and Energy Economics. Mrs.H. Basak Yildirim is currently working as Research Assistant, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Adana Science and Technology University /Adana, Turkey. The appointment of Mrs.H. Basak Yildirim as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

The present research is about the omission of schwa in Pakistani English as observed in the electronic media of Pakistan and can be taken as an extension of the works carried out by Tariq Rahman, Robert J. Baumgardner, and Riaz Hassan. The research has been carried out in order to determine the variations emerging in the variety of English used in Pakistan. It has been observed that this variety abounds in phonological deviations which are so recurrent in their frequency that they have emerged as a distinct linguistic feature of this variety. Among these phonological variations schwa has been found to be the most peculiar in its behaviour. In order to determine its peculiar behaviour the research was conducted on 750 participants taken from 200 current affairs programmes from four domestic news channels, and the participants were observed for the phonological variations in their speech. It was found out that omission of schwa is a regular feature of Pakistani English.