Archives-December  

We are very happy to announce that from 6th February 2013, Mr.Mohammad Maroof Siddiqui has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Education. Mr.Mohammad Maroof Siddiqui is currently working as Assistant Professor at the Integral University, Lucknow. The appointment of Mr.Mohammad Maroof Siddiqui 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 chiefeditor@elixirjournal.org. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

Biodiesel with diesel additives have been attaining increased attention from engine researchers in the point of the energy crisis and growing environmental issues. The present work is aimed at experimental investigation of polymer based additive are mixed in different proportions with B15 (15% of Mamey Sapote oil + 85% of diesel) bio diesel. Experiments were done on a 4-Stroke single cylinder variable compression ratio ignition engine by varying percentage by volume of SC 5D additives in diesel-biodiesel blends. Their emissions and performance results are compared with base fuel B15 bio diesel. By mixing of this additive, it is observed that cetane index number is increased. The tests conducted at full load and varying speed conditions. At full load for B15 with 2500: 5 ml blend shows that the results of HC, NOx, C0 & smoke density are reduced by 10%, 24%, 16% & 11.12% respectively. Brake power is increased 2.19% whereas brake specific fuel consumption is decreased by 9.09% and for B15 with 2000:3 brake thermal efficiency increased by 4.16%.

Pearl millet is an important food and feed crop mostly cultivated in the semi-arid region of the world. Ionizing radiation has been widely used as a tool in plant breeding programs. Similar to other techniques of crop improvement, irradiation can induce alterations that can modify the chemical composition and the nutritional value of food crops. These changes depend on the irradiation dose and the crop species and give plant breeders the opportunity to select induced desirable mutants. In this paper, we discuss the usefulness of gamma radiation in achieving improvements in the grain yield and nutritional quality of pearl millet.

We are very happy to announce that from 30th November 2011, Prof.G.Thirunarayanan has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Chemistry. Prof.G.Thirunarayanan is currently working at Department of Chemistry, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Chidambaram The appointment of Prof.G.Thirunarayanan 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 chiefeditor@elixirjournal.org. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

Today, the existence of natural elements such as sky, mountain, jungles, coastal area, untouched natural zones, water, and deserts have brought many meaningful ideas to the minds of the urban designers and city dwellers. The importance of these elements lies in the fact that they are free from tension, busyness and mental pressure, which are the gifts of civilization to human being. Dez River can be a potential tourism attractor to entertain people and can decrease the stress of living in a city. It, also, can have a beautiful view and boost the quality of life. This study aims to recognize the river significance in urban structure and its role in identifying the sustainable landscape and urban ecological corridor, which surrounds the city. It also attempts to present the principles which should be considered in planning the riverbank wall, by examining this wall near Dez River. By investigating urban structure and river role in forming and developing the future view of the city, the river boundaries, as the urban green belt and respiratory corridor, are determined. Therefore, after presenting some definitions related to the subject of the study, we discussed the sustainable design and its factors for river wall. Also, by introducing such factors, we suggested some approaches to treat Dez River and to achieve an organic and expandable structure in order to build the green corridor on the riverbank and to turn the corridor into a dynamic and live center for the city.

Science and technology have made amazing developments in the design of electronics and machinery using standard materials, which do not have particularly special properties (i.e. steel, aluminum, gold). One can imagine the range of possibilities, which exist for special materials that have properties, which scientists can manipulate according to the need. Some such materials have the ability to change shape or size simply by adding a little bit of heat, or to change from a liquid to a solid almost instantly when near a magnet; these materials are called smart materials. Varieties of smart materials already exist, and are being researched extensively. These include piezoelectric materials, magneto-rheostatic materials, electro-rheostatic materials, and shape memory alloys. Some everyday items are already incorporating smart materials (coffeepots, cars, the International Space Station, eyeglasses) and the number of applications for them is growing steadily. Each individual type of smart material has a different property which can be significantly altered, such as viscosity, volume, and conductivity. The property that can be altered influences what types of applications the smart material can be used. This paper deals with the recent development of smart materials particularly piezoelectric materials and its usage for the micro machines.

In this paper, the availability and economic importance of some selected Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) among rural households in Nigeria were investigated. The National Living Standard Survey (NLSS) data collected by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics were used for the study. A number of forest products activities were found to be of importance to the livelihood of households in the study area. These include hunting, honey processing, palm wine tapping, fruit processing, hides, and mushroom gathering. About 17% of the respondents were engaged in hunting, 17.43% in honey processing, 17.36% in palm wine tapping, and 15.85% mushroom gathering. With respect to income generation, the most important of these activities is palm wine tapping with income share of 87.51%. The results also show that the poor were found to be more dependent on the forest than the non-poor, while households from the Southern zones were more forest dependent than households from the Northern zones. It is recommended that research should be conducted into breeding of early maturing species of these valuable trees that are being cut down at an alarming rate to guarantee future availability for food, medicinal and livelihood purposes.

This physico-chemical study of soil is based on various parameters like pH, conductivity, Total Organic Carbon, Available Nitrogen (N), Available Phosphorus (P2O5) and Available Potassium (K2O). This study lead us to the conclusion of the nutrient’s quantity of soil of Kalol and Godhra Taluka, District- Panchmahal, Gujarat. Results show that average all the villages of both these taluka have medium and high potassium content. The fertility index for available potassium for both this taluka is 2.18. This information will help farmers to decide the problems related to soil nutrients amount of fertilizers to be added to soil to make the production economic.

The flesh, seed, placenta and the whole fruit samples of a variety of tropical chillies (peppers) commonly found in Nigeria Capsicum annum L (bell pepper), were examined in the laboratory for their proximate compositions and some nutritionally valuable minerals on wet weight basis. The results showed that the seeds have the highest concentrations of ash (2.06 g/100 g), protein (14.1 g/100 g) and fibre (32.4 g/100 g), flesh had the highest concentration of crude fat (6.66 g/100 g) while the placenta had the highest concentrations of moisture (88.2 g/100 g) and carbohydrate (3.35 g/100 g). The seeds were also the best sources of most of the nutritionally valuable minerals (Ca, Mg, Zn, P, Fe, K and Na) determined. These parameters were good in the samples: Ca/P, Ca/Mg and [K/(Ca +Mg)] but Na/K was poor. In the mineral safety index (MSI), only Zn results were seriously aggravated. Bell pepper would serve as a good source of the following minerals: Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe which are important components of bones and supporting tissue, enzymes and blood formation respectively.

By around 21st century in public sector in Kenya, the commitment of employees in management of public services had declined drastically. One of the contributing factors was lack of proper training and capacity building among the public servants. The Kenya government responded by formulating Human Resource Development Training Policy that aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness among the employees. The purpose of the study arose from the fact that training and development, is to develop capabilities of an individual to satisfy the current and future manpower needs of the organization. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of training and development in the department of children services. The main purpose of this study was to establish the impact of training and development on employee commitment in the Department of Children Services where the study used correlation research design. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 186 employees. Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and Pearson’s Moment correlation coefficient test. The study concluded that training and development had an effect on employee commitment in the department of children’s services. The study recommends that the government should emphasize frequent training of employees to enhance skill development. In the public service training ensures continued and adequate supply of relevant knowledge and skill to the service. The training provided to the employees should be designed in such a way that it makes Public Service better equipped to meet the increasing challenges for higher standards of service delivery and also commitment to cope with the competitive technological challenges that are taking place today.