Archives-December 

The reported incidence of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents is estimated to be between 1% and 2%. However, this incidence may be increasing because diagnostic radiological procedures are detecting incidental thyroid nodules in children and to find their correlation with histopathology. To Study the Demographic distribution of Papillary carcinoma of thyroid on USG-guided biopsy with free guided biopsy` and confirm the same with cytohistopathological diagnosis. The study was conducted in a teaching hospital for a period of 1 year. It was a prospective hospital based Study. Patients were explained about whole of the procedure & the consent for the procedure was taken in all patients. FNAC of thyroid gland was done both free guided and ultrasonic- guided and the results were correlated statistically followed by histopathological examination wherever possible. Out of 139 patients, maximum numbers of patients were in 31-40 age group i.e., 43 and minimum patients were in < 10 years and > 70 year age group. 24 patients were males and rest 115 were females. The diagnosis of thyroid lesions as per Betheseda System by USG and conventional FNAC. Cytological diagnosis of papillary carcinoma was made in 32 cases in ultrasound guided FNAC. Out of 32 patients, 30 were clinically euthyroid and 2 had clinical toxic features. Two cases was reported as unsatisfactory smears in free hand FNAC while as guided aspirates proved to be papillary carcinoma. Age ranged from 8 to 68 yrs., with mean age of 39.5 yrs. Majority were female numbering 27 and 5 were male. Comparison of neoplastic lesions results both by USG guided FNAC and Free Hand FNAC in 38 patients shows difference of 2 cases in Papillary carcinoma. Number of unsatisfactory smears were 4 and 1 in free and USG Guided FNAC respectively. The Histo-pathological results were same as that seen cytological study. Out of 30 cases of papillary carcinoma diagnosed on Free-Hand FNAC histopathology was available in only in 15 cases. The statistical significance of USG-guded FNAC as: Sensitivity 96.96%, Specificity 93.3%, Positive predictive value 96.96%,negative predictive vale 93.33%,diagnostic accuracy 95%.The statistical significance of USG-guded FNAC as: Sensitivity 90%, specificity 80%, positive predictive value 90%, negative predictive vale 80%, diagnostic accuracy 86.66%.

In recent years energy generation from renewable sources in clean, efficient and environment friendly manner is a real challenge. Among the various non conventional sources, photovoltaic(PV) generation using multilevel inverter topologies are widely used due to the economy of use, flexibility in control under partially shaded conditions and the high quality of voltage waveforms. This work focuses on a single phase nine level cascaded inverter using PIC16F877A microcontroller to generate the required gate signals. The notch angles for the gate signals are calculated using selective harmonic elimination method. Using this method the total harmonic distortion is minimized by eliminating the most significant low frequency harmonic components from the voltage waveforms. The high frequency harmonic components can then be easily eliminated using additional filter circuits. The entire setup has been simulated in MATLAB and verified using the hardware setup.

We are very happy to announce that from 13th December 2018, Dr.P.malyadri has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Commerce. Dr.P.malyadri is working as Principal, Government Degree College, Rayalaseema University, Srisailam Project, Kurnool (Dt), 518102, Andhra Pradesh., INDIA. The appointment of Dr.P.malyadri as member, Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal.

This project aimed at establishing the drivers of change in commercial banks in Kenya. Drivers of change in the study refer to the reasons that may lead the company to want to bring changes to its normal operations. Change may occur in terms of changing processes, products, services, management style, restructuring, rebranding or policies from legal bodies. Change managers have to come up with plans on how to initiate the change, how to inform the company’s stakeholders and get them to embrace the change and how to finally make it part of the company’s normal operations. The study highlights that change drivers might be changing customer needs, need to keep up with competition, new rules enacted by legal bodies, restructuring and rebranding and new management which brings with it new management styles. In the current economy, banks keep coming up. This brings with it not only new products but different expectations from the market. Growth of the world into a global village also leads to sharing of technology across borders. Banks are not excluded from sectors that share these new technologies. In all this, the main challenge the banks are faced with is change. It is therefore important to not only change but to ensure the changes are effective and successful. The main objective of the study is to analyze the change drivers available and knowing exactly what drives effective change in commercial banks. The study examined theories of change that have previously been highlighted by researchers.

Cancer is currently the cause of 12% of all deaths worldwide. The number of cancer deaths annually will increase from about 6 million to 10 million. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1 000 000 new cases diagnosed per year, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. The causes of breast cancer remain largely unknown, but certain reproductive and hormonal factors are clearly related to risk. It is reported that one in 22 women in India is likely to suffer from breast cancer during her lifetime. The medical records of 300 patients treated at the Mahavir Cancer Institute and research Centre for breast cancer between 2005 and 2008 with perspective age of marriage and menstrual status were reviewed. In present study we can observe that breast cancer cases were more found in pre menopausal women i.e.: 55% than post menopausal women i.e.: 45%. Mean age of marriage is very earlier, which indicate that early marriage may be a causative factor for breast cancer. Thus it is concluded that early age marriage is risk factor for breast cancer as well as pre menopausal women are at higher risk for breast cancer.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, forest goods and services are extremely important for rural livelihoods, providing food, medicine, shelter, fuel and cash income. However, the national statistics on the contribution of forest products to the country’s economy are extremely poor. This study seeks to evaluate the economic contribution of fuel wood to the livelihood of rural households in Ibarapa Central LGA of Oyo State. Sixty copies of questionnaires were administered to rural households in six randomly selected villages from the LGA. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages were used to describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents while regression analysis was used to analyse the factors influencing the economic growth among the fuel wood traders in the study area. The findings indicated that fuel wood business is a very lucrative job in the study area judging from the rate of profit realized from the business because for every N1 spent in the sale of fuel wood by the respondents in the study area, 70 kobo was realized as profit. This is so due to an active involvement of family labour in the business which drastically reduces the cost that might have been incurred if such labour is hired.

The study evaluated the effect of anthropogenic activities on the physico-chemical properties of soils of Awka South, LGA, Anambra state, Southeastern Nigeria. Triplicate soil samples were collected from different soil depths (0-15, 15-30 and 30-45 cm) in four land use types: sand mining, play ground, arable land and forest land of Agu Awka, Amawbia, Okpuno and Ifite respectively. Physico-chemical properties of the soils were analyzed using standard methods. Analysis of variance and correlation analysis were performed using Genstat Statistical Package Version 18. Results showed that soil properties were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the different anthropogenic activities and were not uniformly distributed down the depths. Soils were dominated by loamy sand and were moderately compacted with low moisture content. The soils were generally acidic (4.47-.5.83) irrespective of depth and landuse.Organic carbon (0.263-0667 %) and total nitrogen (0.028-0.069 %) were low and were seriously reduced by human activities. Available phosphorus (6.12-8.91 ppm) was seriously increased in sand mining compared to other land use types, moreover, sand mining activities had impacts on the levels of Ca (5.32-1.99 cmolkg-1) and Na (0.020-0.32 cmolkg-1). Total exchangeable acidity was reduced in all the land use types apart from playground where there was slight increase (1.57-1.70 cmolkg-1). Total exchangeable bases and ECEC followed decreasing pattern of forest > arable land > sand mining > playground. Soil pH had significantly positive association with OC, TN, Ca, Mg, TEB, EEC, %BS, TP and MC. To improve the fertility status of these soils especially arable land, the use of organic and/or inorganic fertilizer is required. The regulation of mining activities in the study area was also recommended to protect the soil from further degradation.

Experiment was set up in 2013 at the experimental field of Savannah Agriculture Research Institute to evaluate the effect of split nitrogen application on growth and yield of lowland rice. It was made up of ten treatments laid out in split plot design with three replications. Treatments were made up of two low land rice varieties (Jasmine and Degang) randomly assigned to main plots and five levels of N fertilization (control, 60 kg NPK/ha, 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 kg N/ha, 60 kg NPK/ha + 15 + 15 kg N/ha and 60 kg NPK/ha +10 + 10 + 10 kg N/ha) randomly assigned to sub plots. Fertilizers used were NPK (15-15-15) and Sulfan (24% nitrogen). Variety x split N fertilization had no significant (P>0.05) effect on all parameters measured. Main effect of variety and split N fertilization significantly (P<0.05) affected most parameters measured, especially grain yield. Jasmine proved superior to Degang in grain yield. Application of 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 N/ha optimized rice growth and maximized yield similar to 60 kg NPK/ha + 15 kg N/ha + 15 kg N/ha and 60 kg NPK/ha + 10 kg N/ha + 10 kg N /ha + 10 kg N/ha. Application of 60 kg NPK/ha + 30 N/ha is recommended for increase rice yield and income of farmers, as split application at 15 + 15 kg N/ha and 10 + 10 + 10 kg N/ha attract additional labour cost.

The study aimed to assess the effect of supplier selection on the performance of Oryx Energies Kenya Limited. The objectives of the study were to determine the effect of supplier selection on the organization performance, to assess the effect of supplier qualification on organization performance, to find out the effect of contract award to the suppliers on organization performance. The study used Greg system theory, the Lean supplier competence model and Agency theory. The research used descriptive survey design because it collects data in order to answer questions concerning the current situation of subject. The study involved 231 officers in procurement department. The survey used stratified random sampling technique in order to achieve its purpose. A sample size of 92 respondents was reached through proportionate stratified sampling. The study used questionnaires which were self-administered to the respondents who were given a period of two weeks to fill them. The study adopted qualitative data analysis. The analyzed data was then presented in tables, charts and graphs so as to facilitate clear interpretation of results and assist in drawing of conclusions and discussions followed immediately explaining on the same. The descriptive statistical tool helped in describing the data and determining the respondents' degree of agreement with the various statements under each factor. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS version 22.0. The study showed that all the variables had Cronbach Alpha of more than 0.9 this shows that the tool used to collect data set was reliable and consistent; All variables had skewness and kurtosis value within the acceptable range, which shows that the data was normally distributed. The study also concludes that that supplier contract award, supplier qualification and supplier identification have direct correlation with organization performance such that organization performance increases with each increment in the effectiveness of each factor. The study also conclude that the organization financial position has really been affected because the company relies so much on the supply chain in terms of cost cutting, it’s also clear that the organization takes long to implement the laid down policies. The study recommended that the management should introduce regular performance reviews and set up suppliers screening process this will help to keep tabs on their work and ensure they are fulfilling the organizations needs accordingly, the organization needs to have more than one supplier, and the supplier can be relied on in case of emergency orders. The researcher suggested that a similar study should be conducted in other related organizations in the oil business in other counties.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of behavioural activation (BA) in reducing depression symptoms in a sample of 186 children and adolescents from selected children’s homes in Kajiado County. This study was quasi-experimental and used the operant conditioning theory. This theory was ideal because children and adolescents are subject to various positive consequences that subtly shape their behaviour. The participants were purposively sampled and were between ages 9-17 both males and females with a mean age of 13. Participants with scores of 11 or higher on the depression subscale were randomly assigned into either experimental or control arms. The experimental arm received 10 sessions of BA with the control arm receiving treatment as usual (TAU). The participants completed a demographic questionnaire as well as CDI to assess for depression symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS Version 20 was used to identify factors independently associated with levels of depression symptoms. The mean score for the levels of depression was 18.6 (±5.6SD). The CDI scores reduction among the participants was significantly associated with time of follow-up (Estimate= -5.86; 95% CI: -8.91 to -2.81; p<0.001) and the intervention (Estimate= -1.86; 95% CI: -3.22 to -0.50; p=0.012). Based on these findings, BA is recommended for children and adolescents presenting with symptoms of depression. Further, this study will help curriculum developers to integrate mental health into the school curriculum. This will help in arresting the symptoms of depression among children and adolescents appropriately and timely.