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Pores and organic matter take a multitude of forms in soil and their characteristics change in space and time following a change in tillage practices as a new “steady state” is approached. Information on the variation with depth (stratification) in the characteristics of pores and organic matter and the rates of changes in these characteristics are vital to interpreting the short- and long-term impacts of the reduction of using conventional tillage on the productivity and hydrology of agricultural soils. This information is also of value in estimating the effect of a reduction in tillage on the sequestration of carbon in agricultural soils. The influence of tillage on bulk density, macro porosity and organic matter content was found to be documented more extensively than the effects on pore size distribution, soil organic matter fractions and their interactions at different soil depths. Many of the reports documenting tillage-induced changes in soil porosity and organic matter were based on measurements at a specific time after initiating the tillage trial. The potential advantages of conservation tillage in organic farming are reduced erosion, greater macro porosity in the soil surface due to larger number of earthworms, more microbial activity and carbon storage, less run-off and leaching of nutrients, reduced fuel use and faster tillage. Conversion from conventional (CT) to no-tillage (NT) resulted in an immediate change in the placement of aboveground crop residue and the reduced fragmentation of the soil matrix may also slow the mineralization of SOC.

Assessment of land response to certain land uses is necessary to reach the sustainable land management. In this study Almagra model from MicroLEIS DSS and remote sensing technology were used to determine the suitability of land for main crops in an arid region east of Tehran (Iran). The weighted average of land and soil characteristic were obtained from representative soil profiles in each land mapping unit, through digital classification of satellite images and entered to the model. Land suitability maps for each crop were presented as thematic maps by integrating soil map with determined land suitability classes in GIS. The results showed that %55 of the area has moderate to high suitability for wheat, alfalfa, maize and melon. Salinity, alkalinity and soil texture are considered as the main soil restrictions for studied crops in this area. According to the obtained results, the priority of the selected crops should be considered as wheat, alfalfa/ melon and maize, respectively. Application of remote sensing technology accompany with land suitability models helped  to enhance the abilities of this model by both saving the data compilation time  and generating georeferenced data to overlay with other information layers and spatialization in GIS.

Language is an important medium of communication. Keeping in mind the importance of language in the mind making process, this study aims to examine the language of e-print media advertisements of Pakistan. The linguistic analysis has been done at semantic, phonological, morphological and syntactic level. The practices along with the functions of these linguistic devices have been analyzed. E-print media advertisements from various domains have been selected for the present study. Qualitative Discourse Analytic Approach to Text was used to analyze the linguistic devices. Through the linguistic analysis, it has been observed that language of advertisements has a very innovative and peculiar form which is unique, fascinating and memorable. Despite the fact that language of advertisements is breaking the set rules of language, it appears to be very attractive and contributing towards the success of advertisements which ultimately lead towards the sale of the product. It has been found that the language of advertisements is very rich area to be investigated by the linguists.

Table of contents for the month of January 2017

The present study was conducted to assess the impact of academic staff functioning on research in higher education organized by the University Grant Commission. The present study based on to find out research abilities of teachers such as knowledge up-gradation, art of thinking, research skills, technological information environmental awareness and writing skills etc. Primary and secondary data collected and analyzed by appropriate statistical methods. The study carried out during the UGC sponsored Orientation Programme and Refresher Course in their respective ASCs in year 2013-14, for measuring the impact pre-programme and post-programme survey was conduct on the same participants. On the basis of the findings of the research the Z test value inferred that all the parameters had predicted a significant impact on research abilities in orientation and refresher programmes offered by ASCs.

Malenized Linseed oil and Coconut oil suitable for use in Powder detergent has been synthesized. The reaction conditions such as mole ratio, temperature, time of reaction and use of catalyst have been standardized to get a product with desired HLB ratio, viscosity and solubility. A standard Powder detergent mainly based on malenised vegetables oils and Alpha olefin sulphonate has been prepared. In successive compositions acid slurry has been replaced by neutralized malenized linseed oil by 50 to 100% .A comparison of our maleic based detergents with commercial samples shows that maleic treated oils give excellent foaming, surface tension reduction and detergency properties. The raw material cost of our novel Powder detergents in reasonable and they can be tried on pilot scale and commercial scale production. The special feature of these Powder detergents is freedom from conventional linear alkyl benzene sulphonate and sodium tripoly phosphate so they can be labeled as ecofriendly products for green environment.

From the primitive period medicinal plants have occupied a distinct place in human’s life. They have been the backbone of traditional herbal medicines and have been extensively studied because of their pharmacological importance. Orchids are one of the largest groups of Angiosperms belonging to the family Orchidaceae. A number of constituents obtained from different parts of orchid suggest biological activity. Alkaloids are nitrogenous organic heterocyclic molecules that have pharmacological effects on humans and other animals..In orchids, 214 species in 64 genera contain 0.1% or more alkaloids. Besides alkaloids, they also possess flavanoids, phenanthrenes, terpenoids, bibenzyl derivatives and other biologically active compounds. The present review deals with the phytochemicals present in orchids and their medicinal properties.

Lens of Pteropus giganteus is found to be 2.05mm. The medulla and cortex are well organized. Crystallinity of lens fiber is prominent in both cortex and medulla. Lens fibers show wavy nature when magnified. The presence of fine particles (.3 nm) in lens fibrils indicates the presence of some cylindrical scatters. The collagen fibril diameter is found to be about 30 nm and the center-to-center spacing is about 50 nm. The significance of these micro structural features of lens and its role in visual physiology of P. giganteus is discussed.

We are very happy to announce that from 25th November 2016, Mr.Habtamu Mellie Bizuayehu has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Physiology and Anatomy. Mr.Habtamu Mellie Bizuayehu working as Lecturer in Debre Markos University, Public Health Department, Ethiopia. The appointment of Mr.Habtamu Mellie Bizuayehu 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.

Binding energy of a donor hydrogenic impurity is computed in a Cd based II-VI semiconducting material taking into account both the effects of phonon and geometrical confinement effects. The former effect is considered with the inclusion of Fröhlich interaction Hamiltonian whereas the latter effect is considered by varying the dot radius. Moreover, lowest binding energy and the donor binding energy are obtained using internal built-in electric fields. All the computations are carried out using Bessel function as an orthonormal basis for different confinement potentials of barrier height considering the internal electric field induced by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. Since the optical properties of hydrogenic impurity in a quantum dot are strongly affected by the confining potential and the quantum size effect on the changes of refractive index is brought out. It is also observed that the magnitude of the refractive index changes enhances with the inclusion of phonon and geometrical effects.