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We are very happy to announce that from 28th June 2013, Mr. Yousef Alaei has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Agronomy and Plant breeding. Mr. Yousef Alaei is currently working as Department of Agronomy and Plant breeding, Member of Young Researcher Club, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil-Iran. The appointment of Mr. Yousef Alaei 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 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

The paper presents Nigeria’s 2011 General Election and 2015 Biometric Voting (Electronic voting) system. The paper adopts the critical, theoretical and documentary research methods in describing Nigeria’s 2011 general election and 2015 electronic voting system. The paper finds that the 2011 general election was credible, reliable and transparent. Also that the implantation of the automated electoral system using Biometric Data would enable the hosting of free and fair election in Nigeria. Three major implications are identified: first to scholars on the investigation of the link between national elections and electronic voting (e-voting). Further study to empirically investigate the relationship between national election and e-voting using our proposed conceptual and operational framework. To the citizen, they can have the opportunity in choosing their leaders by exercising their rights in a democratic process. The paper recommends: that the government establish voters list updating: provide a biometric data base of all Nigerians both at home and abroad; the provision of regular power supply to effectively allow for the use of the biometric system; maintenance of adequate security; and leaders to fulfil their obligations and have fear of God in execution of their duties.

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.