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The study was to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of upland NERICA rice in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase District in the Ashanti Region. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 100 rice farmers in the district. About 20% of the farmers had fully adopted the upland NERICA rice. It was found that adoption of upland NERICA rice was dependent on NERICA farm size, accessibility and income level at 5% significant level. The main challenge associated with the production of upland NERICA rice is low rainfall causing total loss of yield. Farmers should form groups to make accessibility to incentives and other benefits easy. They should also cultivate the local rice alongside NERICA to supplement their income and finally, extension agents should increase their contacts with the low adopters of NERICA rice.

Safaricom launched its M-Pesa product in 2007 and marketed it as a money transfer platform that would allow the Kenyan population to conveniently transfer money from urban areas to their rural hometowns using mobile phones. Safaricom’s key marketing strategy has received little research attention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Safaricom’s M-Pesa Technology Adoption Life Cycle psychographic factors, as well as three key marketing success attributes as offered in a framework developed by Moore (1991), and time of adoption of technology. The sample size was 358. A hard copy questionnaire was administered to 236 respondents drawn from adult Kenyans living in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. An online copy was sent to 122 respondents in other locations. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. Whereas the relationship between Income and Time of Adoption was statistically significant (?2=36.647, df=8, p=.000), the relationship between Main Reason for Adoption and Time of Adoption was not statistically significant at ?=.05 (?2=12.794, df=12, p=.384). Further, the results indicated no statistically significant relationship between Technology Perception and Time of Adoption (?2=19.641, df=16, p=.237). Niche Function and Time of Adoption, on the other hand, exhibited a statistically significant relationship (?2=40.986, df=16, p=.001). Thus, organizations should seek a core Niche Function to target the majority market. There was no statistically significant relationship between the Product Continuum and Time of Adoption (?2=10.748, p=.825). Finally, the study established a statistically significant relationship between Niche Communication and Time of Adoption (?2=31.539, p=.011), suggesting that organizations should explicitly and assertively communicate the selected Niche Function to the consumers.

Natural gas is fast becoming the main component in India’s vast energy sector. Due to its ease of handling and greater efficiency, natural gas is proving its utility both as fuel and feedstock. It has helped to attract investments and catalyse new demand and supply. This sector has witnessed significant developments over the years. The objective of this paper is an analysis done to see the extent to which a company has implemented using rules financial performance is good and right. Data has been taken from 2009 to 2013 in this study. Financial statements of GAIL, EGL, IGL and GGC for the indicated periods were obtained from websites such as prowess, CMIE, money control and yahoo finance. Necessary information derived from these financial statements were summarized and used to compute the financial ratios for the five-year period. Financial ratios are tools used to measure the profitability, liquidity and solvency performance of four major Indian gas distribution companies. This research is to analyze the financial statements of these companies using liquidity ratios, activity ratios, leverage ratios, profitability ratios, and market value ratios. For liquidity, the following ratios were used: current ratio, quick or acid-test ratio. For activity, Inventory turnover ratio, debtor turnover ratio and working capital turnover ratios were used. For leverage, the following ratios were used i.e. debt ratio, equity ratio, and interest coverage ratio. For profitability, net profit margin, return on assets, return on shareholder’s equity, and earnings per share were used. For market value, price-earnings ratio and earning par share ratios were used.

Disaster preparedness is one of the phases within the disaster management cycle which covers implementation or operation, early warning systems and capacity building so that the population can react appropriately when an early warning is issued. Disasters have inflicted a heavy cost on human, material and physical resources. A comprehensive review of the literature has revealed that the development of disaster management strategies, such as preparedness, must be undertaken before the event strikes. The specific objective was to evaluate fire disaster risk plans for preparedness in Nairobi County. The research employed a descriptive research design to carry out the study in order to establish the relationships between the variables of interest. Exploratory and Evaluative research designs were used. Both quantitative and qualitative research designs were used to conduct the research. Households were sampled purposively such that only those from the informal settlement were interviewed and the research involved face to face interviews with 110 households by the use of questionnaires. Findings revealed that most respondents (89.6%) indicated that fire disaster risk plan for preparedness and awareness campaigns were important. Most respondents agreed with awareness initiatives both at household and institutional level except for allowing children to play near fire and lighting of cigarettes in fuel flammable areas. Fire escape plans were the most adopted fire awareness initiative as a fire disaster risk reduction measure.

In this paper we compute first and second neighborhood with respect to vertices and edges for some special graphs , and we discussed its algorithm.

This study conducted to analyse the gender biasness in education and employment sectors, which was carried out in rural area of Uttrakhand during 2000 -2010. The survey revealed that a direct intervention of some Flagship programs including women welfare meets some success in school education and provided sluggish rate of employments outreach. Further the maximum women engaged in agriculture and homestead work and a little percent of women engaged in government sectors. While Flagship satisfies the BPL and marginal groups, but there is further scope to enhance women motivation of women for their development. There is a need to make it more cost effective and pass on the benefits to workers. As for the last benchmark, the program ensures minimum leakages to a great extent by virtue of being self-targeting and non-discretionary.

The present study outlines a systematic approach for the development of Lamivudine floating matrix tablets to enhance bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of the drug. Floating matrix tablets of Lamivudine are designed to prolong the gastric residence time after oral administration. These tablets have shown controlled release and there by proper duration of action at a particular site is achieved. The matrix tablets were prepared by using direct compression technique, by using polymers such as HPMCK15M, carbopol, gum karaya and other standard excipients. Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid were incorporated as gas generating agents. The effect of different concentrations of polymers on drug release profile and floating properties were investigated. LF16 prepared by HPMCK15M and gum karaya with effervescent agent was found to be more effective amongst all formulations. FTIR, DSC and SEM analysis were carried out to study drug excipients interactions and surface characteristics which indicated no drug excipient interaction. All the formulations were found to extend the drug release, while some of the formulation exhibited floating characteristics also.

In this paper we report on the synthesis of single-crystal Mg2B2O5 nanowires by heating the precursor powder made of disodium tetraborate decahydrate and magnesium chloride dihydrate at 8500C. The as-received nanowires possess smooth surface with diameters varying between 25 and 40 nm. Also Mg2B2O5 nanorods doped with Eu were synthesized by firing a mixture powder of the above obtained Mg2B2O5 nanowires and Eu2O3 in air atmosphere. The as synthesized Mg2B2O5:Eu nanorods have diameters varying between 110 and 130 nm. The structural and compositional characteristics of the as-synthesized products have been investigated by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, and SAED techniques. Photoluminescence investigations reveal that both Eu+3 and Eu+2 can coexist in Mg2B2O5 nanorods. Eu2 display a violet emission beak at 412 nm and Eu3+ display broad emissions centered at 538 and 615 nm.

Recent advances in Operations Research (OR) and Information Technology (IT) have made it possible to integrate Operations Research techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This integration can be used for the development of Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS).There is an increasing need for incorporation of routing techniques into a Decision Support System (DSS) for making effective business decision making in transportation. GIS can be used to analyze the routes. Route analysis helps us to generate the most efficient route (best route / shortest route) that the vehicle should take between the company and it supply chain link. Alternative routes can also be generated and analyzed. Alternative routes help in rerouting of the supplies in case of problems (either man –made or natural) on one route. Travel speed is used as a proxy, to traffic data to calculate the time taken to reach from origin to destination by the shortest/best route. In this paper a spatial decision support system is developed for route generation.

Discovering the methods of constructing the domes, identification of different types of dome, studying the function of the structure, the strategies of drawing them, administrative works, as well as their related issues have been of special interest and concern of Iranian architects. Many valuable books, articles, and reports have been written in this field by Iranian architects. Thus, various types of dome such as rok, nar, and double-shelled have been introduced to the world and their functions have been investigated. In this architecture, ourchin dome, which is of typical characteristics of the tombs in southern part of Iran, has been neglected. Little information about this type of dome is available in the history of Iranian architecture. And this little information is limited to some reports and pictures from foreign tourists and unknown writers, including no more than a few names and dates of constructing of such structures. Therefore, the origin and the reason for the development of such domes as well as their role are still mysterious. The methodology of the current study is descriptive and analytical. In different parts of the present study, comparative, retrospective, and fieldwork studies have been used, whenever needed. In the current research, the root of the word, ourchin dome, and its meaning are pointed out. Also, the origin of Iranian architecture, which dates back to Seljuqid period, is introduced. Then, the geometric relationships of its sides are examined and different varieties of this dome [star and polygonal] are drawn. Studying the typology of the examples of this dome in Iran and Iraq revealed some remarkable points about the geometric, height, and shape of the dome, in addition to the number of its stories. Some factors, like the function of the crown, method of its construction, cover of the dome, and the system of the distribution of the load are clarified. Finally, by investigating the influential cultural and historical factors, we concluded that that the main reason for the development of the general structure of this type of dome was symbolic, not simply religious. This dome by its own or in combination with religious places has played an affective and functional role over time.