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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 In successive compositions acid slurry has been replaced by neutralized malenized linseed oil by 50 to 100% .A comparison of our maleic based detergents with commercial samples shows that maleic treated oils give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.

This paper presents a photovoltaic array (PVA) simulation model to be used in Matlab-Simulink GUI environment. The model is developed using basic circuit equations of the photovoltaic (PV) solar cells including the effects of temperature changes and solar irradiation. This PVA model is used with boost converter to analyze its output and usage for various constant DC operations efficiently. Further an applications of solar panel of low output voltage is shown in which the panel is simulated with boost converter and then its output is given to an SVPWM fed inverter which provides 3 phase AC supply for 3 phase induction motor, which is feeding half of the industrial world. The advantage of using PID controller with closed loop converters is also shown in this paper, which provides constant DC. The simulation of closed loop converter with solar panel is done and the results are presented

Golinga irrigation scheme is one of the few schemes in the Northern Region of Ghana. In this paper, types and levels of Organochlorine pesticide residues in the dam water have been investigated. Water samples were taken at two intervals (before and after crop planting) during the 2012 farming season. Water samples were processed using a liquid-liquid extraction method and gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Twenty- one (21) different organochlorine residues were identified namely: ?-HCH (0.094 ?g/g), ?-HCH (0.21 ?g/g), ?-HCH (0.109 ?g/g), ?-HCH (0.23 ?g/g), HCB (0.12 ?g/g), Heptachlor (0.27 ?g/g), Aldrin (0.25 ?g/g), Cis-heptachlor epox (0.14 ?g/g), Trans-heptachlor epox (0.080 ?g/g), Trans-chlordane (0.123 ?g/g), Cis-chlordane (0.076 ?g/g), Trans-nonachlor (0.27 ?g/g), Dieldrin (0.17 ?g/g), Endrin (0.083 ?g/g), O’P-DDE (0.15 ?g/g), P’P-DDE (0.18 ?g/g), O’P-DDD (0.36 ?g/g), P’P-DDD (0.061 ?g/g), O’P-DDT (0.126 ?g/g). P’P-DDT recorded highest concentration of 0.52 ?g/g whiles mirex recorded the least of - 0.057 ?g/g. All residues except mirex were above the WHO Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for drinking water. These compounds in the dam pose serious health hazards to humans, aquatic life and irrigated crops thus usage of chemicals which result in pollution of the dam should be controlled.

Mutual Funds are dynamic Financial Institutions which play a crucial role in an economy by mobilizing savings and investing in the Capital Markets thus establishing a link between the savers and the users. Mutual Funds are used as a medium-to-long term investment option by the investors. Indian Mutual Fund industry has two distinct types of sponsors Viz., Public-Sector and Private-Sector. The present study aims to evaluate and compare the performance of select Growth Schemes of both Private Sector and Public Sector Mutual Funds in India. This study covers a period of ten years from 2003-04 to 2012-13 for the purpose of evaluation of performance. A majority of the schemes had Mean Returns and Beta above their corresponding Benchmark. Further, it has significant difference between the mean returns of Private Sector and Public Sector Mutual Funds in India. Mutual Funds Companies have to strengthen their R&D, focus on reducing load fee and expenses ratio depending on market conditions to have better future performance.