Archives- 

This work assessed the heavy metal pollution impacts of vehicular and other human activities on vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage on display for sale along some busy roads in Accra using instrumental neutron activation analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry. The background levels of Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb in lettuce and cabbage harvested from a vegetable farm were determined. The amount of the metals deposited on the vegetables after deliberate exposure along a busy road for three days were also determined. Background levels of elements in the vegetables in mg/kg were, Cr (4.06) > Ni (2.93) for lettuce and Ni (2.59) > Cr (2.32) for cabbage. The levels of Cd and Pb in both exposed and unexposed samples were below the detection limits of the analytical instruments used. The levels of the elements detected increased in both vegetables after deliberate exposure with the third day recording the highest levels. The total amount of elements deposited on the vegetables after exposure for three days in mg/kg were, Ni (1.87) and Cr (1.16) for lettuce and Ni (2.38) and Cr (1.8) for cabbage. Rates of contamination of the vegetables by metals in mg/kg/day were, Ni (0.62) > Cr (0.56) for lettuce and Ni (0.79) > Cr (0.6) for cabbage. The estimated daily intakes of the elements through consumption of the contaminated vegetables were all below the upper tolerable intake levels of the elements and pose no health risk.

The study focused on the overall contribution of ICT on the public sector Accounting. IT has made tremendous changes in the world toady due to it speed, ease in operation, cost reduction, efficiency and effectiveness. The study reflect that being on web ensures that Nations or organizations on the right track of speedy and sustainable developments. The study applied survey design using regression analysis. Questionnaires were administered to the appropriate target respondents and one the findings among several others confirmed that less time is spent in the accounting processes with IT, making the report of the accountant ready within the shortest frame of time thereby facilitating decision-making, creating public awareness and making governance effective. It was then recommended that there should be trainings and retaining both external and in-house, because field studies reviled that most public workers are not computer literate. The few that are literates got that by self-help. Keywords; information Technology, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Public Sector Accounting

Gypsum, pressmud, farm yard manure, ETP sludge were tried to ameliorate the textile and dye effluent polluted soil habitat, using sunflower (CO4) as a test crop. The sludge along with effluent irrigation added considerable quantities of cations (calcium, magnesium and sodium) to the soil system. Application of pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 along with 100 per cent GR + NPK reduced the soil ESP by 44.96 per cent. The heavy metal content were also reduced due to addition of pressmud. Higher microbial population was also observed under effluent irrigation than well water. Application of 100 per cent GR + pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 + NPK under effluent irrigation increased the crop growth, yield attributes (head diameter, head weight, seed test weight) and yield of sunflower in effluent polluted soil habitat. The yield under pressmud amended plots was 36 per cent higher over control. Reclamation and restoration of textile dye effluent polluted soil habitat is possible by leaching the soil with 100 per cent GR followed by application of pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 and recommended NPK.

Induced mutation is one of the best alternatives for the improvement of cowpea as it can help to regenerate and restore the variability, which is generally lost in the process of adaptation to various stresses. Genetic variability is the most essential prerequisite for any successful crop improvement programme as it provides spectrum of variants for the effective selection, which can be achieved through the processes of hybridization, recombination, mutation and selection. In the present investigation, variability induced by gamma rays, Ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) and combined treatments (gamma rays with EMS) for different quantitative traits viz., plant height, days to first flower, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, number of cluster per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant and seed yield per plant in M3 generation of cowpea. Estimate of genetic parameters (genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance) for the yield and its components were higher than the control in M3 generation. The increased genetic variance in the treated material is a dependable suggestion of the effects of mutagens.

A biometric system provides automatic identification of an individual based on a unique feature or characteristic possessed by the individual. Iris recognition is regarded as the most reliable and accurate biometric identification system available. In this paper, an efficient method for personal identification based on the pattern of human iris is proposed. It is composed of image acquisition, image preprocessing to make a flat iris then it is converted into eigeniris and decision is carried out using only reduction of iris in one dimension. By comparing the eigenirises it is determined whether two irises are similar. The results show that proposed method is quite effective.

This paper is on managing educational facilities for effective learning outcome in secondary schools of Rivers State, Nigeria. Educational facilities are used during teaching and learning process. The paper recognizes that it is the fundamental responsibility of the school administrator to manage the available facilities; this is to ensure the provision and maintenance of the facility. The paper identifies educational facilities as machines, equipment, land, and other infrastructure to be use in the school system, and therefore recommends that principals of secondary schools should be trained on the management of educational facilities. Finally, it advocates government should take the funding of secondary schools very seriously.

Management, being a collection of processes like decision making, problem solving and planning needs application of appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes from the management personnel. Proper management of resources like human, material, time and finances should translate to improved performance. Such practices as staff development, supervision, staff empowerment, supervision, communication, resource allocation and utilization and leadership styles when properly coordinated should lead to good performance. Kakamega Central District has in the past five years, from the 2007 to 2012, registered negative deviation by public primary schools in the Kenya Certificate Primary Education (KCPE) performance. Previous studies have attributed poor academic performance to environmental conditions, school enrolment, poor teacher-pupil ratio, inadequate resource materials and government policies. This study sought to establish by investigation the causal link between management strategies and pupils academic performance in KCPE in Kakamega Central District. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study will be of importance to heads of schools in terms of solutions for the future empowerment of teachers in order to improve their performance and the performance of pupils in their national and any other examinations. The information obtained can assist school administrators to develop strategies for involving teachers, pupils and the community in decision making, goal formulation and job satisfaction which in turn will positively influence the overall performance of their schools. The findings also add to a wealth of knowledge, skills and techniques in improving primary school head teachers in their management of schools which foster the teachers’ relationship with administrators leading to job satisfaction and good content delivery which brings excellent academic performance. Theoretically, the study tends to provoke leadership that fosters empowerment of teachers so as to improve their performance. First, it identifies opinions, concerns and preconceived notions the teachers have about the head teachers or school administrative structure. Essentially, the idea is to equip, help, educate and encourage the school management regarding management practices which are affordable and culturally appropriate in addressing low productivity in schools. Schools need information on practices that hinder them from optimizing performance. Finally, the study also elicited some other underlying problems that affect institutions’ performance other than those known to the researcher.

We are very happy to announce that from 28th February 2013, Mr. Farhan Lafta Rashid has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Farhan Lafta Rashid is currently working as Head of Renewable Energy Section, Ministry of Science & Technology, Babil-Iraq. The appointment of Mr. Farhan Lafta Rashid 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

We are very happy to announce that from 25th August 2016,Mr. Mallavolu Malleswara Rao has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Electrical & Electronics Engineering. Mr. Mallavolu Malleswara Rao working as Assistant Professor, RISE Prakasam Group of institutions, Ongole (A.P), India. The appointment of Mr. Mallavolu Malleswara Rao 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.

Auxiliary variable is extensively used in survey sampling to improve the precision of estimates. Whenever there is availability of auxiliary information, we want to utilize it in the method of estimation to obtain the most efficient estimator. In this paper using multi-auxiliary information we have proposed estimators based on arithmetic, geometric and harmonic mean. It was also shown that estimator based on harmonic and geometric means are more biased than estimator based on arithmetic mean under certain conditions. However, the MSE of all three estimators are same up to the first order of approximation.