Archives-January 2012

In this paper, we consider a deterministic mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of an infectious disease in a community. Although, the equilibria of the model could not be expressed analytically, their existence and the threshold conditions for their stability are theoretically and numerically investigated. We analyzed the stability of the model using the linearization techniques via the Jacobian matrix approach and the Routh-Hurwitz stability criteria to determine the equilibria for the model. The basic reproductive number of the model was determined using the next generation matrix operator. Their numerical results were shown in graphical forms using some hypothetical values for the parameters used in the model. It was shown graphically that the mathematical model produced asymptotically stable population when the parameter values are perturbed to a certain degree.

The seed of Syzygium aromaticum was analysed for its proximate and mineral elements constituents, the chemical characteristics and fatty acids profile of the seed oil were also investigated. Results revealed that the seed contain (g/100g) moisture (23.4 ± 1.25), ash (9.10 ± 0.55), crude fibre (10.65± 0.21), crude fat (18.90± 0.04), crude protein (7.00± 0.01) and carbohydrate (30.95 ± 2.17), gross calorific value of 321.9 K cal/g. The quantities of nutritive elements in mg/kg were Mg (1259.50 ± 30.10); Ca (782.40 ± 10.65); Fe (710.65 ± 5.20), Na (2.56 ± 0.02) and K (2.69 ± 0.03). The chemical properties of the seed oil revealed iodine value of 122.08 ± 1.01 mg/g oil, peroxide value of 6.00 ± 0.02Meq/kg and saponification value of 187.00 ± 1.42 mg KOH/g. Eleven fatty acids were identified in the seed oil by GC, total saturated fatty acids was 61.37 %, alpha linoleic acid was 19.09 % and docosahexaenoic acid was present at 2.94%. The seed could be explored as feed supplement and its oil considered for industrial applications.

This study looks at the effect of the sea water is having on the Densu delta wetland. The objective of this work is to assess the hydro- chemical dynamics of the surface water from the Densu delta using hydro chemical parameters, stable isotopes- oxygen-18 and deuterium and also asses the quality of the surface water for purposes like irrigation using SAR, %Sodium and other modules. Samples of surface water were taken for physico-chemical analysis. The samples were analysed for physical and chemical parameters and the stable isotopes (18 O and D2O). The results from the stable isotopes have shown that the quality of the surface water is being affected by slight mixing with sea water. From the SAR calculation, 62% and 38% of the water was within the excellent and good category respectively and none were within the doubtful and unsuitable category respectively. Calculation of % sodium showed that about 5 out of 8 samples have high sodium percent (above 60%) and are not suitable for irrigation purposes as per classification of Eaton 1950. From the Richards diagram, approximately 12.5% fall within good category; 75% in the category of doubtful; 12.5% within unsuitable category. Approximately 50% of the samples were found to be good by RSC index; 37% fall within the doubtful category and 13% unsuitable. A high percentage was within permissible ranges for TDS. The results suggest that generally water samples are suitable for domestic and irrigation purposes under normal temperature and pH condition.

In this study, two different type of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were analyzed in simulating the daily inflow into Taleghan reservoir in Iran. These types include: General Regression Neural Network with standardized inputs (GRNN1) and with non-standardized inputs (GRNN1), and Radial Basis Networks with standardized inputs (RBN1) and with non-standardized inputs (RBN2). An iterative algorithm was designed to assess different architecture of these models. Results revealed the potential of these models, as suitable tools for simulating the daily reservoir inflow. Also, it was concluded that multiday averaging can improve the simulation results considerably.

We are very happy to announce that from 23rd January 2012, Dr. Sukumar Senthilkumar has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mathematics and Computer Science. Dr. Sukumar Senthilkumar is currently working as Associate Professor at Department of Mathematics and Computer Science & Applications, Universiti Sains Malaysia, [An Apex University by Government of Malaysia] School of Mathematical Sciences, Pulau Pinang-11800, Penang, Malaysia. The appointment of Dr. Sukumar Senthilkumar 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

Teacher development has become a key concept in the field of education. Both pre-service and in-service teacher training are extremely crucial in the entire process of the development of a teacher as a professional. In-service training received due attention from the experts and educators in order to strengthen the base of pre-service training or lay a new foundation for those who have no formal training, and to follow up training needs as continuous teacher development. Education has been changing globally in order to meet the urgent demand of the society, economics, and science-technology. There has been a focus all over the world to develop the teachers of the institutions to meet the needs of the students, and institutional effectiveness leading to the national development. King Abdulaziz university (KAU) is one of those pioneering institutions in Saudi Arabia that has been taking the initiatives to equip its staff to raise them to the international standards (if required). Jeddah community college (JCC), being the part of KAU also realised the need of teacher development activities. Many training, pedagogic, and developmental activities took place in the past especially from 2007 till date. The present paper aims at exploring those training activities that were carried out at JCC in order to equip and update the skills of the target teachers. In this connection, many seminars, workshops, training sessions were organised by the JCC, and the teachers attended those programmes within the college, university, and even went abroad for a 2 week-intensive trainer’s training organised at Greenwich Community College, London, UK. The training course was sponsored by the university. It was expected that after such teacher development activities, the teacher preparedness will be enhanced, and the outcomes will be more beneficial for the students. As a matter of results, the present teaching at JCC is modern, novel, innovative, e-learning/online learning based and computer assisted which itself is one of the motivating factors, interesting for the learners, and needed for the ultimate human resource development.

Variation is an important mathematical physics method in mathematical physics problem. Many physical problems are always concerned with variation, and they can be solved by extremum of functional. We can obtain physical laws by way of variation calculus, such as the solution of problems of central field and electromagnetic field. By application of calculus of variation, the motion of matter can be unified.

The problem of capacitor allocation in electric distribution systems involves maximizing energy and peak power loss reductions by means of capacitors installation. This paper presents a novel approach using reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm to determine suitable candidates' nodes in a distribution system for capacitor placement. The problem formulation considers two distinct objectives related to total cost of power loss and total cost of capacitors including the purchase and installation costs. The proposed method of this article uses RL for sizing and placing of capacitors in radial distribution feeders. The proposed method has been implemented in a software package and its effectiveness has been verified through a 9-bus radial distribution feeder, 34-bus radial distribution feeder along with 33-bus and 66-bus distribution systems. A comparison has been done among the proposed method of this paper and similar methods in other research works that shows the effectiveness of the proposed method of this paper for solving optimum capacitor planning problem.

We are very happy to announce that from 28th January 2012, Dr.Ahmet Ozan Gezerman has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Chemical Engineering. Dr.Ahmet Ozan Gezerman is currently working as Shift Adviser at Toros Tarim Co., Icel. The appointment of Dr. Ahmet Ozan Gezerman 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 5th January 2012, Dr. Nisha Saxena has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Chemistry. Dr.Nisha Saxena is currently working as Associate Professor at Department of Chemistry (ASH), Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, Knowledge Park-II, Greater Noida-201306. The appointment of Dr. Nisha Saxena 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