Archives-January 2016

Bacteriocin production and activities potentials of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional fermented foods (“Ugba”, pap, fermented cassava and ‘Kunu zaki’) were studied. Serial dilution of each of the samples was performed and 0.1ml of appropriate dilution was streaked on De Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) agar containing 50mg of nystatin for the isolation of LAB. Forty five LAB isolates were recovered from samples and were screened for bacteriocin production by the Agar Well Diffusion assay and two best bacteriocin producers characterized by molecular method as Lactobacillus tucceti CECT 5920 and Lactobacillus mindensis TMW were tested for their biotechnological potentials. Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 8325 and Escherichia coli 0157:H7 cultures were used as test pathogens. L. tucceti CECT 5920 and L. mindensis had the same level of bacteriocin production and antimicrobial activity (P<0.05). Temperature had more effect on bacteriocin activity on L. tucceti CECT 5920 against S. aureus NCTC 8325 and E. coli 0157:H7 while pH had same effects on both LAB isolates and pathogens. Both LAB isolates had highest effect from NaCl against E. coli 0157:H7 at 0.2% concentration. Crude bacteriocin samples treated with pepsin had no sensitivity against the test pathogens. Storage had decreasing effect on bacteriocin activity from both LAB isolates. L. tucceti CECT 5920 was sensitive to Cotrimoxazole while L mindensis TMW was resistant to all the antibiotics tested. L. tucceti CECT 5920 gave better results in all the biotechnological potentials tested, thus, the two LAB isolates may perform well in industrial processes. Key words: Activity, bacteriocin, fermented foods, lactic acid bacteria, pathogens.

Water quality issues are a major challenge that humanity is facing in the twenty-first century. Here, we review the main groups of aquatic contaminants, their effects on human health, and approaches to mitigate pollution of freshwater resources. Emphasis is placed on chemical pollution, particularly on inorganic and organic micro pollutants including toxic metals and metalloids as well as a large variety of synthetic organic chemicals. Some aspects of waterborne diseases and the urgent need for improved sanitation in developing countries are also discussed. The review addresses current scientific advances to cope with the great diversity of pollutants. It is organized along the different temporal and spatial scales of global water pollution. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have affected water systems on a global scale for more than five decades, during that time geogenic pollutants, mining operations, and hazardous waste sites have been the most relevant sources of long-term regional and local water pollution. Agricultural chemicals and wastewater sources exert shorter-term effects on regional to local levels. Pollution control is a term used in environmental management. It means the control of emissions and effluents into air, water or soil. Without pollution control, the waste products from consumption, heating, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation and other human activities, whether they accumulate or disperse, will degrade the environment. In the hierarchy of controls, pollution prevention and waste minimization are more desirable than pollution control.

The Ghanaian economy appears to be in a certain cycle of high lending and low borrowing rates culminating in wide interest rate spreads. A number of studies point to the fact that the spread between the lending rates and borrowing rates is too wide to promote efficient financial intermediation between savers and borrowers but failed to look at macroeconomics effect on the interest rate spread in Ghana. This study contributes to the discussion by evaluating the macroeconomic variables (factors) that affect the interest rate spread with a view to determining their short term and long term relationships for policy recommendations that will serve the interest of all stake holders in the financial services sector and the general Ghanaian economy. Using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration and Vector Error Correction analysis, we observed both short-run and long run relationship between identified macroeconomics variables and interest rate spread in Ghana. The study recommend that, government borrowing, interest and inflation rate are kept low while pursuing policies that maximise savings.

Discourse analysis is a rapidly growing and evolving field. Current research in this field now flows from numerous academic disciplines that are very different from one another. Included, of course, are the disciplines in which models for understanding and methods for analyzing discourse first developed, such as linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy. But also included are disciplines that have applied – and thus often extended – such models and methods to problems within their own academic domains, such as communication, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and artificial intelligence. Given this disciplinary diversity, it is no surprise that the terms “discourse” and “discourse analysis” have different meanings to scholars in different fields. For many, particularly linguists, “discourse” has generally been defined as anything “beyond the sentence.” For others (for example Fasold 1990: 65), the study of discourse is the study of language use. These definitions have in common a focus on specific instances or spates of language. But critical theorists and those influenced by them can speak, for example, of “discourse of power” and “discourses of racism,” where the term “discourses” not only becomes a count noun, but further refers to a broad conglomeration of linguistic and nonlinguistic social practices and ideological assumptions that together construct power or racism. The main objective of this paper is first to give a brief historical account of several of the main lines of development of these different perspectives. Then we will look more closely at the presuppositions about the nature of discursive and communicative research which underlie these different approaches. Finally we will discuss some of the problematical areas which remain in the intersection of discourse analysis and intercultural communication.

Today’s enterprise networks are distributed to different geographical locations and applications are more centrally located, information represents the most important asset. With the growing number of data communication services, channels and available software applications, data are processed in large quantities and in a more efficient manner. This technological enhancement offers new flexible opportunities also measure security threats poses in the networks. These threats can external or Internal, external threats divided as hacking, virus attack, Trojans, worms etc. There are thousand and thousand of different viruses these days which improve every day. Although the wild spread of new and strong viruses, it still infects and spread only with user’s permission. This research paper highlights the phases of computer virus, computer virus, history of worst computer attack, type of computer virus with effect on computer & few examples of virus on their types, working of computer virus, and problem occur due to virus in computers.

In this study energy use pattern for sugar beet production in Hamadan province of Iran was studied and the degrees of technical and scale efficiency of producers were analyzed using DEA technique. The results revealed that of the average pure technical, technical and scale efficiencies of farmers were 0.83, 0.63 and 0.74, respectively. The results also suggested that, on average, a potential 45.73% (19609 MJ ha-1) reduction in total energy input could be achieved provided that all farmers operated efficiently. Generally, it can be said the DEA approach was appropriate methods for energy optimization in sugar beet production.

We are very happy to announce that from 2nd January 2016, Dr. Meera Srivastava has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Zoology. Dr. Meera Srivastava working as Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Goverment Dungar College, Bikaner. The appointment of Dr. Meera Srivastava 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.

We are very happy to announce that from 11th January 2016, Dr. Mahboobeh Khaleghi has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on English. The appointment of Dr. Mahboobeh Khaleghi 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.

We are very happy to announce that from 22nd January 2016, Dr. Dibya Prakash Rai has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Physics. Dr. Dibya Prakash Rai working as Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Pachhunga University College, Aizawl, Mizoram, India. The appointment of Dr. Dibya Prakash Rai 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.

We are very happy to announce that from 22nd January 2016, Ms. Mamta Gurung has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Economics. The appointment of Ms. Mamta Gurung 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.