Archives-December 

Increased number of old population recently raises various social, economic and health issues. The various kinds of health hazards among old people include low mental health, depression, dementia and morbidity. There are several factors which affects the overall mental health of a senior citizen (people above 60 years). The primary objective of the present study was to identify the predictors of loneliness and depression among old people. The study included a sample of 60 old individual above age 60 from different old age homes. We interviewed each participant individually for a period of 30 minutes-1 hour to know about their internal self and overall psychological functioning. Qualitative analysis showed that social support and harmony in family life plays a crucial role for loneliness and depression among old people.

Electrical properties of sugarcane stalks were studied in order to develop a rapid and non-destructive assessment technique and to determine the mass of sugarcane stalks. A 5 V sine wave AC power supply and a rectangular parallel plate capacitor sample were used to span the difference in capacitance caused by the insertion of sugarcane stalks between the plates. To remove the effect of air gap between the plates, an equivalent capacitor was derived. The correlation between mass of sugarcane stalks and output voltage from the device for each sample was investigated. Experiments indicated a high correlation between mass and output voltage for each sample of sugarcane stalks and a quadratic trend line was best fitted to the data. The coef?cient of determination (R2) between actual mass and presented voltage was 0.955. For testing results, the coef?cient of determination (R2) of mass prediction was obtained as 0.969. This method can con?dently predict the mass of sugarcane stalks and it can be used in different machines and agricultural mechanism.

Modelling is an important part of any large scale decision making process in a system. There are large numbers of factors that affect the performance of the system. It is not possible for the human brain to keep track of the all the players in the system, their interactions and interrelationships at a time. Therefore, to get the solution of the complex theoretical problems, one resort to the techniques, which are simple to use. Also, these techniques should be capable to reproduce all the essential and important relationships of the reality. Mathematical modelling is one such basic technique. This paper presents a literature review of the work done by several researchers to study the problems faced by industries, using mathematical modelling; particularly in the field of Diffusion innovation, Inventory Control and Production function.

Sensing and controlling of humidity and temperature is a major issue in various industries. This paper presents the design, fabrication and complete characterization of a Micro Cantilever based Humidity sensor integrated with a temperature sensor. A Si Cantilever based Humidity Sensor on capacitive principle is designed and various analyses were performed on the sensor. Platinum heater used in the humidity sensor is used for the vaporization of the moisture absorbed. The heater along with two gold electrodes can act as a temperature sensor so that the temperature variations can be easily detected. The temperature sensor was designed using Platinum and is of Resistance Temperature Detector {RTD} type. The temperature sensor is provided with two gold electrodes on each side. One of the electrodes is maintained at 5V DC and the other at 0V DC, enabling a current flow through the Platinum layer. When the temperature changes, the resistivity of the Platinum changes accordingly. This causes a change in the current flow through the temperature sensor. The sensor is designed in a structure that can tolerate the harsh environmental variations like pressure, temperature.

One of the serious and persistent environmental problem globally is heavy metal pollution. Therefore, a special concern has been given on how to minimize, if not complete removal of their effect in environment. Since waste water is one of the major source of heavy metals, various studies have been conducted over the years on how to remove them from the waste water. This paper reviews some of the important methods that have been used to treat heavy metal waste water. These methods include chemical precipitation, ion-exchange, adsorption, membrane filtration, coagulation flocculation, flotation and electrochemical methods. Their Advantages and Limitations in applications are also evaluated.

Although Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) is listed as endangered species and is an important attraction in Kenya’s tourism industry, there have been no attempts to model the implications of climate change on their niche. This study modeled the potential current and future (the year 2080) distribution in Kenya. The E. grevyi location data were sourced from published literature and climate data was downloaded from world climate database website and analysis done using MaxEnt and DIVA-GIS. The model generated an excellent AUC of 0.984 and the future niche is shown to expand. The main five variables contributing more than 2% of change in niche expansion are isothermality, precipitation of coldest quarter, annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, min temperature of coldest period and precipitation of wettest quarter. The generated information will assist conservation policy makers to make informed decisions.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an anaerobic, acid-fast, non-motile, non-encapsulated and non-spore forming bacillus is an obligate intracellular pathogen and the etiological agent of tuberculosis (TB). Infections with M. tuberculosis results in significant morbidity and mortality globally, with an estimated 14 million individuals infected in 2007 and increasing annually. The emergence of drug resistant strains such as the multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and totally drug-resistant (TDR) strains of M. tuberculosis poses a significant threat to the control of TB. These variations in sensitivity and resistance to different antitubercular agents by strains of M. tuberculosis are attributed to their genetic diversity and distribution in different regions of the world. This however, determines their virulence, immunogenicity, and drugs resistance and/or sensitivity pattern. The use of Molecular techniques to differentiate between strains of M. tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB is key to the understanding and characterization of resistance strains and virulence. This review will highlight and discuss M. tuberculosis, its challenges to global health sector, the emergence and spread of drug resistance, and the molecular mechanisms of the drug action and drug resistance.

The geometries, electronic structures, polarizabilities, and hyperpolarizabilities of organic dye sensitizer 1,4-Phenylenediacetonitrile was studied based on ab initio HF and Density Functional Theory (DFT) using the hybrid functional B3LYP. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrum was investigated by Time Dependent DFT (TDDFT). Features of the electronic absorption spectrum in the visible and near-UV regions were assigned based on TDDFT calculations. The absorption bands are assigned to ???* transitions. Calculated results suggest that the three excited states with the lowest excited energies in 1,4-Phenylenediacetonitrile is due to photo induced electron transfer processes. The interfacial electron transfer between semiconductor TiO2 electrode and dye sensitizer 1,4-Phenylenediacetonitrile, is due to an electron injection process from excited dye to the semiconductor’s conduction band. The role of cyanine and methyl group in 1,4-Phenylenediacetonitrile in geometries, electronic structures, and spectral properties were analyzed.

We are very happy to announce that from 4th July 2018, Mr. Rudy F. Daling, Maed has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Educational Management. The appointment Mr. Rudy F. Daling, Maed 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.

Carbon nanotubes fluorescence in a region of the near-infrared, where human tissue and biological fluids are particularly transparent to their emission, but especially in the last decade it has attracted scientific and economic interest triggered by a rapid increase in response to specific biomolecules. A suitable scheme to conjugate the drug and the nanotube is required to make CNTs into viable delivery vehicles. In this present work, multi walled carbon nanotube decorated with titanium dioxide (TiO2-MWNTs) particles have been synthesized and employed as acceptor type materials in organic bulk heterojunction. The donor type material employed in the blend was regioregular poly (3-Octyl Thiophene) (RR-P3OT). X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterized and analyzed.