Archives-December 

Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb. (Elaeocarpaceae) is a large evergreen broad-leaved tree and found in Himalayan range in India and Nepal. Fruits and leaves are known for various medicinal properties and used in traditional medication system for the treatment of diseases. In this study, antimicrobial activity of the aqueous extract of leaves of E. ganitrus was tested against clinical isolates of bacteria and fungi. In vitro antimicrobial activity was performed by agar well diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar and Sabouraud Dextrose agar for bacterial and fungal cultures respectively. The extract exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity as it inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Penicillium sp, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans and C. tropicalis. The extract showed maximum relative percentage inhibition against B. cereus (124.16%). Minimum inhibitory concentration test was performed by modified agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration values of the extract varied from 125-2000 µg/ml; however minimum value was reported against B. cereus and A. flavus (125 µg/ml). The results indicate the potential use of E. ganitrus leaves for the development of antimicrobial compounds.

Tribal are self-sufficient and self-contended by nature. The demand for life sustenance originates at home and ends from the supply of nature at most of the cases. Empowerment and dis-empowerment is always viewed and weighted with outside lenses. Dimension of well-being of tribal women is captured in the study through the level of household income, food security, institutional participation and access to credit facilities and leveraging resources based on the principle of inclusion of the excluded.

Water quality monitoring has been high priority to determine the current conditions of the water system. Water quality indices provide the first hand assessment in a simplified manner on the quality and possible uses for irrigation. Many indices are required for specifying the quality of water for irrigation purposes as a single parameter can be restrictive at times. The intent of this paper was to put forth a quality profile of irrigation water. As a case studied, the water of Jhelum was studied. Samples were collected during the period from October 2016 to April 2017. pH, conductivity, total hardness, nitrite, alkalinity, sodium, magnesium, DO, TDS etc were analyzed. Permeability Index (PI), Kelly’s ratio, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Magnesium Hazard (MH) was calculated based on the analytical results. It was observed that water quality profile was good and normal for irrigation purposes.

This paper analyzes and investigates decision making process of equity investors for trading in stock exchanges of Pakistan. Survey research technique has been used to analyze the investors’ attitude about the market’s efficiency and to test different theories of traditional finance like efficient market hypotheses (EMH), rational investors and random walk hypothesis (RWH). The survey questionnaire forms were sent to 510 individuals identified as equity investors in stock exchanges of Pakistan, out of which 248 survey questionnaire forms have been received back. The results of descriptive statistics have indicated that investors are not completely rational individuals as supposed by theories of traditional finance.

Service learning is a method of teaching where students apply their academic skills and knowledge to address real-life needs in their own communities. Service learning is a pedagogical strategy that facilitates a student's growth in academics, social maturity, critical thinking, and communication, collaboration, and leadership skills. This educational opportunity possesses enormous potential to move higher education in the direction of civic involvement by taking the classroom into the community. Student experienced stronger positive effects on critical thinking, degree plans, sense of control over their own academic success, and preference for higher-order cognitive tasks

This research study was conducted on the prevailing learners’ perceptions and preferences towards Blended Learning in Higher Education. This was a case study involving one private University in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to assess the learners’ perspectives of Blended Learning, identify their experiences and make recommendations for improvement of program design and delivery. The study design adopted a mixed research approach and was situated within Garrison (2008) theoretical framework of Community of Inquiry (CoL). The research addressed the following research objectives: What are the reasons for choosing the Blended Learning program? What are the learners’ perceptions towards the quality of preparation and delivery of blended learning programs? How do learners compare the Blended Learning and traditional classroom learning? What are the suggestions for the future development of Blended Learning? Participants were drawn from cohorts of learners enrolled at different stages of study in the Blended Learning program at the University. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify participants. The participants responded to questionnaire that was emailed to them by their course instructors. The completed questionnaires were subsequently emailed back to the researcher. Analysis of data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson-Product moment correlation coefficient was used to describe relationships between variables. The findings from the study indicate that when there is greater social and teaching presence, learner’s satisfaction increases. Provision of support in terms of teaching presence and instructional resources needs to be enhanced. Facilitators of Blended Learning courses have to be more proactive and initiate frequent online discussions to enrich their courses.

The decision to spend on Research and Development (R&D) is very crucial for the growth of any firm. This study explores the determinants of R&D intensities in selected Indian firms that spend on R&D activities. The impact of business house affiliation on R&D activities is also taken as a crucial factor determining R&D activities. The study found that R&D behavior for the period 2003-2009 is different from the year 2010. The year 2010 being the recovery year there has been significant rise in R&D spending among the selected firms. As there are some interrelated variables in the model, the simultaneity in the models is verified with Hausman tests and then two-stage least square method is applied for the empirical estimation and analysis. Outward orientation, profitability, imports of capital goods, advertisement etc. turned out to be important determinants of R&D intensity. Business group affiliation as such has a negative role in R&D intensity except for top-50 business houses in certain year.

The inhibition efficiency of coffee husk extract and extract of Ziziphusspina Christi on the corrosion of aluminum in 0.5 M NaOH solutions was investigated using weight loss method at 25 and 45°C. Surface was examined using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental investigations showed that coffee husk extract and Ziziphusspina Christi extract reduce the corrosion of aluminum in 0.5M NaOH solutions. The inhibition mechanism was deduced from the temperature dependence of the inhibition efficiency as well as from activation parameters that govern the process. The adsorption of two extracts on the aluminum surface was found to obey Langmuir, Temkin and thermodynamic/kinetic model of adsorption isotherms. The obtained results are consistent with physisorption adsorption.

Abstract Cost efficiency is important as far as the performance of an organisation is concerned. Cost efficiency helps an organisation to maximise output from a given set of inputs and use these inputs in optimal proportions. Consequently, there will be an increase in return on assets and equity and hence profitability of the organisation. However, cost efficiency seems to be low in many primary schools in Uganda. Some schools have suffered insolvency, while others have stagnated, been sold and collapsed. This paper derived from a PhD proposal suggests a framework for studying factors relating to cost efficiency in private primary schools. The study presents the introduction, theories, the statement of the problem, objectives, significance, conceptual framework, related literature and the corresponding hypotheses to be tested. It also suggests the methodology that will be used by the study. The PhD monograph and future articles that will be generated from the proposed study will provide the findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Cloud computing enables highly scalable services to be easily consumed over the Internet on an as-needed basis. A major feature of the cloud services is that user’s data are usually processed remotely in unknown machines that user’s do not own or operate. While enjoying the convenience brought by this new emerging technology, user’s fears of losing control of their own data (particularly, financial and health data) can become a significant barrier to the wide adoption of cloud services. To address this problem, a highly decentralized information accountability framework is proposed to keep track of the actual usage of the user’s data in the cloud. In particular, an object-centered approach that enables enclosing the logging mechanism together with user’s data and policies. The JAR programmable capabilities are leveraged to both create a dynamic and traveling object, and to ensure that any access to user’s data will trigger authentication and automated logging that is local to the JARs. To strengthen user’s control, a distributed auditing mechanism is proposed to be implemented.