Archives-December 

Concordancing in the classroom is fairly a new approach that has emerged with the use of corpora in language learning. In a concordance, language is presented in an authentic context; learners are able to examine a key word in the context of a string of sentences which can exemplify the use of that particular word. This study examined whether the use of an online concordance program together with an online dictionary by 30 intermediate EFL learners aided in the transfer of word knowledge to an academic writing task. The learners were selected from Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon branch, and randomly assigned into 2 groups of control group and experimental group. The subjects in the experimental group were asked to use the concordance and online dictionary in their writing, but the control group used only the online dictionary. The results indicated that there was statistically significant transfer of vocabulary knowledge to the writing task.

With the advancement in technology and increase in number of vehicles it is the need of the day to recognize registered and unregistered vehicles. Extraction of number plate plays a key role in the recognition of vehicles. For this purpose, in this paper we propose a system to automatically extract digits and alphabets from the number plate of vehicle and search it in the database for its registration. The proposed approach involves four different processes that include Image smoothing, Edge detection, Image segmentation and data extraction. The result shows that the proposed approach can easily detect and extract data from the number plates. Some of the number plates and its extracted data are shown in this paper. The results can further be implemented on automatic extraction of data from shields, sign etc.

We are very happy to announce that from 4th December 2015, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ashabrawy Moustafa has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Computer Science. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ashabrawy Moustafa working as Assistant Professor Computer Science, Prince Sattam bin AbdulAziz University ALkharj, KSA. The appointment of Dr. Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ashabrawy Moustafa 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 1st April 2016, Dr. Vishnu Narayan Mishra has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mathematics. Dr. Vishnu Narayan Mishra working as Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Applied Mathematics and Humanities Department), Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Ichchhanath Mahadev Dumas Road, Surat (Gujarat), India. The appointment of Dr. Vishnu Narayan Mishra 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 29th May 2013, Dr.Laith Ahmed Najam has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Nuclear Physics and Radiation Physics. Dr.Laith Ahmed Najam is currently working as Department of Nuclear Physics and Radiation Physics, Mosul University, Iraq. The appointment of Dr.Laith Ahmed Najam 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. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

Early morning urine, stool and blood samples were collected from 1000 randomized persons at four different sites within the period of six months and screened for presence of Salmonella entericatyphi. Attention was given to clinical patients as well as healthy persons, particularly student community. Bori General Hospital and Sita-Esther Diagnostic Laboratories, Bori, were considered to access the clinical patients. Birabi Memorial Grammar School and Ken SaroWiwa Polytechnic, Bori, were considered for the healthy persons. Analysis were conducted on seven hundred samples from clinical patients, five hundred from Bori General Hospital and two hundred from Sita-Esther Diagnostic Laboratories, Bori, whereas three hundred samples from healthy people were also screened, one hundred from Birabi Memorial Grammar School and two hundred from Ken SaroWiwa Polytechnic, Bori. Comparative analysis of results indicated 60% Positive for blood, 30% Positive for Urine and 40% Positive for Stool. Evaluation of results show that 60% of the total population tested positive for Salmenella enterica typhi by serologicalfebrile antigen, but only 40% had evident visible growth of bacterial colonies, identified as salmonella typhi, in stool. The differences in results from blood, stool and urine from the various samples are likely due to patients being on a recent or current antibiotic treatment in general, or not being able to properly collect the Early morning Urine as directed, in case of Urine samples. High level of antibiotic potential(300mm), were seen in Augmentin, Ciprofloxacin and Chloramphenicol.

The aim of this paper is to study the flow of visco-elastic fluid of Rivlin-Ericksen and Walters type through a porous media bounded by a rectilinear pipe of uniform cross section in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The flow takes place under the action of transient and periodic pressure gradients. Using integral transform technique, the exact solution for velocities have been obtained in case of visco-elastic Rivlin-Ericksen fluid and Walters fluid. Finally various cases of permeability of the porous media have been discussed for both the fluids.

Query Processing is the scientific art of obtaining the desired information from a database system in a predictable and reliable fashion. Database systems must be able to respond to requests for information from the user i.e. process queries. In large database systems, which may be running on un-predictable and volatile environments, it is difficult to produce efficient database query plans based on information available solely at compile time. Getting the database results in a timely manner deals with the technique of Query Optimization. Efficient processing of queries is an important requirement in many interactive environments that involve massive amounts of data. Efficient query processing in domains such as the Web, multimedia search, and distributed systems has shown a great impact on performance. This paper will introduce the basic concepts of query processing and query optimization in the relational database. We also describe and difference query processing techniques in relational databases.

Lean Six Sigma is a powerful business improvement system that is rapidly being deployed across several manufacturing and service sectors. This paper introduces environmental professionals—including environmental health and safety (EHS) managers, environmental agency personnel, and non-governmental environmental technical assistance providers—to these methods. This paper also evaluates how Lean Six Sigma can be related to the environment and provides guidance on how environmental professionals can leverage Lean Six Sigma activities to generate better environmental and operational results. The challenge, and opportunity, for environmental professionals is to figure out how to leverage Lean Six Sigma improvement efforts in a seamless way that embeds environmental considerations and sustainability concepts into the normal way of doing business. This paper is designed to assist environmental professionals in meeting Lean Six Sigma practitioners where they are; help them translate environmental concepts into the Lean Six Sigma lexicon; and make environmental improvement efforts a seamless, integrated aspect of delivering waste-free value to meet customers’ needs.

Locally produced fruits (mango, pineapple and banana) were sampled and purchased from farms and markets within the Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo districts and analyzed for pesticide residues by gas chromatography equipped with an Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD). In all, 80 samples made up of 40 mango samples and 20 samples each of pineapples and bananas were extracted and analyzed for mainly organochlorine residues (?-HCH, ?-HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, ?-chlordane, endosulfan s, p, p’-DDE etc.) and synthetic pyrethroid residues (allethrin, bifenthrin, fenpropathrin, permethrin, cyfluthrin etc.). Analysis indicates that about 88% of the mangoes sampled from the farms contained one or more of these pesticide residues. 75% and 65% of the pineapples and bananas respectively from farms and markets had one or more of the analyzed pesticide residues. The data revealed that about 6.2% of the fruit samples analyzed contained organochlorine pesticide residues of ?-HCH (0.013mg/kg and 0.038mg/kg respectively in mangoes and pineapples); ?-HCH [0.014mg/kg (mango) and 0.024mg/kg (pineapple)]; methoxychlor [0.027mg/kg (mango) and 0.048mg/kg (pineapple)]. Synthetic pyrethroid residues of cyfluthrin [0.078mg/kg (mango) and 0.059mg/kg (pineapple)] and fenvalerate [0.025mg/kg and 0.028mg/kg respectively for mango and pineapple] were also found above their respective maximum residue limits whereas 78.2% of detected pesticide residues were below the MRLs. Nonetheless, the continuous consumption of these fruits with even the modest pesticide levels can result in accumulation that could result in deadly chronic effects. In assessing the consumers’ perception of pesticide residues in fruits, about 69% of the respondents were aware of pesticide residues in fruits and the corresponding adverse effect on human health. Some have experienced pesticide poisoning after fruit consumption. Thus many wish pesticide usage in fruit and crop cultivation in general is curbed or minimized to only those who can ensure reduced levels.