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Identified the activity of chitinases enzyme from the gut content of mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, is a novel study. Fish was collected from the Nilgiris district of Western Ghats, India was acclimatized and reared in the laboratory. Dissected guts were homogenized and centrifuged under ice cold condition. Enzyme activity was estimated by adopting calorimetric method. Gut extract chitinases showed positive results of bio-physical and bio-chemical properties and its optimum activity were observed at pH 6.3, temperature around 32oC and substrate concentration was 0.6 U/g. Chitinase is more active in the near acidic than alkaline pH and suggestive of enzyme secrets in the foregut of the fish and it can be assumed as fish origin. Mosquito fish introduction is being a major cause of bio-diversity decline in any fresh water ecosystem, can be used as chitinase enzyme source instead of using in mosquito control. Further studies on mosquito fish chitinase enzyme purification may open the possibility of industrial uses.

Tin disulphide thin film on glass substrate is prepared using spray pyrolysis technique at a substrate temperature of 453 K. Using the hot probe technique the type of conductivity is found to be n type. X ray diffraction analysis revealed the polycrystalline nature of the SnS2 thin film with nano sized crystallites of dimension 5.57 nm having hexagonal structure and a preferential orientation along the (002) plane. The surface morphology has been observed using scanning electron microscope. The thickness of the film is determined as 780 nm. The absorption coefficient ? is found to vary between 1.63 x 104 cm-1 and 0.30 x 104 cm-1 correspondingly by recording the absorption data in the wavelength range 400 – 800 nm. Band gap value of 2.78 eV of direct allowed nature is observed for this pyrolysised SnS2 thin film. The room temperature resistivity of SnS2 thin film is found to be 7.18 x 104 ? cm in dark and 3.03 x 103 ? cm in light respectively. Activation energy of 0.47 eV is determined using Arrhenius plot.

The leaves of Sida acuta “Broom Weed” (Family: Malvaceae) was analysed for its proximate, anti-nutrients and mineral elements composition using standard methods. The proximate analysis showed the results to be (%) moisture 54.82, ash 7.94, crude protein 17.85, crude fat 2.70, carbohydrate 6.21, crude fibre 5.30, and caloric value 360.54 Kcal. The concentration of anti-nutrients (mg/100g) was observed to be oxalate 140.8, hydrocyanic acid 98.3, phytate 210.1 and tannin 603.7. The mineral element contents (mg/100g dry weight) were Na (81.90), K (117.40), Ca (44.32), P (1.15), Fe (1.01), Zn (1.07) and Mg (14.40). The study showed that the high concentration of anti-nutrients in Sida acuta Burn.f. obtained from this locality might cause health hazard if consumed in large quantity over a long period of time.

Today, participation in extra-curricular activities are seen as an important initiative that should be carried out by each institution in order to establish a holistic student so that they are balance in terms of physical, spiritual, intellectual and social in line with the National Education Philosophy of Malaysia. This article writes about co-curricular activities help to promote holistic student development

The current paper reflects a conceptual endeavours. It exhaustively review the literature as regards to critical thinking skills. The researcher pays special attention to the research on the phenomenon is the Saudi context. Throughout the body of this paper, the author outlined the importance of critical thinking, critical thinking skills, and teaching such skills. The paper is closed by discussing its stances. It also provides suggestion for future research.

This paper presents an efficient cryptographic algorithm based on the mathematical functions that determine the important properties of the numbers. The conversion of characters to numbers makes this algorithm more secure. The other features of this algorithm include the lesser time that it takes to execute the encryption and the decryption. Also, the dynamic nature of the key makes this algorithm invulnerable to attacks.

The watershed resources management (WRM) model is a basin-scale model for continuous simulation. It is applicable in planning, forecasting and operational hydrology. Hydrological simulation requires calibration to match reality. In automatic calibration, optimization is carried out using selected model parameters. WRM model originally calibrated heuristically in FORTRAN for Curley’s and Mayne’s sub-watersheds Canada was converted to C# (C sharp) to allow flexibility in programming and to enable Graphic User Interface (GUI) creation, and autocalibrated for tropical watersheds. The WRM model was repackaged to run in normal and autocalibration mode. Two software programs, WRMGA and WRMGUI, were successfully developed, tested and applied. Genetic algorithm (GA) was employed as optimization technique. Four parameters (genomes) namely, the Manning roughness coefficient for land surface (MANN1), Manning roughness coefficient for stream surface (MANN2), Manning roughness coefficient for terrace surface (MANN3) and surface retention parameter (KRET) with high sensitivity were used to adjust the four input files (FOR001.DAT, FOR003.DAT, FOR005.DAT, optimized.dat and WRM.DAT.optimized.dat) for the autocalibration. Genomes were generated using a random number generator within specified ranges. The generated values were stored in a file, Optimized.dat, which the program calls up and uses to compute the best fit. For MANN1, MANN2, MANN3 and KRET, minimum values of 0.10, 0.01, 0.00 and 0.01 and maximum values of 0.18, 0.05, 0.05 and 0.05 respectively were set and used for optimization process. The optimization process with up to 1000 trials using these sets of minimum and maximum values gave optimized values of 0.1272, 0.0214, 0.0201 and 0.0102 for MANN1, MANN2, MANN3 and KRET respectively, with a best fitness test of 0.9998. Hydrograph plots of both the originally heuristically calibrated simulations for the watersheds and the autocalibration simulations for the same watershed were compared with measured hydrographs and statistically validated. WRM originally calibrated to the watersheds gave a regression coefficient (R) of 34.8% while the autocalibrated model gave 37% showing an improvement in the autocalibration scheme. The WRM model was successfully repackaged for autocalibration in this paper and could be employed by non-expert in hydrologic modelling.

The study was carried out between November 2011 and October 2013, using 707 Oreochromis niloticus (Linné, 1757) specimens in a tropical reservoir (8° 3"to 8° 12"N and 4° 6"to 4° 12"E). Standard methods were used to determine food and feeding habit and enteroparasitic infestation of the fish in the reservoir. The fish species was found to be an omnivore, but primarily an herbivore and the feeding on food items of animal origin may be supplementary. The high presence and constancy of sand grains and detritus in the diet showed that the fish though pelagic, do forage regularly into the benthic zone to feed. Intestinal parasites recovered were two acanthocephalans - Neoechinorhynchus rutili, Acanthocentius tilapiae - and the metacercaria of Clinestomum tilapiae. Prevalence of parasitic infestation was higher in the dry season than the rainy season and also higher in females (23.40 %) than in males (19.15 %). The metacercariae were found in the buccal cavity while the two acanthocephalans were found in the intestine, nothing was found in the stomach. Generally, parasites intensity was higher in females than in males and parasitic infestation was found to have an effect on the body weight of O. niloticus in Oba reservoir.

The present study was conducted in southern Western Ghats of Tamilnadu, India. It is one of the global biodiversity hotspots that includes Nilgiri biosphere and Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary (proposed). We studied the Diversity, Dominance and Evenness of butterflies in three different habitats (forest area, river bank, and crop area) during the period January 2011 to December 2011. A total of 92 species, from 65 genera and 5 families were recorded. Species diversity and abundance were maximum in the months of March-May and dropped to the minimum in the months of December-January. Forest area habitat had greater species diversity, while river bank habitat had greater number of individuals; crop area had the least diversity and abundance among the studied habitats. We have also recorded the endemism and flight period of some butterflies and their distribution within the habitats with their nectar source plants. Analyses were done to emphasize the importance of butterflies and the need for their conservation.

This study examined the effect of transactional and transformational leadership paradigms on customer service delivery in local authorities in the Western region of Kenya. This was based on the recognition of the role played by local authorities namely county, municipal and town councils in offering essential services to citizens at the grass root level of governance. Using a co-relational research design, data was collected from 322 employees of these entities using questionnaires. It was analysed descriptively using frequencies and percentages and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation test. The study found that both transformational and transactional leadership approaches had a positive and significant influence on customer service delivery. However, the transformational leadership approach had a greater effect on customer service delivery than the transactional leadership approach. The study recommends that the successors of the local authorities, that is county governments, should utilize these approaches in managing their operations in order for them to for accrue benefits to themselves and the citizens in their jurisdiction.