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The main objective of this paper is to find the optimum machining parameter for higher Material Removal Rate (MRR) in micro EDM on 316L stainless steel. The most important parameters like machining voltage, capacitance and sparkgap are considered in this experimentation. The experiments were conducted based on the full factorial design methodology. Multiple regression and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques were applied to predict the MRR. The predicted results are quite closer with the experimental results. S/N ratio was calculated to find the optimum values. ANOVA is carried out and the influence of machining parameters was found. The results show that the voltage is highly significant and the capacitance is the next significant than sparkgap on MRR.

Tuberculosis is considered a re-emerging disease and one of the most important health problems worldwide. Present investigation was the first attempt and the main objective of this research was to test the effect of Acacia nilotica L. leaf and stem bark extracts against M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain. Nitrate Reductase Assay (NRA) method was used to determine the MIC range of plant extracts against the mycobacterial strain. Both bark and leaves methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Acacia nilotica L. was observed to possess anti-tuberculosis activity. However, out of them leaves methanolic extract possessed highest antimycobacterial activity as determined by their respective MIC range (0.980 – 3.92 mg/ml ).

We are very happy to announce that from 6th August 2011, Prof. Yin-Hao Chiu has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Architecture and Urban Design. Prof. Yin-Hao Chiu is currently working at Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan 11114, R. O. C. The appointment of Prof. Yin-Hao Chiu 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 chiefeditor@elixirjournal.org. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

The aim of this study was focused on investigating the possible protective effect of Alpinia Purpurata rhizome against Gentamicin -induced nephrotoxicity. Nephrotoxicity was measured by various methods like creatinine, cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and suppressed superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities in renal tissues. Activity of serum creatinine and urea levels significantly increased as a result of nephrotoxicity in the Gentamicin group. Also, creatinine and urea levels significantly decreased in Alpinia Purpurata + Gentamicin groups. In the Gentamicin group, increased significantly (p<0.05) and SOD and GSH-Px activities decreased significantly (p<0.05) when compared with control group. Alpinia Purpurata administration with Gentamicin injection result significantly increased SOD and GSH-Px activities when compared with GS group. mononuclear cell infiltration, glomerular and basement membrane alterations were histopathologically detected in the kidneys of the Gentamicin group. Co-treatments with Alpinia Purpurata considerably decreased the renal damage when compared with the Gentamicin group. In conclusion Alpinia Purpurata rhizome acts in the kidney as a potent scavenger of free radicals to prevent the toxic effects of Gentamicin both in the biochemical and histopathological parameters.

A convenient, rapid and accurate chromatographic method was developed for authentication and quality control of commercial product Flos Arnicae. Chromatography (HPTLC or TLC) was performed on silica gel 60 F254 (Merck) plates with toluene–dioxane –acetic acid (95:25:4) as mobile phase. Compounds were visualized by spraying with ‘Naturstoffreagenz A’ reagent. Detection was performed at ?=366 nm. Eight flavonoid aglycones were detected of the exudates of Arnica montana and Arnica chamissonis by co-chromatography with authentic markers. Differences in the fluorescence emission were observed in flavonoid profiles between A. montana and A. chamissonis under mentioned above conditions of analysis. Flavonoid profile of Arnica montana is presented by flavonoids with brown fluorescence while the flavonoid profile of Arnica chamissonis is composed of flavonoids with yellow-green fluorescence. These visually noted differences of the flavonoid profiles of the both species allow they to be quickly distinguished. The proposed method could be used for quality control of identity and purity of commercial product Flos Arnicae.

This study was conducted to evaluate aqueous & ethanolic extracts of Ficus racemosa for wound healing properties in presence of dexamethasone depressed healing conditions. Reversal mechanism of dexamethasone depressed wound healing properties by Ficus racemosa was determined using the incision and excision wound model. Both the extract reverted the dexamethasone depressed healing effectively when compared with dexamethasone treated group. The results were comparatively significant (p ? 0.05).

This paper investigates the extent to which the electorates’ culture plays a role in parliamentary elections in Webuye Constituency, Kenya. The main assumption is that the electorates’ culture influences peoples' attitudes and choices. Three objectives form the basis of the paper. These are: to assess the role of the electorates’ moral values in parliamentary elections, to examine the role of electorates’ patriarchal values in parliamentary elections and to investigate the impact of electorates’ oral traditions in campaigns and voting patterns during parliamentary elections. The Interaction Interpretive theory is the main tool used to probe various aspects and elements of politics. The paper is organized into three sections. Section one covers the background information to the paper, statement of the problem, objectives of the paper, literature review and theoretical framework. Research methodology, results and discussion are in sections two, three and four respectively. Primary data is collected from oral interviews, observation and questionnaires while secondary data is collected mainly from written materials like published books, periodicals, newspapers, journals and Internet. The target population is randomly and in specific cases purposively sampled. The findings are presented according to each research objective mainly using tables. Percentages are computed to give a clear statistical picture of the state of issues under investigation.

Drought is one of the natural disasters which annually cause to millions of dollars damage to agricultural communities around the world. In recent decades among the natural disasters, frequency of drought in terms of drought intensity, duration, total affected area, life and economic losses and social impacts on community, had more effect on human populations than other natural disasters. The most important effect and consequences of drought is water shortages for various purposes like agriculture. Qanats (aqueducts) construction and use of them is an ancient method for supplying water in Iran. In this way, without spending energy and only through the force of gravity, a part of required water of agriculture, drinking water and residential area has been supplied since long time ago. Using this method of water supply after development of equipments for drilling of semi-deep and deep wells is reduced, and in some parts of the country construction of new Qanats has stopped. Uncontrolled withdrawal of groundwater by excessive exploitation of wells with increasing of wells number and lack of natural recharge, for various reasons like changing of land use and climate changes, cause to decreasing of Qanats water yield or even dried them. So, the purpose of this study is analyzing the effects of watershed management operations like artificial recharge to increase the discharge of Qanats using flood control. In this study, the quantitative and qualitative data of Qanats water evaluated where artificial recharge of aquifers has done using trend analysis of hydrological behavior changes in selected Qanats and results of changes in water yield of Gambleh and Noh Abad Qanats, before and after of artificial recharge, including construction of recharge pools and flood spreading, during 1995 to 2010 showed that discharge of Qanats from 5.6 and 5.8 liters per second in 1995 (before artificial recharge), increased to 12.5 and 8.3 liters per second in 2010 respectively which had an effective role in reducing of drought effects in study area.

The presented paper treats as one dimensional inverse heat conduction problem using boundary integral method. Here we try to give an algorithm for the inverse heat conduction problem by using basic solution. To verify our algorithm, we consider a numerical problem and then solve it.

Some construction methods of 3-resolvable regular group divisible designs based on incidence matrix of known affine resolvable balanced incomplete block designs and 3-resolvable group divisible type partially balanced incomplete block designs with unequal block sizes within each resolution set based on incidence matrix of known symmetric balanced incomplete block designs are proposed with illustrations.