The problem of pika control in Baluchistand, Pakistan

The collared pika, Ochotona rufescens, has been recorded as a serious pest in apple orchards in the uplands valley of Ziarat in Baluchistan. In the winter, when the natural vegetation is lacking, the pikas debark the apple tree trunks or branches resulting in the killing of the tree and reduced fruit production. In summer, damage to wheat, corn and potatoes is also very severe. It is estimated that pikas cause hundreds of thousands of dollars (US) in annual apple production losses. The apple production in Baluchistan accounts for about 35 percent of the total provincial income through food production. During the six years (1974-1979), the winter of 1973-74 was noted for heavy damage to apple trees and thereafter it declined steadily. The control measures evaluated were of various kinds among which repellent "Ostico" was very effective in protecting the trees. Poison baiting with brodifacoum (0.005%), Vacor (1%) and thallium sulphate (1%) were also effective in reducing the pika population. To alleviate damage caused by pikas, the farmers also practice some traditional protective methods which in some cases are quite effective but very laborious

Standardization of the bio-active compounds (rotenoids) from the extract of local plant species (derris elliptica) using the internal standard method of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

It is well known now that some plant species represent an efficient factory of chemicals, which are manufactured and used as bio-weapons against pest attacks. Extensive work has been done during the last few decades on these potentially useful compounds. During the last few decades a growing interest has been paid for safe agricultural production i.e free residual toxicity hazards to human beings and to the environment. Plant extracts-based biocides possess a great advantage compared with the chemical ones. Their efficacies are also acceptable. Research carried out was to standardize and determine the bio-active compounds from the extract of local plant species (Derris elliptica) using the internal standard method of the isocratic High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis system. The raw plants were collected from Kota Johor Lama, Johor and sorted to collect the root and stem. Only the root and stem were utilized as a raw material of the extraction process. The root and stem were extracted by using the Normal Soaking Extraction (NSE) method at 28 0C to 30 0C with 95.0 % (v/v) of acetone as a solvent and the solvent-to-solid ratio of the extraction is (10.0 ml/g). The extraction was carried out for 24 hours and further cleaned up to remove fine debris of root and stem prior to determination of the rotenone and its derivatives content. The rotenone cube resin of SAPHYR S.A.R.L (France) was used to verify the appearances of the compounds in the extract. The employed method of analysis shows significant appearances of the bio-active compounds in the extract compared with the commercial grade of rotenone cube resin

Monopolizing force?: police legitimacy and public attitudes towards the acceptability of violence

Why do people believe that violence is acceptable? In this paper we study people’s normative beliefs about the acceptability of violence to achieve social control (as a substitute for the police, for self-protection and the resolution of disputes) and social change (through violent protests and acts to achieve political goals). Addressing attitudes towards violence among young men from various ethnic minority communities in London, we find that procedural justice is strongly correlated with police legitimacy, and that positive judgments about police legitimacy are associated with more negative views about the use of violence. We conclude with the idea that police legitimacy has an additional, hitherto unrecognized, empirical property – by constituting the belief that the police monopolise rightful force in society, legitimacy has a ‘crowding out’ effect on positive views of private violence

Structural response of SSME turbine blade airfoils

Reusable space propulsion hot gas-path components are required to operate under severe thermal and mechanical loading conditions. These operating conditions produce elevated temperature and thermal transients which results in significant thermally induced inelastic strains, particularly, in the turbopump turbine blades. An inelastic analysis for this component may therefore be necessary. Anisotropic alloys such as MAR M-247 or PWA-1480 are being considered to meet the safety and durability requirements of this component. An anisotropic inelastic structural analysis for an SSME fuel turbopump turbine blade was performed. The thermal loads used resulted from a transient heat transfer analysis of a turbine blade. A comparison of preliminary results from the elastic and inelastic analyses is presented

Penggunaan Model Pembelajaran Kooperatif Dan Kompetitif Dalam Mengembangkan Kreativitas Siswa

Both cooperative and competitive methods are influence the student creativity. However, base on the research study the cooperative method understood is more effective than competitive method in developing student creativity. Therefore, using both methods (cooperative and competitive) should be tried in learning process in classes

Normal soaking extraction (NSE) of rotenone from Derris elliptica

Derris elliptica or the tuba plant contains rotenone, bio-active compound known that has the potential to be used as bio-pesticide. Bio-pesticide is the best-known alternative bio-pesticide which has the potential to replace the use of conventional pesticides, as it is more environmentally friendly. The main objective of the paper is to obtain the best extraction solvent for optimizing the yield in rotenone extraction. Rotenone was extracted from Derris root using three different parts of roots and three types of solvent in Normal Soaking Extraction (NSE). The types of Derris roots are: (1) Fine root (2) Coarse root (3) Stem. The three types of solvent system are: (1) Acetone 95 % (v/v), (2) Chloroform 99.9 % (v/v) and (3) a mixture of ethanol: H2O (9:1) added with oxalic acid (1mg/ml). The liquid crude extracts were further cleaned up to remove the fine debris of roots. The presence of rotenone was confirmed using qualitative analysis Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and thereupon the determination of rotenone content was carried out using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). From the results obtained, it was found that the Normal Soaking Extraction (NSE) using acetone 95 % (v/v) was the best method to extract the highest yield of rotenone; 1.14 % (w/w)