Water stress, root herbivory and above-ground multitrophic interactions in a crucifer-aphid system

Plants, insect herbivores and their natural enemies interact in multitrophic food webs that can be influenced by various stress factors. The aim of the present study was to understand the effects of two different below-ground stress factors (drought and root herbivory) on the performance of two above-ground herbivores, a generalist (Myzus persicae) and a specialist (Brevicoryne brassicae) aphid species and two of their natural enemies, a generalist (Aphidius colemani) and a specialist (Diaeretiella rapae) parasitoid species. Preliminary experiments with various Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea) cultivars (cv) showed that aphid performance was influenced both by host plant on which the parent aphid had been reared and by the host plant on which it was feeding when reproducing. The Brussels sprout cv. Oliver was selected as a consistently good aphid host for subsequent experiments. Root herbivory and drought stress were shown to significantly affect the outcome of plant-mediated interactions between insect herbivores and their parasitoids. High drought stress had a negative impact on the aphid species and their parasitoids and also reduced performance of a root herbivore, the cabbage root fly, Delia radicum. Root herbivory alone or in combination with drought significantly altered foliar herbivore performance. High drought stress combined with high D. radicum density had a negative impact on foliar herbivore performance and parasitoid preference and performance. Plant volatiles and parasitoid preference were shown to decrease with drought stress and root herbivory. Plant foliar glucosinolate, nitrogen and carbon concentrations were significantly affected by drought stress. Relative water content and plant biomass were significantly affected by both stresses. The present study on a Brassica-aphid system underlines the importance of root herbivory and drought stress in mediating interactions between plant, foliar herbivores and their parasitoids. The implications of these findings for multitrophic interactions under potential climate change are discussed with particular reference to pest management

Studies to elucidate the relative role of single and multiple-event types of radiation damage in Vicia Faba (L)

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Data Safety Contact Control Model of Cloud Computing

The progress of cloud computing are facing by many difficulties, which one of the most important challenge is data security problem. Everyone wants to use cloud computing due to cost saving and new agile business model which resulted by its dynamic, sharing, openness and highly centralized data. There complex data security challenges in cloud computing. From the view of users the research about data security focused on methodologies that ensuring the safety of data and storage. This paper provides a control model of a secured data access by on MAC access control. This is origin experience from the government cloud platform construction. This model provides the most important technical and management techniques with the security of data accessing. In shortly, the practical applications test showed that the model with corresponding control mechanism cloud meet the necessaries for reliable applications of government cloud. Keywords: Control Model of Access Control, Security of Cloud Computing, Access Control of Secured Data

THE IMPACT OF DEBT AND EQUITY BASED CAPITAL INFLOWS ON MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF PAKISTAN

On the three sectors of Pakistan economy, there indeed is a comparatively differing impact of external debt to that of foreign direct investment. In addition, comparatively between external debt and foreign direct investment, external debt not only has a dominant and significant but also a deteriorating impact across, almost all, the three macroeconomic sectors of Pakistan's economy as defined inthis study. Conversely on a direct comparison basis between FDI and external debt, FDI has minimal and mostly insignificant impact on all the three macroeconomic sectors of Pakistan's economy. The methodology of this study comprises of Structural Equation Modeling analysis that is based on an extensive and rigorous literature review

Threats and Hunting Methods of Crane Species in District Karak of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

This study aim to determine threats to crane species, reasons of hunting, hunting methods and affective approach for conservation in district Karak, Pakistan. Study area fall on the migratory rout of the refuges flocks of Cranes species so it is extended to its migratory routs. The data were collected through semi structured questionnaires and field visits in three campuses in the months of October and November, 2010. The study find out that migratory flocks of cranes decrease by 95% in the last 15-20 years and now rarely passing through these routes. The number of cranes in each flock decrease and changed the migratory rout from Karak to Dera Ismail Khan. It is also investigated that captive population and number of individual as well as breeding pairs increased in the district Karak. This study played an important role in the awareness of local community through various methods for conservation of cranes in district Karak. The study also reports to the wildlife conservators and high officials that habitat protection is suggested to be very helpful in the conservation of crane species at district Karak. Keywords: Threats to cranes, Migratory routs, Different methods for huntting of cranes in district Kara

Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Livestock Production in the context of Socioeconomic and Food Security in Northern Areas of Pakistan

Due to a variety of biophysical and socioeconomic variables, food insecurity in Pakistan is noticeably higher in the mountainous areas than in the plains. In the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, the issue of food insecurity made worse by rapid socio-economic and environmental changes as well as topographical constraints. In northern areas of Pakistan livestock is raised for many purposes, including milk, meat, wool, leather, and draft. The livestock not only contributes significantly to the region\u27s food security but also a sizable portion of what local families eat on a daily basis at their food table. Livestock are raised using nomadic and transhumant systems in northern area of Pakistan. In this area, there are more than a million people who make a good living from livestock and crop-husbandry. Grasslands contribute directly to agro-pastoral livelihoods; they indirectly provide numerous goods and services to these people. According to recent estimates, 37% of the gross farm income in northern Pakistan is derived from rangeland-based livestock production. In area of northern Pakistan especially Gilgit-Baltistan, the number of animals, particularly yak, cattle and their hybrids, sheep, and goats, increased from 0.88 million in 1976 to 2.45 million in 2006. Almost 80% of these animals are grazing on pastures during summer and all livestock systems operate on a low-input and low-output basis. Due to significant growth in domestic herbivores\u27 population and high reliance on rangelands, the latter are under extreme grazing pressure. Soil erosion is accelerated by high stocking rates and the resulting loss of vegetation cover. Gilgit-Baltistan occasionally combines crop production and livestock rearing. The activity entails a complex interplay between people, animals, and the environment, and in the case of northern Pakistan, it is particularly hampered by alpine mountain conditions, including challenging topography, constantly shifting weather patterns, fodder scarcity and harsh winter temperatures. Being a complex livelihood strategy, the local pastoralism also relies on several cultural, social and economic factors, such as intra- and inter-household corporation for herding, community regulations for pasture and livestock management, market demand and labour availability. The Karakoram Highway (KKH), which was built in 1979 and connects northern Pakistan to the rest of Pakistan and China, has dramatically improved the transportation and communication systems for the localities. The result has been an increased movement of local commodities and people to bigger towns and cities. The new opportunities and challenges did not only change labour division between households and household members but also affected the appearance and reputation of pastoral work. Future changes in resource use patterns for food security in the Hindukush Karakoram Himalayan (HKH) region were brought about by interventions and socioeconomic transformation of local societies. The current changes in Pakistan\u27s northern areas, coupled with a rapidly changing climate, pose major threats to the long-term viability of rangeland-based agro-ecosystems, particularly at higher altitudes where the environment is more vulnerable. This paper, therefore, analyses challenges and opportunities for sustainable livestock production in the context of socio-economic and food security perspectives in Northern areas of Pakistan

Identification of Rice Quality Through Pattern Classification Using Computer Vision Image Processing

Rice is the source of Pakistan agriculture industry and food. For agriculture, industry and the oldest sector in the world use rice for different purpose. There are many challenges in the particular sector such as their analysis. This analysis mostly often related to its texture, color, shape, grain etc. In this study, Vision system used to check the quality of rice using some texture features such as color, shape and characteristics. In this study Computer Vision Image Processing tool applied on three different types of rice. Using this tool we apply pattern classification using nearest neighbor and K-nearest neighbor algorithm. Using these algorithms we get results of three varieties of rice Bastmati, Jasmine and White rice. In both algorithms white rice result show best from Basmati rice and Jasmine rice. White rice result is 93.75 % which is best as quality wise. Other tool also available like as MATLAB, Mazda etc for future more best prediction. Keywords: RST-Invariant features, Histogram features, Texture features, Nearest Neighbor algorithm, K-nearest neighbor algorithm DOI: 10.7176/CEIS/11-2-01 Publication date: February 29th 202

THE IMPACT OF DEBT AND EQUITY BASED CAPITAL INFLOWS ON MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF PAKISTAN

On the three sectors of Pakistan economy, there indeed is a comparatively differing impact of external debt to that of foreign direct investment. In addition, comparatively between external debt and foreign direct investment, external debt not only has a dominant and significant but also a deteriorating impact across, almost all, the three macroeconomic sectors of Pakistan's economy as defined inthis study. Conversely on a direct comparison basis between FDI and external debt, FDI has minimal and mostly insignificant impact on all the three macroeconomic sectors of Pakistan's economy. The methodology of this study comprises of Structural Equation Modeling analysis that is based on an extensive and rigorous literature review

Bark Classification of Trees Using K-Nearest Neighbor & Nearest Neighbor Algorithms

Pakistan is an agricultural country and less than 4 % of area secured with forests. Tree automatic classification based on computer science and it is the developing trend of classification. In this paper we examine how we can done bark classification of trees using k-nearest neighbor and nearest neighbor algorithms. There we discuss how these algorithms can be used to automatically classify trees from images of bark. We get the images of five kinds of different trees names suppose as A, B, C, D and E through using digital camera. We take ten different images of each kind of trees. The capability and information of inspectors are essential to perfectly achieve this process. The all the process will be done in computer vision image processing tool. In this tool we use the Histogram Features, Texture Features, and Pattern Classification. We achieved the final results of five kinds of different trees using nearest neighbor on distance two 82% average and on k-nearest neighbor when k=2 then the average result 82%, when k=3 the average result 82%, when k=4 then the average result 76% and when k=5 the average percentage 72% the result shows the maximum correct result and classifies the trees. These are the best percentage results using these algorithms for classification. In this way we can easily classify the different trees and also these methods provide opportunity to farmer and other people for identify and select the different better different trees for getting more benefit. Keywords: CVIP Tool, Histogram Features, Texture Features, Pattern Classification, Classification Algorithm