Bioefficacy of plant derivatives on the repellency, damage assessment and progeny production of the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the efficacy of different plant derivatives that affect the development of the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus fed on cowpea, Vigna unigulculata seeds. The leaf extracts of the aromatic plant, Anisomeles malabarica and Azadirachta indica (neem) were evaluated for their repellency, damage assessment and progeny production of C. maculatus. The results revealed that the extracts of the two plant species caused a considerable reduction in the number of weevils. The combination of neem seed kernel extract and leaf extracts of A. malabarica was the most effective in checking the insect infestation and allowing the least number of F1 adults emerging from the seeds over the other treatments. Acetone extracts of leaves of A. malabarica were more toxic to adult beetles compared to ethanol plant extracts. It was concluded that the botanical products acted as insect antifeedant and the order of repellency of  the two plant leaf and kernel extracts on cowpea weevil were: combination of neem seed kernel extract + A. malabarica leaf extract > neem > A. malabarica.Keywords: Callosobruchus maculatus, Anisomeles malabarica, Azadirachta indica, Repellency, Damage assessment, Progeny productio

Odd-even sum labeling in the context of duplication of graph elements

In this paper, odd-even sum labeling of the graphs obtained by duplication of graph elements of stars and paths are studie

Dynamics of rural water supply in coastal Kerala : a sustainable development view

This paper examines empirically within sustainable development framework the dynamics of coverage in rural drinking water supply of 180 demand-driven schemes from Malappuram, predominantly a coastal district of Kerala State. The methodology for the analysis comprised (i) multidimensional specification of sustainability in terms of attributes relating to source, technology, quality, finance, institution and hygiene behaviour and (ii) estimation of the degree of sustainability using models of vagueness. Two methods of ‘vagueness’ viz. ‘supervaluationism’ and ‘fuzzy inference system’ were applied to identify systems that are at or below the sustainability line. Results show that sustainability due to source and quality is lower in schemes from non-costal regions, whereas sustainability in dimensions of finance, institution, and hygiene behaviour is lower in coastal regions. Empirical analysis of ‘marginal systems’ indicates that gender participation; female education and income have favourable impact on sustainability of schemes in rural areas. Key words: Sustainable development, Vagueness, Supervaluationism, Degree theory, Fuzzy inference, Rural drinking water supply. JEL Classification: Q56

Gender bias in a marginalised community : a study of Fisherfolk in coastal Kerala

Empirical analysis of female-male ratio in Kerala reveals that two communities, Fisherfolk and Scheduled Tribes, have gender bias in their population unlike rest of Kerala. An in-depth study on fishing households from two coastal hamlets in the state not only validates the lower proportion of females in the community statistically but also provides justification of Sen's alternative version of "cooperative conflict" model as an explanation for the lower well-being of females. All four basic functionings - morbidity, longevity, education, nutrition- estimated from survey data using capability approach show female deprivation. Further, it provides evidence to argue that lower bargaining power of females in the intra household distribution of resources emanates from their worse breakdown position, their valuation of family interest above self-interest and their lower perceived contribution to household opulence. JEL Classification : J16, C70 Key Words : deprivation, capabilities, well-being, co-operative conflic

Pricing with changing welfare criterion : an application of Ramsey-Wilson model to urban water supply

Tariff rates based on Ramsey - Wilson model of changing welfare criterion satisfying equity and efficiency have been estimated for three categories of consumers of an urban water supply in India. The design necessitates values of marginal cost and price elasticity. Paucity of data severely restricts estimation of marginal cost compelling to use breakeven as proxy. Price elasticity is obtained from household expenditure data by applying recoverability theory suggested by Pollak and Wales. The effect of household composition on elasticity has been eliminated by expressing variables on a per capita basis using adult equivalent scale (AES). Calculation of AES for water is based on Prais-Houthakker incremental method. The scale indicates that it is totally different from Amsterdam scale, the AES of food. Maximum welfare is given to small quantity consumers by charging a rate below breakeven combined with a subsidy arising from the surplus generated in the markup of large quantity consumers. The middle group is charged only the breakeven rate. The model can be generalised to any number of groups by assigning different welfare weights ranging from zero to one. The model breaks down if the rate exceeds stand-alone cost. JEL Classification : H41, D4, Q25 Key words: tariff rates, second best prices, adult equivalent scale, welfare weights, stand alone cos

Novel possibility Pythagorean interval valued fuzzy soft set method for a decision making

We discuss the theory of possibility Pythagorean interval valued fuzzy soft set, possibility interval valued fuzzy soft set and define some related the operations namely complement, union, intersection, AND and OR. The possibility Pythagorean interval valued fuzzy soft sets are a generalization of soft sets. Notably, we showed DeMorgan’s laws that are valid in possibility Pythagorean interval valued fuzzy soft set theory. Also, we propose an algorithm to solve the decision making problem based on soft set method. To compare two possibilities Pythagorean interval valued fuzzy soft sets for dealing with decision making problems and find a similarity measure is obtained. Finally, an illustrative example is discussed to prove that they can be effectively used to solve problems with uncertainties.Publisher's Versio

COMPARISON OF PHENOLIC ACIDS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF YOUNG AND MATURE LEAVES OF TECTONA GRANDIS L F

Objective: The present study aims in comparison of phenolic acids and its antioxidant potentialities of young and mature leaf extract of Tectona grandis L f.Methods: Various phenolic acids present in methanolic leaf extract of young and mature leaves of T. grandis were analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The antioxidant potentiality of the extracts was determined by various analytical methods such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ferric reducing/antioxidant power, and metal chelating activity.Results: Methanolic leaf extracts of young and mature leaf of T. grandis showed a pool of phenolic compounds such as gallic, vanillic, p-hydroxybenzoic, ferulic, chlorogenic, sinapic, p-coumarate, and cinnamic acids. Irrespective of the methods used for analyzing antioxidant capacity, young leaf extract showed potent antioxidant potentiality when compared with the mature leaf extract.Conclusion: The methanolic extract of teak leaves is rich source of many phenolic compounds, and these compounds attribute to the antioxidant capacity of the leaves. Meanwhile, by comparing the young and mature leaves, the young leaves showed much more potential than the other. It is, therefore, concluded that the young teak leaves can be used as a good source of natural antioxidant