Impact of a Non-Dedicated U-Turn on Traffic

Non-dedicated U turn has a direct effect on road safety, capacity and congestion during the traffic flow. U turn can have significant supremacy on traffic flow and headway. Therefore to study the impact of non-dedicated u turns on traffic is the ultimate requirement of the current time. This is a microscopic traffic study in which the data from a U turn (33°59’48.2"N 71°27’30.2"E) on road leading to Hayatabad and Karkhano in Peshawar is evaluated in terms of headway, speed and flow rate of traffic. Factual data is presented which shows that the average time headway surges when the traffic is interfered by the U turning vehicles. The probability density functions and cumulative density functions fit to the datasets of headway are then evaluated by the techniques of anova analysis to determine which distribution is the most suitable one for the data. Distribution data specific with the interfering U turn was taken in a separate set and evaluated. The result obtained show that the Burr Distribution and Generalized Extreme Value Distribution are the optimum to illustrate the headway data of traffic being interfered by U turning vehicles. This ligitimize the utilization of various time headway distributions of vehicles being interfered by U turning for traffic modeling.

Pest-Host Interactions in Ipm of Lasioderma Serricorne Fabricius Coleoptera: Anobiidae in Pakistan

Studies were conducted during Year 2003-2006 at Lakson Tobacco Company Limited (NWFP), Pakistan to find out effective monitoring system, population fluctuation and the role of Pest-host interactions in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of Cigarette Beetle Lasioderma serricorne (F.) in terms of preference, consumption and utilization of food. Maximum (3.35) numbers of L. serricorne were captured on STORGARD® THINLINETM CB trap followed by New Serrico, STORGARD® THINLINETM COMBITM, STORGARD® DOMETM , Diamond Coopermill and light beetle trap with 2.47, 1.88, 1.79, 0.74 and 0.58 number of beetles respectively. Maximum 4.56 beetles and minimum 0.01 beetles population was recorded during the month of August, 2003 and January, 2004 respectively. Highest temperature (42 ̊C) was recorded during August 2003. Relative humidity was 65% during August, 2003. These findings showed that lower temperature and higher R.H suppressed the population build up of L. serricorne. Significant differences were observed in the rate of preference, consumption and utilization by larval and adult stages of L. serricorne. Flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco was preferred the most by both larval and adult stages with 2.18 and 1.49 numbers respectively. Air-cured Burley (ACB) was the least preferred type with minimum number of both larvae (0.64) and adults (0.82) of L. serricorne. Multiple regression analyses of variance revealed that physico-morpho-chemical factors showed significant effects on the preference by L. serricorne larvae and adults. Reducing sugars and starch showed 93.7% variation in larval preference while moisture content, starch and nicotine showed 84.5% variation in adult preference. In case of consumption by L. serricorne, FCV was consumed the most by both larval (10.56mg) and adult (3.33mg) stages. Minimum consumption was found in case of ACB by larvae (2.92mg) and adults (1.67mg). Reducing sugars and magnesium contributed 54.9% towards variation in the larval consumption while chlorides, ash and starch showed 65.3% variation in the adult consumption. Maximum utilization (6.81mg) by larvae was observed on FCV followed by Sun-cured Rustica (SCR), Dark Air-cured (DAC) and ACB as 5.37, 4.27 and 2.23mg respectively. Adult had utilized maximum 3.07mg DAC. Least utilized type of tobacco by adult stage was (ACB) (1.31mg). pH and calcium found major contributing (48.3%) factors towards variation in larvae utilization while chlorides showed 23% variation in adult utilization.