Bamboo Stick Research Articles

Development of Modified Power Operated Lac Scraper

Lac is the hardened resin secreted by the tiny lac insect (Kerria lacca Kerr). It is the only resin of animal origin. Lac insect S thrive only on certain trees called lac hosts. Butea monospenna (Fa/as), Zizyphus mauritiana (Ber) and Schleichera oleosa (Kusum) are the major lac hosts used for lac cultivation in India. India is the largest producer of lac. Indian lac is considered to be the best in quality. Apart from India, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and China also produce lac. In India about 3 million farmers mostly tribal are involved in the lac cultivation spread over states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarn, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa. Lac cultivation involves five major operations i.e., pruning, inoculation, used up broodlac (phunki) removal, harvesting and lac scraping. Mostly lac cultivation operations are carried out manually with the aid of locally manufactured traditional tools. Manual lac scraping is very slow and a tedious process. In one of the method farmers sit on the ground in a group and scrap lac with the traditional tools like small scraping knife (dauli) and sickle. In other method, farmers remove lac encrustation by beating lac sticks with bamboo stick. One person scrapes, 10-15kg of lac in a day. As scraping is done on the ground, unwanted foreign materials like sand, soil, wooden twigs etc. find their way into scraped lac, fetching less price to farmers and creating problems during lac processing in industry. In order to increase the output and reduce the drudgery of lac farmers a simple power operated lac scraper was designed and developed modifying the earlier developed machine. In the earlier machine V-belt and V-pulley type speed reduction mechanism in two steps was used, which made machine voluminous. To make the machine compact, a gearbox instead of V-belt and V-pulley was used to reduce the 1450 rpm speed at motor shaft to 30-40 rpm at scraping roller shaft. Machine consisted of scraping rollers, separating screen, feed hopper, drive mechanism and machine frame. The machine scrapes lac under action of shear and compressive forces. One person operates the machine and scrapes 10.6 kg lac stick in an hour with scraping efficiency of 92 per cent. The machine gets power from 0.5 H.P. single phase AC motor. The capacity of the developed machine is more than the capacity of earlier developed Hand Operated and Pedal Operated Lac Scraper and at par as compared with Power Operated Lac Scraper. It is suitable for villages having electricity.

The effect of fiber density on strength capacity of bamboo

The effect of the diameter and age of bamboo on the compressive strength capacity of bamboo stick were investigated. The fiber density of sclerenchyma tissues of two types of bamboo, namely Mao Zhu and Kao Zhu, was examined under scanning electronic microscope. Findings indicated that the compressive strengths for Mao Zhu and Kao Zhu ranged between 47.0 and 62.8 N/mm 2 and between 37.7 and 62.0 N/mm 2, respectively, and the strength decreased significantly with the increase in its outer diameter. The sclerenchyma fibers were more closely packed at the top section of the bamboo, resulting in a higher strength capacity of bamboo. The fiber density of sclerenchyma tissue within the bamboo is a good indicator of the strength capacity of bamboo.

The effect of fiber density on strength capacity of bamboo

The effect of the diameter and age of bamboo on the compressive strength capacity of bamboo stick were investigated. The fiber density of sclerenchyma tissues of two types of bamboo, namely Mao Zhu and Kao Zhu, was examined under scanning electronic microscope. Findings indicated that the compressive strengths for Mao Zhu and Kao Zhu ranged between 47.0 and 62.8 N/mm2 and between 37.7 and 62.0 N/mm2, respectively, and the strength decreased significantly with the increase in its outer diameter. The sclerenchyma fibers were more closely packed at the top section of the bamboo, resulting in a higher strength capacity of bamboo. The fiber density of sclerenchyma tissue within the bamboo is a good indicator of the strength capacity of bamboo.

Unique foreign body injury: bamboo penetration of thigh and pelvis while skiing.

We present a case of traumatic bamboo foreign body penetration through the posterior thigh extending cephalad into the pelvis sustained during skiing. The unsuspected bamboo foreign body was missed prospectively on the initial portable trauma radiograph of the pelvis, but was retrospectively quite apparent as a linear 12 x 2-cm radiolucent region overlying the left pelvis and hip region. On CT examination, the bamboo stick appeared as a round cylindrical air-filled structure of high density compared to soft tissue - the typical appearance of bamboo. Bamboo foreign bodies can be recognized radiographically by this typical appearance, since it is one of the few wood products that causes high attenuation relative to soft tissue on CT.

Transnasal bamboo foreign body lodged in the sphenoid sinus

Transnasal sphenoid sinus foreign body is a rare condition. We report a very rare case of transnasal bamboo foreign body lodged in the sphenoid sinus without damages to the orbital wall or skull base. A 69-year-old man fell down onto a bamboo stick, which snapped after penetrating his face through the right nostril. CT demonstrated that the bamboo stick stuck into the middle meatus, penetrated the ethmoid sinus just medial to the lamina papyracea and reached to the sphenoid sinus. No abnormal findings were detected in the orbit or skull base. The foreign body was removed from the nasal cavity without any complication. The endoscope was useful for evaluating possible injuries in the orbit and skull base and confirming the absence of residual foreign bodies.

Technique for the long‐term storage of lobster (Homarus) spermatophores

AbstractWe have developed a procedure for the long‐term storage of lobster (Homarus) sperm. Sperm are collected from males by electrically stimulating the area around the gonopore. They are transferred with a bamboo stick to a plastic test tube containing paraffin oil and are stored for variable periods of time at 4–7°C. Sperm stored up to 289 days appear morphologically normal (equivalent to unstored sperm) when examined by phase contrast microscopy and electron microscopy, and morphologically normal sperm are able to undergo acrosome reactions. After longer periods of storage, degenerative changes begin to develop in sperm. These include loss of the nuclear spikes, condensation of the subacrosomal material, and distortion of the acrosome. Sperm stored better in spermatophores that had thick walls than in those with thin walls. In some spermatophores, bacteria were found in the sperm mass after storage; in general, sperm in these spermatophores were morphologically abnormal. This technique provides a means for saving lobster sperm for subsequent use in experiments or for artificial insemination of female lobsters. It may be adaptable to other invertebrate species that produce spermatophores.

Asymptomatic Leptomeningeal Dissemination of Tumor to the Spinal Cord: Report of Three Cases

Abstract Three children with a history of malignant tumor (cerebellar medulloblastoma in two cases and adrenal neuroblastoma in one case) are discussed. All three had diffuse leptomeningeal dissemination, which was confirmed at autopsy. Computed tomography (CT) revealed diffuse enhancement of the intracranial subarachnoid spaces after the administration of contrast material. Despite the absence of spinal cord signs and symptoms, autopsy showed severe diffuse seeding of neoplastic cells in the spinal subarachnoid space giving the spinal cord the appearance of a “bamboo stick.” Myelography is necessary to disclose clinically silent spinal cord lesions when CT or cerebrospinal fluid cytological examination reveals evidence of subarachnoid dissemination of tumor.

長期ストレスによる高血圧と動脈病変

The purpose of this study is to report the effects of long-term stress to the rats on the blood pressure or the spontaneous hypertension, and on pathological changes especially in cardiovascular system. Methods of stress.Experiment 1: Male Wistar rats were stressed with thrushing unceasingly and harassingly with a bamboo stick for 20 min./day for three and twelve months. Experiment 2: Male Wistar rats were fed by high fat diet and stressed with the same manner as Experiment 1. for two months. Experiment 3: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive rats (WKYs) were subjected to combination of immobilization and electrical stress for three months.Results. 1. The blood pressure reached a high value (191±3mmHg) in twelve months in Experiment 1. The development of hypertension was accelerated in stressed SHRs when compared with unstressed SHRs. 2. Organ-body weight ratios of heart, kidney and adrenal gland were increased by stress. 3. Mean values of relative thickness of media to radius of small arteries were increased in heart of stressed group of twelve months in Experiment 1. and in kidney and mesentery of stressed SHRs in Experiment 2. 4. Myocardium of stressed SHRs in Experiment 3. disclosed severe degree of fibrosis.

The correction of perceptual assumption during the period of growth

A small-scale, monocular distorted room (DR) was used in an experiment involving 159 subjects aged 6–14 yr and 17 adult subjects (18–45 yr). A static cue (two exercise-books) and a dynamic cue (exploration with a bamboo stick) were used by these subjects to correct their mistaken assumption that the DR was normal (assumption NR).

The uses of seaweed as food in Hawaii

Rapid and frequent air service to Hawaii has brought about a stronger westernization in food choices and food habits than was possible 30 or 40 years ago. The transport of more fresh foods from the Orient is also possible. Western fastfood establishments such as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken are patronized as heavily as similar places in California. They have nearly entirely replaced "saiinin stands" of pre-World War II where a bowl of noodles and a bamboo stick of barbecued meat could be had quickly. Chinese restaurants are the favorite choice of students in ethnobotany at the University of Hawaii (polls taken in 1976, 1977), but there is no question that a hamburger or hot dog is everyone's favorite food, regardless of ethnic background. Against this change in food availability and food habits, continued use of seaweeds in the diet is surprising. Those of Hawaiian, Japanese and Filipino ancestry, the principal ethnic groups historically having seaweeds in their diets, purchase enough seaweeds to keep several suppliers in business (personal observation). As used by these groups of people, seaweed food preparations appear to be unsuitable as additions to standard western meals. Their flavor is inherently "strong," i.e., very definite, unlike for example the relatively pallid string bean; they may look like tangled strings; their color (black, brown, purple, dark red) unlike most western foods. Where in a western menu would you place a dish containing seaweed dressed in soy sauce and sugar (all three items with a distinctive flavor); where cold rolls of rice wrapped in purple seaweed, and where chopped, salted fresh seaweed, intended to flavor something bland, but not used as a gravy or sauce? I suggest that two to three meals a week are probably traditional Hawaiian, Japanese or Filipino in the examples chosen above, the remainder being western, i.e., "meat and potatoes." Hawaiian preparation of seaweed or li,nu (edible seaweed) consists of chopping or mashing the fresh raw weed, adding salt and perhaps fresh chili pepper, and eating it as a relish in a fish and poi (or more recently, rice) meal. Poi is derived from taro, Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott, and is steamed then pounded with water into a sticky paste with a consistency like that of chocolate pudding. It is served cold and has a faintly acid flavor. The piquancy of a variety of seaweeds added to bland poi or rice has been one of the historical and current reasons for retaining seaweeds in the food choices of Hawaiians, used here to include only native Polynesian descendants. From a list compiled by Reed (1907) of 70 "economic" seaweeds used by Hawaiians for food, Abbott and Williamson (1974) were able to identify 29 species by both Hawaiian common name and Latin binomial. The discrepancy reflects in part, multiplicity of Hawaiian names for the same species, or a lack of knowledge of the meaning of Hawaiian common names, resulting in inapplicable or inappropriate names for certain species. It is at the native Hawaiian feast, a luau, that celebrates the first birthday of a child, or the 75th birthday of a parent or grandparent, or the 50th wedding anniversary that a variety of seaweeds is found on the festive board. At these times, those who know where certain species grow are charged with collection and preparation as their contribution to the feast. At least four species of algae commonly appear: limu kohu (Asparagopsis taxiformis, a red alga), limnu eleele

Eggplant shoot and fruit borer <i>leucinodes orbonalis</i> guénee male moth catch in sex pheromone trap with special reference of lure elevation and IPM

Context: Female pheromone attracts the male eggplant shoot and fruit borer. The pheromone lure could be used in catching male adults to control this pest population in eggplant fields.Objectives: To study the efficacy of sex pheromone (lure) on the male moth catch of eggplant shoot and fruit borer (ESFB) Leucinodes orbonalis Guenée, shoot and fruit destruction and fruit yield in the control, IPM operated fields and farmer’s fields. Materials and Methods: For pheromone trap operation the experiments were done in four sites of the Rajshahi City. For IPM strategy two sites were selected in Paba upozilla. Pheromone traps were operated with the lure combination of 100:1 of E11-16: Ac and E11-16: OH. The trap consisted of a 3-liter capacity, 22-cm tall rectangular or round clear plastic container. A triangular hole is cut in any two opposite sides starting 3 to 4 cm from the bottom. The traps were randomly assigned in the study plots and installed with the help of bamboo stick. Sex pheromone trap height from ground level in the field was standardization for best trapping efficiency. For this traps were placed at 0.5 m and 1 m high above the ground in the field. In both cases control fields (without insecticide) of the same size were used in the experiments. Results: The number of ESFB males in ten trap catches were 1.7 to 4.5 with a mean number of 3.26 ± 0.32, 8.49 ± 0.36, 5.20 ± 0.24 and 14.95 ± 0.34 catch/trap in the Fields 1,2,3 and 4 respectively. The average moth catch per trap was 1.76 ± 0.56 and 4.54 ± 0.94 in the 0.5 and 1 m lure respectively. The damaged shoot was 19.34 ± 2.31% at 0.5 m lure height, whereas at 1m height no damaged shoot was recorded. A damaged fruit was recorded as 29.74 ±1.87% and 14.47 ± 2.29% with the fruit yield in q/ha was 176.58 ± 6.38% and 232.56 ± 6.63% at the 0.5 and 1m lure height plots respectively. When no trap was operated in the eggplant fields the shoot damage, fruit damage and fruit yield were 3.48%, 31.15% and 13.70 kg/100m2 respectively in the non-IPM blocks. On the otherhand they were 1.56%, 10.66% and 27.54 kg/100m2 in the IPM blocks respectively. Conclusion: The sex pheromones which have been extensively studied and already are in management programmes should be fine tuned to improve their efficacy in totality in an Integrated Pest Management Programme on the basis of feedback from the extension workers, and farmers. Key words: pheromone; Eggplant; Leucinodes orbonalis; IPM DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v18i0.8768 JBS 2010; 18(0): 10-15

Pottery making in the Yami tribe of Betel Tabago

Pottery making is still practised among the Yami tribe, Botel Tobago, although the artifact has been abandoned at one time or another by the other tribes of the Formosan mainland. According to the economical calender of the Yami, it is done in the month of 'Paruptogun', or September, and restricted to the men who manufacture such earthen ware as the Puraranum (water-jar), Wanga (boilingpot), Waga (earthen bowl), etc.The plastic clay, which is decomposed andesite or agglomerate that prevalent n the island, is obtained from certain points along the valley, and upon being brought to the village, is first passed between the fingers in order to eliminate the small rock's fragments and grits, and kneaded well without adding any sand. As soon as the Yami has finished gathering the clay, the fuel which had been left in the mountains to dry is transported to the sand beach, where it is again dried in the sun.The Yami mould the clay into a well-shaped pot with great ingenuity without employing the potter's wheel. A lump of the prepared clay is shaped with the hands into the form of a cylinder, the round base of which is laid on a leaf of the Raon grass (Alocasia macrorrhiza SCHOTT) and placed upon a board. The worker next pats the pot from the outside with the Paparo (patting club) in one hand, and supporting that part of the spot which is being patted from the inside with a flat stone in the other hand, thus building up the rough shape by gradually thinning and expanding the clay. The roughly made pot is moreover beaten out into shape with the Pipikpik (patting battledore) in one hand and a flat stone in the other. When the pot has acquired the desired shape, the outside is scraped with the Tatari or bamboo stick. The pot is left to dry in the wind, but out of the sun for about three days. The firing place is a cleaned space of ground on the sea-shore, a fine day with little or no wind being chosen. The fuel, which is cut up into lengths of a meter or so, is piled up in the form of a square block on the ground, and the pots are placed on it with their bottoms resting on the fuel laid side by side. More fuel is then added above and around the sides of the pots, and then being fired on the top of the fuel. Pots are baked two or three hours after the fuel is fired. The moulding of the clay and the firing of the pottery require great skill, with the result that the pot is often broken. Consequently, many taboos are observed among the potters in the pottery making season.Explanation of Textfigures.1. Diagrammatic sketch showing the manner of holding the flat, circular stone from the inside of the pot.2. Pipikpik or patting battledore (Left) and Paparo or patting club. (Right).3. Ipamarun-so-waga with section.4. Pasasakuvan-so-waga or mould used for making the Waga or earthen bowl.5. Moulding the clay into a cylinder.6. Adjusting the shape of the pot with the Pipikpik or patting battledore.7. Placing the pots in a depression in the piled fuel preparatory to firing.