Gender Based Linguistic Variations in Urdu Language and Their Role in Suppression of Females

Sociolinguistics deals with linguistic variations such as dialect, idiolect, genderlect, register etc. It deals with ways of using particular languages and the social roles of speakers of these languages.  It is the speaker-oriented approach. Genders have different characteristics in the use of language, which lead to the gender differences in language. The present study was conducted to analyze the gender-based linguistic variations (variations at discourse and communication level) in Urdu language. Deborah Tannen’s Genderlect theory is the theoretical Background of the study. She has presented six sets of language contrasts that are used as instrument to analyze male and female conversations. It is commonly believed that women language is more sophisticated, apologetic as compared to men. These differences are called gender preferential differences in a patriarchal society with their own fancies and whims. The hypothesis is that men and women have different ways of communicating, based on male and female perception of the world as they are made of different things and contrasting style. The qualitative paradigm used in this study. Direct observation, interview and tape recording are used as tools for the data collection. Recorded conversation has been transcribed and analyzed to provide data from which these issues have been discussed. The researcher has analyzed Urdu language conversation among Urdu speech community living specially in Sialkot, according to Tannen’s speech contrasts. The data was analyzed manually. The findings show that variations occur due to the use of various linguistic devices, style, topic of discussion, power etc. This study is limited to the Urdu speech community. The limitation of my research is that I observed the language of middle class Urdu speech community not the other classes. In this research, I only highlighted variations at communication level, and delimited all other variations such as morphological, syntactic, phonological variations. Future researchers can study these aspects. The study will benefit the whole society in creation of awareness about non-sexist language to give a psychological identity of females in Pakistan

PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF OXALIS CORNICULATA

The present study aimed to perform pharmacognostic, physicochemical and phytochemical investigations on crude powders and different types of extracts of various parts of Oxalis corniculata (Family: Oxalidaceae). The sections of different parts of the plant were stained and examined using a light microscope. Powders of different parts were also examined under light microscope. The behavior of the powders under ultraviolet light was also investigated, before and after treating with certain reagents. The powders were analyzed for the determination of proximate parameters, primary metabolites and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra. The extracts of different parts were investigated for primary and secondary metabolites. FTIR spectra of leaves stem and fruit showed bands at 3435–3400 cm-1 , 2918 cm1 , 1654–1651 cm-1 and 1052–1049 cm-1 , however, the fingerprint region of the spectrum indicated the difference in chemical constituents. The stained cross-sections of different parts and their powder’s microscopy, TLC profiles and primary and secondary metabolites showed distinct pharmacogostic features that could be used for identification. The observed moisture content values of leaves and stems were 5.5% and 6.0%, respectively which showed less quantity of moisture in the crude powders. The results of the present study may be used for the identification of the plant.&nbsp

Pharmacokinetics of Caffeic Acid from Methanol Seed Extract of Syzygium cumini L in Rats

Purpose: To describe caffeic acid-based pharmacokinetics of methanol extract of seed of Syzygium cumini L. in rats.Methods: A dose of the extract (500 mg, equivalent to 37.135 mg caffeic acid) was administered orally to 6 male Wister rats, weighing 200 ± 10 g. Blood samples (0.5 mL), collected from the tail vein at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240 and 720 min, were processed and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography and detected with florescent light detector (FLD).Results: Following the administration of the extract, caffeic acid achieved maximum plasma concentration (5.96 ± 0.49 μg/mL) in 1.0 h which was also the time to achieve maximum concentration (Tmax). Mean resident time (MRT) and half-life (t1/2) were 4.092 ± 0.94 h and 0.14 ± 0.01 h, respectively.Conclusion: The results indicate that absorption of caffeic acid from the oral route is fast, but lower amounts are absorbed. The method developed for the extraction of caffeic acid from the plasma and HPLC determination may be useful in establishing phyto-bioequivalence between Syzygium cumini seed products.Keywords: Caffeic acid, Pharmacokinetics, Syzygium cumini, Phytobioequivalence, Absorptio

Reduction of reactive red 241 by oxygen insensitive azoreductase purified from a novel strain Staphylococcus KU898286.

An oxygen insensitive azoreductase was purified from a novel bacterial strain (Staphylococcus sp. KU898286) that was isolated from an abandoned site of the textile waste discharge unit. The isolated enzyme had efficiently cleaved the azo-bonds through reductive transformation under aerobic conditions. Initial phenotypic characterization and final construction of phylogenetic tree on the basis of 16s rDNA demonstrated 99% resemblance of the isolate to Staphylococcus aureus. The purified azoreductase was found to have a broad spectrum activity that reduced RR241 at a concentration of 50mg/L with pH between 6-8 and 30°C temperature). Besides, the reactive red 241 (RR241) was reduced at extracellular level as well as NADH dependent intracellular level. Complete reduction/ decolourization of RR241 were achieved after 18 hrs of exposure. The final degradation product observed to be 2-nephthol was purified by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and the molecular mass was computed by Gas Chromatography-Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The study revealed a cost effective and eco-friendly approach to degrade the toxic dyes into less toxic products by Staphylococcus sp. KU898286

Effect of different conditions on degradation of reactive red 241 (RR241).

<p>Congo red (CR), methyl red (MR) and azobenzene (AZ) by azoreductse from bacterial isolate S1 (a) incubation time (0-40hrs) at constant pH 7, temperature of 30°C and concentration of 50mg/L (b) incubation temperature (0–50°C) at constant pH 7, incubation time 16hrs and concentration of 50mg/L (c) pH (4–12) at constant temperature 30°C, incubation time 16hrs and concentration of 50mg/L (d) concentration of substrate at constant temperature 30°C, incubation time 16hrs and pH 7.</p

Phylogenetic analysis of the strain S1 (KU898286) following neighbour joining approach.

<p>Bootstrap values (100%) as generated from Phylogeny.fr, 2016. Here bar indicates the 0.4 substitution after every nucleotide position.</p

HPLC elution profile.

<p>(a) reactive red 241 and (b) its reduced metabolites after 18hrs of exposure to the enzyme (dye conc. was 50mgL^-1).</p

FTIR chromatogram of reactive red 241 and its degradation metabolites.

<p>FTIR chromatogram of reactive red 241 and its degradation metabolites.</p

Phtotoxicity assessment of reactive red 241 and its degradation product.

<p>Phtotoxicity assessment of reactive red 241 and its degradation product.</p

Kinetics of azoreductase as purified from <i>S</i>. <i>aureus</i> strain KU898286.

<p>Figure (4a) represents the velocities observed by varying RR241 dye concentration (0-20mM) in the absence of NADH; Figure (4b) represents the velocities observed by varying NADH concentration (0-30mM) where the RR241 was constant (0.5 mM).</p