Student Perceptions of Gender Studies as an Academic Discipline in Pakistan

The article aimed to highlight the varied perceptions of students studying Gender Studies as an academic discipline at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Pakistan. The research objective of this article was to document the students’ experiences, perceptions, misconceptions, and anxieties regarding Gender Studies. This research is the result of a continuous journey in this field where we have actively engaged and interacted with students studying in various semesters. The research was qualitative in nature and in-depth interview guidelines were employed to conduct interviews with the students of the Center of Excellence in Gender Studies (CEGS) at QAU, Islamabad. The sample size consisted of 20 students who hailed from different geographical areas of Pakistan and belonged to diverse socio-cultural and economic backgrounds. Additionally, the sample was purposely selected to include only students in their final semester. The study revealed that the instructors teaching Gender Studies were accused of propagating Western theories, and this had become a cause of concern and provocation for many students. A large number of students have indicated that they were unaware or ignorant of this academic discipline and were familiarized only after securing admission based on merit. The research demonstrates that these students were unsure of the scope of the subject and the employment opportunities it offered upon completion of their degree in Gender Studies. The respondents were under the impression that this academic discipline is not only antagonistic to their Pakistani culture but also promotes a Western agenda. A few respondents shared their experiences and pointed out that feminism faces a strong backlash in Pakistani society; hence, they found it difficult to see the relevance of feminism in Pakistan. The research also revealed that studying the discipline of Gender Studies has helped the respondents to introspect, deconstruct, and criticize their preconceived notions about gender and women. While Gender Studies as an academic discipline has equipped the students to deal with gender-based issues, it has also stirred arguments with their families. Lastly, Gender Studies created awareness related to gender issues and helped the students to overcome their misconceptions

Nutritional value of Pleurotus (Flabellatus) Djamor (R-22) cultivated on sawdusts of different woods

The sawdust of different woods were investigat ed for the cultivation of exotic strain of Pleurotus (flabellatus) djamor (R-22) to find out the efficiency of different nutrients including protein, fat, crude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture. Among all type of nutrients, protein, fat, cr ude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture of Pleurotus ostreatus on sawdust of different woods were observed. Protein was observed on cont rol treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (21.89), (21.64), (21.34), (21.16), (21.03) and (20.75) % respectively. Fat was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mi xed sawdust, simbal and kail (0.80), (0.53), (0 .41), (0.33), (0.24) and (0.11)% respectively. Crude fiber was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (8.92), (8.45), (8.17), (7.96), (7.70) and (7.32) % respectively. Ash was observ ed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (7.65), (6.75), (6 .47), (6.39), (6.33) and (6.23%) respectively. Dry matter was observed on control treatment (cotton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (6.47), (6.27), (6.13), (6.01), (5.87) and (5.67) % respectively. Moisture was observed on control treatment (c otton waste, kikar, mango, mixed sawdust, simbal and kail (84.55), (81.20), (79.85), (76.26), (74.35) and (71.14) % respectively. Oyster mushroom showed relatively more contents on control treatment cotton waste as compared to other substrates. The maximum protein, fat, crude fiber, ash, dry matter and moisture contents in Pleurotus (flabellatus) djamor (R-22) was obtained on Kikar sawdust .The lowest contents was obtained on kail sawdust

Association of hypoadiponectemia with smokeless/dipping tobacco use in young men

Background: Low levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with anti-diabetic, antiatherogenic and cardioprotective properties, is associated with increased risk of coronary disease in young men. Previous studies have demonstrated that smokeless tobacco is linked with a reduction of plasma adiponectin levels. However, the influence of smokeless tobacco (dipping tobacco) on plasma adiponectin levels still remains unknown. This study was conducted to assess the plasma adiponectin levels in young men who were using dipping tobacco. Methods: This was a community based study, which consisted of 186 young lean healthy males aged 20 to 35 years. Among these, 96 men were dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.07 ± 2.68) and 90 were non-dipping tobacco users (BMI = 23.67 ± 1.46). Serum adiponectin levels were assessed by Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A statistically significant difference in the mean adiponectin level between tobacco dipper and non-dipper groups was observed (p = 0.0001). A significant difference between the two groups was also observed in baseline parameters including triglyceride and random blood sugar levels (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups in other clinical parameters. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that dipping tobacco use was significantly associated with low level of adiponetin in community dwelling young males. This emphasizes the importance of developing community intervention to reduce the use of dipping tobacco, which will reduce the tobacco associated disease burden in the community and will improve public health

Design and Performance Analysis of an Anti-Malware System based on Generative Adversarial Network Framework

The cyber realm is overwhelmed with dynamic malware that promptly penetrates all defense mechanisms, operates unapprehended to the user, and covertly causes damage to sensitive data. The current generation of cyber users is being victimized by the interpolation of malware each day due to the pervasive progression of Internet connectivity. Malware is dispersed to infiltrate the security, privacy, and integrity of the system. Conventional malware detection systems do not have the potential to detect novel malware without the accessibility of their signatures, which gives rise to a high False Negative Rate (FNR). Previously, there were numerous attempts to address the issue of malware detection, but none of them effectively combined the capabilities of signature-based and machine learning-based detection engines. To address this issue, we have developed an integrated Anti-Malware System (AMS) architecture that incorporates both conventional signature-based detection and AI-based detection modules. Our approach employs a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) based Malware Classifier Optimizer (MCOGAN) framework, which can optimize a malware classifier. This framework utilizes GANs to generate fabricated benign files that can be used to train external discriminators for optimization purposes. We describe our proposed framework and anti-malware system in detail to provide a better understanding of how a malware detection system works. We evaluate our approach using the Figshare dataset and state-of-the-art models as discriminators, and our results demonstrate improved malware detection performance compared to existing models

Pharmacological basis for medicinal use of Ziziphyus nummularia (Rhamnaceae) leaves in gastrointestinal disorders

Purpose: To explore the pharmacological basis for the folkloric use of Ziziphus nummularia for treating diarrhea and gastrointestinal spasm.Methods: Ziziphus nummularia crude extract (Zn.Cr) was investigated for  antidiarrheal activity (50, 100 and 300 mg/kg) in terms of reduction diarrhea  droppings as well as for antisecretory activity (300 and 1000 mg/kg) in castor-oil induced model in mice. The effect of the extract on potassium chloride (KCl, 80 mM)-induced contractions in isolated rabbit jejunum tissues were was also  examined. Furthermore, the antiulcer properties of the extract was assessed in an ethanol-induced gastrointestinal ulcer model.Results: Zn.Cr (50 – 1000 mg/kg) exhibited protective effect against castor  oil-induced diarrhea (p <0.05, p < 0.01 vs saline group) and intestinal fluid  accumulation (p < 0.001 vs. castor oil group) in mice. In isolated rabbit jejunum model, Zn.Cr concentration-dependently (0.01, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1 and 3 mg/mL) caused relaxation of spontaneous and KCl-induced contractions, similar to  verapamil. Calcium antagonistic effect was indicated, as pretreatment of intestinal tissues with Zn.Cr (0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/mL) produced a rightward shift in Ca2+ concentration-response curves, with suppression of maximum contraction. In ethanol-induced gastric ulceration assay, Zn.Cr (300 and 1000 mg/kg) caused52.5 and 93.6 % inhibition, respectively (p < 0.001 vs. saline group).Conclusion: These results reveal that Ziziphus nummularia possesses anti-diarrheal, anti-secretory, anti-spasmodic and anti-ulcer actions, mediated possibly through voltage-gated Ca2+channel blockade.Keywords: Ziziphus nummularia, Anti-diarrheal, Anti-secretory, Anti-spasmodic, Anti-ulce

ECO-EFFICIENCY AND DECOUPLING ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

According to this study, the agriculture industry of Pakistan's eco-efficiency trend and decoupling status between 2001 and 2018 will be examined. As a result, the agricultural sector's impact on resources and the environment has been evaluated. Cropped area, fertilizer use, pesticide imports, and tractor output are proxies for resource use. Agricultural emissions are used as an environmental proxy. Farm output and emissions were estimated based on the World Bank and FAO data. However, there are some other indicators in the Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20. Therefore, eco-efficiency and the Tapio Decoupling Elasticity Index, two novel approaches, were used in the analysis. Across the board, the results of the eco-efficiency studies show a rise in eco-efficiency. Despite this, the results of the decoupling research show that the indicators used in the study reveal scattered decoupling states throughout separate periods. Signs of severe decoupling, expensive negative decoupling, and weak decoupling are seen regularly. Increasing Pakistan's agricultural eco-efficiency and decoupling may be possible via new technology, modern farming practices, and sound resource management. However, farmers' education and awareness campaigns might be crucial to get the most out of available resources

A Cloud-based Healthcare Framework for Security and Patients’ Data Privacy Using Wireless Body Area Networks

AbstractThe recent developments in remote healthcare systems have witnessed significant interests from IT industry (Microsoft, Google, VMware etc) that provide ubiquitous and easily deployable healthcare systems. These systems provide a platform to share medical information, applications, and infrastructure in a ubiquitous and fully automated manner. Communication security and patients’ data privacy are the aspects that would increase the confidence of users in such remote healthcare systems. This paper presents a secure cloud-based mobile healthcare framework using wireless body area networks (WBANs). The research work presented here is twofold: first, it attempts to secure the inter-sensor communication by multi-biometric based key generation scheme in WBANs; and secondly, the electronic medical records (EMRs) are securely stored in the hospital community cloud and privacy of the patients’ data is preserved. The evaluation and analysis shows that the proposed multi-biometric based mechanism provides significant security measures due to its highly efficient key generation mechanism

Effect of standing water levels on methane gas emission and yield performance of transplanted Aman rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. BRRI dhan51)

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of standing water levels on methane gas emission and yield of transplanted Aman rice (cv. BRRI dhan51) during July to December 2015 at medium low-lying area of Mohangonj upazila under Netrokona district. The experiment comprised five standing water levels on surface paddy soil viz., 5 cm, 10 cm, 15 cm, 20 cm and 25 cm. Methane (CH4) gas emission, yield components and yield of transplanted Aman rice were significantly affected by standing water levels on surface paddy soil. CH4 emission was gradually increased with rising standing water levels and remained static condition at 20-25 cm water level.  The highest CH4 emission was observed at 20 cm standing water level and the lowest CH4 emission was recorded at 5 cm water level. The highest CH4   peak recorded at 85 days after transplanting (DAT). The highest CH4 flux (36.59 mg/m2/h) was observed in treatment 20 cm water level whereas the lowest CH4flux (21.17 mg/m2/h) was observed in 5 cm water level.  Finally, the CH4 emission dropped at 108 DAT. On and average, the CH4 emission rate during rice cultivation followed 20 cm > 25 cm> 15 cm > 10 cm > 5 cm water level. Soil Eh gradually decreased with progress of time and plant growth and at 85 DAT highly reduced condition developed in all treatments. The maximum reduced condition was observed (-238.67 mV) in treatment 20 cm water level and minimum one (- 214.667 mV) was found in 5 cm water level. The highest grain (5260 kg ha-1) and straw (6725.0 kg ha-1) yields were obtained at 10 cm standing water level while the lowest grain (4191.6 kg ha-1) and straw (5050.0 kg ha-1) yields were recorded in 5 cm and 15 cm water level, respectively. It may be concluded that 10 cm standing water level is beneficial for transplant Aman rice (cv. BRRI dhan51) cultivation in low lying area in respect of grain yield and environmental issues

Phytotoxic characterization of crude methanolic extract of Periploca aphylla

Periploca aphylla is traditionally used in the treatment of various ailments. Phytotoxic activity of crude methanolic extract of P. aphylla was tested on the germination of wheat seeds and on the growth of the germinated seedlings. In both the field and plate studies, the extract showed inhibitory effect on the germination of the growth of root and shoot of the seedlings. The inhibition was found to be dose dependent. The higher concentration of 1000 μg/ml showed maximum inhibitory effect on the growth of root and shoots in the studies of plate as well as on fresh and dry weight of wheat plant. Similarly, the herbicidal activity is also dependent on the concentration of extract. In this study, it was found that inhibitory potential of methanolic extract of P. aphylla increased as 1000 >100 >10 μg/ml.Keywords: Phytotoxic activity, herbicidal activity, germination, plates and field studies, Perifloca aphyll