ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF WATER FILTRATION UNITS IN RAWALPINDI AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN TAP WATER AND FILTRATION UNITS

The study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of different water samples from filtration plants and Tap water for quality assessment from different areas of Rawalpindi during May and June of 2013. Analysis showed that the samples from tap water contains microbial contamination and water samples from filtration units were free of microbial contamination and other analyzed parameters were within permissible limits as compared with Pakistan Standards Quality Control Authority, 2008. Thus study depicts that the working of the filtration plants is effective

Marker-Assisted Selection for Durable Rust Resistance in a Widely Adopted Wheat Cultivar "Inqilab-91"

The slow rusting wheat cultivars viz., Tukuru and Pavon-76 were hybridized with a widely adopted Pakistani wheat cultivar ?Inqilab-91? to incorporate durable rust resistance. Specific primers were used to validate the presence of durable rust resistance in a bulked segregating population. The F1 plants were backcrossed with either parent to obtain BC1F1 populations which were then self-pollinated to get four F2 populations. A total of 102 randomly selected back-crossed BC1F2 plants were used for bulk segregant?s analysis. Genomic DNA was extracted from randomly selected individual plants and aliquots of DNA of each sample were mixed to constitute bulk pools of each population. Durable resistance gene Lr34/Yr18 was heterozygous in populations 1, showing amplification of both the diagnostic csLV34a allele and the null csLV34b alleles. Population 2 amplified homozygous csLV34a alleles, while populations 3 and 4 amplified the null allele. The Lr46/Yr29 gene was identified in population 3 and 4. Compared to Inqilab-91 the Population 1 indicated 33-67% and Population 2 indicated 56-78% lower infection type while population 3 and 4 indicated 22-44% lower infection type to yellow rust. All the populations and parents showed the prevalence of Sr2 and absence of Lr37/Yr17/Sr38 gene complex. ? 2017 Friends Science PublisherspreprintPeer reviewe

Electron emission characterization of laser-induced gaseous plasma

Laser induced hydrogen plasma has been investigated as a source of electrons. The energy, temperature and flux of the electrons have been determined by using two different temporal detectors; Faraday cup and Rogowski coil. The energy, temperature and flux were measured from the electrons extracted from laser induced hydrogen plasma. The Rogowski coil has been used for measurement of flux and current whereas Faraday cup has been used to determine the current density in laser induced plasma. The energy and temperature of the electrons are measured by the time of flight method in the range of 1.23 - 5.04 keV and 2516.26 eV, respectively. The flux of the electrons has been measured ≈ 1015 by Rogowski coil and the maximum current has been measured to be 39.6 kA. The current density has been measured by the Faraday cup ranges from 20 Am-2 to 23 Am-2

Awareness of Asthma Genetics in Pakistan: A Review with Some Recommendations

About 334 million people worldwide have been affected by asthma and additionally 100 million expected to have asthma by the year 2025. Being the sixth most populous and economically developing country and with the increasing trend of urbanization and due to poor health facilities, lacking the knowledge of the causes of the disease, increased pollutant exposures and consanguineous marriages, Pakistani population has greater chances of asthma and allergic diseases. Almost 20% of overall pediatric population of Pakistan is affected by this disease. In the past, only environmental factors were considered responsible for asthma but now it is a well-known fact that genetic factors have major contribution in the development of the disease. Poor knowledge of the possibility of genetics involved in this disease has been very common in both uneducated as well as educated population of this region. There is no doubt today that genetics have a major role in the exhibition of asthma but unlike other Mendelian disorders it cannot easily be identified by a single or a simple set of associated genes, rather small contributions of multiple genes and environmental exposure to asthmatic patients may be found. Our focus in this article is genetic factors of asthma in Pakistan. More than 100 genes associated with asthma have already been reported in different populations worldwide but generally, due to an ignored disease in this region, possible genetic causes, impacts, management and treatment of the disease has rarely been studied in Pakistan. This article was intended to explore some latest developments in asthma genetics, diagnosis, prognosis and management and suggest some recommendations to control this deadly disease

Estimation of Genetic Variability, Heritibility and Correlation for Some Morphological Traits in Spring Wheat

This study was conducted to assess correlation among the six wheat genotypes and their nine crosses at cool climatic conditions of Rawalakot, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. High heritability was observed in flag leaf area, peduncle length and spike length, whereas 1000-grain weight, number of spikelets per spike and plant height showed moderate heritability. Peduncle length, grain yield and plant height, flag leaf area and days to 50% heading showed low genetic advance. Positive direct effect was observed by flag leaf area, numbers of tillers per plant, plant height and number of spikelets per spike while days to 50% heading, number of spikelets per spike and 1000-grain weight showed direct negative effects on yield. High genotypic and  phenotypic  variability  was  observed  by  plant  height,  peduncle  length  and  grain  yield  per  plant. Values of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits under study. Key words: Spring Wheat, Heritability, Genetic Variability, Correlation and Flag leaf

Antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts from nine different rose cultivars

Rose petals have been applied as food additives in teas, cakes and flavor extracts. The aim of this research study was to explore and reveal the antioxidant potential of aqueous extracts of rose petals belonging to nine genotypes of rose (wild as well as hybrid). The in vitro antioxidant activities of roses were studied by lipid peroxidation assay, DPPH radical scavenging assay, iron chelation assay, phosphomolybdenum reduction assay and total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The aqueous extract showed inhibition against lipid peroxidation (TBARS), induced by prooxidants (10 µM FeSO4) in mice liver homogenate. The free radical scavenging activities of the extracts were determined by scavenging of the DPPH radical. Extracts also showed metal chelating activities and high antioxidant activity in the phosphomolybdenum assay. The high content of phenolics and flavonoids detected in aqueous extracts may be responsible for the antioxidant activity. Amongst the different rose genotypes, screened, Rosa moschata (musk rose) was found to carry slightly higher antioxidant potential, owing to its higher phytochemical content

Parametric optimisation of friction stir welding on aluminium alloy (EN AW-1100) plates

Friction stir welding is a solid-state welding process used extensively for aluminium alloys. EN AW-1100 alloy is mostly used for its exceptional corrosion resistance, high ductility, high thermal and electrical conductivities, and cost-effectiveness. This study is focused on the optimisation of friction stir welding parameters to achieve enhanced mechanical properties of 5mm thick EN AW-1100 alloy plates welded with a single pass, using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array and ANOVA analysis. Experimental results revealed that maximum tensile strength of 79 MPa and percentage elongation of 38.87 % were achieved. The maximum Vickers hardness achieved in the stir zone was 34.15. These results were used for optimisation using Minitab and it was determined that 2000 RPM, 30 mm·min−1 traverse speed and square probe profile came out to be the best parameters for maximum tensile strength. 4000 RPM, 30 mm·min−1 traverse speed and square probe geometry were the best parameters for maximum hardness in the stir zone. ANOVA analysis showed that the most significant parameter for tensile strength was traverse speed. None of the considered parameters were influencing the hardness value in the stir zone at a 95 % confidence level

Trackable CEMB-Klean Cotton Transgenic Technology: Affordable Climate Neutral Agri-biotech Industrialization for Developing Countries

Background: Transgenic technology reflects the incorporation of novel useful traits in crop plants like cotton for economic benefits by overcoming the problems including insects’ pests and weeds in special. The present study is the success story of the continuous effort of CEMB team started back in the 1990s.Methods: This study includes characterization of a large number of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains taken from local soil and subjected to direct transformation of isolated BT genes into local cotton cultivars. Protocols for transformation into cotton plants were optimized and validated by the development of double gene codon optimized (Cry1Ac and Cry2A) transgenic cotton varieties.Results: The resulting GMOs in the form of CEMB-33, CA-12, CEMB-66 have been approved by Punjab Seed Council in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Double Bt and weedicide resistant cotton harboring CEMB-Modified and codon optimized cp4EPSPS (GTGene). These varieties can tolerate glyphosate spray @ 1900ml per acre without the appearance of necrotic spots/shedding and complete removal of all surrounding weeds in the cotton field is a significant advance to boost cotton production without spending much on insecticides and herbicides.Conclusion: In the current report, two unique sets of primers which amplify 1.1 Kb for CEMB-double Bt genes and 660 bp product for CEMB-Modified cp4EPSPS (GTGene) were tested. CEMB cotton variety CKC-01 is specially designed as low cost and easy to use by local farmer’s technology has the potential to revolutionize the cotton growing culture of the country.Keywords: Event detection; Bt Cotton; CEMB transgenic technology; GTGen