Life in lockdown: Diary of a Pakistani student in Beijing

Journal #2 from Media Rise's Quarantined Across Borders Collection by Azmat Khan. From Pakistan. Quarantined in China, Beijing, Chaoyang district.Media Rise Publications. Quarantined Across Borders Collection. Edited by Dr. Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian.The essay illustrates my initial state of disorientation but also my struggle and hope for new life during lockdow

Acute hypotensive and diuretic activities of Berberis vulgaris root bark aqueous extract in normal rats

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of intravenous administration of Berberis vulgaris root bark aqueous extract (BRBD) on the cardiovascular and renal functions of healthy normotensive rats. The different doses of BRBD 1, 10 and 20 mg/kg were administered intravenously (i.v) in normal rats. Blood pressure, diuretic activity and serum renal profile were analyzed. Intravenous injection of BRBD at the different doses of 1, 10 and 20 mg/kg showed a dose-dependent reduction in mean arterial blood pressure (

The comparison study between UK daylighting simulation-Malaysia daylighting simulations due to overcast sky conditions

Due to the growing demand for building energy simulation in buildings, lot of work has been done in research since last 50 years but still a huge area needs to be covered. The current state of research, which is moving towards building energy simulation is driven by the ongoing development. The ability to analyze energy requirements accurately in new buildings at various design stages can help clients achieve optimization and meet the requirements laid down by local energy legislation. Further increase in the demand for building energy performance simulation is too completed as new policies and regulations are coming up, such as the European Union (EU) directive on building energy performance. With increasing concern in this field, architects and building designers are demanding more simulation and validation to be performed on buildings prior to construction, so as to better understand the building design and energy performance relationships. This compassion study presented the sky conditions which are varying every single second. Therefore to analyze the performance of daylighting, its effectiveness that affected into work places in two different locations in UK and Malaysia

Nitrogen metabolism as a bio indicator of Cu stress in Vigna radiata

Abstract The possible involvement of Cu on N -metabolism in relation with protease activity, proline, amino acid contents and protein oxidation was observed. These were monitored as bio-indicators in the seedlings of Vigna radiata treated with (0-25 ppm) CuSO 4 to ascertain the role of Cu in generation of oxidative stress. Copper is an essential nutrient element for the plant growth, may be toxic when in excess by their participation in redox cycles producing hydroxyl radicals ( · OH) which are extremely toxic to the living cells. Cu produced a significant inhibition of growth as well as a reduction in the water contents in the roots and the leaves of the seedlings. Results showed an increase in the protease activity and decrease in the protein contents, which may be attributed with the plant defense against metal toxicity through hydrolysis of the oxidative proteins. An inverse relation between protease activity and other nitrogen compound showed the effective hydrolyzing role of protease due to which decrease in proline and total amino acid contents were observed, exhibited the highest sensitivity to excess metal, followed by the plant dry weight accumulation, leaf area formation. Decrease in proline contents support the sensitivity of Vigna radiata and weak defense of species against Cu stress

Domestic violence among Pakistani women: an insight into literature

The objectives of this search were to estimate the burden of domestic violence, its contributing factors and strategies based on literature review for the prevention and control of domestic violence. Published literature about domestic violence in Pakistan during the years 1998 to 2008 was analyzed and scrutinized. This article is based on the searched result of 200 articles published in the English language from which finally 13 articles were selected. Search terms included “Violence”, “Domestic violence”, “Domestic violence in Pakistan” and “Strategies and Recommendations for Prevention of Domestic violence”. According to these studies, the intimate partners\u27 violence is reported as in the range of 30% to 79%. In Pakistan, there are some notable factors which make women prone to domestic violence like women\u27s low education, low empowerment, existing misconceptions about Islamic thoughts and traditional norms, misuse of women in the name of honor justifying honor killing, poverty and existence of unjust traditional dowry system in the society. The most common points made by researchers for prevention and control are 1) the need to recognize the domestic violence against women as an important issue 2) enhancement of educational and health facilities for the prevention and control of violence with combined awareness programs by governmental or nongovernmental organizations and 3) enactment and promulgation of comprehensive laws to combat this problem. Our work reveals that a significantly large proportion of women suffer with domestic violence and the factors identified are preventable and modifiable to a greater extent. Further research is also needed in this regar

Morphology, biochemistry, and management of Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) accessions in Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Elagnaceae) is a native multi-purpose medicinal shrub or tree of Asian regions and an integral component of high altitude terraced agroforestry systems of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. The strong increase in deforestation, urbanisation, and the loss of ethnically-based medication practices in local communities are gradually leading to depletion of its stands and knowledge of its use. In view of these circumstances, this study was undertaken to characterise Russian olive accessions as a first step towards the conservation of this important wild plant genetic resource. Ninety-three fruits (including seeds) and leaves were sampled to determine morphological variability among accessions. In addition, the phenolic composition of fruit pulp of 40 fruits was used for determination of phenolic compounds. To assess the local importance of the fruit, 42 Russian olive collectors and traders were interviewed. Data were analysed using PCA and clustering approaches. Fruit traits across groups were equally shared. Elevation had a positive effect on fruit and seed dimensions especially on length (r = 0.606 and 0.515, respectively) and weight (r = 0.618 and 0.695, respectively). Bioactive substances such as DPPH and flavonoids in the sampled fruits exceeded most values found in the literature by a factor of 100 and 30, respectively. The socio-economic household analysis highlighted that Russian olive harvest and trade is a purely additional income strategy. On average, about 90 € (ca. 16000 PKR) were earned by one household ranging from about 35 € to about 205 € per year. Data yielded a mixed picture on morphological and biochemical diversity as well as the socio-economic background, but indicated that northern regions of Pakistan might be an important centre for biodiversity of this species in Central Asia, which merits improved marketing

Metric dimensions of bicyclic graphs

The distance d(va, vb) between two vertices of a simple connected graph G is the length of the shortest path between va and vb. Vertices va, vb of G are considered to be resolved by a vertex v if d(va, v) 6= d(vb, v). An ordered set W = fv1, v2, v3, . . . , vsg V(G) is said to be a resolving set for G, if for any va, vb 2 V(G), 9 vi 2 W 3 d(va, vi) 6= d(vb, vi). The representation of vertex v with respect to W is denoted by r(vjW) and is an s-vector(s-tuple) (d(v, v1), d(v, v2), d(v, v3), . . . , d(v, vs)). Using representation r(vjW), we can say that W is a resolving set if, for any two vertices va, vb 2 V(G), we have r(vajW) 6= r(vbjW). A minimal resolving set is termed a metric basis for G. The cardinality of the metric basis set is called the metric dimension of G, represented by dim(G). In this article, we study the metric dimension of two types of bicyclic graphs. The obtained results prove that they have constant metric dimension

Effects of temperature and water purity on germination and yield of mungbean sprouts

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) is a popular pulse crop, producing protein-rich food and nitrogen-rich residues. Mungbean sprouts were grown at different temperature levels of 10, 20 and 30°C in various water purities of 30 (distilled water), 100, 400, 700 and 1000 TDS (ppm). After keeping them in the germination chamber for 72 h, the percentage of germination, stem length and yield along with proximate composition were determined. The temperature was kept as main factor and water purity as the second. The experiment was replicated four times and the data obtained were analyzed using two factorial completely randomized design. The results showed that both the factors had significant (p<0.05) effect on the germination, stem length, yield as well as proximate composition. A temperature of 30°C and water with high purity of 30 TDS resulted in high emergence (69%), stem length (3.14 cm) and yield (70.1 g) as compared to the other treatments. Minimum germination (2.1%), stem length (0.11 cm) and yield (12.11 g) were recorded in samples kept at low temperature of 10°C and water purity with 1000 TDS. The mungbean seeds showed a very low plasticity to water purity, and that they were very susceptible to water impurities. It is concluded that, to prepare sprouts from mungbeans, it is necessary to germinate mungbean seeds them in water having high purity and temperature of 30oC for maximum germination, stem length and yield

Information and Communication Technologies for Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry in Jammu and Kashmir

Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is growing in all spheres of activity. Veterinary Sciences andAnimal Husbandry should therefore be no exception. Efforts are needed to incorporate ICT in all endeavours related to livestock development in Jammu and Kashmir. All organizations and departments concerned with Veterinary Sciences andAnimal Husbandry need to realize the potential of ICT for the speedy and timely dissemination of information modules to the livestock rearers.The awareness among livestock rearers about the information and availability of ICT services is the first step to be taken to increase livestock rearers' participation in ICT initiatives.Access to information and communication is essential to the stakeholders at alllevels in the process of development. Various information and communication technology tools in knowledge and information dissemination needed for livestock rearers and possible IT application tools in realizing their needs in Jammu and Kashmir are discussed