Effects of Private Tuition on the Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Subject of Mathematics in Kohat Division, Pakistan

Research reveals that private or home tuition after school time plays a crucial role in strengthening and improving student’s academic achievement. The purpose of the study was to explore the effects of private tuition on the academic achievement of students in subject of mathematics at secondary school level. All the students at secondary school level in Kohat Division (Pakistan) constituted the population of the study. The study was delimited to the students of Government High School Ahmadi Banda Karak only. Fifty students of class 09 were selected as sample of the study. Sample students were divided into two groups i.e. control group and experimental group by equating them on the basis of their previous knowledge in subject of mathematics as determined through a pre-test. Each group was composed of 25 students. Students of the experimental group were engaged in tuition for two hours after school time. The study was experimental in nature therefore, “The pre-test-post-test Equivalent Groups Design†was used for the collection of data. Statistical tools i.e. the mean, standard deviation and differences of means were computed for each group. Significance of difference between the mean scores of both the experimental and control groups on the variable of pre-test and post test scores was tested at 0.05 levels by applying t-test. After statistical analysis of the data, the researchers concluded that there is significant positive effect of private tuition on the academic achievement of students in subject of mathematics at secondary school level. Based on the findings, it was recommended that parents should arrange private tuition for their children to move up their achievement level in subject of mathematics

Descriptions of three new and a known species of Prismatolaimus de Man 1880 (nematoda: Enoplida) from fresh water habitats in India

Three new and a known species of Prismatolaimus de Man, 1880 are described and illustrated. Prismatolaimus lacustris sp. n. and P. amphidialis sp. n. are monovarial species without males in the population. P. lacustris sp. n. (L= 0.68-0.80, a= 35.1-47.1, b= 3.7-4.2, c= 3.6-3.9) is characterised by having single jointed outer labial setae; large stoma with prominent dorsal tooth and denticulate ridges; relatively posterior amphids; moderately long post-uterine sac; vagina with refractive pieces; and long, ventrad curved tail with a minute dorsal mucro. P. amphidialis sp. n. (L= 0.58-0.68, a= 37-44, b= 4.0-5.4, c= 3.9-4.3) is characterised by its short stoma with inconspicuous stegostom, almost indiscernible dorsal tooth and absence of denticulate ridges; prominent sensillar pouches of amphids; small post-uterine sac; and long filiform tail ventrad curved, with undemarcated mucro. P. macrostomus sp. n. (L= 1.02-1.21, a= 51.2-55.0, b= 4.6-5.2, c= 3.2-3.3) is characterised by being large-sized, diovarial females having sparse 4-5 µm long somatic setae; long,.articulate, cephalic, setae; large barrel-shaped stoma with a massive dorsal tooth and rows of inconspicuous subventral denticles; pre-equatorial vulva; and long filiform tail with a pointed dorsal hook. P. andrassyi Khera & Chaturvedi, 1977 has been redescribed with morphometrics of populations from four localities

Re-description of two species of Pelodera (nematoda: Rhabditidae) from India

Two species of Pelodera Schneider, 1866, reported for the first time from India, have been redescribed and illustrated. Pelodera teres Schneider, 1866 is characterised by oviparous females having prominent, separate lips; heavily cuticularised, refractive labial margins with fine bristles in inter-labial grooves; three setose denticles on each metastegostomal plate; cupola-shaped tail in females and males with crystalline needle-like structures in vas deferens; distally fused spicules and an open peloderan bursa with three pre-cloacal and seven post-cloacal bursal papillae. Pelodera icosiensis (Maupas, 1916) Dougherty, 1955 is characterised by ovoviviparous females having wider and offset lip region, swollen pharyngeal corpus and hemispheroid tail of nearly half anal body diameter, males with distally-fused spicules having bicuspid capitula, and a short, expanded, semicircular, anteriorly-closed, peloderan bursa with lobes and ten paired bursal papillae

Assigning optimum time period for using evaporation cooling systems in Iraq

Increasing demand on electricity power during summer in Iraq because of increasing averages of temperature reached 47 ºC and continuous to increase and the problems facing Iraq is the increasing in peak load for the electrical system because of using cooling and air-conditioning operated by compressed gases, according it is obliged to search  for alternative methods to activate   electrical power consumption and one of solutions and processing is  using application of cooling  by evaporation (evaporation coolers) consumed less electrical and  power compared with other cooling devices  which provide power of amount (80%) and for what Iraq characterized by climate conditions such as  scarcity of relative humidity among the research results, the general average of monthly average of relative humidity in Iraq during the summer season (the study period) for 36 years for the period (1980-2015) not exceeded (42%) as for  the general average of the monthly average of temperature for the same period was higher average for it (31 ºC) and for these two elements are the core to identify the cooling  efficiency, according Iraq is considered one of the  good area to use the evaporation cooling applications, where the general average  of monthly average of cooling efficiency for the same period was higher average(51%) and the optimum time period  for using the evaporation  cooling applications in Iraq  in July at  Salahdd in  city center with monthly efficiency average (60%)

A Bjorken sum rule for semileptonic Ωb\Omega_b decays to ground and excited charmed baryon states

We derive a Bjorken sum rule for semileptonic $\Omega_b$ decays to ground and low-lying negative-parity excited charmed baryon states, in the heavy quark limit. We discuss the restriction from this sum rule on form factors and compare it with some models.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex, no figure, Alberta Thy--26--9

Suitability Analysis of Groundwater for Eco-friendly Agricultural Growths in Food Basket of Pakistan

Water is an important component of earth’s atmosphere and it sustains ecosystems, agriculture and human settlements on earth (Samson et al., 2010). Salinity, sodicity and toxicity generally need to be considered for the evaluation of suitable quality of groundwater for irrigation (Khan et al., 2014; Cobbina et al., 2012; Todd and Mays, 2005). In Thal Doab Aquifer (TDA) groundwater occurs as a layer of fresh water over saline water and its availability is subjected to recharging potency of the Indus and Chenab rivers (Hussain et al., 2017 a, 2016 a)

Factors associated with low birthweight in term pregnancies: A matched case-control study from rural Pakistan

Low birthweight (LBW) remains a significant public health problem in Pakistan and further understanding of factors associated with LBW is required. We conducted a hospital-based matched case control study to identify risk factors associated with LBW in a rural district of Pakistan. We found that illiteracy (AOR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.59 - 4.38), nulliparity (AOR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.26-2.44), having a previous miscarriage/abortion (AOR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.06-2.35), having \u3c 2 antenatal care (ANC) visits during last pregnancy (AOR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.34-2.88), seeking ANC in third trimester (AOR: 3.62; 95% CI : 2.14-5.03), non-use of iron folic acid during last pregnancy (AOR: 2.72; 95% CI: 1.75-3.17), having hypertension during last pregnancy (AOR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.13-2.20), being anemic (AOR: 2.67; 95% CI: 1.65-5.24) and having postpartum weight o

Evaluation of allelopathic potential of some selected medicinal species

Laboratory trials were made to evaluate the allelopathic potential of selected medicinal species. The aqueous extracts bioassay on two test plants (wheat and pea) was carried out through filter paper method. Toxicity and non toxicity was assessed by recording their effects on germination and percentage growth of radicle and plumule of test plants. The trials were replicated three times in Randomized Complete Split Block Design. The data was analyzed by using software SPSS v II. The results suggested that Sonchus asper and Melilotus officinalis stimulate the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum) up to 150% of plumule and 40% of radicle. These species had significantly enhanced effect on the percentage growth of test plant. The inhibitory effect was more on the wheat, by aqueous extractions of Sisymbrium irio, Cannabis sativus and Oxalis corniculata. The growth of wheat was more enhanced in the aqueous extractions of Gallium aperine and Ageratum conizoides, almost 150% of radicle. But the most inhibitory and retarded effect was observed in case of S. irio, O. corniculata, Rumex dentatus and Parthenium hysterophorus.Key words: Allelopathy, medicinal species, filter paper

Polyoxometallates@zeolitic-imidazolate-framework derived bimetallic tungsten-cobalt sulfide/porous carbon nanocomposites as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Hydrogen is one of the most promising sustainable energy among numerous new energy resources. Electrocatalytic water splitting for H2 generation is a clean and sustainable approach due to the use of widely existed water as resource. The searching for efficient and low-cost non-precious metal based electrocatalysts for water splitting, including both cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), still remains a great challenge. In this work we report a simple method that utilizes the one-pot in-situ synthesized POMs@ZIFs (POMs = Polyoxometallates, ZIFs = Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks) as precursor for the production of WS2/Co1-xS/N, S co-doped porous carbon nanocomposite as efficient electrocatalysts. These precursors POMs@ZIFs can effectively prevent the agglomeration of metal compound particles during heat treatment and leads to homogeneous dispersion of metal active sites within carbon matrix. The resulting bimetallic Co–W sulfide/heteroatom doped porous carbon composites show significant improvement in electrocatalytic activity towards both OER (Tafel slop of 53 mV dec−1 with overpotential of 0.365 V @10 mA cm−2 current density in 1 M KOH media) and HER (Tafel slop of 64 mV dec−1 with overpotential of 0.250 V @10 mA cm−2 current density in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution). This work opens up a new way to obtain low cost bifunctional electrocatalysts towards both OER and HER in water splitting.European CommissionEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC