Effect of Strenuous Exercise on Various Blood Parameters in Polo Horses at High Altitude (3,734 M)

Horses require heaps of energy in order to perform well. Proper care and management should therefore be provided to the racehorses so as to keep they perform at their optimum. The experiment used for normal horses. The blood samples were collected in the morning before subjecting the horses to polo match/ strenuous exercise and immediately after the physical activity. Various blood tests such as the complete blood count, lipid, protein tests were done. Significant elevations in the white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and some serological parameters in the blood polo horses were recorded after exercise. This study confirmed the findings of exercise on different blood parameters which can be possibly used as an index of fitness in horses

Alleviation of Boron Stress through Plant Derived Smoke Extracts in Sorghum bicolor

Boron is an essential micronutrient necessary for plant growth at optimum concentration. However, at high concentrations boron affects plant growth and is toxic to cells. Aqueous extract of plant-derived smoke has been used as a growth regulator for the last two decades to improve seed germination and seedling vigor. It has been established that plant-derived smoke possesses some compounds that act like plant growth hormones. The present research was the first comprehensive attempt to investigate the alleviation of boron stress with plant-derived smoke aqueous extract on Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) seed. Smoke extracts of five plants, i.e. Cymbopogon jwarancusa, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Peganum harmala, Datura alba and Melia azedarach each with six dilutions (Concentrated, 1:100, 1:200, 1:300, 1:400 and 1:500) were used. While boron solutions at concentrations of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 ppm were used for stress. Among the dilutions of smoke, 1:500 of E. camaldulensis significantly increased germination percentage, root and shoot length, number of secondary roots and fresh weight of root and shoot while, boron stress reduced growth of Sorghum. It was observed that combined effect of boron solution and E. camaldulensis smoke extract overcome inhibition and significantly improved plant growth. Present research work investigated that the smoke solution has the potential to alleviate boron toxicity by reducing the uptake of boron by maintaining integrity of plant cell wall. The present investigation suggested that plant derived smoke has the potential to alleviate boron stress and can be used to overcome yield losses caused by boron stress to plants

Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Yeild and Yeild Contributing Traits in Hybrids of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

The seeds of two hybrids FSS64 and SF0049 of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were irradiated with different doses of gamma irradiation i.e., 10, 15, 20, 25 Krad from the source of cobalt Co60 at Nuclear institute for food and agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar. The irradiated seeds were sown in the research area of the department of Botany, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir-Upper during the crop season of 2016. It was noted that a negative correlation was established in doses of 10, 15, 20, 25 Krad versus number of parameters like number of leaves, number of seeds per head and fresh seed weight. With the gradual increase in doses, decreases in mean values for the mentioned parameters were observed. Significant reductions in the mean values were observed for mentioned parameters in both the hybrids FSS64 and SF0049 of sunflower and consistently retardation was recorded with the increasing doses. Direct relationship occurred in the mean values of days taken to germination and maturity while on the other hand means values significantly raised with the rising of doses thus the duration of the mentioned parameters is increased. It was also concluded that rising of doses caused restraining in the mean values of all the parameters, which clarified that both hybrids were sensitive to high doses of gamma irradiation. Furthermore, there were also recovered a few Mutant genotypes in FSS64 hybrid at 15 Krad due to genetic variability with proliferation of two capitula with single peduncle on the main shoot. Differences in the mean square values through analysis of variance with respect to different doses of irradiation for all the parameters were highly significant, while due to the hybrids effect of the number of leaves was non-significant. Moreover, non-significant results were achieved in the mean square values due to the relations between hybrids and doses for days to maturity and the number of leaves

Geological evolution of the Hindu Kush, NW Frontier Pakistan: active margin to continent-continent collision zone

A geological map of the eastern Hindu Kush, northwest of Chitral, Northern Pakistan, is presented. The lithologies are placed into two main categories, divided by the Tirich Mir Fault Zone. To the northwest, the units of the eastern Hindu Kush are dominated by monotonous sequences of graphite-rich pelitic rocks. Southeast of the fault, the phyllites and diamictites are thought to be lateral equivalents of the Northern Sedimentary Belt of the Karakoram. A structural analysis of the area studied identifies a major, early deformation phase which is usually characterized by tight to isoclinal folding with a well developed axial-planar schistosity. This deformation is thought to have been related to the northward-directed subduction and accretion beneath the southern margin of Asia during the Mesozoic, and may have taken place over a considerable period of time. A major phase of crustal melting at c. 24 Ma generated migmatites and biotite + muscovite ± garnet ± tourmaline leucogranites (including dykes and the Gharam Chasma pluton). This age is comparable to that of the Baltoro pluton in the Karakoram to the east, confirming the regional importance of crustal melting along the southern margin of the Asian plate during the earliest Miocene. The crustal melting was associated with thrusting and folding of the earlier schistosity. Subhorizontal stretching lineations indicate a phase of strike-slip deformation that is thought to have been associated with anticlockwise rotation of the regional foliation strike from E to NE and N after the emplacement of the Gharam Chasma pluton at c. 24 Ma. This deformation and rotation was probably a direct result of the northward-moving Indian plate forcing Kohistan to indent into Asia, resulting in a left-lateral transpressional tectonic environment which remains today. The anomalous height of the Tirich Mir massif, relative to other peaks in the Hindu Kush and the nearby Hindu Raj, may be accounted for by the onset of this transpression. Intensely active seismicity to depths of 300 km beneath the Hindu Kush is associated with seismic shear wave velocities that are significantly faster than those beneath Tibet, where earthquake occurrence is restricted to the upper crust, and previous geophysical studies indicate elevated thermal conditions and possible crustal melts. U-Pb ages suggest that post-India-Asia collision crustal melting beneath the Hindu Kush is restricted to c. 24 Ma, whereas in the Karakoram, the record is both more voluminous and more continuous from c. 37 to c. 9 Ma. These observations reflect major differences in the thermal histories of these regions, where the relatively cooler conditions beneath the Hindu Kush are associated with continental subduction-related seismicity

Geological evolution of the Hindu Kush, NW Frontier Pakistan: active margin to continent-continent collision zone

A geological map of the eastern Hindu Kush, northwest of Chitral, Northern Pakistan, is presented. The lithologies are placed into two main categories, divided by the Tirich Mir Fault Zone. To the northwest, the units of the eastern Hindu Kush are dominated by monotonous sequences of graphite-rich pelitic rocks. Southeast of the fault, the phyllites and diamictites are thought to be lateral equivalents of the Northern Sedimentary Belt of the Karakoram. A structural analysis of the area studied identifies a major, early deformation phase which is usually characterized by tight to isoclinal folding with a well developed axial-planar schistosity. This deformation is thought to have been related to the northward-directed subduction and accretion beneath the southern margin of Asia during the Mesozoic, and may have taken place over a considerable period of time. A major phase of crustal melting at c. 24 Ma generated migmatites and biotite + muscovite ± garnet ± tourmaline leucogranites (including dykes and the Gharam Chasma pluton). This age is comparable to that of the Baltoro pluton in the Karakoram to the east, confirming the regional importance of crustal melting along the southern margin of the Asian plate during the earliest Miocene. The crustal melting was associated with thrusting and folding of the earlier schistosity. Subhorizontal stretching lineations indicate a phase of strike-slip deformation that is thought to have been associated with anticlockwise rotation of the regional foliation strike from E to NE and N after the emplacement of the Gharam Chasma pluton at c. 24 Ma. This deformation and rotation was probably a direct result of the northward-moving Indian plate forcing Kohistan to indent into Asia, resulting in a left-lateral transpressional tectonic environment which remains today. The anomalous height of the Tirich Mir massif, relative to other peaks in the Hindu Kush and the nearby Hindu Raj, may be accounted for by the onset of this transpression. Intensely active seismicity to depths of 300 km beneath the Hindu Kush is associated with seismic shear wave velocities that are significantly faster than those beneath Tibet, where earthquake occurrence is restricted to the upper crust, and previous geophysical studies indicate elevated thermal conditions and possible crustal melts. U-Pb ages suggest that post-India-Asia collision crustal melting beneath the Hindu Kush is restricted to c. 24 Ma, whereas in the Karakoram, the record is both more voluminous and more continuous from c. 37 to c. 9 Ma. These observations reflect major differences in the thermal histories of these regions, where the relatively cooler conditions beneath the Hindu Kush are associated with continental subduction-related seismicity