Biodegradation of rocket propellant waste, ammonium perchlorate

The short term effects of ammonium perchlorate on selected organisms were studied. A long term experiment was also designed to assess the changes incurred by ammonium perchlorate on the nitrogen and chloride contents of soil within a period of 3 years. In addition, an attempt was made to produce methane gas from anaerobic fermentation of the aquatic weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides

Some Thoughts on the Whole Works-in-Progress Thing

Panel: Works in Progres

Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning Chemistry (SATLC) as Integrated Approach towards Teaching Physical Chemistry

Enthusiasm is crucially needed in teaching and learning of chemistry at educational institutes. Issues and problems in achieving that end needs to be addressed on top priority. In this scenario the role of the instructor is of vital significance. A teacher can minimize the difficulties in concept building by providing better perspective related to the basics of the subject. This can be accomplished through novel efforts involving personal input. The recently emerged concept based teaching methodology, systemic approach to teaching and learning chemistry (SATLC), is a fascinating route to meet this noble endeavor. This new teaching method has been discovered to play a pivotal role, towards the efforts for promoting better understanding of chemical concepts. In addition to that, the results reported from the evaluation of SATL technique have been very promising as far as the improvements in students' academic achievements are concerned. In this presentation we discuss some examples that highlight the efficacy of SATLC based teaching method for providing clear understandings of some salient concepts in physical chemistry

Satlc model lesson for teaching and learning complex environmental issues related to the thermodynamics

Environmental chemistry is one of the disciplines of Science. For the goal of the deep learning of the subject, it is indispensable to present perception and models of chemical behaviour explicitly. This can be accomplished by giving careful consideration to the development of concepts such that newer approaches are given contemplation, taking in consideration participation of students. Students, well versed in issues which integrate to enhance vital concepts, are thus able to understand nature and help us to discover means to view the impact of industrialization on the well being of mankind. Understanding environmental chemistry needs quality teaching at undergraduate stage of students learning. In the absence of necessary input of biological sciences, mathematics, statistics, along with the parameters of analytical and physical chemistry, students often find environmental chemistry a difficult subject. It is therefore desirable that the practice of disseminating knowledge related to environmental chemistry must avoid the tradition of presenting the necessary information separated from each other. The lectures should be designed in such a way that they provide the complete description of any issue debated in the class room. The students have not to be encouraged to address the issue in a sphere of limited knowledge. It is suggested that the teachers organize their lectures in such a way that the student get involved in the class. This essential scenario can only develop when the knowledge is transferred through Systemic diagrams. Recently concept based teaching methodology; namely systemic approach to teaching and learning chemistry (SATLC) has been employed to highlight the connectivity between some environmental issues and the disciplines of Physical Chemistry. [African Journal of Chemical Education—AJCE 5(2), July 2015

Mapping exercise of mental health research and researchers in Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To systematically identify mental health research and researchers in Pakistan. Subsidiary objectives were to identify methodologies of studies published in the indexed journals along with their country wide mean impact factor. METHODS: A systematic search strategy using key words related to neuropsychiatry was carried out to identify various studies published in Indexed and Non-indexed databases. RESULTS: We identified 108 studies from Indexed data bases (77.8% Medline; 22.2% PsychInfo). Beside these, 51 studies were also identified from non-indexed databases. Among the indexed articles, 97 (89.8%) were Journal articles while 10 were other type of documents--there were 3 clinical trials of which only one was a randomized controlled trial. The mean Impact Factor (IF) of these studies was 2.75 (Range; 2.21-3.29). The median IF was 2.90. The most preferred journal for publication was the Journal of Pakistan Medical Association (JPMA; N = 33) followed by British Journal of Psychiatry (B J Psych; N = 11) and Journal of College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan (JCPSP; N = 9). From the indexed and non-indexed publications we identified 43 researchers. Among these 34 (80%) were psychiatrists. CONCLUSION: The key finding of this mental health research mapping exercise is that mental health research output from Pakistan is low both in numbers and quality, with very few studies making it to high impact international journals. There is an urgent need to strengthen research capacity in areas of mental health at individual, organizational and macro-system levels

Satl model lesson in chemical kinetics

Studies in order to pursue kinetics and mechanism of chemical reactions are a vital component of chemical literature. SATL literature is still not available for promoting this vital aspect of chemistry teaching. A lesson pertaining to this important issue has been developed and various parameters of kinetic studies are explained therein.[AJCE, 3(1), January 2013