Laboratory and field evaluation for the resistance of commonly used woods against _Coptotermes heimi_ (Wasmann).

The current study was conducted to evaluate the resistance of four wood species (_Azadirachta indica_, _Pinus roxberghii_, _Dalbergia sissoo_ and _Populus deltoides_) against subterranean termite species _Coptotermes heimi_ by choice and no choice field and laboratory trials. Of these four wood species _P. roxberghii_ and _D. sissoo_ proved to be most resistant to termite attack. Taken together these results we can conclude that _D. sissoo_ is the least preferred and _P. deltoides_ is the most preferred wood by the _C. heimi_. The data obtained from the field choice and no-choice the woods are arranged in order of preference DS>PR>AI>PD whereas in laboratory choice and no-choice trials the order of preference was PD>AI>PR>DS

Análisis morfométrico de muestras de una población de la casta de las obreras de Odontotermes obesus

In order to study morphometric variations in Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), samples from nineteen nests were statistically analyzed for mean, standard deviation, standard error, coefficient of variability and confidence interval (95%) and analysis of variance (Model II ANOVA), The mean values of the different population samples were compared with the student t–test, following the Minitab version and Sokal & Rohlf (1973). In the study of external characters, measurements form a very important component, particularly for identification of species. However, the reliability of the measurements depends on the extent of variability which the structures show within and between colonies. For each individual soldier, the following nine parameters were measured: i) length of head; ii) width of head at mandibles; iii) width of head at the posterolateral ends of antennal carinae; iv) maximum width of head; v) length of left mandible; vi) tooth of left mandible from tip; vii) length of pronotum; viii) width of pronotum; ix) length of postmentum; and x) width of postmentumCon el objetivo de estudiar las variaciones morfométricas en Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), se analizaron estadísticamente muestras de diecinueve nidos, obteniéndose sus medias, desviaciones estándar, errores estándar, coeficientes de variabilidad e intervalos de confianza (95%) y análisis de varianza (Modelo II ANOVA). Los valores medios de las distintas muestras de las poblaciones se compararon mediante el test t de Student, según la versión Minitab y Sokal & Rohlf (1973). En el estudio de los caracteres externos se midieron componentes muy importantes, particularmente para la identificación de la especie. Sin embargo, la fiabilidad de las mediciones depende de la cantidad de variabilidad de dichas estructuras dentro de cada colonia y entre colonias. En cada soldado se midieron los siguientes nueve parámetros: i) longitud de la cabeza, ii) ancho de la cabeza al nivel de las mandíbulas, iii) ancho de la cabeza en los extremos posterolaterales de las carinas antenales, iv) ancho máximo de la cabeza, v) longitud de la mandíbula izquierda, vi) diente de la mandíbula izquierda desde la punta, vii) longitud del pronoto, viii) ancho del pronoto, ix) longitud el postmentón, y x) ancho del postmentó

Pesticide Impact on Honeybees Declines and Emerging Food Security Crisis

Bee crisis is threatening worldwide food security. Pesticides are extensively used in the agricultural zone. Unfortunately, these pesticides cause severe toxicity toward pollinators than the target pests such as honeybees. This review summarizes the different studies related to pesticide hazards of bees. This paper reported risks of pesticides neurological and physiological poisoning toward honeybees. Pesticides act as poison and ruin vital functions involved in leaning and cognition, behavior and, the body physiological mechanisms. Many laboratory and field research data evaluated the lethal and sub-lethal poisoning on bee foraging dance, learning, and memory abilities of honeybees. Insecticide residues are detected in bee bodies and LD50 and LC50 values evaluated. It is also studied that in honeybees systemic insecticide residues and, its metabolite adulterated in their body during foraging activities. Similarly, pesticide-contaminated food stored in a hive consumed continuously by honeybees may cause sub-lethal toxicity effects. Which causes anomalous bee social behavior and ultimately leads to colony collapse disorder. If population of pollinator decline it will disturb the food chain and leads to food crisis. This review emphasized causes of bee decline with the emergence of pesticides in agricultural domains

Role of Edible Insects as Food Source to Combat Food Security Challenges. Innovative and Traditional Approaches

World Food Security organization committee stated that food security exists when safe, healthy, and nutritious food is present to all human beings, to meet their dietary needs. There are four pillars of food security such as availability, access, utilization, and stability, while the nutritional dimension is considered integral to the concept of food security. Protein is an essential dietary component. It is required for the proper growth of individuals. Meat is an excellent source of protein. However, because of the increasing demand for meat and declining agricultural land. There is an urgent need to discover alternative ways to full fill public protein demand. Edible insects are the best alternative source of protein. They can be harvested in large amounts. Insect meals can replace scarce fishmeal as feed ingredients. Insects are not only a source of protein but also contained various nutrients and minerals such as iron, zinc, and selenium. People showed awareness of the importance of insects as an essential dietary element. Edible insect harvesting is a new emerging agriculture sector and needs the special attention of researchers and the government. Thus, insects require the use of commercial processing methods that will render the protein suitable for food/feed formulation, while maintaining the safety, nutritional and sensory quality of the final product

Association patterns of Atrial Fibrillation with symptoms of metabolic syndrome

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the common cardiac arrhythmia in which heart beats irregularly usually greater than 100 beats per minutes. AF is well-documented public health problem causing substantial mortality and morbidity. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a collection of metabolic risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and impaired glucose level that exists in one person. The aim of the present study is to find the relation between AF and MS.Methods: 100 patients of AF were sampled from Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore from December, 2014 to June 2015. These patients were divided into two AF groups, 50 without MS and 50 with MS. 25 healthy subjects were also included for the comparison. Lipid profile was assessed by chemistry analyzer and serum insulin was measured by ELISA.Results: In our population, there was significantly high levels of insulin resistance (IR) and obesity in AF groups (without MS and with MS) as compared with healthy subjects (P<0.05). Highly significant differences was observed in relation with other parameters e.g. hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, HDL-C among the studied groups (P<0.05). Significant positive correlation was observed between insulin and lipid profile (TC, TG, LDL) while inverse with HDL.Conclusion: The indictors of metabolic syndrome were significantly correlated with AF in the studied subjects, while IR was found significantly higher in MS group.

Investigations on blood physiology, tissues histology and gene expression profile of Fusarium oxysporum challenged fish

Labeo rohita was challenged with Fusarium oxysporum to demonstrate a thorough immune response. Significant alterations in hematological parameters viz; erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, packed cell volume, platelets, and leukocytes were observed. Total serum protein, albumin, globulin, A/G ratio, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase activity, and cholesterol were also altered in the infected fish. Marked histopathological lesions in gills, liver, and kidney (fusion of gill lamella, necrosis, edema, vacuolization, glomerulus congestion, dilated bowman’s space and renal tubules alterations) were recorded. Tissue specific gene expression data showed that interleukin was upregulated in infected fish gills, liver, and kidney but was downregulated in blood. Tumor necrosis factor-α expression was upregulated in blood, liver, and kidney and was downregulated in gills. Upregulation of interferon-γ was observed in blood, gills, and kidney but downregulated in liver. All the cellular and molecular findings from this study can be taken as critical biomarkers in the advancement of diagnostic techniques against fungal infections as a part of wide-ranging programs of systematic and comprehensive monitoring of fish health and immune system

Mediating Bullying and Strain in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Pakistan

Although workplace bullying is a well-researched phenomenon, the specific way it unfolds in higher education institutions (HEI) remains largely underdiscussed. Based on the outcomes of a survey conducted across HEI in Pakistan, by reference to structural equation modeling, using Amos-20, this paper not only adds to our understanding of the scope and features of bullying in HEI, but also suggests strategies employers and victims could employ to cope with the adverse implications of bullying. The key findings of this research are: (i) a positive correlation exists between the degree of workplace bullying and strain levels; (ii) more frequently than not, female employees, younger employees, and employees in junior positions are victims of bullying; (iii) bullying and strain can be fully mediated only when both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies are employed in synergy. In brief, although research findings elaborated in this paper draw from the specific case of HEI in Pakistan, this paper makes a case for more research, vigilance and action to understand the scale of the phenomenon in academia and to undertake concerted action to mitigate its adverse impact on specific individuals and HEI themselves

Measuring the Scale and Scope of Workplace Bullying: An Alternative Workplace Bullying Scale

The toll of workplace bullying is immense, yet, similarly as with an iceberg, its scope, scale and implications tend to remain underestimated. Several ways of assessing the prevalence of workplace bullying have been proposed in the literature. The most frequently discussed are the ‘subjective method’ assessing individuals’ perceptions of being a victim and the questionnaire, i.e., criterion-based, methods, including Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ) and Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT). Since in both cases culture plays a profound role as a mediating factor in the process of identifying, collecting, and processing data, the applicability of these methods across cultures and countries has several limitations. At this stage, it is impossible to determine the impact of the implicit cultural-bias that these methods entail on the research outcomes. This would be possible if an alternative workplace bullying scale (WBS) was at hand and, consequently, a comparative analysis was conducted. This paper, drawing from a study conducted at higher education institutions (HEI) across Pakistan, addresses this issue by devising an alternative WBS. The value added of this paper is three-fold, i.e., it elaborates on the study and the specific methods employed to prove the validity and relevance of the alternative WBS. Moreover, by so doing, it addresses some of the limitations that other methods measuring the prevalence of workplace bullying display. As a result, it adds to the researchers’ and administrators’ toolkit as regards research and policies aimed at mitigating the scope and scale of bullying at HEIs across cultures and countries

Morphometric Analysis of Population Samples of Soldier Caste of Odontotermes takensis Ahmad (Isoptera: Termitidae: Macrotermitinae)

Abstract.-In order to study morphometric variations in Odontotermes takensis Ahmad, soldiers from the samples collected by Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad, Professor Emeritus, Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, were used. For each individual soldier, the following ten parameters were measured: i) length of head to side base of mandibles ii) width of head to side base of mandibles iii) width of head at the posterolateral ends of antennal carinae iv) maximum width of head v) length of left mandible vi) tooth of left mandible from tip vii) length of Pronotum viii) width of pronotum ix) length of postmentum. x) width of postmentum. The mean values of different parameters of different population samples were compared with the help of Student&apos;s `t&apos; test. In addition to this population samples for the species collected from geographic range of the species have been compared according to Manhattan Distance (Mayer and Ashlock, 1991) to highlight similarities and differences of the population samples. Specimens from locality &apos;A&apos; (Sarawak, Bako) and &apos;E&apos; (Malaya, Terenganu) are distantly related to specimens from other localities

0504

Abstract Morphometric analysis of population samples of soldier caste of Odontotermes obesus (Rambur) .-In order to study morphometric variations in Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), samples from nineteen nests were statistically analyzed for mean, standard deviation, standard error, coefficient of variability and confidence interval (95%) and analysis of variance (Model II ANOVA), The mean values of the different population samples were compared with the student t-test, following the Minitab version and Sokal &amp; Rohlf (1973). In the study of external characters, measurements form a very important component, particularly for identification of species. However, the reliability of the measurements depends on the extent of variability which the structures show within and between colonies. For each individual soldier, the following nine parameters were measured: i) length of head; ii) width of head at mandibles; iii) width of head at the posterolateral ends of antennal carinae; iv) maximum width of head; v) length of left mandible; vi) tooth of left mandible from tip; vii) length of pronotum; viii) width of pronotum; ix) length of postmentum; and x) width of postmentum. Key words: Termite, Soldier, Morphometric variability, Odontotermes obesus. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Macrotermitidae).-Con el objetivo de estudiar las variaciones morfométricas en Odontotermes obesus (Rambur), se analizaron estadísticamente muestras de diecinueve nidos, obteniéndose sus medias, desviaciones estándar, errores estándar, coeficientes de variabilidad e intervalos de confianza (95%) y análisis de varianza (Modelo II ANOVA). Los valores medios de las distintas muestras de las poblaciones se compararon mediante el test t de Student, según la versión Minitab y Sokal &amp; Rohlf (1973). En el estudio de los caracteres externos se midieron componentes muy importantes, particularmente para la identificación de la especie. Sin embargo, la fiabilidad de las mediciones depende de la cantidad de variabilidad de dichas estructuras dentro de cada colonia y entre colonias. En cada soldado se midieron los siguientes nueve parámetros: i) longitud de la cabeza, ii) ancho de la cabeza al nivel de las mandíbulas, iii) ancho de la cabeza en los extremos posterolaterales de las carinas antenales, iv) ancho máximo de la cabeza, v) longitud de la mandíbula izquierda, vi) diente de la mandíbula izquierda desde la punta, vii) longitud del pronoto, viii) ancho del pronoto, ix) longitud el postmentón, y x) ancho del postmentón. Resumen Análisis morfométrico de muestras de una población de la casta de las obreras de Odontotermes obesus (Rambur