Conservation of Sulaiman Markhor and Afghan Urial by Local Tribesmen in Torghar, Pakistan

Chapter 1 of the book Lessons Learned: Case Studies in Sustainable Use. This chapter describes the events that led to the creation of STEP (Society for Torghar Environmental Protection), its achievements, and outlines its future plans. The paper demonstrates that by involving local communities in conservation projects, both wildlife and communities benefit. Torghar lies in the district of Killa Saifullah within the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The Pathan tribe, the largest of the Kakar group, have been living in this area for several generations. Several sub-tribes exist for whom hunting is a tradition. Before the Afghanistan War began in 1979, primitive weapons and the scarcity of ammunition limited the number of animals killed. As the pace of the war increased, automatic weapons and ammunition became readily available. Seasonal migrants and local residents began hunting indiscriminately and population numbers of wild animals dwindled rapidly. Populations of Sulaiman Markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) and Afghan Urial (Ovis orientalis cycleros) -- keystone species in the area -- became critically low. In 1984, representatives of the North America-United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) arrived in Balochistan to explore opportunities for wildlife conservation. Tribesmen from Torghar expressed an interest in wildlife conservation and a self-supporting conservation programme was established: The Torghar Conservation Programme (TCP), later the Society for Torghar Environmental Protection (STEP), whose design was based on the principles of sustainable use, local tribe involvement, and conservation biology. Today the numbers of Sulaiman Markhor and Afghan Urial have increased significantly. The capacities of local tribes have also increased and the economic and social infrastructure of the area has developed positively

VOCABULARY ENHANCEMENT OF FEMALE ESL LEARNERS THROUGH SHORT STORIES: A RURAL/ URBAN PERSPECTIVE

Teaching English has progressed rapidly with the changing requirements of society. Current study has not only the purpose of testing vocabulary enhancement by short stories but also monitors its effects on rural and urban population at secondary level. Present study utilizes Pre-test, post-test experimental design. Before the commencement of study, 50 students took their pre-test from rural site and 50 students took their pre-test from urban site. Only those 20, 20 students were selected from both sites whose accumulative score was almost the same. After this, five short stories were taught to both groups for five weeks with the same methodology. After the completion of coaching, a post-test was conducted. Marks of pre-test and post-test of both rural and urban groups were compared to see difference in learning. Data was analyzed statistically by using SPSS 20 for windows. Analysis of data proved that urban group had statistically significant improvement as compared to rural group.DOI: doi.org/10.24071/llt.2017.20020

Cardioprotective Role of Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor Agonist Fingolimod (FTY720) in Global Ischemia-Reperfusion Models

Background and purpose: Ischemic Heart Diseases (IHD) are the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. Incidence and prevalence is continuously growing. There is an escalating risk for revascularization or resuscitation in patients with IHD. Recently, it has been reported that sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor agonist plays anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory role in ischemia-reperfusion injury. The aim of our study is to investigate the cardioprotective effects of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor agonist fingolimod (FTY720) in global ischemia-reperfusion injury related to the cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary bypass, and heart transplantation. Methods: In all the three experimental studies, global ischemia-reperfusion was achieved by cardiac arrest either by Ventricular fibrillation or cardioplegia (CPB HT) in anesthetized (sodium pentobarbital, 60 mg/ml/kg i.v) and ventilated male Sprague-Dawley rats (300 - 350 g). The global ischemic period lasted 10 min in the cardiac arrest and cardioplegic arrest, but in transplantation, ischemia time was 60 min while reperfusion times were maintained for either 60 min or 24 hours. Where applicable, monitoring was done using electrocardiogram and hemodynamic data recorded at baseline, 1 hour and 24 hours of reperfusion. The level of high energy phosphates was measured. Apoptotic, inflammatory and oxidative markers were analyzed. The statistical significance was considered as p ≤ 0.05. Experimental design: In all the above mentioned protocols, 10 animals were used in each of the control and treated groups. The first study examined the cardioprotective potential of fingolimod using the following treatment strategy, treatment administered (post ischemia) immediately at the early phase of reperfusion (fingolimod 1mg/kg i.v) compared to saline controls (0.9% saline). In next two experimental models, treatment administration was done 15 min before ischemic phase (fingolimod 1mg/kg i.v.) compared to controls (0.9% saline), followed by 10 min ischemia and 60 min reperfusion in cardioplegic arrest while 60 min ischemic phase remained from heart explantation to reperfusion, and reperfusion phase lasted for 24 hours following blood and tissue collection Results: Three experimental models demonstrated significant myocardial protection in Fingolimod treated groups as compared to control groups. Hemodynamic assessment showed improved cardiac function at late phase. Reduced frequency of apoptotic cells and inflammatory mediators were found in the treated group. High energy phosphates were preserved in the treated as compared to control groups. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) were also attenuated in the fingolimod-treated group. Increased phosphorylation of Akt and Erk1/2 signaling pathways found in fingolimod treated group as compared to control, these are important part of Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinase (RISK) and Survivor Activating Factor Enhancement(SAFE) pathways. Conclusions: The intravenous administration of fingolimod in global ischemia-reperfusion was cardioprotective. Fingolimod cardioprotection appears to be mediated through preservation of high energy phosphates, reduction in oxidative stress, inhibition of apoptosis and inflammation leading to preserved cardiac functions. In summary, targeting sphingosine 1-phosphate receptors modulation may offer a new potential therapeutic cardioprotective agent to attenuate myocardial damage during global myocardial ischemia and reperfusion

The combined harvester for paddy harvesting: the farm labourer’s perspective

The Coastal belt of the Ampara district is often regarded as the best production area for paddy which produces the highest yield of 3 500 – 4 200 kg/hectare. In the Maha season it produces 11 percent and in Yala season it produces 22 percent of total national production. Labour shortage specially for harvesting paddy was an important problem farmers faced which changes farmer practice to adopt combines Harvesters for paddy harvesting in the area. The objectives of this research were to study the impacts of combine harvesters on the displacement of labour and to find out an average economic losses for the farm labour caused. The data were collected for the study through personal interviews from the farm labourers at Nintavur ASC division. The research revealed that the combined harvesters implied positive welfare impact and financial viability; negative effects are noticed on employment opportunities and also on the income of harvesting labourers. On an average during the active harvesting period of 30 days farm labours, earned around 1650 kg of paddy which is sufficient for 6 months for their family consumption (792 kg) and the balance earned paddy could be used for other activities. Due to the adoption of combined Harvesters the farm labourers lost this earning. At the same time this loss of earning has also increased (almost doubled) the wage rate in other activities related to the paddy cultivation

Production efficiency of paddy cultivation in the eastern province

This study focused on measuring the technical efficiency ofpaddy cultivation, to explore ways of increasing yield and productivity in the Ampara and Batticaloa districts. Both primary and secondary data were used in this study. Earlier studies revealed of stagnation in production and productivity of paddy since 1995 in both districts. The primary data were gathered through personal interviews among 100 farmers from each district for Yala (irrigatedpaddy) andMaha(rainfedpaddy) during 2001/2002period. In Ampara district the areas selectedfor field survey were Ninthavur and Akkaraipattu; while in Batticaloa district the areas selected were Kalawanchikudy and Vantharumoolai. The analytical framework used in this study was the Maximum Livelihood Estimates (MLE) of the Stochastic Frontier Model estimated with the 'Frontier 4.1" computer software. Results of the study indicated significant differences in productivity, resource use and technical efficiency in both Ampara and Batticaloa districts. The average yield/acre in Ampara district in Yala was 20 % higher than in the Batticaloa district, while the figure was 8 % higher in Maha season. Total cost of production was higher in Ampara district for both seasons when compared to Batticaloa district. This was mainly attributed to the higher level of input use in Ampara district. Productive efficiency analysis indicates that the average technical efficiencies of paddy production were 64% and 82% in the Ampara and Batticaloa districts respectively. Also only about 12% and 61 % farmers in Ampara and Batticaloa districts respectively had a technical efficiency of over 80% during Maha season; while during Yala season the technical efficiency figures were 30% and 76% respectively. Overall the study revealed that Batticaloa district farmers were more efficient in production and over 60% of farmers had a technical efficiency of over 80% during Yala and Maha seasons. This is attributed mainly to small farm size in Batticaloa district. The findings suggest that increasing technical efficiency is the best approach of enhancing paddy production in both the districts. As both the two districts command a larger share of the total paddy production in the country, a concentrated effort should be made to raise their level of technical efficiency in the future.South Eastern University of Sri Lanka Oluvil # 32360 Sri Lank

Analyzing Undergraduate Students’ Performance in Various Perspectives using Data Mining Approach

The data mining provides better insight rather than the predefined queries or reports for quality enhancement and improvement of an academic program to extract hidden knowledge in students’ performance in various courses. This paper presents data mining approach applied to discover students’ performance patterns in two different perspectives (a) supervised and unsupervised assessment instruments and (b) discover students’ performance patterns in mathematics, English, and programming courses in an engineering degree program. The interesting patterns emerging from both analytic studies offer helpful and constructive suggestions for the improvement and revision of assessment methodologies, restructuring the curriculum, and modifying the prerequisites requirements of various courses. Keywords: Association Rules, Supervised and Unsupervised Assessment, Educational Data Minin

Analyzing Lifestyle and Environmental Factors on Semen Fertility using Association Rule Mining

The data mining has been used to extract hidden knowledge more effectively for analysis of business, academic, agricultural, as well as medical data in contrast to the predefined queries or reports. This paper presents the impacts of lifestyle and environmental factors of a man on the fertility and quality of semen using association rule mining. The association rules have been mined from data collected by a normalized questionnaire from young volunteers and are found to be useful in predicting the quality of semen based on individual’s lifestyle and environmental factors. Keywords: Association rules, Knowledge Discovery, Fertility potential, Rule confidenc

An e-Course file management system: A green campus initiative

Most accreditation agencies require academic institutions to maintain course files as an integral part of monitoring the overall quality of the educational process and to gauge how effective the course(s) have been taught and assessed at the time of offering each individual course. The paper-based course files maintained manually present a variety of disadvantages that include physical storage, retrieval issues, and recurring paper and printing costs. Moreover, the extensive paper usage required to maintain course files poses negative environmental impacts occurring during the paper making and disposal stages of paper life-cycle. As a green campus initiative, we propose a prototype eCourse file database management system to compile and organize the course files via user friendly graphical user interfaces. Keywords: Assessment items, Course file, Accreditation, Data sharing, Information retrieva