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Objective: The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of unstable ovarian artery doppler indices in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Methodology: This is cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted at a tertiary care hospital from February 2021 to January 2022. A total of 130 patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome. The patients included were those having duration of illness was more than 3 months, age between 20-40 years. Patients with influencing factors e.g., high prolactin and hypothyroidism were excluded from the study. The selected patients were undergone transabdominal ultrasound for the localization of anatomical position of ovarian arteries. Pulsed doppler range gate was established across the vessel and mean of three waveforms was observed. The doppler artery indices included were pulsatility index (PI) and resistive index (RI). The values were obtained and recorded. Results: The mean age of patients was 29.33 ± 4.11 years. Majority of patients (54.33%) were between the 19-29 years. Mean time of duration of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) was 3.11 ± 1.43 years. Mean body mass index (BMI) was 28.38 ± 2.01 kg/m². The frequency of deranged arterial involvement in patients was 71%. Conclusion: The findings suggested that the prevalent of deranged ovarian artery indices (RI and PI) in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is significantly high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The main objective of the study was to explore the factors to predict academic failure before the first major assessment. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted from March 2021 to August 2021 at Riphah International University. Using the purposive sampling technique, 16 students and seven teachers were included in the study. Eight online interviews were conducted with students who were academic failures and two focus group discussions were held with eight high achievers and seven teachers. The data was analyzed and thematic analysis was done. Results: Thematic analyses deduced relevant themes which were: Educational Journey Does past matter? Essential for learning, Personality and psychological make-up, and assessment of behaviour. The factors identified were performance record, learning difficulty, educational dislocation, missionless and purposeless, against free will, tuition, poor self-regulation, low effort, procrastination, non-reflective practice, cognitive load mismanagement, limited remediation, hesitant help-seeking, low self-efficacy, introvert behaviour, demotivation, emotional imbalance, observation of student behaviour, assessment of assigned task. Conclusion: Academic failure can be predicted early and salvaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consortium of already isolated strains has been applied to degrade endosulfan. These were identified by 16S rRNA technique as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia EN-1, Pseudomonas sp. TAH and Enterobacter sp EN-2. Batch experiments were conducted to access the endosulfan degradation efficiency of consortium while using various concentrations of endosulfan (5, 25, 50, 75, 100 mg/L). Maximum degradation of about 85–90% was observed at a concentration of 100 mg/L after 96 hours of incubation while no degradation was observed in untreated ones (without consortium). Cell growth kinetic models were applied to explain the kinetic behaviors of bacterial consortium in batch study. Various kinetic parameters such as 'µmax' and 'Ks' were determined having values of 0.9 h−1 and 7.9 mg/L respectively, that depicts the faster rate of endosulfan degradation by the selected bacterial consortium. Conversely, first-order kinetics was also well fitted in the experimental data using least squares regression (R2) ranged from 0.09 to 0.95, which indicates that the endosulfan utilization was stimulated by a synergistic interaction of each bacterial strain in the consortium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Money laundering is involved for the method of disguising the original ownerships income and circulated in a manner to finally be the part of legitimate source. It is a criminal Act and hiding of illegal assets hence acquired through numerous malicious measures like corruption, smuggling, drug trafficking and most importantly the cross border terrorism. Money laundering generates lots of abuses for the country at national and international platform also and specifically targets the economic and social system of country. According to the report generated by United Nation office on Drugs and crime (UNODC), the Net amount which is laundered per annum globally is 2.5% of Global GDP or 800 Billions USD to 2 Trillion USD1. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) officially put Pakistan in grey list due to lack of planning and measures for Anti-money laundering and terrorism financing. The decision was taken on June 29, 2018 in Paris.The governing body imposed this decision on the consideration of prepared report of International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG). There is a need of all stakeholders directly or indirectly linked with financial system to understand basic concepts of Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing, International Initiatives and Efforts for Identification, Investigation and Prosecution of cases involving ML & TF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) rely mainly on the microbial assemblages to contribute significantly for the removal of organic pollutants and nutrients. However, limited information is available on the ecological driving forces underlying the turnover of prokaryotic communities across wastewater treatment processes (i.e., from influents (IFs) and effluents (EFs)) within WWTPs. Here, we used a combination of the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and a quantitative ecological null model analysis to explore the ecological processes governing the turnover of the prokaryotic communities and the dominant taxonomic taxa across wastewater treatment processes of five full-scale WWTPs in China. Our results indicated that a significant variation in the composition of prokaryotic communities and the dominant taxa between IFs and EFs. The analysis of the environmental sources of indicator OTUs showed that a relatively lower abundance of the sludge/sewage and human guts associated OTUs in EFs than in IFs. Ecological null models revealed that among the ecological processes, deterministic processes were dominant in controlling the turnover of the overall communities from IFs to EFs, whereas the relative importance of deterministic processes varied among the dominant taxa (i.e., Bacteroidetes > Proteobacteria > Gammaproteobacteria > Firmicutes > Betaproteobacteria). However, the assembly of IF and EF communities was influenced mainly by the deterministic and stochastic processes, respectively. In addition, our results indicated that EF communities have a higher phylogenetic diversity than those of the IF communities, but the abundance of prokaryotic 16S rRNA genes was lower in EFs than in IFs. Overall, our study provides a novel insight of the assembly mechanisms underlying the turnover of prokaryotic communities during wastewater treatment processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peaceful settlement of any conflict through negotiations is an ideal way of pursuing and resolving every course which is the ideal practice to be followed by the international community. However, in the context of prevailing situation, Indians are trying to avoid every course of action adopted by Pakistan unless the ongoing insurgency has bled them white, leaving them with no other option. After winning election of 2019 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian government has emanated with more aggression and revealed more violent policies against Pakistan hence leaving no chance for the negotiation of dialogue for pursuance of Kashmir issue. BJP has long history of history of opposing the article 370 and they used its revoking as election manifesto in 2019. This may not be possible in the wake of imposing external pressure by the international community. Thus presently, to fulfil the long waited commitment for Kashmiris, and to realize the importance of Kashmir issue, to save the Kashmiri nation from Indian atrocities and by putting pressure on Indians to come on a political platform, Pakistan needs to create conducive environments through diplomatic platform with added diplomatic support for Kashmiris on the international forums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, 13 endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and their transformation products (TPs) were monitored in Jiulong River and its estuary, China in different seasons. The analytes included antimicrobials [triclosan (TCS) and triclocarbon (TCC)]; estrogens [estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3) and ethinylestradiol (EE2)]; alkylphenol ethoxylates [4-n-nonylphenol (NP) and 4-n-octylphenol (OP)] and the TPs [methyl triclosan (MeTCS), carbanilide (NCC), dichlorocarbanilide, 4-hydroxy estrone (4-OH E1) and 4-hydroxy estradiol (4-OH E2)]. A significant seasonal variation was observed for most EDCs. Approximately, 79% of the total E2 residues were detected in the normal season in comparison with the wet season to indicate recalcitrant behavior of E2 during the normal season. Risk assessment revealed that E2 was most potent among the EDCs to cause highest risk to both vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic species, whereas, E1, EE2, MeTCS and TCS also showed relatively high risk for some surface water aquatic species. Unlabelled Image • 13 endocrine disrupting compounds were investigated in Jiulong river & estuary. • The occurrence and detection frequency of the antimicrobials was highest. • Significant seasonal variation was observed for most of the compounds. • Estradiol (E2) was most potent among these compounds to cause highest risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS)‐based extraction and simultaneous dispersive solid‐phase extraction (dSPE) clean‐up method was developed for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in sediment samples. Hydration with a phosphate buffer (pH 2.0) and salting out with NaCl and MgSO4 facilitated the extraction and liquid–liquid portioning of the aqueous and organic phases. Cleanup of the extracts was achieved by florisil and C18 (1:1) sorbents in dSPE with minimal compromise of the analytes. The extracts were clean enough for determination by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS). The procedure was validated for preservatives, blood lipid regulators, analgesics and anti‐inflammatory drugs, plasticizers, and other classes of CECs in sediment matrix spiked at 6 levels between 1‐ and 40‐fold concentrations for CECs of varying analytical sensitivities. The recovery values were generally between approximately 27 and 120% and the relative standard deviation (%RSD) values were below 20% at 10‐ , 20‐ , and 40‐fold spiking levels, albeit the recoveries for some analytes dropped at low spike concentrations. The method showed high sensitivity where the method detection limits (MDLs) were at low ppb levels for the majority of the analytes that ranged between 0.002 and 1.93 µg/kg. The method performance was also compared with well‐established US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Method 1694 by analyzing sediment samples collected from Yundang Lagoon (Xiamen, China) with field‐incurred CEC residues. The sediment samples were detected with residues of parabens, gemfibrozil, ketoprofen, naproxen, fenoprofen, diclofenac, miconazole, carbamazepine, benzophenon‐3, glibenclamide, sildinafil citrate, and some bisphenol analogues. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1409–1422. © 2019 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The urban water ecosystems, such as the landscape ponds are commonly considered under the influence of anthropogenic disturbances, which can lead to the deterioration of the water quality. The prokaryotic communities are considered as one of the best indicators of the water quality. However, there are significant gaps in understanding the ecological processes that shape the composition and function of prokaryotic communities in the urban water ecosystems. Here, we investigated the biogeographic distribution of prokaryotic assemblages in water environments including landscape ponds, drinking water reservoirs, influents (IFs) and effluents (EFs) of wastewater treatment plants of a coastal city (Xiamen), China, by using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. Our results indicated that the ponds had higher α-diversity of prokaryotic communities than those in the reservoirs, while there were significant variations in the community compositions among ponds, reservoirs, IFs and EFs. Moreover, ponds harbored a significantly higher proportion of sewage- and fecal-indicator taxa than those in the reservoirs, suggesting the occurrence of exogenous pollution in the urban ponds. Null model analysis revealed that dispersal limitation was the main ecological processes resulting in the divergence of prokaryotic community compositions between ponds and other environments, while dispersal limitation and variable selection played an essential role in the formation of unique prokaryotic assemblages in the reservoirs. Function predication analysis demonstrated that the ponds shared more similar functional profiles with IFs or EFs (e.g., chemoheterotrophy, fermentation, chlorate reducers, nitrate reduction and respiration) than the reservoirs, whereas dominance of photoautotrophy was observed in the reservoirs. Overall, this study provides a profound insight of the ecological mechanisms underlying the responses of prokaryotic communities in the urban landscape ponds to the anthropogenic disturbances. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Prokaryotic communities were characterized in an urban water ecosystem. • Stochastic processes led to distinct pond communities compared to other habitats. • Deterministic and stochastic processes together shaped pond prokaryotic communities. • Ponds had abundant prokaryotes capable of anaerobic metabolism. Local anthropogenic disturbances and stochastic processes together led to changes in the prokaryotic communities in urban ponds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is a sulfonamide antibiotic, widely used as curative and preventive drug for human, animal, and aquaculture bacterial infections. Its residues have been ubiquitously detected in the surface waters and sediments. In the present study, SMX dissipation and kinetics was studied in the natural water samples from Jiulong River under simulated complex natural conditions as well as conditions to mimic various biotic and abiotic environmental conditions in isolation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) by employing partial least square technique in path coefficient analysis was used to investigate the direct and indirect contributions of different environmental factors in the natural attenuation of SMX. The model explained 81% of the variability in natural attenuation as a dependent variable under the influence of sole effects of direct photo-degradation, indirect photo-degradation, hydrolysis, microbial degradation and bacterial degradation. The results of SEM suggested that the direct and indirect photo-degradation were the major pathways in the SMX natural attenuation. However, other biotic and abiotic factors also play a mediatory role during the natural attenuation and other processes. Furthermore, the potential transformation products of SMX were identified and their toxicity was evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bacterial strain (TA7) capable of consuming three N-methylated carbamates as sole nitrogen and carbon source was isolated and identified as "Enterobacter cloacae" on the basis of 16S rRNA, from carbamate contaminated agricultural soil by enrichment culture technique. The agar entrapment was used to immobilize the bacterial cells. Both the free as well as the immobilized cells were used to study the degradation of three carbamets viz. aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl. The immobilized cells degraded all the three carbamates much faster than their free cell counterparts. The biodegradation kinetics of aldicarb, carbaryl, and carbofuran was studied using 50 ppm as initial concentration in the presence of free cells. The average values of Ks for aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl were 22.6, 17.87, and 8.9 mg/L, respectively, whereas the values for µmax were calculated as 1.35, 1.3, and 1.2 mg/l/h−1. The results indicated that the bacterium has high affinity towards all the three carbamates. However, relatively higher affinity is for carbaryl, in comparison with carbofuran and aldicarb. Results indicate the potential of E. Cloacae TA7 to remediate N-methylated carbamates polluted water and soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the evolving perception of graduate students of Masters in 'health professional education with diverse educational backgrounds regarding online learning and teaching. Study Design: Mixed-method' study of Convergent Parallel Design. Place and Duration of Study: Riphah University, Rawalpindi Pakistan, Dec 2021 to Feb 2022. Methodology: Twenty-five graduate students of Masters in 'health professional education' with diverse educational backgrounds answered semi-structured questionnaires at the end of 2 online teaching sessions. Results: The mean scores of 3 domains of 'student's perception of learning, 'contents and teaching strategies and 'educational environment' in 1st vs second online sessions were as follows, respectively: (4.37 0.42 vs 4.09, 0.45; p-value 0.04), (4.40 0.47 vs 4.29, 0.58; p-value 0.44) and (4.43 0.43 vs 4.23 0.69; p-value 0.36). The students agreed that the contents covered, teaching strategies and education environment were satisfactory, and the perception was not statistically different between the two sessions in these domains. In contrast, students' self-perception of learning was more satisfactory in the first online session. Conclusion: The graduate students of Masters in 'health professional education' with diverse educational backgrounds were satisfied regarding the contents covered, teaching strategies and education environment in two online teaching sessions. In contrast, their perception of their learning depreciated in the second online teaching session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irradiation is an effective and safe method of food preservation, as it reduces spoilage, improves food hygiene, and extends shelf life. In October 2013, experts from Asia and Pacific Region gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to share information on the application of food irradiation. The participants of the meeting discussed and analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of food irradiation with a view to sustainably continue the activity in the participating countries. The latest information in the Asia/Pacific Region regarding regulations, irradiation facilities and quantities irradiated is provided in this paper. The current status of food irradiation is reviewed and compared with the United States of America (USA) and European Union (EU). Activities on of food irradiation at commercial scale have increased significantly in these countries during last few years. Attention is also focused on the phytosanitary treatment of fruits and vegetables. Possible reasons for slow adoption of food irradiation and points to enhance the technology are also outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this Research paper is to explore the China's relations with Central Asian region and to study its embodied effects on Pakistan. Objectives of the Study: To investigate the strategic depth of China Central Asian relations in the changing paradigm of regional and international politics. To analyze the Pakistan relations with Central Asia and to provide options for CARs to grapple the economic advantages of this regional connectivity of Kashgar to Gwadar through Pakistan China Economic Corridor. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research has been carried out using various techniques; documents based on content analysis, and case studies. Historical, descriptive, comparative and analytical method have been taken into practice on all Qualitative and Quantitative data sources which includes Govt. publications, organizational reports, thesis, academic papers, published, printed sources, Newspapers, Books, Journals, Periodicals, electronic sources and ejournal etc. to acquire the optimal results and conclusions. Research Limitation-This research enshrines only three major areas of cooperation among the triangular relations of Pakistan, China, and Central Asia. These three areas are Energy, Economy and Extremism. The regional and international challenges have also been taken into account. Theoretical Framework A theoretical framework in social science not only enhances credibility of research but also provides the substructure to the research by interpreting the relevant theories related to research objectives. According to the realist school of thought global political system is anarchic one and states are the main actors in this system. Every state peruses her national self-interest based on rationality and there is no any supranational authority to govern the states. Every state has desire of acquiring more and more power to ensure its self-preservation. Power is perpetual as well rational concept. It does not exist in vacuum but in relations with other state. China is expanding herself in terms of economic advancement and affluence not only in the region but as well on world scenario. China is very much engaged in Central Asia to magnify its strategic and economic power to preserve its interest. Regionalism is the process of integration, geographical relationship, formation of interstate coalition mutual interdependence of the states on the basis of regions. The key ingredients of regionalism are unilateralism, multilateralism and international trading system. The main idea of regionalism is to economically and politically integrate states on regional identification. The SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) is also turning itself into regionalism. Eurasia has abundant energy resources. The exploitation and transportation of these energy resources to the rest of the world has become major challenge due to the deteriorating security situation and unrest of the region. SCO is a powerful regional mechanism which can play significant role in improving security of the region. Regionalism theoretical interpretations can be glimpsed on Central Asia, East Asia and South Asia in terms of economic, energy and security integration. The Mahan, A. Thayer in his book "The influence of sea power upon history 1660-1783" has concluded that naval strategy and power is a noteworthy factor for the rise of British Empire. The determinants of sea power are economy, population, political will of government and number of coastline and harbors available for sea trade traffic. The ongoing development project of Gwadr by China has proclivity to cater not only Chinese trade through CPEC but also have capacity to provide landlocked Central Asia access to hot water port for energy exports. Originality / Value: This paper is an original research work. The analysis provided is based on facts from various national and international publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the study is to analyze the role of Ideology and pragmatism in Iranian foreign policy. Main thesis is whether one factor surpasses the other while making the choices and decisions or both impacts equally influence the course of action in global political arena. The focus remains on the Iran's foreign policy towards the western world in general and America in particular. It also focuses the role of cultural disparity and why constructive breakthrough has not been achieved previously. Moreover, the cordial relationship with United States has been held in abeyance due to ideological clash and policy priorities between the two states. Iran remained focused more on ideology rather giving attention to US strategic concerns in the region since the end of cold war. Diplomatic behaviors of the states are results of the historical animosities and cordialities among the states. Moreover, Iranian policy priority has been anti-hegemonic and antiimperialistic designs of the big powers in the post-cold war era. They kept their ideology alive and remained fixed on their strategic interests and ideology. Moreover, the scenario in the post 9/11 has been changing and global environment continue to be tougher for underdeveloped and the developing countries. Iran has been suffering due to unlimited economic and political bans because it is not bowing before the global superpower. However, things started changing and a shift came up in the policy of Iran with the emergence of new rapprochement in shape of a historical deal with United States. It seems the Iranian policy has tilted more on the side of pragmatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization is a growing phenomenon in the contemporary times when man has become modern in its thinking, actions and evaluation. Growing awareness regarding human rights is not only bringing human into mainstream affairs being major stakeholders indirectly but also greater expectations. This reality of preservation of human rights has brought the issue into legislation to make it law as a written part of the constitution at national, regional and global level in almost all spheres. Consequently, assurance of human fundamental rights is ground reality and written part of all the constitutions of the world. Globalization has transformed the world into a global village where there are commonalities of the cultures, exchange of ideas and free economic approaches are struggling to bring consensus among the world society to protect and preserve the human rights against any violation. World has divided into two blocks global north and global south based on their economic and political capacities. Globalization phenomenon was started by global north so it augurs well for the advancement of their interests while South is less benefited because of having under-developed status and weaker rule of law, social, economic and political condition. There are disparities of resources between both the blocks that are why south is suffering and north is maintaining status quo. State like Pakistan being the part and parcel of global south is facing economic and political hurdles where there is no provision of basic human requirements like food, health, education, employment and socio-economic stability. Globalization is north-centered phenomenon and more beneficial for them as compare to south. Globalization has positives and negatives. On one side it is providing awareness about the human rights violations while on other side it seems unable to protect human rights violations. Human rights violation scale is growing in Pakistan where there is nationalistic economy that is anti-thesis of the globalization and free market economy of north. Moreover, weak socio-economic and political conditions in Pakistan causing deprivations and grievance are growing where a specific chunk of society is violating all norms and rules of human rights by using their economic power and social status. In comparison to internationalization of economies under the umbrella of globalization, limited weightage is given to Pakistani exports in international market as compare to exports that proves very costly with the emergence of issue balance of payment that causes severe economic implications on Pakistan economy where social and political sector already going downwards and lacking to provide basic needs of life and fundamental rights. Labor issues and forced labor menace is growing in Pakistan where there are less facilities and larger number of labor and phenomenon of brain drain is growing. Globalization is impacting Pakistan more in a negative way and less in positive way. In this phase of initial years of second decade of twenty first century, human rights violation has decreased due to constitutional protection, media campaigns, role of NGO's but still long way to go ahead to curb the menace. Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore the embodied effects of process of globalization on human rights in Pakistan. Objectives of the study- To investigate explore and analyze the present status of human rights status in Pakistan in this globalized arena and legislative measures taken by the government. To highlight, the growing hurdles in the protection of human rights violations in Pakistan. Research Questions- What can be the impacts of globalization on global South? And how it is affecting human rights in Pakistan? What actions should be taken to support and extend rights to the humans in the era of globalization? Design / Methodology / Approach- Descriptive method is used based on secondary sources like UNDP reports, human rights commission of Pakistan reports, academic papers, books and newspaper articles etc. An analytical approach has also been used to illustrate the human rights violation in Pakistan and explore the underlying realities. Findings-This paper provides the pen picture of the Globalization phenomenon and its significant impacts on human rights in Pakistan, either it has created opportunities for the preservation of human rights or it has threatened the human rights. It is concluded that globalization is the major independent variable. Although through integrating Pakistan's commercial, financial and economic institutions with the world the dream of economic globalization can be materialized and freedom of equal socio-economic rights and freedom to engage in economic transactions may be ensured but still it might will remain at loss because of weak economy, limited resources and political immaturity, moreover, other human rights violations occurred in Pakistan are needed to be addressed at state level in a more pragmatic way and viable policy methods by analyzing situation in depth. Research Limitation-The focus of this research would be only Pakistan regarding violation of human rights with the detail discussion of globalization and human rights in general. The policy making at Government level i-e role of parliament, role of international organizations and role of NGOs would also be studied for law making and to preserve the human rights. The period of the research would be 2011 to 2013. Hypothetical framework- Globalization phenomenon is a promoter of liberal thoughts in socio-economic and political perspectives. Liberalism of globalization gives a perception that assists in the prevention of human rights violation in developing societies. The underlying socio-economic disparities between global North and global South are creating un-favorable environment for the protection of human rights in developing world. Pakistan is facing human rights violations due to inherent socio-economic and political weakness with unfavorable impacts of globalization because of her mismatch with the western standards. This clearly shows the indiscriminate impacts of globalization on different regions of the world. Originality / Value-This is original research work. The analysis provided is based on facts and information is acquired from human rights commission of Pakistan reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing the potential significance of using nuclear techniques in biological control, investigations were conducted on the rearing of parasitoids of the peach fruit-fly,Bactrocera zonata(Saunders) (Diptera: Tephritidae) to lead to a greater flexibility in the use of irradiated hosts. For improving mass production of the biological control agents, the use of irradiated fruit-fly larvae at the dose of 15 Gy proved useful for enhancing the parasitism and adult emergence of the larval parasitoid,Trybliographa daci(Weld) (Hymenoptera: Eucoilidae) due to no negative repercussions on parasitoid development. Overall, parasitism by the parasitoid increased with age of the host larvae; however, significantly higher parasitism occurred on 4 d-old irradiated larvae ofB. zonatacompared to those aged 5 d. The female parasitoids preferred the irradiated larvae, and significantly higher numbers of larvae were parasitized compared with non-irradiated larvae. There was no significant difference in adult parasitoid emergence with respect to the sex of the host. A radiation level of 80 Gy was the best dose for rearing of the pupal parasitoid,Dirhinus giffardii(Silvestri) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) owing to broad tolerances in the use of irradiation for the rearing of fruit-fly's parasitoids. Percentage parasitism byD. giffardiivaried with host pupal age, and the preference of the female parasitoid was lower on 48 h old host pharate pupae due to optimum size and mass of host. Present findings further revealed that the 24 h old host pupae ofB. zonatawere relatively more suitable for the maximum parasitism and progeny production ofD. giffardii. Parasitisms byD. giffardiiandT. daciwere significantly higher onB. zonatahost when parasitoids were released at a density of 3000 individuals per acre (7500 per hectares) than the other release rates of parasitoids for the management of fruit-flies in mango orchards. The implementation of these findings ought to help improve the mass production of parasitoids and the effectiveness of releases of biocontrol agents for control ofB. zonatain mango plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore the Oil and Gas potential of Central Asian Republics and to look to new opportunities for Pakistan if relations with CARs are more developed. Design/Methodology / Approach- Descriptive and analytical method is used based on secondary data from reports by EIA (U.S Energy Information Administration), B.P Statistical review of world energy June 2013, Academic papers, books and Newspaper articles etc. A mathematical equation and graphic usage is carried out to illustrate the energy resources of CARs and options are considered for Pakistan to develop better ties with Central Asian Republics. Findings-The paper provides the pen picture of energy richness of Central Asia's its future growth and prosperity which is directly linked with the development of inter-state and intra-state infrastructure like road and rail. This paper also focus on the challenges at international and regional level and role of global powers those are creating hurdles for CARs to develop economic ties with Pakistan and other regional countries. The presence of US and NATO forces in the region and unrest in Afghanistan has also implications for trade. Research Limitations-This article is related to an energy potential map of CARs with special emphasized on oil and natural Gas resources. The factors those are affecting the Pakistan relations with CARs are also discussed but analysis of U.S interests in Central Asia, great game and control over Eurasia, regional conflicts and political instability are not extensively discussed. Originality/Value-This is the original work. The analysis provided in the paper is based on facts and information based on EIA and other secondary sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcome of linear accelerator based multisession stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for large benign brain tumors of >3cm. Methods: Between June 2009 and May 2011, 35 patients having large benign brain tumors of >3cm (>15 cm³) were treated by multisession stereotactic radiosurgery. This retrospective study was carried out at Neurospinal & Medical Institute Karachi. There were 17 (48.6 %) males and 18(51.4 %) females. Median age was 36 years (range: 13-65 years). Median target volume was 49.4 cm³ (range: 15-184 cm³). The median marginal dose was 25 Gy (range: 20-27.5Gy) prescribed to a median 75% isodose line (range: 65-100 %). Median number of 5 fractions were used ranging 3-5 fractions. Results: All the patients tolerated treatment very well. 21 (58.3%) patients had remarkable clinical improvement of neurological symptoms, 14 (38.9%) patients had stable symptoms, and only one patient had transient worsening of symptoms. No permanent neurological damage or radiation injury was seen. Radiologically, 9 (25.7%) patients achieved reduction in size of the tumor, 26(74.3 %) patients were having stable disease, and overall control rate was found to be 100 %. Median follow-up time from the end of SRS was 6.4 months (range: 1-22.5months). Conclusion: Linear accelerator based multisession stereotactic radiosurgery for large benign brain tumors of >3cm is effective and well tolerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine sediments serve as a sink for contaminants of anthropogenic origin. Here, 25 major and trace elements were determined in surface and core sediments from an urban lagoon (Yundang Lagoon), China. The median concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn in both surface and core sediments exceeded global and crustal averages. Principal component analysis for the elements and ecological impact of the heavy metals indicated spatial heterogeneity in core sediments from different lagoon areas; however, no such pattern was observed in surface sediments. Geodetector analysis indicated spatial locations of lakes, pH, N%, C%, and S% as the major factors influencing the heterogeneity of potential ecological risk index, a cumulative measure of the ecological impact of heavy metal. The interaction detector indicated nonlinear and bivariate enhancement between different physicochemical parameters. Besides, a depth profile of the elements in different samples was also elucidated. [Display omitted] • Anthropogenic activities cause the metal pollution in Yundang Lagoon. • Major and trace elements were higher at surface sediments compare to the core sediments. • PCA indicated spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of metalloids. • Risk assessment indices indicated moderate to extreme contamination by heavy metals. • Geodetector analysis indicated association of potential environmental risks of metals with sediment variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estuaries, being the transitional zones between freshwater and marine environments, are important for protecting and rehabilitating the aquatic environments. Sediments from freshwater and marine environments were studied in Jiulong River Estuary (JRE) in different years for rare earth elements (REEs) and some environmentally important metal and metalloid elements (MMEs). The concentration of REEs ranged from 0.11 (Tm) to 296.20 mg kg−1 (Ce), while that of MMEs ranged from 0.40 (Cd) to 86,000 mg kg−1 (Al). The temporal analysis indicated an increase of both REEs and MMEs contaminants from 2012 to 2018. Fractionation of REEs and Ce and Eu anomalies indicated natural weathering, erosion processes and changes in redox chemistry at the sampling sites. Spatial structure analysis showed relatively higher levels of both REEs and MMEs in the freshwater sediments. These variations among the sampling sites indicated different land use and anthropogenic activities. The values of enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo) indicated anthropogenic sources of accumulation, while, ecological risk assessment (Eix) and potential ecological risk index (PERI) indicated potential hazards for biota due to the accumulation of Pb, Zn and As elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal sands harbor diverse microbial assemblages that play a critical role in the biogeochemical cycling of beach ecosystems. However, little is known about the relative importance of the different ecological processes underlying the assembly of communities of sand microbiota. Here, we employed 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing to investigate the sand microbiota of two coastal beaches, in southern China. The results showed that sand microbial assemblages at intertidal and supratidal zones exhibited contrasting compositions that can be attributed to environmental filtering by electric conductivity. A consistent pattern of habitat generalists and specialists of sand microbiota was observed among different beach zones. Null and neutral model analyses indicated that the environmental filtering was mainly responsible for supratidal microbial communities, while the neutral processes could partially influence the assembly of intertidal communities. Moreover, environmental filtering was found to shape the habitat specialists, while random dispersal played a major role in shaping generalists. The neutral model analysis revealed that the habitat generalists exceeding the neutral prediction harbored a relatively higher proportion of microbial taxa than the specialist counterparts. An opposite pattern was observed for taxa falling below the neutral prediction. Collectively, these findings offer a novel insight into the assembly mechanisms of coastal sand microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Lagoon sediments had higher ARG pollution levels as compared to pristine sediments. • Heavy metals posed indirect negative effects on the lagoon sediment ARG profiles. • Horizontal gene transfer determined the absolute abundance of sediment ARGs. • Vertical gene transfer affected the composition of sediment ARG communities. • Deterministic and stochastic processes drove sediment ARG community assembly. Rapid urbanization has resulted in pervasive occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban aquatic ecosystems. However, limited information is available concerning the ARG profiles and the forces responsible for their assembly in urban landscape lagoon systems. Here, we employed high-throughput quantitative PCR (HT-qPCR) to characterize the spatial variations of ARGs in surface and core sediments of Yundang Lagoon, China. The results indicated that the average richness and absolute abundance of ARGs were 11 and 53 times higher in the lagoon sediments as compared to pristine reference Tibetan lake sediments, highlighting the role of anthropogenic activities in ARG pollution. Co-occurrence network analysis indicated that various anaerobic prokaryotic genera belonging to Alpha-, Deltaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Euryarchaeota, Firmicutes and Synergistetes were the potential hosts of ARGs. The partial least squares-path modeling (PLS-PM) analysis revealed positive and negative indirect effects of physicochemical factors and heavy metals on the lagoon ARG profiles, via biotic factors, respectively. The horizontal (mediated by mobile genetic elements) and vertical (mediated by prokaryotic communities) gene transfer may directly contribute the most to drive the abundance and composition of ARGs, respectively. Furthermore, the neutral community model demonstrated that the assembly of sediment ARG communities was jointly governed by deterministic and stochastic processes. Overall, this study provides novel insights into the diversity and distribution of ARGs in the benthic habitat of urban lagoon systems and underlying mechanisms for the spread and proliferation of ARGs. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental selection of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is considered to be caused by antibiotic or metal residues, frequently used in livestock. In this study we examined three commercial poultry farms to correlate the co-occurrence patterns of antibiotic and metal residues to the presence of ARGs. We quantified 283 ARGs, 12 mobile genetic elements (MGEs), 49 targeted antibiotics, 7 heavy metals and sequenced 16S rRNA genes. The abundance and type of ARG were significantly enriched in manure while soil harbored the most diverse bacterial community. Procrustes analysis displayed significant correlations between ARGs/MGEs and the microbiome. Cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were responsible for a majority of positive correlations to ARGs when compared to antibiotics. Integrons and transposons co-occurred with ARGs corresponding to 9 classes of antibiotics, especially Class1 integrase intI-1LC. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and Variance partitioning analysis (VPA) showed that antibiotics, metals, MGEs and bacteria explain solely 0.7%, 5.7%, 12.4%, and 21.9% of variances of ARGs in the microbial community, respectively. These results suggested that bacterial composition and horizontal gene transfer were the major factors shaping the composition of ARGs; Metals had a bigger effect on ARG profile than detected antibiotics in this study. Unlabelled Image • Heavy metals in the environment trigger co-selection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. • MGEs facilitate the mobility of ARGs and MRGs. • Bacterial composition and horizontal gene transfer were the major influencing factors on the composition of ARGs. • Metals had a bigger effect on the ARG profile than detected antibiotics. • Antibiotics, metals, MGEs and bacteria explain solely 0.7%, 5.7%, 12.4%, and 21.9% of variances in ARGs respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the occurrence, removal and mass balance of 8 endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), including estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), ethinylestradiol (EE2), triclosan (TCS), triclocarbon (TCC), 4- n -nonyl phenol (NP) and 4- n -octyl phenol (OP), along with 5 of their transformation products (TPs), including 4-hydroxy estrone (4-OH E1), 4-hydroxy estradiol (4-OH E2), methyl triclosan (MeTCS), carbanilide (NCC), dichlorocarbanilide (DCC) in a wastewater treatment plant. Generally, E3 showed the highest concentrations in wastewater with median value of 514 ng/L in influent, while TCS and TCC showed highest level in sludge and suspended solids (SS) with median value of 960 and 724 μg/kg, respectively. Spatial variations were observed along each unit of the wastewater treatment processes for dissolved analytes in wastewater and adsorbed analytes in suspended solids and sludge. Special emphasis was placed to understand the mass load of EDCs and their TPs to the wastewater treatment unit and mass loss during the wastewater treatment processes. Mass loss based on both aqueous and suspended phase concentration revealed that majority of these chemicals were significantly removed during the treatment process except for TCS, TCC, and three of their TPs (MeTCS, NCC, DCC), which were released or generated during the treatment process. Mass load results showed that 42.4 g of these EDCs and their TPs entered this wastewater treatment system daily via influent, whereas 6.15 g and 7.60 g were discharged through effluent and sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) was investigated in seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Xiamen City, China. Special emphasis was placed on their co-occurrence and the mass balances of both dissolved and adsorbed PPCPs in influent, effluent, and sludge samples. Results showed that PPCPs were widely detected and their co-occurrence was observed both in the wastewater and sludge that can be attributed to either their similar usage or similar physicochemical properties. These results further emphasize that some specific PPCPs have the potential as indicators or surrogate compounds to reduce the number of targeted PPCPs. The occurrence and distribution of PPCPs also showed strong spatial variations, as the PPCP mass loads per inhabitant were positively correlated with the urbanization levels. Both the removal efficiencies of dissolved PPCPs from the aqueous phase and mass loss proportion of the total PPCPs were evaluated and compared. Overall, a measured total amount of 8500 g PPCPs entered the seven WWTPs daily via influent with 6640 g in the dissolved form, while 3450 g left the WWTPs. The large mass loads of antibiotics in the sludge and effluents indicated their potential adverse effects to the receiving environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were investigated in eleven edible fish species (5 herbivorous and 6 carnivorous) collected from the River Chenab, Pakistan, during 2007–2009. Total OCP and PCB concentrations (ngg−1 wet weight, ww) ranged between 13–107 (mean: 38) and 3.1–93.7 (mean: 20) for five herbivorous fish species and 21.6–365 (mean: 148) and 2.5–108 (mean: 30) for six carnivorous species, respectively. The trends of detected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in fish samples were: DDTs>PCBs>chlordanes>HCHs. The mean concentration(s) (ngg−1 ww) of OCPs were relatively higher in all fish species collected near industrial areas followed by urban and agricultural areas. Risk assessment of OCPs and PCBs indicated that fish intake may pose health risk to humans with a consumption rate of >8g/person/day. The hazardous ratios for the 50th and 95th percentile data of OCPs and PCBs in fish exceeded the value of 1, suggesting that the daily exposure to OCPs and PCBs yield a lifetime cancer risk greater than 1 in 10,000. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microeukaryotic communities are sensitive to environmental changes; and are considered essential for microbial food webs and biogeochemical cycles. Therefore, understanding the community responses of microeukaryotes to environmental changes is of great ecological significance. Very little is known about the assembly mechanisms underlying the microeukaryotic communities, especially for the key ecological groups (e.g., habitat generalists/specialists) in the riverine ecosystems. Here, we employed 18S rDNA amplicon sequencing to study the assembly processes governing the microeukaryotic communities and their habitat generalists and specialists across three hydrological seasons in a subtropical river in China. The results showed that deterministic and stochastic processes jointly shaped the microeukaryotic communities, where the relative importance of stochastic processes decreased in the following order: wet > normal > dry seasons. However, deterministic processes played more important role in shaping the microeukaryotic communities than those of prokaryotes. Meanwhile, stochastic and deterministic processes were responsible for structuring the microeukaryotic habitat generalists and specialists, respectively. Generally, the pure effects of physicochemical factors on the microeukaryotic communities and their key ecological groups were ~ 1.7 folds than those of the micropollutants. However, several micropollutants (e.g., acetaminophen, benzophenone-3, bisphenol A, sulfadiazine, triclocarban and triclosan) were found to have a strong effect on the habitat specialists. Altogether, we suggested that the ecological responses of the riverine microeukaryotes to micropollutants may vary among species due to the intrinsic differences in their environmental plasticity. Unlabelled Image • Stochastic and deterministic processes jointly drive microeukaryotic community assembly. • Different ecological processes shaped microeukaryotic and prokaryotic communities. • Hydrological conditions affected microeukaryotic and prokaryotic community assembly. • Micropollutants had stronger effects on the habitat specialists than generalists. • Micropollutants had positive associations with microeukaryotic habitat specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micropollutants have become of great concern, because of their disrupting effects on the structure and function of microbial communities. However, little is known about the relative importance of trace micropollutants on the aquatic prokaryotic communities as compared to the traditional physico-chemical characteristics, especially at different spatial dimensions. Here, we investigated free-living (FL) and particle-associated (PA) prokaryotic communities in a subtropical water reservoir, China, across seasons at horizontal (surface water) and vertical (depth-profile) scales by using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our results showed that the shared variances of physico-chemicals and micropollutants explained majority of the spatial variations in prokaryotic communities, suggesting a strong joint effect of the two abiotic categories on reservoir prokaryotic communities. Micropollutants appeared to exert strong independent influence on the core sub-communities (i.e., abundant and wide-spread taxa) than on the satellite (i.e., less abundant and narrow-range taxa) counterparts. The pure effect of micropollutants on both core and satellite sub-communities from FL and PA fractions was ~1.5 folds greater than that of physico-chemical factors at the horizontal scale, whereas an opposite effect was observed at the vertical scale. Moreover, eight micropollutants including anti-fungal agents, antibiotics, bisphenol analogues, stimulant and UV-filter were identified as the major disrupting compounds with strong associations with core taxa of typical freshwater prokaryotes. Altogether, we concluded that the ecological disrupting effects of micropollutants on prokaryotic communities may vary along horizontal and vertical dimensions in freshwater ecosystems. Unlabelled Image • Physico-chemicals and micropollutants had joint effects on prokaryotic communities. • Micropollutants had stronger effects on the surface water than vertical communities. • Micropollutants exerted stronger influence on the core than satellite groups. • Lifestyle-dependent responses to micropollutants were observed. • Eight micropollutants had strong associations with abundant core taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]