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This study explores the eco-pedagogical and eco-linguistic elements from teacher's perspective in the English textbooks of the Punjab Text board of class 6th to class 10th. This study aims to find out the discourse related to the environment in secondary-level books of English and to analyze the effects of these elements on the minds of the students from teacher's point of view. The study is quantitative in nature. The opinions of teachers are taken through interviews. Gaard and Frier's Eco pedagogical approach has been used to analyze the teachers' interviews. The result shows that there is less environment-related content in the books which is not enough for developing an understanding of students related to the environment and to enhance their language skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to highlight the existing level of organochlorine-pesticides (OCPs) from human milk ( n = 45) and blood serum ( n = 40) of female workers who pick cotton in Khanewal District, southern Punjab, Pakistan. Source apportionment, congener-specific analysis, and risk surveillance of OCPs are reported from human milk and blood samples. Levels of OCPs in milk and blood serum samples ranged from 15.7 ppb to 538.3 ppb and from 16.4 ppb to 747.1 ppb, respectively, and were lower than previously published reports from other regions of the globe. Congener-specific analysis revealed that DDTs were predominant, followed by hexachlorocyclohexane, chlordane, and hexachlorobenzene. Calculated results for source apportionment analysis suggested that contamination load was a new input of DDTs as well as the historic use of lindane in the study area. Levels of OCPs in milk and blood serum were significantly ( p < 0.05) correlated with age, time period of picking cotton, and number of children. Health risk revealed that female workers had risk of cancer among 1 per million; however, noncarcinogenic risks were not considerable. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1193-1201. © 2016 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal buildup was estimated in potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.), grown in central Punjab, Pakistan. This crop was irrigated with multiple water sources like ground, sewage and canal water. Concentrations of different metals like zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), and selenium (Se) were assessed in the potato crop irrigated with different types of waters. Sewage water treated crop and soil had higher metal concentrations than those treated with other two treatments. All metals had positive and significant correlation except for Mo which was non-significantly correlated between the vegetable and soil. Highest daily intake was observed for Fe (0.267), whereas the lowest was seen for Se (0.003). The enrichment factor and health index varied between 0.135-15.08 and 0.285–83.77, respectively. This study concludes that vegetables cultivated on soil treated with sewage water is a potent threat for human health as the metals manifest toxicity after entering the food chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of ruminants feed resources available to ruminants in central Punjab at Rural Farm, Sargodha comprising legumes and, grasses has been assessed based on rainy and dry season. Data on the composition of both types of forages revealed that legumes, contained Ca 0.12 and 0.14%, Mg 0.15 and 0.17%, K 0.76 and 1.03% and Na 0.11 and 0.15% during rainy and dry seasons, respectively. While grasses had Ca 0.21 and 0.14%, Mg 0.19 and 0.12%, K 1.19 and 1.32% and Na 0.07 and 0.20% during rainy and dry seasons, respectively. Both legume and grass forages contained all macro minerals far below the critical levels required for ruminants at both seasons. These minerals were severely deficient to fulfill the need of the minerals for rearing livestock and potential threats of their deficiencies for farm animals may be anticipated. Supplementing the deficient macrominerals with locally available feed resources like green fodders, mineral mixtures, and cakes and brans (which are good sources of minerals), or providing region specific mineral supplements would alleviate the deficiency of the macrominerals at this livestock farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aims: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and their relationship to age and obesity were estimated in Punjab, Pakistan by a population-based survey done in 1998. Methods: Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed in a stratified random sample of 1852 adults aged ≥25 years. The diagnosis of diabetes and IGT were made on the basis of WHO criteria. Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 12.14% in males and 9.83% in females. Overall total glucose intolerance (diabetes and IGT) was present in 16.68% males and 19.37% females. Central obesity, hypertension and positive family history were strongly associated with diabetes. Conclusions: These results indicate that the prevalence of glucose intolerance is high in the studied population and comparable with the published data from the other three provinces of Pakistan i.e. Sindh, Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province, studied by the same group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

AbstractThe present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminthiasis in ruminants in an irrigated area of lower Punjab (Pakistan). For this purpose, 100 faecal samples were collected from sheep, goats, cattle and buffaloes. Parasitological procedures including direct and indirect methods (sedimentation and floatation) and coproculture were used for the identification of helminths. The overall prevalence of helminthiasis was 51% in cattle, 47% in buffaloes, 62% in sheep and 52% in goats, with nematodes being the most common helminths. The prevalence of helminths was higher in young animals compared with adults in cattle (P?

Pertaining to reported high prevalence of brucellosis in Pakistan, district Layyah on account of having thick sheep population was selected for this study. A total of 384 sheep blood samples were collected randomly from different selected private herds in the district, and tested through Modified Rose Bengal (mRB) test and Indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (iELISA) for the serological analysis against the Brucella antibodies. Positive samples from these two tests were further subjected to Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (cELISA). The individual based seroprevalence of brucellosis in sheep was found to be 7.0% by mRB. Herd based prevalence was 42.5%. The highest (P<0.05) seroprevalence (16.8%) was observed in Tehsil Layyah as compared to Tehsils Karor (2.3%) and Choubara (4.5%). Non-significant differences were recorded between breeds, age and sex groups and also for the animals with or without history of abortion. In case of indirect and competitive ELISA, no sheep serum sample was found to be positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]