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Environmental pollution is a serious concern worldwide due to its adverse effect on both human and plants. Brick kilns generate black smoke, which contains trace elements in excess. Once such elements enter into the soil may cause toxicity to plants grown over such soils. The study objective was to assess the effect of black smoke generated from brick kilns on trace elements concentrations in soils and plants grown over such soils in the proximity of brick kilns at Fateh Jang, Rawalpindi. In total, 32 soil samples at a depth of 12 inches and associated plant samples were randomly collected in the vicinity of brick kilns towards all directions. Acid digestion of plants and soil samples was carried out along with heavy metals detection and analysis through Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Among all heavy metals, cadmium was found to exceed the normal limits of Cd concentration in soil. Among all plant families Ranunculaceae was found to have highest Pb concentration. Euphorbiaceae family has shown high accumulation of Cu and Zn, while Fabaceae family was found good accumulator of Cd and Cr. It is concluded from the present study that smoke coming out of brick kilns contains different heavy metals. Except Cd all heavy metals were found to be in safe limits because some of the brick kilns were not functioning at the time of present research. Strict environmental laws should be implemented for brick kilns industries, plants with high accumulation potential of heavy metals are recommended to be grown in periphery of the kilns and poor quality of fuel may be replaced with less polluting fuels to avoid serious damage to animals, plants and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a scientific appraisal of some of the folkioric and ethnomedical uses of Calotropis gigantea L. (Family: Asclepiadaceae), the present study was designed to evaluate the antitumour activity of the Calotropis gigan tea flower against Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC) by using a crude ethyl acetate extract from the flower of Calotropis gigantea (designated as EECF) in Swiss mice. EECF was administered intraperitoneally at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight. Bleomycin (0.3 mg/kg) was used as a positive control. EECF treatment significantly decreased both viable tumour cells and body weight gain induced by the tumour burden and prolonged survival time. The haematological and biochemical (glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood urea, ALP, SGPT and SGOT) parameters altered during tumour progression, were also significantly restored in EECF-treated mice. Among the three doses tested, the highest dose was the most potent and comparable with the standard drug bleomycin (0.3 mg/kg). In conclusion, EECF from the Calotropisgigantea flower has a potent inhibitory effect against EAC cells in a dose dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wild food ethnobotanical field study was conducted in the Ishkoman and Yasin valleys, located in the Hindukush Mountain Range of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. These valleys are inhabited by diverse, often marginalized, linguistic and religious groups. The field survey was conducted via one hundred and eighty semistructured interviews to record data in nine villages. Forty gathered wild food botanical and mycological taxa were recorded and identified. Comparative analysis among the different linguistic and religious groups revealed that the gathered wild food plants were homogenously used. This may be attributed to the sociocultural context of the study area, where most of the population professes the Ismaili Shia Islamic faith, and to the historical stratifications of different populations along the centuries, which may have determined complex adaptation processes and exchange of possibly distinct pre-existing food customs. A few wild plants had very rarely or never been previously reported as food resources in Pakistan, including Artemisia annua , Hedysarum falconeri, Iris hookeriana , Lepidium didymium and Saussurea lappa. Additionally, the recorded local knowledge is under threat and we analyzed possible factors that have caused this change. The recorded biocultural heritage could, however, represent a crucial driver, if properly revitalized, for assuring the food security of the local communities and also for further developing ecotourism and associated sustainable gastronomic initiatives in the area.