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This paper attempts to compare the availability, quality, similarities and differences of student support services in Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and United Kingdom Open University (UKOU) and also to identify and enlist the deficiencies that AIOU students are facing in the student support services. The study found out that student support services of AIOU are quantitatively developing rapidly on the lines of UKOU. Though the regional campuses of both the institutions have almost the same status in the provision of student support service yet the UKOU students have better services in the guidance and counseling, modern communication facilities and career guidance. Moreover, there also exists Open University student association in UKOU. The conclusions led to the recommendation that AIOU regional campuses may be made independent like UKOU, counseling and guidance cell might be established at every regional campus, modern communication facilities like toll free, auto answer may be provided at AIOU regional campuses. (Contains 12 tables.)

The present study was undertaken to measure the attitude of the students towards teacher training programs through Distance Education offered by Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad, Pakistan. To achieve the said end, the descriptive method of research was considered appropriate. The population of the study consisted of the B. Ed. Students of AIOU. Three hundred students from the Sahiwal region were selected as sample for the study. Questionnaire was used as a Research tool to gather the relevant data. Data was analyzed in terms of percentage and mean score. It was found that majority of the students appreciated the overall input of the program though a few eyebrows were raised concerning the assessment of the assignments. (Contains 9 tables.)

The paper addresses a key issue in language planning of the third world countries, specifically Pakistan, a country that remained under the shackles of Colonialism till 1947. But, still the country does not have a clear cut language policy. Being richly multilingual and multicultural, it had to cope with the problem of a second language, the national language and the regional and local languages. The often accepted dictum "choosing to learn a second language affords you unending possibilities" does not hold ground here. Learning a second language is a compulsion. But the second language could be Urdu, English or some powerful local language. This confusion has since long marred the teaching learning situation in some of the third world countries especially Pakistan. The teacher remains affixed with the Grammar Translation Method. The students have to refer to Urdu to learn English. However, Urdu is not the mother language of ninety three percent of the population. Hence, the students have to translate their thoughts twice which more often results in the loss of meaning. The present study was experimental in nature which sought to find answer to the question: Is it possibly to do away with Urdu and refer to the local language of the child while teaching him the English language? The study followed a pre-test, post-test and a single group experimental design. It was found that the students were more enthusiastic in learning the English language through the medium of their local language. It is conceded that Urdu may be taught as a national language but while teaching the foreign language, its middle-man status must be done away with.

Energy utilization is a significant aspect of the manufacturing industrial processes, and inefficient transferring of heat is one of the disadvantages which can affect the quality measures of end product. Therefore, by controlling the heat transferring rate, the efficiency of manufacturing processes can be improved. Thus, the variable thermal relaxation time factor in the theory of Cattaneo-Christov is main concern of this analysis. The non-isothermal flow by means of a porous medium is modeled and analyzed for a viscous fluid. The fluid deformation is discussed under stretching mechanism. A study is also executed to interrogate the heat transfer features under the heat flux model of Cattaneo-Christov. Thermal relaxation time is also considered which is determined by temperature. The aspect of thermal stratification is also implemented to see the modifications in temperature. The flow and energy equations are reduced by appropriate variables. The reduced constitutive flow equations are then computed using an analytical convergent technique. The significant impacts of the numerous parameters on the flow field and heat transport features are evaluated in detail through various plots. Skin friction coefficient is evaluated mathematically. Results found that the temperature significantly decreases with increased stratification effects. For larger thermal relaxation time parameter, the temperature function shows increasing behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was undertaken with a view to examine the patterns and prevalence of informal language in social sciences PhD dissertations in Pakistan. Formality in academic writing is essential for intelligibility. It eliminates any room for the author's personal idiosyncrasies. Due to their systematic and formal structure, PhD dissertations are expected to adhere to the scholarly conventions and stylistic norms of the academic community. It explored a corpus of 15 most recent PhD dissertations from three social sciences disciplines. The dataset was taken from the disciplines that produced the highest number of PhD degrees in the past five years. The study employed the classification of informality proposed by Chang and Swales (1999), further modified by Hyland and Jiang (2017). The aim of the study was to identify deviations from these conventional norms and to explore various features of informality within the selected sample. Qualitative content analysis method was used for an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon. Markin Software 4 utilized for annotating the identified features of informality. The findings revealed that unattended anaphoric references were the most recurrent informal feature. These were followed by listing expressions and conjunctive adverbs/sentence-initial conjunctions. These findings show that actual linguistic practices contrast with conventional academic expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a destructive pest of tomato crops. The cryptic nature of larvae often leads to low control efficacy. Sterile insect technique (SIT) has the potential to be an alternative management option for T. absoluta. In this study, the optimal dose for T. absoluta sterility was determined by estimating the effect of gamma radiation on parental generation (F0) and their descendants (first and second generation, F1 and F2). Adult emergence was not affected when T. absoluta pupae were exposed to gamma radiation at doses of 100~400 Gy. However, increasing doses of radiation increased deformed individuals and shortened their longevity. Furthermore, as the dose increased, F0 females showed decreased fecundity and fertility, and they were completely sterile when exposed to 300 Gy. The survival and sex ratio of females declined significantly in F1 of irradiated males with increasing doses. Moreover, we found that 300 Gy of gamma radiation did not affect the mating competitiveness of F0 males. Interestingly, this treatment caused a considerable reduction in the number of descendants and caused inherited sterility in F1 by lowering their fecundity and fertility. Therefore, the optimal radiation dose was 300 Gy, and the release of sterile adults may suppress T. absoluta population growth in the field. Our findings provide basis for controlling T. absoluta through SIT programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we engineered a sub-70 nm nanocomposite of ZnO/Zn2TiO4 using a low-temperature solution-phase method with titanium isopropoxide and zinc acetate as precursors, and isopropyl alcohol and water as solvents. The investigation focused on nanocomposite growth by varying precursor and surfactant concentrations and their efficiency within different pH ranges. All three ZnO/Zn2TiO4 nanocomposites exhibited hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and Zn2TiO4 structures. The crystallite size in these nanocomposites ranged from 39.50 nm to 62.67 nm for ZnO and 21.24 nm to 26.15 nm for Zn2TiO4. Morphological observations using FESEM revealed the formation of dispersed cotton packet-like nanocomposites with sizes ranging from 18 to 350 nm. FTIR analysis showed peaks indicative of Ti–O and Zn–O bond formation, and EDX spectrum confirmed the presence of Ti, O, and Zn. UV spectrums and photocatalytic investigations confirmed the successful formation of ZnO/Zn2TiO4 nanocomposites with notable photocatalytic degradation efficiency for methylene blue dye under various conditions. These findings suggest the potential applicability of the synthesized nanocomposites for environmental pollutant degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]