An Analysis of Prisons’ Staff Role in the Reintegration of the Prisoners

The central theme of this research is to explore the effectiveness of prisons staff in the reintegration of the prisoners with specific focus on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) jails. Mixed method was adopted to carry out the study.  Seven high-profile jails within Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, one jail each, in all the seven administrative divisions, were purposively selected.  Of all 277 respondents, 250 comprised of jail inmates (under trial and convicted adults and juveniles male prisoners) were randomly selected within the seven jails of the province and interviewed through semi-structured questionnaire.  The remaining 27 respondents, purposively selected and interviewed through interview-guide included judges, lawyers, jail officials, human right activists and ex-prisoners.  Further, One focus group discussion was arranged to gain more deep insight into the phenomenon in question. Concurrent triangulation strategy was adopted for the collection and analysis of data.       It was found that prison staff in Pakistan is characterized by lack of will and skill to transform prisons into correction institutions. Their involvement in torturing the inmates, providing them proscribed stuff, sexual assaults on the prisoners, taking bribery for extending legal and illegal favors etc is deeply-seated within the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa prisons. Providing best trainings to the prisons’ staff considering modern-day needs, their salaries increase along with sound service structure, meritorious selection, transfer and up-gradation of the prisons’ employees, recruitment of the needed staff to bridge the staff-inmate huge gape and ensuring the effective accountability system of prisons are the suggested measures to overcome the problem at hand.

Immobilization of Lignin Peroxidase from Schizophyllum Commune Ibl-06 by Using Different Immobilization Supports

The lignin degrading enzymes system of WRF has incredible catalytic property for oxidative bio-remediation of a lot of toxic contaminants and numerous other industrial applications. Immobilization facilitates the re-use of enzymes and making them industrially applicable and eco-nomical bio-catalysts. Schizophyllum commune IBL-06 was used for the production of lignin peroxidase (LiP) in pre-optimized solid state fermentation medium of corn stover. A high yield of LiP (1347.3 U/mL) was observed in crude extract. LiP was purified (5.65 folds) by a 4 steps protocol containing ammonium sulphate fractionation, dialysis, ion-exchange (DEAE-cellulose) and size exclusion chromatography. The 38 kDa single polypeptide S. commune IBL-06 LiP migrating as a single clear band on both native and SDS-PAGE gels. The purified enzyme was then immobilized on different support matrics such as chitosan, alginate, nylon membrane, PVA, agarose and PA gels with high immobilization efficiency and stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed for the verification of LiP attachment on support matrices. The maximum dye-decolorization (95.45%) potential was observed with chitosan and ca-alginate immobilized enzyme at 30°C without hemolytic toxicity. The chitosan beads-LiP retained approximately more than 70% activity after 3 frequent runs that gradually reduced to 35 % after 7th cycle of reusability. The immobilized LiP was found to show superior dye removal properties as compared to free LiP. Higher thermo stability, lower Km and high Vmax features of chitosan beads immobilizedLiP suggested its suitibility for variousbiotechnological and industrial applictaions.