An experiment to assess the changes in hematology, serum biochemistry and DNA integrity in three fish species exposed to metals was conducted under two phases i.e. acute and chronic exposure. During phase I, the experimental fish species i.e. Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita were exposed to 96-hr LC50 of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). During phase II, all the fishes were exposed to sub-lethal (1/5th, 1/4th and 1/3rd of LC50) concentrations of the metals for 30-day. During acute exposure, hematological parameters such as red blood cells (RBCs), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), white blood cells (WBCs), mean cell volume (MCV), mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) and mean cell hemoglobin concentrations (MCHC), and serum biochemical parameters such as sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), albumin (Alb), total protein (TP), urea, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were examined by collecting the blood samples of control and metals exposed fish after 24-, 48-, 72- and 96-hr. To assess the DNA integrity the liver samples of both control and metals exposed fishes were collected at each of the four sampling hours. RAPD-PCR technique was used to evaluate the effect of metals on DNA integrity of fishes. During chronic exposure, the blood and liver samples were collected after 15- and 30-day of exposure to study all the above mentioned parameters. Metals exposure to the experimental fish species at 96-hr LC50 (acute exposure) and sub-lethal concentrations (chronic exposure) caused significant variability (p<0.01) in hematological parameters as compared to control. Copper exposure to the fish species had more pronounced effects as it resulted in significantly (p<0.01) lower RBCs, Hb, Hct and higher WBCs, MCV, MCH, MCHC while Zn exposure showed least toxic effect towards hematological parameters as compared to other metals. The overall tendencies of the fish species to respond the toxicity of metals by changing their hematological parameters followed the order: C. catla>L. rohita>C. mrigala. Metals-induced changes in hematological parameters of all the fish species became more conspicuous along with the increase in metals concentration i.e. 1/5th<1/4th<1/3rd of LC50. Exposure of metals to the fish for different time durations resulted in significantly variable toxic effects on hematological parameters. Among all the exposure durations of metals, the 96- hr exposure caused maximum negative effects on all the fish species. The 30-day metals exposure caused more toxic effects on all the hematological parameters of fishes as compared to 15-day metals exposure. Fishes also exhibited significant (p<0.01) variability in serum biochemical parameters under the exposure of metals in both acute and chronic phases. Significantly (p<0.01) lower level of serum Na, Cl, Alb and TP were observed in fishes under the exposure of Cu as compared to other metals while K, urea, glucose, AST and ALT levels were higher. However, least toxic effect on all above mentioned biochemical parameters were noticed in Zn exposed fishes. Among fish species, C. catla appeared more sensitive to metals toxicity as compared to L. rohita and C. mrigala. Metals-induced changes in serum biochemical parameters of all the fish species increased concomitantly with the increase in metals concentration i.e. 1/5th<1/4th<1/3rd of LC50. In both acute and chronic phases the toxic effects of metals on the above mentioned serum biochemical parameters became more severe with the increase in exposure duration. During both acute and chronic exposure of metals, the highest DNA damage in terms of percent genomic DNA template stability (% GTS) was observed in Cu exposed fish while the Zn exposure to fish resulted in lowest DNA damage. Regarding the response of fish to the acute toxicity, C. catla appeared more sensitive to toxicity of all the metals followed by L. rohita and C. mrigala. In response to chronic exposure of the metals C. mrigala showed higher DNA damage than L. rohita and C. catla. One third of LC50 of all the metals caused higher DNA damage in terms of GTS (%) while 1/5th of LC50 caused least DNA damage in all the fish species. There were distinct squared Euclidean distances among metals treated and control fishes when the cluster method was applied. The results derived from numerical analysis revealed maximum squared Euclidean distance between Cu treated fishes and the control. In all the fish species, duration based DNA damage was observed during acute exposure of metals while during chronic exposure the DNA damage was both concentration and duration dependent. This study proposed that the occurrence of toxic metals in aquatic environment has strong impact on hematology, serum biochemistry and DNA integrity of the fishes. The observed changes in these parameters may provide valuable information concerning environmental conditions and risk assessment of aquatic organisms.
غریب پاکستانیوں کے لیڈر قائد عوام کا جنم دن 5جنوری 1928ء ذواالفقار علی بھٹو کا جنم دن ہے ۔ایک ایسا باصلاحیت انسان جسکی ذہانت ،ویژن اور دلیری کو دنیا کے بڑے بڑے لیڈروں اور قوموں نے تسلیم کیا ۔ذواالفقار علی بھٹو ایک سیاسی لیڈر اور مفکر تھے ۔جس نے اپنی سوچ پر عمل کیا اور دیکھتے ہی دیکھتیے مسیحا صفت انسان نے مری ہوئی شکست خوردہ قوم کو زندہ کر دیا اور صرف چار برسوں میں پاکستان کو سپر پاور کے برابر لا کھڑا کر دیا اور نہ صرف اپنے ملک میں بلکہ عالمی سطح پر استعماری قوتوں کے سامنے پوری طاقت کیے ساتھ کھڑا ہو گیا ۔اس دیوتا کو عالمی استعمار قتل نہیں کر سکتے تھے لیکن وطن کی وردی پہن کر اور اپنے آپ کو مسلمان ظاہر کر کے غدار وطن و ملت اسلامیہ جنرل ضیاء الحق نے عالم اسلام کے نجات دہندہ ذواالفقار علی بھٹو کو قتل کر دیا …مسلمانوں کے اس ہیرو اور مسیحا کے قتل میں مولویوں نے شیطانی کردار ادا کیا ۔تاریخ میں کمال مماثلت پائی جاتی ہے۔امام حسین کو شہید کر نے والے یزید کو بھی 18000مولویوں کے فتاوی جات کی مدد حاصل تھی ۔سلطان باھو فرماتے ہیں ۔ اٹھارہ ہزار جو عالم آہا اگے حسین سے مردے ھو اس طرح ذواالفقار علی بھٹو کے قتل میں بھی ہزاروں مولویوں نے حصہ لیا ۔چونکہ بھٹو بیسویں صدی کا ایک دیو مالائی وطن پرست لیڈر تھا اس لیے اس کے کردار کی مماثلت بھی یونانی دیومالا کا ایک کردار پرومیتھس ہے ۔جو سب سے بڑے دیوتا زیوس کو چکر دے کر عالم بالا سے آگ چرا لایا اور تاریکی دور کر دی ۔سائنس اور پیداوار شروع ہو گئی ۔اس جرم کی پاداش میں دیوتا زیوس نے پرمیتھس دیوتا کو ایک چٹان کے ساتھ اس کے وجود میں کیلیں اتار...
For many years, researchers have debated the impact of a learner's second language (L2) on their first language (L1). The general goal of this study is to identify the psychological elements that contribute to first language loss when learning a second language. Because this study is limited to Faisalabad, the first language is Urdu, and the data was gathered from undergraduate English as a second language students. The present study investigates to what degree English, as a second language, learners feel it difficult to communicate in a foreign language environment. English language classrooms of two universities including a private and government-level university have been taken as a sampling frame. Data have been collected through questionnaires which were given to twenty-five (25) students from each university. In addition, semi-structured interviews were done to assess replies. The findings demonstrated that psychological abruptions are a primary cause of the smothering of the first language to the constraints of foreignness and oddity in English Language Learners. The study finds that improved language education rules are required, and students should be able to utilize their first and second languages in day-to-day conversation. The study is useful for improving pedagogical practice in English Language Teaching (ELT).
Agriculture is predominately the main sector of South Asia which employs about 60% of the labor force and contributes 22% of the regional GDP. Most of the farmers are small who are facing the high cost of production incurred mainly on pesticides and fertilizers. Moreover, the transition from traditional agriculture to Green Revolution agriculture, led to mono-cropping patterns, loss of on farm biodiversity and dependence on capital. On the other side, organic agriculture was a possible option for the farmers in comparison with Green Revolution technologies by depending on their on-farm resources, promoting crop diversity and using environment friendly techniques. The present study was designed to assess the profitability of Organic production systems in comparison with Conventional systems. The study was conducted in three South Asian countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the sample farms to collect the primary data from both organic and conventional farms. The profit function approach which combines the concepts of technical and allocative efficiency was utilized to assess the profit efficiency of organic and conventional farms. The focus of the study was to estimate the profit efficiency of organic and conventional farmers along with factors affecting the profit efficiency. Cobb Douglas functional form of stochastic profit frontier function was used to determine the profit efficiency. Rice and wheat crops being both cash and staple food crops of the region were selected for the comparative analysis. The results of the study show that the average profit efficiency of Pakistani organic wheat (0.915) was relatively higher than the conventional farmers (0.911) to conclude that organic wheat farmers are more profit efficient than conventional farmers. The average profit efficiency of organic rice farmers (0.89) was less than conventional rice farmers (0.910) in Pakistan but still comparable. The average profit efficiency of organic and conventional wheat farmers in Nepal was found to be approximately equal with efficiency scores 0.860 and 0.855 respectively while average profit efficiency (0.874) of organic rice farmers is slightly better than the average profit efficiency of conventional rice farmers (0.857). The organic wheat farmers in Bangladesh were more profit efficient with efficiency score of 0.902 as compared to conventional wheat farmers with efficiency score o.733. Profit efficiency of organic rice farmers with efficiency score 0.748, was better than conventional rice farmers (0.657). The results show that variable costs impact differently in both organic and conventional farming but their overall impact is found to lower the profit. Capital and soil fertility were observed to play an important role in increasing profit. The pest breakout significantly affects the profit negatively in all selected countries and requires timely application of plant protection measures. The study also attempted to ascertain the factors affecting the profit efficiency in wheat and rice farming under organic and conventional conditions. The estimated coefficient of education is significant in all categories with negative sign indicating that education is contributing to reduce the profit inefficiency in both organic and conventional farming in the selected countries. The coefficient of experience is significant in organic and conventional wheat farming and conventional rice farming. The coefficient of experience is non-significant in organic rice farming. The negative sign in all categories indicates that experience of the farmers contributes to reduce the profit inefficiency. Experience of the farmers in wheat and rice farming, linkages with extension services and access to credit were also the important variables to affect the inefficiency negatively. Off-farm employment was found to have positive impact on efficiency especially in case of Bangladesh. KEY WORDS: Organic Agriculture; Profit efficiency; Stochastic frontier profit function; Rice and wheat crops; South Asia