Heavy metals are well-known environmental pollutants due to their serious toxicity, persistence in the environment and bioaccumulative nature. A variety of natural and anthropogenic sources are the main reason of their release into the environment. Contamination of freshwater ecosystems such as rivers with toxic heavy metals is an environmental problem of public health concern. Being persistent elements, heavy metals are accumulated in the environment and are the major cause to contaminate the food chains. Accumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals in freshwater fish causes a potential health threat to their consumers including humans. It is very important to assess and monitor the concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals in riverine waters and sediments as well as in the resident biota. The present research work aimed to assess the bioaccumulation of four selected heavy metals i.e., Cr, Ni, Cd and Pb in freshwater fish, rice and tobacco along three rivers in Malakand Division and River Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The different aciddigested environmental samples were analyzed for specified heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cd and Pb) by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Potential risk to the health of the fish consumers was assessed in terms of estimated weekly intake (EWI) values of the heavy metals and compared with their respective provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) values set by international organizations. Generally, metal concentrations in muscles of the fish from the studied rivers were comparable. Generally, clear trends could not be observed for metal concentrations at different sites of the rivers when going from upstream to downstream. Regarding metal accumulation in fish muscles, generally, inter-species differences were statistically not significant, most probably due to more variance within samples. Generally, metal concentrations were higher in metabolically active tissues such as gills and liver compared to skin and muscles. Based on the current study, consumption of the analyzed freshwater fish species from the rivers was generally safe in terms of potential risk from Cd and Pb but the observed Ni accumulation may pose a potential health risk to regular/excessive fish consumers. Thus, efforts should be made to minimize heavy metal contamination in these freshwater ecosystems in order to safeguard the aquatic fauna and the health of the fish consumers.
The main emphasis of the study is on the academic performance and the stress management in applied science among the students of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Sindh University Campus Dadu. What is the level of stress on the academic success of the students? How does it affect their lifestyle and health? This is what the research study covers to counteract the general stress among the students. The purpose of the study is to inquire and bring light to measure and check the present stress among students of the university. While doing the research a quantitative method was applied for collecting and analyzing the data. The Questionnaires were distributed among different students for this purpose. Innumerable factors of stress were found in the results and the factors were grouped in four categories which are; -Environmental Factors, Academic Factors, and Personal Factors. In environmental factors, the stress was about the happening the fate in the future. The students were found worried about future that what would happen about their fate? How it will happen? What is about to happen? When they came into contact with the new people it raised their stress. Also the class workload was the main reason for the stress among the students regarding academic factors. When the students were experiencing the workload of the class the group of the students came under stress. The last factor was a personal factor which was mainly due to the financial problem among the students. The stress of all categories can be managed through stress management courses and doing different extracurricular activities which will help to divert the attention of the students on different occasions. This study has drawn significant conclusions and Suggests further measures for practitioners which could help other to manage stress. The limitations are also mentioned so that those who are conducting research for the similar cases can extract better results and ways of curbing stress. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect the response from students, the five-point Likert scale was used from strongly agree to strongly disagree. SPSS-21 version was used to interpret the results through different quantitative techniques like descriptive, regression, and correlation. ____________
Digital developments have been influencing the readers’ behavior since early 1990s. The libraries have also been turning into hybrids and managing reading materials in both print and electronic forms. The present study aimed to explore reading behavior of generation “Y” students (i.e., born during the 1980s and early 1990s, also known as internet generation) in Pakistan to find out the emerging reading trends among them, and impact of digital media on their reading behavior. It also aimed to obtain suggestions on the role of libraries in facilitating Generation “Y” by responding to the ongoing changes. The quantitative research design, based on a self-administered survey was used. The population consisted of students from large and medium sized general universities of Lahore, as classified by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan. Stratified purposive sampling technique was carried out to select the sample. Total 515 final year students of masters’ class from three subject groups i.e. Pure Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities responded to the survey from 07 universities of Lahore. The instrument was constructed on the basis of published literature, and was validated. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS (16.0). The results indicate that students still prefer reading in print format. They reported a significant change in their reading behavior during the past five years, and that their reading time on digital devices and overall reading has been increased, despite their preferring print format. It was found that they have access to electronic reading devices and use those frequently for digital reading; especially use of laptops is very common. Findings also revealed that electronic resources are frequently used for accessing digital reading material by the students. It was determined that Generation “Y” students want to see future libraries as libraries with open access to a wide range of reading material in both print and digital form. They want to have 24/7 access to electronic and physical resources. The findings of this study will be helpful in identifying the trends of reading behavior and for planning and designing library services according to future needs. Keywords: Generation “Y”, Reading behavior, Digital paradigm, Future libraries, Onscreen reading, Pakistan