Alginate is an exopolysaccharide composed of varying ratios of β-D mannuronic acid and its C5 epimer α-L-guluronic acid linked together by β-1,4 - glycosidic bond. It has wide range of industrial applications particularly in food sector as a viscosifier, stabilizer, thickener, emulsifier, gelling and water binding agent. Commercial alginate is extracted from brown algae but due to variation in composition of biopolymer isolated from species of different locations, there is growing interest in bacterial alginate. At present two strains of bacteria are reported to produce alginate, Pseudomonas and Azotobacter. Hence present study was designed to produce alginate by Azotobacter vinelandii utilizing cheap substrates to save the foreign exchange. To achieve the goal, different physiochemical parameters were optimized to have hyper-production of alginate through submerged fermentation. Different agricultural wastes like wheat bran, rice polishing and molasses were utilized as substrates through fermentation with Azotobacter vinelandii.On fermentation of 7.5% (w/v) wheat bran by A.vinelandii, maximum alginate production (5.21 g/L) was observed at 48 hours of incubation time with 6% (v/v) inoculum size, pH 7.0, 300C and agitation speed of 200 rpm. Addition of different optimum levels of ionic salts i.e. 1.5% CaCl2 and 2% MgSO4. 7H2O in the growth medium gave significantly (P< 0.05) higher quantity of alginate (6.08 g/L) where as addition of KH2PO4 and NaCl reduced the yield of alginate. Among different nitrogen sources tested, 2% corn steep liquor resulted significantly (P<0.05) higher yield of alginate (7.46 g/L). The bacterial strain was improved by exposure to physical (UV irradiation) and chemical mutagens (Nitrous acid and ethidium bromide) to obtain more than 90% killing. The survivors were screened for hyper-production of alginate against the wild strain of A.vinelandii using pre- optimized conditions. The highest alginate production (13.8 g/L) was obtained by the ethidium bromide treated strain (EtBr-02). The mutant strain was used for optimization of fermentation parameters. The maximum concentration of alginate (15.61 g/L) was obtained by utilizing 10% (w/v) wheat bran, 8% (v/v) inoculum at 48 hours of incubation, pH 7.0, 300C and an agitation speed of 200 rpm. Inclusion of 2.5% cornsteep liquor raised the alginate concentration to 15.8 g/L. Batch fermenter studies were carried out in 2 L fermenter with working volume of 1.5 L using the mutant strain A.vinelandii, EtBr-02. Optimization of process parameters like agitation, aeration and pH in the fermenter showed that maximum alginate (16.8 g/L) was achieved at 300 rpm, 2.5 vvm aeration and controlled pH condition at 32 hours of incubation time. The alginate produced was identified by FTIR spectrum after precipitation. The purity of alginate was estimated by HPLC against the standard alginic acid from Sigma-Aldrich and was found to be 98% pure. The alginate produced was used at 3% concentration for immobilization of yeast cells. Immobilized and free cells were compared for ethanol production using 10% sucrose as the carbon source in fermentation medium. The maximum amount of ethanol obtained was from free cells i.e. 38 g/L whereas immobilized cells produced 32.5 g/L ethanol. The advantage of immobilization is that beads can be reused in eight sequential fermentation cycles of 10 h each. Thus a cheap and practical bioprocess of alginate production was developed, that can be exploited commercially to save foreign exchange.
Before the birth of the Holy prophet, human society yet again got at the verge of destruction due to apostasy and ignorance. The Holy Prophet introduced Islam to the sinking humanity. For spreading its message "Dawat"; Calling (To God) was made everybody's job. As Allah says in the holy Quran: "The Believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another: they enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil: " (9: 71). There are three fundamental groups of preachers. The first is the "Dawat" of common people to others. It is imperative for such a preacher that he himself should get the knowledge of religion through Islamic law and then communicate every virtue of it to his family, friends, neighbors and close relatives. The second is the place of Nobles. They include the commentators of the Quran, the narrators of the Prophet's Sayings, theologians and the learned scholars. The commentators of the Quran explain the meanings of the verses of the Quran keeping in view the conditions of the Quranic sciences. The narrators interpret the meanings of the Sayings of the Holy Prophet. The theologians or the learned scholars are entitled to discuss the Quran, Prophet's Sayings and the problems of the Islamic laws. The third is the place of the favorites. These people are the perfect successors of the Prophets. They have full control over the knowledge of laws as well as over the knowledge of mysteries. As Allah says: "and purify them", (one of the responsibilities of the Holy Prophet was to purify the souls). At a place it is said: "Truly he succeeds that purifies it" (91: 9). In this article research is done on "Calling (to God) and conveying His message".
Home environment plays important role in the overall development of a child. It provides a child with a lot of opportunities to develop socially as well as cognitively. Keeping in mind the importance of home environment for various aspects of a child's development, this study explored the influence of home environment on numeracy skills development of grade 2 students in one of the private schools in district Ghizer of Gilgit-Baltistan. A qualitative research paradigm was used to explore the topic. Two parents, two mathematics teachers and two children studying at grade 2, through purposive sampling were selected from one of the union councils of Gupis tehsil in district Ghizer. Data was collected using interviews, home environment observations, and document analysis of the children. The study has produced some key findings such as beliefs of parents about home environment and numeracy skills development, children's numeracy skills experiences at home, different aspect of the home environment like social, emotional and physical environment. Also, Social, economic and educational background of the parents and home school relationship were reflected as major findings of the study. It was found that home environment plays vital role in developing children numeracy skills development because children undergo certain formal and informal experiences at home. Role of parents is also of paramount importance to develop children's numeracy skills in home context. It was also evident that stable social economic and educational background of the parents is a supporting factor for development of mathematical concepts. Besides, home school strong relationship plays key role in supporting children to develop their numeracy skills. Thus, the finding of the study will be helpful for the teachers of mathematics as well as the head of the school in order to bring change in teaching and learning processes particularly in mathematics learning by involving parents and considering home environment important for the children development.