The river, canal, tube well, hand pump and municipal water samples were evaluated as possible sources of arsenic (As) contamination in different districts of Sindh, Pakistan. The total arsenic (As) contents in surface and ground water samples were evaluated. The arsenic concentrations in surface and ground water samples from the two areas of Sindh under study (Jamshoro, Khairpur, Sukkur and Hyderabad) were found in the range of 4.2-18 and 9.20-361 μg L-1, respectively. The underground and in some surface water total arsenic exceeded the WHO provisional guideline values 10 μg L-1 and reached upto 362 μg L-1. It was observed that hand pumps and tube well water samples have high level of arsenic than canal, river and municipal water samples. This is due to widespread water logging from Indus river irrigation system, which causes high concentration of salts in this semi-arid region and results in enrichment of As in shallow groundwater. Besides total As other physicochemical parameters, nitrite, nitrate, chloride, sulphate, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron were evaluated for the quality and safety assurance of drinking water. Among them iron, calcium, magnesium and sulphate were observed to be higher than WHO recommended level. In addition of total arsenic, its inorganic speciation in water samples from the different districts was evaluated. The inorganic As species (As3+ and As5+) were separated from organic forms by adsorbing on alumina (Al2O3) where as the organic As was elute out. The retained inorganic As species was eluted by 0.2 M HCl. Then trivalent and pentavalent arsenic in the eluent were complex with molybdate and ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC), respectively. Then the trivalent arsenic - APDC and the pentavalent arsenic molybdate complexes were quantitatively extracted into Triton X-114. The main factors affecting the separation and cloud point extraction (CPE) were investigated in detail. Total inorganic As in collected water samples was determined by using titanium dioxide (TiO2) as adsorbent. The standard spiking method was used for validation and the %recoveries of As species were found in the range of 98 - 99%. The mean concentrations of inorganic trivalent and pentavalent arsenic in the surface water and ground water samples were ranged from 3.00-53.0 and 6.00-352 μg L-1, respectively. Principal component analysis scores allowed the samples to be classified by cluster analysis. Principal component analysis of the data from the hand pump samples and from the well tube samples showed two significant components were responsible for sixty percent of the variance. A single-step extraction procedure (S-BCR) was developed and validated as a replacement for the BCR sequential extraction procedure (BCR-SES). The same reagents and operation conditions are used procedures. The single-step extraction procedure was applied to investigating arsenic partitioning sediments samples, collected from lake, canals and river of district Jamshoro, Pakistan. The results obtained for As with single step extraction were compared to those obtained from BCR-SES and validated using CRM-BCR 701. There was no significant difference in extraction efficiency between S-BCR and BCR-SEC for arsenic content at 95% confidence limit. The precision of the proposed S-BCR (expressed as % RSD) was lower than 10 %. The sediment samples collected from different ecosystem have different physico- chemical characteristic and As content. The arsenic mobility of the samples collected from the various locations was found to decrease in the order: acid soluble fraction > oxidizable fraction > reducible fraction. The fraction of As dissolving in 0.11 mol L-1 acetic acid was higher in the lake sediment samples as compared to those sediment samples obtained from river and canal, showing the contamination of lake. To evaluate the uptake of arsenic by crops (vegetables and grain), they were grown in agricultural soil irrigated for long period with tube well water containing high concentrations of arsenic and their arsenic contents were compared to crops of same species grown in soil irrigated with canal water Having a much lower arsenic concentration. In addition, the total and EDTA (pH 7) extractable As soils irrigated with tube well and canal water were determined and correlated with total concentrations of As in edible parts of vegetables. Statistically significant correlations were obtained between the total and EDTA extractable fractions of As in soil. The high level of total and EDTA extractable As were found in tested samples as compared to controlled samples. This investigation highlights the increased danger of growing food crops in the agricultural land continuously irrigated by As contaminated water. The effects of As exposure via drinking water was evaluated by analysis of As levels in scalp hair of children (age < 10 year) and adults (16-45) years of both gender collected from sub districts of Khairpur, Pakistan having different As contents in surface and underground water. For comparative purposes scalp hair samples of age-matched children and age matched adults were also collected from an area having low level of As (<10 μg L-1) in drinking water. The As concentrations in scalp hair samples of subjects belonging to non exposed, less exposed and high As exposed areas were found in the range of from 0.01 – 0.27, 0.11-1.31 and 0.36-6.80 μg g-1, respectively. 20% of total children belong to high As exposed area have skin lesion on their hands and feet. A positive correlation coefficient (r = 0.91 - 0.99) was obtained between As contents in drinking water and scalp hairs of children and adults of areas investigated The arsenic hazard quotient was estimated on the basis of the arsenic concentrations in drinking water and scalp hair of the male subjects in both age groups consuming drinking water in the study areas. A toxicity risk assessment provides a hazard quotient corresponding to <10, indicates non- carcinogenic exposure risk from the consumption of drinking water in the study areas. For remediation of As from water samples indigenous materials (stem and leave) of Acacia nilotica have been studied. The effects of various parameters vis, pH, biosorbent dosage, temperature and exposure time for bio-sorption of As were investigated in detail. The resulting data were evaluated using Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R), Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. It was observed that As biosorption best fit the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The free energy of transfer (E) calculated on the basis of D–R model, indicated physico-chemical biosorption. The thermodynamic study indicated that the bio-sorption mechanism was endothermic, spontaneous and feasible for As removal. The kinetics of As biosorption was better interpreted by pseudo-second-order rate equation with good correlation coefficients. The removal of As by biomass of A. nilotica was > 95% at the concentration level of As < 200 μg L-1 of As solution. The uptake capacity of the biomass studies was 50.8 mg As g-1.
زمانُ الصفاء مضی وتلاشی مع الذکریات وھا نحن مختصمان وجاء زمانُ الصراع فلا لطفَ لا بسمات ولا دفقۃٌ من حنان
وھا نحنُ مختصمان دفنّا ا لوئام وراء التوتر في قعر ألفاظنا الباردہ ولم نبقِ کأساً ولا منھلاً([2] ) للغرام ولم نُبق عشاً لأحلامنا الساھدہ([3] )
وھا نحنُ نکشف عمّا انطوی بأعماق أنفسنا من عیوبٍ جمیلہ ویدرکُ کلّ بأنّ الھَوی طَوَی ما طوی من معا یبنا المترفات الأصیلة ولم یُبقِ إلا محاسننا الفجّۃ([4]) المستحیلة
وھا نحنُ نعرفُ أبعادنا الشاسعة وما امتدّ في عمقھا من خشونة وکیف ملکنا عیوباً منوّعۃً رائعۃ تخبّیء أو جُھھا خلف ستر الرضی واللیونة وخلف الوداعۃ خلف السکینة وفي لحظات الصفاء لمسنا شذانا الرصینا([5] ) وذقنا محاسننا السمحۃ المنعمة وذاک الطِلاءٖ الذي لفّ أعماقنا المبھمة وغطّی الحماقۃ والضعف فینا
وفي لحظات الحنین ھوینا بساطتنا وعشقنا العذوبة وھنا نحن نعشقُ ما تخلقُ الادمیۃ فینا ونلمسُ أعماقنا الشاسعات الرھیبة وما في حماقتنا من جمالِ شذٍ وخصوبة
وکنا عشقنا انبثاق الحرارۃ في مقلتینا([6]) فدعنا نحبّ النصوب([7] ) وکنا ھوینا التورّد والشعر في شفتینا فلم لا نحبّ الشحوب([8] ) ولم لا نخلّف رکناً من المقت([9] ) بین یدینا؟
وکنا عبدنا الصداقۃ بین المحاسن فینا فدعنا نقیم أسس الحبّ والودّ بین العیوب وأفسح مکاناً لبعض الحماقات بعضِ الذنوب ودعنا نکنُ بشراً طافحین نفیضُ جنونا وننضح([10]) ضحکاً ودمعاً سخینا
Horoscopes are considered as one of the important content items in the mass media. Many people perceive and believe that these Zodiac signs have an impact on their lives. That is why they check these signs on different media regularly. The purpose of this study was to determine the perception of Sindh University students about horoscope. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from 100 students of Sindh University through a close-ended questionnaire. The results concluded that girls are more interested in horoscope than boys. The sources for horoscope prediction were mainly newspapers among the Sindh University students. The students reported that they read horoscope daily to skip the pressure and try to satisfy their minds. This research is limited to the University of Sindh students. In the future, the researchers should conduct a large-scale study with a more significant population to determine the perception of the public about horoscopes.
The U.S.-led Global War on Terror (GWOT) has had profound implications for Pakistan as its front-line state. The alliance between the U.S. and Pakistan brought changes to socio-economic and diplomatic landscape of Pakistan. Though the U.S.-Pakistan relations underwent a revival phase in post 9/11 scenario, this coalition did not help to dispel negative perception of Pakistan in the U.S. media. Pakistan has been working closely with U.S. on military and intelligence front, but failed to raise its case at diplomatic level and correct its position in the media. With rapid technological development, the news media is considered critical in promoting national security goals. The sophisticated U.S. media having covered foreign policy issues since Vietnam War is considered critical, particularly in wars and international conflicts to promote sense of U.S. national identity. After 9/11, the U.S. through its media portrayed the same sense of unity among allies in its campaign against terrorism and positioned the country as a moral leader among nations. This study presents the media framing of Pakistan; how it is portrayed in the U.S. mainstream media and examine their stance towards U.S-Pakistan relationship after 9/11 while testing the foreign policy decision-making theory. This is done by examining the two U.S. mainstream newspapers: The New York Times and The Washington Post’s editorials from 2001-2008. The methodology has incorporated traditional quantitative method of content analysis and qualitative investigation to examine how the U.S.-Pakistan relations are projected through the dominant U.S. media frames reflecting the U.S. foreign policy towards Pakistan after 9/11. The media framing analysis has verified the media’s role within the domestic input category of foreign policy decision making theory which shows that in foreign policy making process, media contributes in shaping a foreign country’s image, thus influencing policy towards that country, while supporting its national security interests. The study also finds an independent role of the U.S. media which does not follow the U.S policy positions except major national interest, contrary to a perceived notion that media is a propaganda tool of U.S. Government. The independent role of the U.S. media is found in criticizing the U.S. Government’s support for General Musharraf’s military rule over civilian government in Pakistan; the U.S. policy in overlooking the restoration of democracy in Pakistan and positive media framing for the U.S.-India strategic partnership over Pakistan during the first eight years of alliance. The study also proposes policy level recommendations for Pakistan to enhance media’s role in national security policy and improved U.S.-Pakistan’s image through joint media ventures between the U.S. and Pakistani media outlets.