Heat stress is a main growth reducing factor for most crop plants. It is a serious risk for crop production around the world due to high ambient temperature. High temperature stress reduces yield of maize by negatively affecting the stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content and metabolites biosynthesis. Tolerance to heat stress can be increased by using different growth regulators. Thiourea has since long been known for its stress tolerance. The experiments were performed to determine physiological role of medium-supplemented thiourea (0.25 mM) in improving heat stress tolerance in maize using five hybrids (30Y87, DK6789, 30R50, 31R88 and 32B33) in autumn and spring seasons of the years 2014 and 2015. Data were recorded for growth, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange, oxidative stress and antioxidants, osmoprotectant and mineral elements. The result revealed that autumn conditions were more toxic as compared to spring. Data on interactive studies of heat stress and thiourea showed that medium supplemented thiourea ameliorated the adverse effect of heat stress and improved proliferation of roots. Thiourea applied to heat stressed plants enhanced chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, while its influence was more prominent on the sensitive (32B33) than tolerant (30Y87) maize hybrids. Thiourea application enhanced the net assimilation rate (A) and stomatal conductance (gs) and reduced sub-stomatal CO2 concentration (Ci). Moreover, thiourea application was effective in improving the contents of soluble phenolics, anthocyanins, ascorbic acid, niacin and riboflavin, which proved of great advantage to scavenge hydrogen peroxide and reduced malondialdehyde synthesis. Medium supplementation of thiourea enhanced the tissue contents of mineral nutrients such as N, P, K+, S, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the shoot and root of maize meagerly under control and excessively under heat stress, which appeared to improve the root area and its function. In short, these studies described some specific properties of thiourea in enhancing growth of plant under heat stress which makes thiourea as an important bioregulator for root proliferation under control and stressful conditions.
Islam is a religion of peace and harmony. The Islamic teachings are guarantee of peaceful co-existence. A society which practices Islamic teachings of peaceful co-existence, brotherhood and cooperation makes advancement. Disharmony and non-tolerance causes societal decline. The article focuses the importance of peaceful co-existence in light of the Islamic teachings. Besides discussing the principles of societal peace mentioned in the holy Qur’an and Hadith, it has been elaborated that how these principles can be applied to achieve and maintain societal peace and order in contemporary times. The articles ends with some guiding principles and details as suggested in the Qur’an and Sunnah. A Muslim society can prosper only by adopting these principles in letter and spirit and resultantly their differences will be a thing of past. These guiding principles are as under: § Justice and Equality. § Guarantee to rights of all segments of society. § Abiding the rulers in lawful. § Promulgation of Islamic Sharia and observing its objectives. § Adopting moderate and balanced approach in religious matters. § Discharging the duty of preaching in light of Qur’an &Sunnah. § Cooperation in righteous &lawful and avoiding conflict. § Performing citizenry duties in light of Islamic Teachings. § Participating in reformative activities of society.
The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of how Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs) can be used to develop in-depth student learning in selected topics in Grade 9 physics. The study also explored facilitating and challenging factors associated with the usage of the FACTs-based teaching of the context. The study employed action research method within qualitative paradigm. The data collection was carried out in a private higher secondary school over a period of eight weeks. The data were collected through interviews, observations, reflections and pre- and post- intervention student achievement tests. The findings of the study at the pre-intervention stage revealed that there was a lack of opportunities for student’s involvement in classroom activities having an element of FA in it. As a result of intervention, students were exposed to various FACTs through which they would express themselves, articulate their viewpoint and display their understanding of subject matter knowledge. Moreover, a considerable progression was seen in terms of a shift from students’ low participation to high participation; from weak scientific responses to strong scientific responses (oral and written) and from individual work to collaborative work. In addition, a limited scale quantitative analysis of students’ test scores also revealed the positive impact of FACTs-based teaching on students’ in-depth learning. Besides its facilitating factors, the study highlighted some of the challenges faced in the way of implementing FACTs in the classroom. These challenges ranged from time management (FACTs demand more time and efforts), to lack of teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and resources. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that teachers who use FACTs in their classroom on routine basis need support and facilitation at different levels. The school management or system needs to create conditions that are conducive to effective and sustained application of FACTs. As policy implication, it is recommended that FACTs should be introduced in the National Curriculum for physics with proper implementation guidelines to make them more practical in classroom teaching.