Punjab province is the major wheat producing tract of the country and one-third of its total cultivated area is rainfed where rainfall is erratic and uncertain. This situation is a major limiting factor for wheat production. Understanding of genetic mechanism of drought tojerance is imperative to develop suitable wheat genotypes for these areas. Forty wheat genotypes possessing diverse genetic makeup were tested in field under medium rainfall conditions at Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Chakwal and under high rainfall conditions at Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi. From these genotypes, eight contrasting genotypes (four each drought tolerant, Inqlab-91, MAW-1, Saleem-2000 and 2KC033 and drought susceptible No. 2495, 3C061, 3C062 and 3C066) were screened out on the basis of more/less yield reduction and were crossed in all possible combinations at BARI, Chakwal. F1 hybrids alongwith parents were grown at BARI, Chakwal under two conditions; irrigated and rainfed. Data were recorded for drought and yield related attributes and were analyzed to understand the genetic mechanisms of these traits. Results of genetic analysis and graphical analysis revealed that over dominance action of genes for number of fertile tillers per plant, number of grains per spike, 1000 grain weight, number of spikelets per spike, grain filling period, grain filling rate, grain yield per plant, dry weight at maturity, harvest index and protein contents remained unchanged under irrigated and rainfed conditions. Similarly additive type gene action was observed for peduncle length, plant height and number of days to maturity under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. Over dominance type of gene action for number of days to heading and flag leaf area under irrigated conditions changed to dominance under rainfed and for spike length under irrigated conditions changed to additive under rainfed conditions. Genrtic effects controlling for the expression of yield and yield components shifted due to the changed environments. Graphic presentation indicated that parental genotypes shifted their positions from recessive to dominant or the midway or vice versa, for the same trait in response to environmental change. It was noted from the graphs that gene control of certain traits was also modified due to change in environment. Recessive gene control for number of days to heading, grain yield per plant and harvest index under irrigated conditions changed to dominant gene control under rainfed while dominant gene control of 1000 grain weight under irrigated condition changed to recessive under rainfed condition. However, it was also found that gene action for many characters remained unchanged over environments. Genotypes Inqlab-91 and MAW-1 displaying similar constitution under both sowing conditions showed that these contained stable genes for those particular characters. The screened genotypes and breeding material so generated will serve as raw material for the breeders to develop high yielding and drought tolerant wheat varieties for the rainfed areas.
Stair climbing is one of the unique exercises which is frequently used and helps in maintaining the leg muscles active and healthy. However, if the height of the stair is not optimum, it may cause serious injuries due to increased or decreased knee angle that may damage the human leg muscles such as quadriceps and hamstring involved in its proper function. A stair climbing leg model PASCO ME-7001 was designed to find an optimum knee angle for reducing the maximum chances of leg muscle fatigue and injuries by using the force sensors. Resultant forces applied on leg muscles i.e. hamstring and quadriceps at 4 different average angles: 40º, 57º, 68º, and 76º for four different stair heights: 3", 5", 7", and 9" respectively were studied graphically during ascending stairs. Also, the energy consumption of quadriceps is calculated for the desired 4 average angles. The optimum knee angle maybe 57-68 degrees at 5"-7" stair height for both flexion and extension of the leg during stair climbing.
This study investigated the impact of perceived parental acceptance-rejection on psychological maladjustment among a group of criminals and non-criminals. The independent variables were parental acceptance-rejection, parental control, socioeconomic status, educational background, psychological maladjustment, aggression and low self-esteem. A comparison of personality profiles of prisoners was also measured. The sample comprised of two groups: criminals (N=81) who were selected from the Central Jail, Peshawar and a control group of non-criminals (N=90) consisting of individuals selected from the general population matched with the criminals in terms of socioeconomic status and educational background. A personal data-sheet devised by the researcher was used to record the demographic variables of the respondents. Urdu versions of Adult PARQ: Mother and Father (Short Forms: Riaz, 2011), and Adult PCS: Mother and Father (Short Forms: Riaz, 2011) were administered on participants of both the groups for assessment of their perceived parental acceptance-rejection and perceived parental control, respectively. To make a comparison between personality profiles of criminals and non-criminals, Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Adult PAQ: Riaz, 2011) was administered on all the respondents. It was assumed that criminals will perceive their parents as less warm and affectionate as compared to non-criminals. According to the results, criminals scored high on all the subscales of PARQ, indicating perceived parental rejection as compared to non-criminals, thus supporting our first hypothesis. Furthermore, it was also assumed that there will be significant gender differences in perceived parental warmth among the criminal group. Our findings revealed significant gender difference in perceived maternal warmth/affection, whereas, gender difference in perceived paternal warmth/affection among criminals was not significant. These findings partially supported our second hypothesis. A comparison between PCS scores of both the groups shows that criminals received more permissiveness and less control from their parents as compared to non-criminals. Moreover, our third and fourth hypotheses are supported by PAQ scores which reveal high scores of criminals on hostility and negative self-esteem subscales of PAQ. A comparison of personality profiles of criminals and non-criminals derived from PAQ scores supports hypothesis 5 as it reveals significant difference between the two groups. To elaborate, PAQ scores prove that criminals tend to be significantly high on hostility/aggression, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional instability, emotional unresponsiveness, and negative worldview. Lastly, as total score on PAQ is used as a measure of psychological maladjustment of the respondents (Rohner, 2008), therefore, a comparison of criminals and noncriminals in our study reveals that total PAQ score of the former group is significantly higher than the latter group. These findings clearly demonstrate that the prisoners were significantly high on psychological maladjustment. Thus, our findings lend support to our sixth hypothesis.