It has been a rising stress from the last few decades that living organisms (animals and plants) are unprotected toward release of toxic substances into the environment. Toxic properties and ecological conducts of these harmful substances are of universal apprehension because of their tenacious, bio-accumulative and lethal belongings towards environmental reliabilities, humans and biota. Among these chemicals, various toxic chemicals i.e. heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been investigated for their effect on biota via different routes of application. Present research was conducted, to evaluate the spatial distribution patterns, pollution load, fingerprinting, source apportionment, ecological risks of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals among environmental matrixes of riverine environment from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Samples of air, water, sediment, soil, dust, human hair and human nails were collected during May-June 2014 from eleven selected locations along river Neelam, river Kunhar, river Poonch and river Jhelum. Atomic absorption photometer and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) were used to analyze the desired pollutants from collected matrices from the study area. It was revealed from results that the mean ƩOCPs concentration ranged from 4.95 to 13.07 pg/L (mean: 8.85 ± 2.96 pg/L) in water - Poly Ethylene (PE), 14.06 to 191.02 pg/m3 (mean: 101.90 ± 65.14 pg/m3) in air, and 65.97 to 592.86 pg/g (231.27 ± 209.50 pg/g) in soil samples; with ƩDDTs, ƩChlordane and ƩHCHs are the most abundant OCPs contaminants in the environment. The ∑33PCBs congeners were detected in each studied environmental compartment and concentrations ranged from 31.17 to 175.25 pg/L (mean: 81.01 ± 46.47 pg/L), ND to 1908.72 pg/g (mean: 1054.08 ± 5 88.53 pg/g), and 29.82 to 94.41 pg/m3 (mean: 52.92 ± 22.70 pg / m3) in the water - PE, soil and air samples, respectively. The homologs profile of PCB from the study area indicated the dominance of hepta - CBs in water passive samplers of poly ethylene (PE), penta - CBs in soil, and hexa - CBs in air, respectively. While, the dioxin-like PCBs (DL - PCBs) has also contributed significantly among the total PCBs. The nationwide comparison of OCPs levels revealed that the current levels were relatively lower than adjacent plain regions. Highest mean ∑PCBs concentrations were found in soil 74%, followed by, water PE 8% and air samples 4% among the investigated tributaries of river Jhelum. Overall the most polluted sites along river Jhelum identified as Kohala, Damashi and Chakothi. In particular, the site Damishi which receives the water flow starting from through Jalkhad area in the valleys of Kaghan, Naran Garhi Habibullah, Balakot and finally emerges in river Jhelum outside Muzaffarabad city, near at village Damishi Pattan in Azad Kashmir. Results of heavy metals analysis showed that the Chromium (Cr) in the ground water ranged 3.50-7.43 mg/L and its mean value calculated Cr 5.49 mg/L. The Cr concentration in all the ground water samples exceeded the WHO guidelines for ground water 0.05 mg/L. Manganese (Mn) ranged17.80-36.86 mg/Lwhile its mean value recorded 28.57 mg/L. The concentration of Mn in ground water samples exceeded WHO guidelines 0.5 mg/L. Nickle (Ni) concentration measured 0.00-8.29 mg/L while its mean value was calculated 1.49 mg/L. Higher concentration of heavy metals were found in water samples collected from urban areas as compared to semi urban or rural areas while among three different studied zones, the concentrations of heavy metlas in all soil samples recorded within permissible limits suggested by Eurpeon Union (EU) and World Health Organizatio (WHO). Altogether pragmatic steps are required to attain the ecologically unsafe litters comprising persistent organic pollutants, distressing ecological partitions and finally, health of the human being. The ecological relations of POPs make efforts predictable for migration, cross-cutting approaches, prevention and control of these pollutants.
The Science of Human Behavior (Psychology) governs every facet of our lifespan. The scope of psychology is so vast that it touches all major disciplines of medical science, social science, cultural studies and humanities. It does not just connect with subjects ranging from mathematics and biology to sociology and philosophy, but its methods and discoveries help other disciplines as well. Psychology influences legal affairs and national policies, yet it primarily deals with the cognition of human nature and its relevance to the respective domain. The article is aimed to elaborate that the comprehension of human behaviour in the illumination of the Holy Qur’an is an essential need in every aspect of life such as; educational activities, social and political institutions, ethical reflection or societal choice and the method of preaching.
Livestock raising is an important occupation for livelihood of rural poor in Pakistan and plays a vital role in poverty reduction. Coxiellosis is a disease caused by Coxiella burnetii and acts as a major trade barricade adversely affecting the productive and reproductive capabilities of the animal, and hinders with commercialization of animal products at local and international market level. This study was planned to conduct serological and molecular investigations on Coxiellosis and to identify any association of seropositivity against C. burnetii antibodies with sex, age, breed, species, parity, farm, district, lactational status, reproductive status (pregnant or non-pregnant), tick infestation, body condition and reproductive disorders in sheep and goats. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information about individual animal and general farm management. The sampling design was formulated considering an expected prevalence of 50%, confidence interval of 95%, and 5% desired absolute precision. A total of 1000 sera sample (500 from goats and 500 from sheep) were collected from animals maintained at nine different government livestock farms of Punjab. Firstly, all these samples were analyzed through Indirect-ELISA (IDEXX Q Fever, Coxiella burnetii, Antibody Test Kit) and then pools of seropositive, and suspected serum samples (29 pools) were investigated through real-time qPCR, using single copy isocitrate dehydrogenase (icd) gene, for detection of C. burnetii DNA. Additionally, 55 tick pools were also investigated through real-time qPCR, using multicopy IS1111 insertion element, for genomic detection of C. burnetii in these pools. The diagnostic work was carried out at National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Q fever, Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Jena, Germany. Serological analysis revealed a prevalence of 15.6% (95% CI: 12.5-19.1) and 15.0% (95% CI: 12.0-18.4) in sheep and goats, respectively. Statistically, prevalence of C. burnetii antibodies in serum was non-significantly different (p=0.792, degree of freedom (df)=1, Chi-square (χ2) =0.069) between the two species. A significant association was found between seropositivity against C. burnetii antibodies and different variables like farm (p=0.000, df=8, χ2=141.869), district (p=0.000, df=6, χ22=49.689), breed (p=0.000, df=9, χ2=60.954), lactational status (p= 0.000, df=1, χ22=24.691), reproductive status (p= 0.008, df=1, χ2=7.023), ticks infestation (p=0.000, df=1, χ2=301.914), body condition (p=0.000, df=3, χ2=124.868) and reproductive disorders (p=0.000, df=4, χ2=133.984). However, seropositivity against C. burnetii infection was non-significantly associated with age (p=0.063, df=3, χ2=7.281), parity (p=0.838, df=2, χ2=0.353) and sex (p=0.302, df=1, χ2=1.064) of animal. Univariate analysis revealed a significant (p=0.031, df=1, χ2=4.668) difference in prevalence of C. burnetii DNA in tick pools of sheep and goats, however prevalence of C. burnetii DNA in serum pools was non-significantly (p=0.564, df=1, χ2=0.333) different between the two species. These findings revealed that C. burnetii infection is prevalent in small ruminants maintained at studied livestock farms, as well as in ticks. Further in-depth studies are required to explore its epidemiology more precisely in humans, ticks and various animal species.