Nanotechnology has endorsed enormous development in material science to formulate innovative products by manipulating matter at nano-scale (1-100 nm). Due to certain limitations associated with conventional physico-chemical synthesis protocols, novel techniques are still being pursued for fabrication of nanoparticles. In them biological synthesis of nanoparticles using different microorganisms has been considered comparatively novel, eco-friendly safe and cost-effective. However, this technique is still immature in terms of fabricating nanoparticles with high quality [size and shape (monodispersity)] and quantity in limited time scale in order to cater real benefits. So, the current research work has investigated the ability of different fungi in synthesizing nanoparticles (NPs) of different metals under varying conditions. Besides, it evaluated the nature and scope of nanoparticles in different applications. The first phase of the study assessed NPs synthesis ability of different fungi for different metals under varying operational conditions. Primarily, NPs synthesis ability of a metal tolerant fungus species Fusarium oxysporum was screened out by reacting its biomass (10 g/50 ml) (Age = 6 days) with salts of different metals on shaker (150 rpm) incubator (28 °C). The results indicated synthesis of only silver (Ag), gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) NPs as evident from change in coloration patterns correspond to transformation in surface plasmon resonance of the colloidal suspensions at their respective wavelengths of 420, 530 and 230 nm under UV-Vis spectroscopy. Based upon these preliminary observations, metal tolerant fungal species including Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus terreus were separately investigated for AgNPs synthesis in two separate strategies using; fungal biomass and their culture filtrates. The UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis exhibited AgNPs peak around 400-420 nm in all cases. Overall, NPs synthesis increased with time from 2-96 hr. Its rate was comparatively higher with A. fumigatus during 2-4 hr. While, in case of A. niger and A. flavus, it was more noticeable at 24 hr. The culture filtrate from A. flavus proved to be most efficient in term of producing AgNPs with less polydispersity (5-30 nm). XRD crystallography and Debye-Scherrer formulae demonstrated that AgNPs produced by fungi were crystalline in nature and in acceptable nanometer range in both the strategies. TEM further confirmed the size range of AgNPs varying from 3-80 nm and mostly they were spherical in shape. Comparatively, synthesis of NPs by using fungal cultural filtrate was more effective as it avoided any reaction artifact related to directly exposing the biomass with metal salts, besides; NPs were easily purified in this procedure. Furthermore, production of culture filtrate of A. niger under varying pH revealed pH 5.8 as most suitable for fabrication of high quality AgNPs with less polydispersity (7-27 nm) and at other optimum reaction conditions i.e., temperature 30 oC, precursor salt conc. 0.1M, in 96 hr incubation. Moreover, agitated (150 rpm) reaction condition proved to be more effective for the fabrication of NPs than static condition. In similar reaction conditions, the sizes of Au and Pt NPs varied from 10- 35 and 10-20 respectively. Zetasizer nano ZS (Malvern) further revealed maximum colloidal stability and mobility in Au, followed by Pt and least in case of Ag NPs. In terms of applications, biologically (B) synthesized AgNPs were evaluated as an antibacterial, antifungal agent. Individual and combined antibacterial activities of the five traditional antibiotics and B AgNPs were checked against eight different multi drug resistant bacterial pathogens utilizing Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion technique. The decreasing order of antibacterial activity (zone of inhibition in mm) of antibiotics, AgNPs and their conjugates against bacterial isolates (group, average) found to be; ciprofloxacin + AgNPs (23) > imipenem + AgNPs (21) > gentamycin + AgNPs (18.5) > vancomycin + AgNPs (15.5) > AgNPs (14.75) > imipenem (13.66) > trimethoprim + AgNPs (13.5) > ciprofloxacin (12.5) > gentamycin (11) > vancomycin (4) > trimethoprim (0). Generally, synergistic outcome of nanoparticles and antibiotics ensued a 0.2-7 (average = 2.8) fold upsurge in antibacterial action. Similarly, AgNPs showed antifungal activities and were slightly higher with B AgNPs (13-15) than C AgNPs (8-12) against four different fungi. AgNPs showed varying anti-oxidant, cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities. Antioxidant activities in terms of free radical (DPPH) scavenging (%) rates per 30 min were; 19.8 and 17.9 at 1000 ppm and were significantly reduced to 5.79 and 5.3 at 100 ppm with biologically (B) synthesized and commercial (C) AgNPs respectively. Brine shrimp assay revealed AgNPs cytotoxicity which increased with increase in conc. of NPs (10- 1000 ppm) and time (0-72 hr). Comparatively, the mortality rate of nauplii (larvae) (n =10) was slightly higher with C AgNPs (90 %) than B AgNPs (80 %) after 72 hr. In phytotoxicity assays, AgNPs at varying conc. i.e., 10, 100 & 1000 ppm showed 35-55 % inhibition in radish seed germination. It was relatively higher at 100 ppm AgNPs after 5 days and the results were non-significantly differed in B AgNPs and C AgNPs. Nevertheless, increase in conc. of AgNPs helped stimulating roots and shoots lengths. In tissue engineering perspective and for stimulation of stem cells growth, NIH3T3 fibroblast cells were incorporated in methacrylated gelatin hydrogels containing AuNPs. Water retension, mechanical, degradation and microscopic analysis of this Au-GelMA hydrogels were measured and proved to be bio-compatible. Au-GelMA nanocomposite material hydrogels provided better environment and significantly triggered cellular viability and growth compared to simple GelMA hydrogels without AuNPs (control). Both B AgNPs and C AgNPs played role in the transformation of recalcitrant aromatic compounds i.e. azo dyes (100 ppm concentration) Acid red 151 and Orange II when treated separately and in combination with fungus (A. niger) under shaking conditions (150 rpm) at 30 oC. UV-visible spectroscopy and FTIR determined 75-95 % reduction or transformation of dyes in 96 to 120 hr reaction time. It was maximum with A. niger + B AgNPs, followed by B AgNPs & C AgNPs and least in case of A. niger. Finally, the anti-biofouling ability of the AgNPs was determined in ultra- filtration polysulfone (Psf) membranes by incubating them with sludge for 45 days. Scanning electron microscopy exhibited considerably less biofilm development on AgNPs incorporated Psf membrane than normal Psf membrane used as control. Moreover, these results were supported by less bacterial growth (36: 288 CFU) and corresponding variations in FTIR spectra of the biofilm covered Psf membranes.
یہ ناول نگار کا مشاہدہ ،تخلیق اور تحقیق ہے جو انھیں دوسروں سے نمایا ں کرتی ہے۔وہ بے باکی سے اپنامدعا بیان کرتے ہیں۔ناول نگار نے ظفر عالم کا ذکر کیا ہے کہانی میں جو کہ پروڈکشن ہاؤس چلاتے ہیں اور ان کی بیگم وہاں پہ ٹیچر ہیں۔وہ لڑکیوں کو پروڈکشن کے کام سکھاتی ہیں۔ضامن کی جب ان سے ملاقات ہوئی تو وہ اسی کشمکش میں تھا کہ وہ ضامن سے کیوں ملنا چاہتے ہیں۔پہلے ہی اس کے دل ودماغ میں ذیشان اور شیزہ کے حوالے سے سوالات کے انبار تھے۔ضامن نے ظفر عالم سے ملاقات کے بعد اس کے نتائج بھی کچھ یوں نکالے:
’’مجھے یہ شخص پورے سسٹم کا مرکزی کردارمعلوم ہورہا تھااور اس کی بیوی جسے وہ ٹیچر بتارہاتھا۔میں اچھی طرح جانتا تھا یہ شوبز ڈیزاننگ انڈسٹری دوسرے لفظوں میں سیکس انڈسٹری ہوتی ہے‘‘ (25)
یہ ایک معمہ تھا۔ضامن کیلئے وہ الجھتا جارہا تھا۔ناول نگار کی تحریر شعور زیست کے ساتھ ساتھ شعار زیست بھی دیتی ہے جو قاری میں ترفع پیدا کرنے کا موجب بنتی ہے۔بہر حال قاری کے دل ودماغ کو شعور تب ملنا شروع ہوا جب ضامن، ذیشا ن اور شیزہ دونوں کے ساتھ ایک فلیٹ پر رہنے آگیا۔وہ ایک عجیب قسم کا فلیٹ تھاکبھی دوست آتے، بہت چہل ہوتی ،کبھی بہت خاموشی ،کبھی رقص کی محفل ،کبھی انتہائی بیزاری محسوس ہوتی تھی اور سب سے بڑھ کر ضامن جو شیزہ کی محبت میں گرفتار ہو کر فیصلہ نہیں کر پارہا تھاکہ ہو کیا رہا ہے۔
ناول نگار نے بے پردگی کی ایک ایسی فضا قائم کی ہے جو قاری کو سوچوں میں گم چھوڑ دیتی ہے۔وہ سوچتا رہتا ہے کہ کیا اخلاقیات...
Herbal medicines, complementary or alternative medicines is a wide term for the therapies that are not part of standard care but it has many theories regarding efficacy based on personal experiences, history and common knowledge. It has long been used since ancient times since the beginning of human civilization. Its use had caught much attention in the early 1800s, with the development in the science of chemistry, a new era in pharmacotherapeutics and the use of active chemical ingredients in plants which were known to produce favorable therapeutic effects, were explored, active compounds were extracted, purified and their structure was revealed. This advancement paved the way towards modern pharmaceutical therapy. The modern drugs are based on these herbal medicines, after extracting the active and pure chemical compounds. Pharmacokinetics and physicochemical properties of the active ingredients was explored. It lead to the better understanding of efficacy and safety profile of these drugs and first choice for treatment of various diseases. At the same time, the herbal medicines were considered as secondarily important. After approximately two centuries, the use of herbal medicines have seen a revival globally both in developing as well as developed countries. In the past few years, the practice of using herbal medicines as an alternative and complementary health medicine has gained more importance. Herbal medicines are common for treatment of various ailments including cancer, digestive disorders, pain related disorders, neuropathic ailments and cardiac arrhythmias etc. Even it has been used by pregnant females and mostly perceived as safe. Its use has gained more attraction due to its ‘natural’ approach and lesser side effects. Their use if often overlooked but physicians should pay attention to these medicines. There is lack of familiarity, standardization of the drug components, unproven therapeutic effects in various diseases, unexplored toxicology, pharmacokinetics, drug-drug interactions, and compatibility in patients with varying medical, genetic and demographic history. There are serious concerns regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal products and nutraceuticals. Accidental contamination and deliberate adulteration are assumed to be the main cause of the side effects. Much of the herbal medical knowledge is scattered in different regions of the world and mostly available at family, community and local level and mostly in any native languages. There is need of coherent sources, knowledge, and exploration of these medicines across the world. The herbal medicine has varying diversity in different geological regions and they should be investigated. There should be a regional or national body to control and approve the herbal medicines. Proper documentations on these medicines and food supplements should also be done.
Arsenic (As) is metalloid which is known for its toxicity and associated health risks. It is found both naturally and anthropogenically in environment the present study was conducted for quantifying the arsenic in plants, vegetables and rice and application of organic amendments to minimize the uptake of As The samples were collected from different places of District Chitral (Chitral city, Drosh, Ayun, Bumborat, Buny and Garam Cheshma). The physicochemical parameters of soil show that pH was ranged from 7.40-7.75, the organic matter (OM) ranged from 1.1-3.0 mg/kg and the electric conductivity ranges from 0.05-0.7 mS/cm. Moreover, the soil particles in the range of >1mm is 12.74 %, while in the range of 250 µm-64 µm, 10.165% average were noted. Likewise, in the range of 64 µm-20 µm, only 5.93% recorded. While, <20µm, only 0.845% has been noted. The analysis further revealed that daily intake of heavy metals in vegetable is with in permissible limits set by WHO but the health risk index is high that is above 1 in fruits vegetable and rice, in vegetables the highest value is recorded in greens which is 22.7 and 24.3 for both adults and children respectively while lowest value is recorded for cucumber which is 2.8 and 3 for children and adults respectively. Similarly, in case of fruits, the range is 14.3 and 2.6 for mulberry and apricot respectively. Likewise, in case of grains, the HRI value is 11.3 for both children and adults in Gabur while lowest value is recorder in the rice on Gharam Chashma for adults is 3.3 and 6.0 for children which is high values and can cause health risk in the study area. In the pot experiment different Verities of rice Dokri Basmati, Shadab 31 and Shaheen Basmati (V1,V2,V3 ) is cultivated and treated with organic mattes manure, organic matter peat and organic matter leaves (OMM,OMP,OML)with addition of three concentrations of As (5, 10, 15 mg/kg) . The results showed that the rice varity-1 grown in control treatment with addition of iv OM the root length is highest which is decrease with the addition of arsenic 900>800>670>600 with As 0, 1, 2, 3 respectively the shoot length in control soil treatment found highest, whereas the spiking of soil with As at different concentrations reduced (5>10>15) the shoot length of the rice.This decreases in the length of shoot of rice may be because of the toxicity of As. During analysis, by amendments, the OMP took higher growth in case of 0 arsenic concentrations; however, the OML and OMM gain little growth. In case of variety 2 , in control soil with 0 concentration, the length of shoots grew high as compared to As1, As2 and As3, whereas by adding the organic matter (OM), the OML growth is high compared to OMP and OMM. In terms of fresh and dry weights, in arsenic 0 and arsenic 2, the OML weight is high, while in As3, the OMP weight is great. Furthermore, the results indicate that in control soil with “0” concentration of As, the growth is highest; however, by adding the As1, the growth is decreasing followed by As2 and As3 respectively. Likewise, by testing the chemical parameters in variety 2 by As0, the concentration of chlorophyll A and B are very high with As1, the concentration decreases and again rise with As 2. In terms of plant pigment in variety 2, the concentration of chlorophyll increases with the increase in As. By OMM shows the highest concentration followed by OML and OMP and all the carotenoid results designates the same values. Furthermore, in variety 3, control “0” expressed the higher concentration, while As1 show low concentration. Opposite to these, the concentration of As2 and As3 increased. In the context of H2O2, the analysis revealed that with organic matter manure (OMM), with 0 concentration of arsenic, the V2 grew high, while V1 and V3 express low arsenic concentration. Furthermore, by adding more arsenic the growth is considerably decline, along with this, by providing more arsenic (As3), the H2O2 concentration show that V1 possess slightly high concentration, whereas V2 and V3 hold a little bit low concentration. Likewise, with OMP, by the addition of As1, V1 v express slightly low concentration, while by adding more arsenic, V1 exhibit 50% decrease. Whereas, in case of As3 the H2O2 concentration in V1 immensely increased. In terms of arsenic uptake in control, the V1 (root) results shows the lowest value i.e. 3.03, while (30.6) and As3 (110) express higher concentration values. While in terms of OMM, there is an increasing trend has been noted. The results show that As which is carcinogenic and found in study area naturally and the community is at risk so it can be remediated with the help of OM as it is a cheap and environmental friendly way and found that OML is the best organic matter for growth both in term of root length shoot length overall responsible for growth and also it help in minimization of As in all the three verities of rice which were locally cultivated in the study area.