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The genomic basis and environment as risk factors for myocardial infarction
No full textMyocardial Infarction (MI) is one of the major cardiovascular diseases worldwide. It is caused by rupture of atherosclerotic plaque in coronary vessels. Genetic and environmental factors play a key role in the development of MI. The major objective of current study was to evaluate the association of genetic variants with lipid metabolism and predisposition risk factors along with environmental factors in MI patients of Pakistani population. The study was designed in two phases; the first phase included demographic characteristics and economic burden of MI while the association of genetics with MI was investigated in the second phase. A total of 515 patients of MI were recruited to identify the economic burden, life style, family history and risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, smoking and hyperlipidemia) with MI. In second phase 384 Pakistani individuals were included for genetic analysis. A total of nine candidate genes with 22 SNPs were selected and genotyped by sequencing as well as one label extension method. The MI was significantly higher (P < 0.05) among males as compared to females in both urban and rural MI patients. The 43.11% patients were overweight (BMI ? 25). The urban MI patients were significantly more overweight as compared to rural patients (P < 0.05). The 72.04% patients were found with previous family history of heart attack. Smoking (60.9%) and sedentary life style (70%) were more common in MI patients. Sedentary life style was predominant in Urban MI patients as compared to rural MI patients. The average annual cost per patient was found 9524.53 PKRs (96.96 USD). In genetic analysis 15 SNPs (out of 22) from 9 candidate genes were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with elevated risk of MI. Overall current study was the first to identify three novel SNPs rs10757278, rs10811656 and rs10757283 on chromosome 9p21.3 (CDKN2A/B gene) using 11 genetic markers, against MI in Pakistani population. The genetic variants rs10811656 risk allele T and rs10757278 risk allele G, rs10757283 risk allele T residing at chromosome 9p21.3 were found to be significantly associated with higher risk of MI [OR = 1.67 (1.22, 2.29), 1.37 (1.09, 1.72) and 1.47 (1.08, 2.01) respectively]. Two lipid metabolism related SNPs: rs662799 and rs3135506 of APOA5 \ud
were associated with risk of higher triglyceride levels (266 mg/dl genotype GG and 244 mg/dl genotype CC respectively) irrespective of age, gender, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and smoking. Four SNPs (rs2383206, rs2383207, rs10811656 and rs10757278) of CDKN2A/B (chromosome 9p21.3) were found in strong linkage disequilibrium [LD (D/ = 0.99)] and their minor allele frequencies were significantly more prevalent in patients than controls (P = 0.02, 0.0002, 0.0012, 0.005 respectively). The four SNPs from 9p21.3 showed one risk haplotype (G-A-T-G; P = 0.001) and two protective haplotypes (A-G-C-A and G-G-C-A; P = 0.006, 0.001 respectively) involved in progression of MI. In addition the SNPs rs3135506, rs1558861, rs662799 and rs10750097 residing in APOA5 gene were depicted strong linkage disequilibrium (D/ = 0.99). Present study identified C-T-G-A and G-C-A-G haplotypes as risk haplotypes significantly (P = 0.0001) associated with MI. Higher BMI, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes were identified as strong predictor of MI in North Punjab Pakistan. Current study confirms correlation between lipid metabolism related SNPs and variants of 9p21.3 locus with MI as well as supporting the role of APOA5 in raising the triglyceride levels. Preventive measures are needed to start at early age and continue throughout the life course. However further studies are needed for delineating the role of these SNPs in MI development
CYCLIC VOLTAMMETRIC STUDY OF SOME BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE DRUGS
No full textThis electrochemical study of three different biologically active compounds has been conducted using cyclic voltammetry technique at gold electrode. Losartan Potassium is an antihypertensive drug, while Gemifloxacin is antibacterial and Clarithromycin is primarily bacteriostatic and also has antimicrobial effect. Cyclic voltammetric study has been conducted by using (0.04M) Britton Robinson Buffer as supporting electrolyte with different pH range. For Losartan Potassium pH range of B-R buffer was 8-11 while for Clarithromycin and Gemifloxacin B-R buffer pH range (2-6) has been selected according to the appropriate solubility of these pharmaceutical compounds. Voltammograms of all three biologically active compounds have been recorded at six different scan rates of 20, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500mV/s
SOFT COMPUTING APPROACHES IN FORENSICS: AN INTELLIGENT SYSTEM APPROACH
No full textIt has been increasingly difficult to ignore the prevailing situation of crime, law & order and \ud
dominantly terrorism acts in Pakistan and the simultaneous use of mobile phone and other related \ud
equipment in the criminal activities. The prevailing situation motivated us to study digital \ud
forensics of mobile phones using soft computing techniques. In this thesis, we have developed \ud
intelligent system approach to explore the causes and effects of this menace keeping in view \ud
mobile information system, service providers and cyber laws of Pakistan. \ud
The soft computing approaches are useful to study the patterns emerging in forensic crimes \ud
prevailing in developing countries especially in Pakistan. We have studied mobile related crimes \ud
such as law & order, home land security and street crimes and presented a review on ICT and \ud
mobile phone crimes in Pakistan. In this research, we have investigated forensic crimes \ud
technologies in mobile phone system concentrating on essential mobile phone technology, crime \ud
evidence, crime investigation framework and related laws in developed and developing countries \ud
especially in Pakistan. \ud
I have explored soft computing methods / techniques using fuzzy logic, probabilistic \ud
reasoning, Bayesian network and rough set theory with the approach of intelligent systems and \ud
artificial intelligence. In fuzzy logic, I have dealt with subjective/ expert approach to analyze \ud
forensic crimes especially related with mobile phones. I have discussed fuzzy time series \ud
approach in detail to study mobile phone crimes over time with examples of rough set theory \ud
discussed in detail for developing information system related with forensic crimes especially \ud
related with the use of mobile phones and suggested the use of a rule based system when \ud
knowledge on attributes related with mobile phone crimes is imprecise. I found that rough set \ud
theory is very much helpful in taking decisions and improving information/ evidence on mobile \ud
phone crimes. I have also used Naïve Bayesian approach for classification of crimes and study \ud
the approach on the available dataset on Pakistan. \ud
I have studied the location based approach for mobile phone crimes using geo-fencing \ud
technique with special emphasis on data available from service providers and called it tower data \ud
analysis. Tower data analysis is done in detail and found it very much helpful in detecting \ud
criminals and their networks especially in the context of Pakistan. \ud
I have also concentrated on objective approach on customer side of the mobile phone use \ud
and studied in detail call details record (CDR) data available/provided by service providers with \ud
special permission and suggested an abstract data model of CDR which may be extended to data \ud
warehouse technology. The approach will be helpful for behavior analysis of mobile users and \ud
especially criminals while using mobile phones and suggested that such data marts/ data \ud
warehouse should be developed by the government authorities along with the information \ud
available from service providers. \ud
I have provided suggestions and directions for future work in the context of soft computing \ud
for developing framework of evidence in Pakistan. We also feel that there is a need to improve \ud
the government agencies' record which should be maintained independent of service providers \ud
CDR data and Location based data of mobile users with their activities. This will be helpful for \ud
investigation, evidence analysis without dependence on the service providers' data. In the last, I \ud
feel that this effort is the very first attempt to study forensic crimes related to mobile and \ud
therefore need more attention and more research work on ICT to overcome the misuse of the \ud
technologies to reduce crimes and improve law & order, homeland security for the country and a \ud
common citizen of Pakistan. There is a good coordination and cooperation among the researchers \ud
and the consultants of law enforcement agencies which has culminated into this work and hope \ud
that this will open new venues for research and development in this area in the future
IMPACT OF EXCLUSION OF POOR COMMUNITIES ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
No full textThis study describes the impact of exclusion of poor communities on social development in \ud
district Lodhran. The study circulates around the involvement of poor communities of district \ud
Lodhran, particularly BISP beneficiaries and responsible major stakeholders of social \ud
development. Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries in district Lodhran were \ud
the respondent and connivance sampling technique was used for the selection of 400 respondents \ud
for quantitative study and 27 participants were involved in 03 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). \ud
Interview schedule was used as a tool of quantitative while Question guide/Checklist was \ud
developed as a tool for qualitative data collection. Uni-vairate and Bi-variate analysis has been \ud
made through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while quantitative data analysis was \ud
made by content analysis (thematic analysis). \ud
Uni-variate and bivariate analysis results reflected that people are thumb engraver and their \ud
income is less as compared to their expenses. People have large family sizes and prefer to live in \ud
joint families in small homes with less number of rooms. Agriculture is the largest profession \ud
and majority uses bicycle/motor cycle for personal transportation in emergency. The people were \ud
unhappy with the governmental policies and they suffer from discrimination and exploitation. \ud
Economic as well as social resources are grabbed by the rich and the poor is left cramped. \ud
Lawlessness prevails as the law enforcement agencies are puppets in the hands of bigwigs. All \ud
community development decisions and policies are made by the rich people in the area. \ud
Excluded people were not aware about importance of tax revenue and its proper utilization. \ud
Exclusion slows down the process of social development in district Lodhran, the poor can not \ud
avail themselves timely help, even their relatives, friends and colleagues do not support them at \ud
the time of emergency. As for as hypotheses testing results are concerned, weak situation of \ud
integration among the poor people which slow down the social development in the area is clearly \ud
xxiv \ud
reflected from the results of Hypothesis 1, "strong social integration leads to higher social \ud
development" is accepted which reflects the significant association was seen between the social \ud
integration and social development. Hypothesis 2 "low economic status also negatively affects \ud
social development" is accepted reflects the strong significance because people were unhappy \ud
with this BISP support because this support made no significant change in lives of BISP \ud
beneficiaries. Gender discrimination was found at large scale in district Lodhran. Hypothesis 3 \ud
"if there is lesser gender discrimination, more would be the Social Development" is also \ud
accepted that negative association observed between gender discrimination and social \ud
development. Acceptance of Hypothesis 4 "the greater involvement of SDOs/NGOs on \ud
development activities positively affects the social development" in the area which indorsed \ud
response of the community that poor people have never been called upon by NGOs/SDOs or \ud
government departments in community development programmes. Moreover, Hypothesis 5 "bad \ud
governance is negatively associated with the social development" is accepted. Quantitative and \ud
qualitative study results clearly supported the researcher's model. Therefore, inevitably, if \ud
prevailing conditions of poverty, governance, social integration, gender discrimination would be \ud
improved and involvement of government agencies and community development organizations \ud
is increased then exclusion of poor people would be reduced which will improve social \ud
development in district Lodhran. Consequently there is an immense need to ensure inclusion of \ud
poor community members in the process of social development in district Lodhran on urgent \ud
basis
PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL AND ETHNOBOTANICAL APPRAISAL OF KABAL VALLEY SWAT WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO PLANT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
No full textKabal valley, district Swat, Pakistan is rich in plant biodiversity, but little \ud
attempt has been made to evaluate it scientifically. To fill this research gap, the present\ud
study was conducted for phytosociological and ethnobotanical enumerations of the \ud
existing plant wealth of the study area. The vegetation was surveyed through random \ud
stratified sampling during September 2010 to July 2013. In all, the data of 314 relevés \ud
were stored in the database software TURBOVEG version 2.101 and analyzed through \ud
Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) by using the host program JUICE \ud
version 7.0.99 and correlated with edaphic, topographic and environmental variables \ud
using Detrenched Correspondence Analysis (D.C.A). Nine different plant communities \ud
such as 1) Nasturtium-Paspalum-Veronica in Wetland, 2) Abies-Picea-Viburnum \ud
Coniferous Forest, 3) Pinus-Quercus-Berberis Mixed Forest, 4) Pinus-Indigofera Blue \ud
Pine Forest, 5) Celtis-Olea-Cynodon Sacred Groves Broad Leaved Forest, 6) Diosperos\ud
Pinus-Quercus Mid Hill Degraded Forest, 7) Dodonaea-Isidon-Berberis Xeromorphic \ud
Scrub, 8) Pinus-Quercus-Galium Protected Chir Pine Forest and 9) Isodon-Berberis\ud
Indigofera Montane scrub were established influenced by different topographic and \ud
edaphic factors. The pattern in the species and relevés data set and its relationship with \ud
the environmental variables was determined by Detrended Correspondence Analysis \ud
(DCA) in Canoco 4.5. Therophytes (43.94%) and Hemicryptophytes (21.31%) were the \ud
dominant life forms while Nanophylls (33.72%), Microphylls (28.32%) and Leptophylls \ud
(24.53%) were the dominant leaf size classes of the area. Biodiversity was assessed by \ud
using species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, species evenness; while the \ud
conservation status of useful plants was ascertained according to IUCN categories. In \ud
all, 820 species distributed across 497 genera and 136 families were identified during \ud
the study period. Besides, some of the interesting flora such as Silene indica var. \ud
cashmeriana, Geranium Swatense, Impatience pallida, Gratiola officinalis and Vernoca \ud
hederifolia are reported for the first time from Swat, Pakistan. The flora includes 31 \ud
ferns, 8 gymnosperms, 184 monocots and 597 dicots.\ud
With reference to ethnobotanical study, local inhabitants utilized native flora \ud
to fulfill their eight major use categories. Most of the species were used as folk \ud
medicine (344 spp., 75.94%), miscellaneous 216 spp., 47.68%), food (205 spp., \ud
45.25%), fodder (153 spp., 33.77%), fuel (94 spp., 20.75%), ethno-veterinary (90 \ud
spp., 19.87), tools (63 spp., 13.91%) and construction (41 spp., 9.05%). \ud
The findings of the study will help foresters, range land managers, medicinal \ud
plant growers and collectors, ecologists and conservationists to improve the \ud
bioresource base and socioeconomic conditions of the people
STUDY ON THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF WASTEWATER FROM SADQAL OIL AND GAS FIELD, FATEHJANG, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN ON WATER QUALITY AND SOIL
No full textThis study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of wastewater from \ud
Sadqal oil and gas field, Fateh Jang, Punjab, Pakistan and its impacts on ground water \ud
and surrounding soil. The research work was carried out in three steps. \ud
In the first step, wastewater samples were collected from the selected sites in the \ud
study area. Physico-chemical parameters were evaluated in the months of January 2013 \ud
to January 2014 using standard analytical methods. Anions and cations were studied by \ud
Ion Chromatography (IC). The results obtained were in the following order: pH ranged \ud
from 6.7±0.4-7.5±0.20, temperature; 16.2±0.36-25.3±0.26 ?C, conductivity; 25800±0.5-\ud
28800 µS/cm, total dissolved substances (TDS); 85000±1.90-135000±1.70 mg/L, \ud
hardness; 18000±1.30-33000±1.40 mg/L, biological oxygen demand (BOD); 550±0.29-\ud
1210±0.38 mg/L, chemical oxygen demand (COD); 1300±0.95-4200±0.75 mg/L and oil \ud
& grease; 15±0.72-400±1.20 mg/L. \ud
Levels of cations including sodium (Na?) were found to be 14739±1.20-\ud
47250±1.40 mg/L, potassium (K?); 218±1.10-546±0.45 mg/L, calcium (Ca?²); \ud
3687±1.09-8314±0.65 mg/L, magnesium (Mg?²); 439±0.85-1080±0.74 mg/L and anions \ud
including chloride (Cl?) ranged from 8542±1.35-56890±1.60 mg/L, florid (F?); \ud
203±0.87-582±0.83 mg/L, bromide (Br?); 2±0.31-9.3±0.54 mg/L, sulfate (SO4?2); \ud
52±0.84-178±0.25 mg/L, nitrate (NO3?); 46±0.91-809±0.80 mg/L and nitrite (NO2?) \ud
14±0.91-52±0.41 mg/L. \ud
Heavy metals (HMs) were also assessed in the same wastewater samples by \ud
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The concentration of chromium (Cr) was found \ud
to be 1.07±0.01-2.7±0.02 mg/L, manganese (Mn); 1.06±0.03-2.3±0.01 mg/L, cadmium \ud
(Cd); 0.02±0.02-0.04±0.01 mg/L, zinc (Zn); 1.2±0.02-2.1±0.01 mg/L), copper (Cu); \ud
0.49±0.02-1.3±0.01 mg/L, lead (Pb); 0.51±0.07-0.91±0.41 mg/L, nickel (Ni); \ud
0.34±0.06-0.49±0.49 mg/L and iron (Fe); 2.06±0.05-11.52±0.09 mg/L. \ud
The results obtained were compared with the maximum permissible limits (MPL) \ud
of Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA). It was found that the \ud
wastewater from Sadqal oil and gas field are highly contaminated which is discharged on \ud
site without any prior treatment. \ud
In the second step, representative drinking water samples were collected from \ud
different sources (wells, pressure pumps and hand pumps) in order to examine the \ud
physico-chemical properties and HMs concentrations which are effected by wastewater. \ud
pH of all samples was analyzed on the spot while Na?, K?, Ca?², Mg?², Cl?, F?, SO4?2, \ud
NO3? and NO2? were analyzed by Ion Chromatography. Among the HMs Cr, Mn, Cd, Zn, \ud
Cu, Pb, Ni and Fe were analyzed. The values of different parameters of drinking water \ud
collected from different sources indicate that their levels are above the World Health \ud
Organization (WHO) permissible limits. \ud
In the third step, composite soil samples were collected around the wastewater \ud
ponds at various distances in east, west and south directions. To evaluate the impacts of \ud
wastewater on soil; anions, cations and HMs concentrations were investigated. Anions \ud
cations including Na?, K?, Ca?², Mg?², Cl?, F?, SO4?2, NO3? and NO2? were assessed. \ud
HMs including Cr, Mn, Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni and Fe were evaluated. The results values \ud
compared with the reference soil sample. It was found that the levels are above the \ud
reference sample values. The results inferred that soils near wastewater ponds are highly \ud
contaminated due to continuous seepages from the ponds. On the basis of findings, it is concluded that wastewater of the area may pose \ud
serious threats to the inhabitants living near exploration and production area. So, \ud
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should check the illegal practices of dumping of \ud
industrial effluents on land especially in residential areas and such activities may be \ud
stopped immediately by strict imposition of National Environmental Quality Standards in \ud
order to minimize the associated environmental risks & to ensure public health. \ud
Keywords: Wastewater, Physico-chemical properties, Heavy metals, Drinking water, Soil, Sadqal oil and gas fiel
COMBINING GENES FOR ENHANCING RUST RESISTANCE AND HIGH YIELD IN WHEAT WITH PHENOTYPIC AND MOLECULAR MARKERS
No full textEpidemics of leaf, stripe and stem rust on wheat have induced significant losses in the past during the early nineteenth century and would continue to be a major threat to future wheat production. Constant threat of leaf and stripe rust in Pakistan and stem rust throughout the world would prevail due to evolution of new rust races and favorable environments. Chemical control of these ailments remained unaffordable for poor farmers; hence the only effective strategy to avert the losses is the development of rust resistant varieties. Therefore, the hypothesis was to explore high yield and rust resistance potential through combining lines with high yield + durable rust resistance genes among the existing germplasm. So the current study was designed to combine genes for enhancing rust resistance and high yield potential in wheat. The parents' lines were selected on the basis of slow rusting history, phenotypic characters for durable rust resistance genes by the selection of desirable parents used in filial generations (F1 to F5). Total 750 head rows were planted in F6 from selected heads among F5 generation. Among these 750 single head rows planted in Kaghan, 345 lines were selected on the basis of agronomic traits and rust resistance performance. These 345 lines were put in yield testing study to select the high yielding and rust resistance lines. Among 345 lines, two hundred and twenty lines were selected on the basis of high yield rust resistance which was evaluated for the presence of durable rust resistant genes through phenotypic and molecular markers. It was confirmed that the lines showing durable, rust resistance possess Lr34/Yr18, Lr46/Yr29 and Sr2/Yr30 genes in combination or individuals from these lines. They are associated with several traits like pseudo black chaff (Pbc), leaf tip necrosis (Ltn) and adult plant resistance (APR) contributing to near immunity to leaf, stripe and stem rust infection. So these studies confirm the presence of durable rust resistant genes in finally selected lines on the basis of yield and rust resistance supported by phenotypic and molecular markers. The most prominent crosses yielded lines with FRT/SA42//PRL/SA42/3/ Wblli 2*/Kiritati (V-11211), Wattan/2*ERA/2/Pak81/2*Wattan/3/Shafaq/4/Brambling (V11212,V-11218 and V-11227) Luan/Kohistan/ Pak81/3/Kiritati (V-11262), Wattan/ 2*ERA/ 2/Pak81/2*Wattan/3/Shafaq06/4/Kingbird (V-11288), SH88/90A204//MH97//PRL/2*Pastor (V-11296), Shafaq06/Luan//MH97 (V-11304, V-11308 and V-11319), Uqab-2000/Wattan \ud
/Lr28//Yecora (V-11338), Wattan/2*ERA//V-04178 (V-11353), Wattan/2*ERA//V03007 (V11365) and Lasani-2008/Iqbal-2000 (V-11396). These are the most brilliant lines which have derived from the above crosses and showed the combination of three designated slow rusting /durable genes. These lines were high yielding with better resistance than all existing approved wheat varieties of the country. None of these lines had complete resistance, but were of slow rusting type and were suitable for commercial cultivation. The resistance is most probably by the additive effect of partial resistance genes accumulated from the diversified parents crossed with each other. Monitoring of the rust virulence pattern was conducted to monitor the virulent pattern in the country through avirulence/virulence formula. The survey was carried out on the rust trap nurseries planted at different agroecological condition in Pakistan. The rust trap nursery consisted of 40 Lr differentials and 24 Yr differentials. The studies revealed that there were no virulence observed for Lr9, Lr19, Lr25, Lr28, Lr27+31, Lr32, Lr34, Lr36, Lr23+Gaza and Lr37, and Yr1, Yr3, Yr5, Yr8, Yr10, \ud
Yr15, Yr18,Yrcv and Yrsp during the study period. Among the varieties Iqbal-2000, Uqab2000, Lasani-2008, Faisalabad-2008, AARI-2011, Millat-2011 and Pb-2011 exhibited resistance both for LR and YR. Moderate YR was observed on Shafaq-2006 and Chenab-2000 ranging from 20-30 MRMS
ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GROUNDNUT RHIZOBACTERIA TO IMPROVE CROP YIELD
No full textPlant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have attained global \ud
recognition as biofertilizers owing to their role in facilitating plant growth and \ud
development in sustainable agricultural system. Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) is \ud
high value cash crop in rainfed Pothwar, northern Punjab, Pakistan, yielding 85% \ud
of the country's total groundnut. The national average yield (1.1 t ha-1)is less than \ud
the potential yield (4 t ha-1) and can be increased by inoculating groundnut with its \ud
specific symbiont. The present study was designed with the objectives to isolate \ud
bacterial strains from groundnut nodules and rhizospheric soil tocharacterize and \ud
identify potential bacterial strains. The most potential bacterial strains were \ud
evaluated under controlled and field conditions to confirm their growth promoting \ud
effect on growth and N2-fixation of groundnut. A novel Rhizobium sp. BN-19T \ud
from groundnut nodules was also validated following minimal standards of \ud
bacterial identification. For bacterial isolation and identification, extensive survey \ud
was carried out in Pothwar (Distt. Attock and Chakwal) for collection of groundnut \ud
nodules and rhizospheric soil.Around 75 bacterial strains of different genera were \ud
isolated and designated as BN-1, BN-2, BN-3.. (from nodules) and GS-1 to GS\ud
34 (from rhizospheric soil). These isolated bacterial strains were characterized for \ud
plant growth promoting (PGP) traits like nifH gene amplification, indole acetic acid \ud
(IAA) production, P solubilization, catalase and oxidase production.Biochemical \ud
characterization was done by using API 20E kit and BIOLOG GN-2 microplate \ud
reader. Resistance of Rhizobium sp. to seven antibiotics at 4 different levels (µg \ud
mL-1): 5, 50, 100, 300 was tested. All the strains solubilized mineral phosphate \ud
between30 to 700µg mL-1. The production of IAA was in the range of 10-92 µg \ud
mL-1 (with tryptophan). For identification, 16S rRNA gene sequences of the strains \ud
were obtained by PCR amplification using universal primers. For strains identified \ud
as Rhizobiumhousekeeping genes [atpD (510 bp), recA (530 bp) and glnII (600bp)] \ud
sequencing was also performed. The consensus sequences were BLAST using \ud
EzBiocloud server database and retrieved using bioinformatics softwares i.e. \ud
Bioedit, Clustal X and Mega 5 to construct neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees. \ud
Seven most promising strains along with Rhizobium sp.were selected on the basis \ud
of PGP traits and inoculated to groundnut under controlled conditions. Three \ud
strains(BN-55, GS-4 and GS-6) enhanced yield under controlled conditions as \ud
compared to other treatments, hence proved to be promising among seven tested \ud
isolates. These strains were further tested in field along with full (N-P @ 20-40 kg \ud
ha-1) and half recommended doze (N-P @ 10-20 kg ha-1) of chemical fertilizers, to \ud
confirm their beneficial effect on groundnut yield and N2-fixation. The co\ud
inoculation of bacterial strains along with chemical fertilizer improved yield (76%) \ud
and N2-fixation (193%) under field conditions. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S \ud
rRNA gene sequence revealed that one Rhizobium species BN-19T, isolated from \ud
groundnut nodules exhibited sequence similarity of 97.4% with closely related \ud
strains hence indicating its position as a distinct species in genus Rhizobium. \ud
Sequence analysis of housekeeping genes (with sequence similarities of ?92%) and \ud
DNA-DNA relatedness between the strain BN-19T and reference strains (less than \ud
30%), further confirmed that BN-19T represented a novel Rhizobium species, for \ud
which the name Rhizobium pakistanensis sp. nov. is proposed. Our study confirmed \ud
that soil has a very large community of bacteria having PGP characteristics, which \ud
when applied as biofertilizer to crops improve nutrient use efficiency, yield and N2\ud
fixation. Farmers of the rainfed tract could raise their profitability by co-inoculation \ud
of PGPR and chemical fertilizer
EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEACHERS PROGRAMME ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS
No full textAnalysis of the effect of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) teachers \ud
program on the performance of primary school teachers was the focal point of this study. The \ud
objectives of the study were: to evaluate the opinion of head teachers, peer teachers, & \ud
students about the improvement in the teachers' performance as a result of CPD; to evaluate \ud
the performance improvement between the teachers of urban and rural localities; to analyze \ud
the performance improvement of teachers of four selected districts. The population of the \ud
study was all the Govt. boys' primary schools of the twelve districts of Punjab, Pakistan. \ud
Sample was taken with the help of multistage cluster random sampling technique due to \ud
practical reasons because population had a nested structure. Firstly 4 (33%) districts were \ud
selected randomly out of 12 districts. Secondly 344 (10%) schools, out of 3158 Govt. boys' \ud
primary schools, were selected randomly. Thirdly a cluster comprising eight respondents \ud
(one head teacher, two peer teachers, and five students of the 5th grade) was randomly \ud
selected from each and every school for the collection of data. The total number of \ud
partakers/respondents (344 heads, 688 peer teachers, and 1720 students) in the study was \ud
2752. Three different questionnaires were used for the collection of data. Data were analyzed \ud
by using Chi-Square statistic. Findings of the study revealed that more than eighty percent \ud
respondents were agreed/strongly agreed about the `improvement in the teachers' \ud
performance as a result of CPD, the district Okara was at the highest position while district \ud
Faisalabad was at the lowest, and urban locality was on a higher position than rural locality \ud
regarding the impact of CPD. Recommendations of the study were made on the basis of \ud
research findings that similar experiments must be performed to evaluate the effects of CPD \ud
on teachers' performance within the remaining districts of the Punjab, Pakistan. Research \ud
studies must be made to diagnose the causes of performance difference between the teachers \ud
of urban and rural areas. CPD training must be made compulsory for all teachers up to higher \ud
secondary level without any discrimination of gender