Citrus fruits, such as grapefruits and bitter oranges, contain large number of furanocoumarin bioactives which are potent inhibitors of hepatic P-450 cytochrome (CYP) enzymes. In comparison, relatively little is known of the inhibitory potency of furanocoumarin bioactives in plant-base traditional medicine, food supplements and nutraceuticals. In this study we identify and quantify the linear furanocoumarin bioactives in selected traditional herbal medicines and natural health products using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography equipped with an ultra-violet detector (HPLC-UV). Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of 29 plant products belonging to the Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Leguminosae, and Rutaceae families of plants were analyzed for the presence of linear furanocoumarins using GC-MS and HPLC-UV. Based on our experimental results, 8-Methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), 5- methoxypsoralen (5-MOP), and isopimpinellin (ISOP) were detected in the extracts of the following plant products: Ammi majus L. seeds, Angelica archangelica L. roots, Angelica pubescens Maxim. roots, Apium graveolens L. seeds, Apium graveolens L. flakes, Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cusson fruits, Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss leaves, Pimpinella aniseum L. seeds, and Ruta graveolens L. leaves. Different furanocoumarin bioactives, ranging from 0.016 to 11.468 mg/g dry weight, were found in these plant products. While, linear furanocoumarins such as 8-MOP, 5-MOP, and ISOP were commonly found in the Apiaceae and Rutaceae families of plants.

Investigations carried out to determine alteration that occurred in the oil heat treated 18-years old cultivated Acacia mangium. Harvested logs of A. mangium segregated into the bottom, middle and top portions containing heartwood and sapwood were oil heat treated in a stainless tank with palm crude oil as a heating medium at temperatures of 180, 200 and 220oC for 30, 60 and 90 minutes respectively. The evaluation of the changes in the wood performed by using BS and TAPPI standards. The relationship between the changes in the colour, strength and chemical composition, were made using correlation analysis. The result showed oil-heat treatment reduced the lightness of the wood and darkened the both parts of the wood. The strength of the wood reduced slightly after the oil-heat treatment. In the chemical compositions, the percentages of the holocellulose, ?-cellulose, hemicellulose and extractive contents decrease with the increase in treatment temperature and duration. The oil heat treatment process at 200°C for duration 60 minutes is recommended for A. mangium wood as it improved the colour of the A. mangium and uniformised the colour appearances of the sap- and heartwood. The loss in strength at this temperature and duration is acceptable as the treated wood only experiences strength loss of less than 15% in MOR.

The persistence of atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine] and its effect on microbial population in southern guinea savannah soil was studied using spectrophotometry. The treatments applied were 2.2, 3 and 3.75 L/ha atrazine.The initial soil sample was observed to have higher and significantly different bacterial population (21.30 and 21.63 Cfug-1) than soil from all the rates of atrazine for the two years. Fungal populations were highest (3.7 Cfug-1) in the initial soil samples compared with the rates of atrazine and throughout the duration of the sampling for both seasons. Bacterial population increased from the fourth to the sixth week of sampling and the highest rate of atrazine had the highest bacterial colony for the three consecutive samples.There was steady increase in fungal populations from two to six weeks after atrazine application during the two years.The rate of disappearance of atrazine within the first 28 days was higher (1.33, 1.05 and 0.66 mg/kg for 2.2, 3.0, and 3.75 L/ha respectively) than the second 28 days (1.16, 0.91, and 1.47 mg/kg for 2.2, 3.0, and 3.75 L/ha respectively). The last 28 days recorded the highest rates 2.26, 1.81 and 1.53 mg/kg for 2.2, 3.0, and 3.75 L/ha respectively. The disappearance time for 50% atrazine (DT50 or half-life) irrespective of the rate applied was less than 50 days.Atrazine was observed to be moderately persistent in this zone irrespective of the rates and microbial population increased as the quantity of atrazine residue in the soil decreased considering the duration of the experiment

Captive breeding is the process of wild animal breeding in controlled condition in zoological gardens, wildlife areas, and other similar wildlife conservation centres like safari park Karachi. In this study, the status of captive animals was studied at the Safari Park. The objective of this study was to evaluate the status of vertebrate fauna and find the key issues for their captive breeding, conservation and management. This study suggested mitigation measures can be used as future planning for development of conservation and management. Since the first induction of captive animals in 1993, the population status of some Endangered species show remarkable increase, which is the breeding success with suitable habitat. Out of total 407 acres of area, about 132 acres of Safari area conserve native threatened mammalian species. Population of Black buck and Spotted deer show enormous increase since their induction. Migratory birds, which also arrived in safari park lake in October and November and stay here till March, 11 migratory species recorded in the year 2016 including White pelican, Dalmatian pelican and Great cormorant. During the study 14 mammalian, 14 birds, two Reptiles and two species of amphibian were observed in the safari park.

The plants of Brassica juncea L. cv. RLC-1 were supplemented with 28-homobrassinolide (28-homoBL), exposed to dual stress of low and high temperatures along with salinity in the controlled environment, showed inhibitory effect on growth, photosynthetic pigments and efficiency of PSII. 28-homoBL mitigated the noxious effect of dual stress on B. juncea plants by promoting chlorophyll pigments which ultimately enhanced the photosynthetic efficiency of PSII reaction centres (RC) significantly. Extreme temperature of 4 and 44°C deteriorated total carotenoids to significant levels as compared to control distilled water plants exposed to (180 mM) NaCl salt or temperatures (24, 4 and 44°C). Our results indicated that 28-homoBL redirects the photosynthetic pigments of developing B. juncea seedlings to modulate the photosystem II activity for supporting photochemical efficiency at above level under single or dual stress of extreme temperature and salt

This paper represents a benchmark study that compares trace toxic elemental concentrations in honey products from various countries to establish a set of guidelines against which subsequent honey analyses could be referenced. Honey is a popular food item, widely consumed as part of a dietary regimen. Honey products originating from nine different countries were analyzed for toxic trace elements following microwave digestion in mild acid media (3% HNO3). A comparative study of this nature has not been previously reported and could provide useful data particularly from an environmental and nutritional perspective. High-performance ICP-MS was employed to examine the levels of a range of noxious elements in aqueous samples. The performance of the instrument was validated using certified reference standards. Minor fluctuations in performance were adjusted by use of an internal standard. Sixteen elements were selected for investigation and the mean concentration ranges are summarized as follows: Li, Be, Ag, Cd, Sb, Hg, Tl, Bi, Th, U occurred in the range 1-25 ?g/L; Pb, Se V, Ni, Cr, Al were observed in the interval 0.1- 4 mg/L. These toxins tend to originate from natural flora associated with the honey or from the chemical processes linked to the production of honey. In some samples “spikes” or elevated elemental levels were observed, which could be used to identify or “fingerprint” the country of origin of the corresponding honey sample. Our work could be considered a valuable source of reference data, and could contribute to environmental, food and forensic science.

Pakistan has been gifted with a huge coastal area with a coastline running along Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Sindh Coast is composed of about 230 km of area. Indus Delta and Karachi coastal regions are included in Sindh Coast which is surrounded by Sir Creek on the east with the South-eastern part of Pakistan between the Indian border while on the west side Balochistan coast and Hub river are located. Most important role has been played by Indus Delta covering the area of 2,560 sq. km which serve as the main pool of ecological richness. It comprises of about 85% of total coast line. Sindh Coastline is the combination of diverse features including patches of randomly distributed mangrove forests, many small islands and the ranges of tidal creeks (ESCAP, 1996). Sufficient information about wetlands, waterbirds and coastal birds of Pakistan is available including Ahmed et al. (1999), Amjad and Kidwai (2003), Chaudhry et al. (2012), Damboureyeh and Ghalib (2014), Durranee et al. (2008), Ghalib and Hasnain (1994), Ghalib and Bhaagat (2004), Ghalib et al. (2002, 2006, 2009, 2013), Grimmett et al. (1998, 2008), Hassan (1994, 2005) Hasan and Brohi (2009), Hasan et al. (2005), Hussain (2014), IFAP (2009), Jabeen et al. (2014), Javed and Hassan (2004, 2005), Khan et al. (2014), Khan and Ghalib (2006), Khurshid (2000), Pernetta (1993), Mirza (2007), Roberts et al. (1986), Scott (1989), Scott and Poole (1989) and Siddiqui et al. (2001, 2008). The objective of present study was to review the distribution, status and current trends in the population of coastal birds of Sindh areas.

The effects of control limits that are too narrow increase the rate of false alarms, while those that are too wide may not be able to identify special causes of variability in any given process. It is of this view that control chart methodology that can detect small to moderate shifts in the mean vector should be developed so that the probability of detecting or not detecting false alarm rate should be minimized. The bootstrap multivariate exponentially weighted moving average is proposed in setting control limits, while p-value method was introduced to identify out of control signals.

Traditional ICP-MS has evolved into more sophisticated instrumental methods of analysis particularly with the fusion of modern facilities to the host instrument such as laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) and liquid chromatography (HPLC-ICPMS). These advanced methods of analysis have led to the development of a collective trio of powerful analytical tools for deployment in diverse challenging applications. Many of these applications are associated with the detection of trace elements and chemical species in a variety of matrices such as: reservoir cores, metal coatings, asphaltenes, crude oil, pharmaceuticals, gels and waxes. Lower limits of detection at levels in the ng/L (parts per trillion) range are attainable; and miniscule sample volumes (~50 ?L) can be used for aqueous analysis. These allied techniques have been widely applied in the petrochemical sector and in other areas such as forensic science, biomedicine, environmental science, corrosion studies, geology, food science and agriculture. The main advantages of these methods are: multi-elemental; high sample throughput; isotopic detection; sample speciation; depth-profiling; and surface analysis. This paper is a review of the breadth and depth of selected applications in these areas and some of the strengths and limitations encountered

Kernel density estimation depends on appropriate smoothing parameter selection in its implementation since the method is mainly for data exploration and visualization purposes. While considering the effect of the smoothing parameter, the form of aggregation employed will determine the size of the smoothing parameter required for better performance. This paper considered two aggregating methods with respect to the asymptotic mean integrated squared error (AMISE) as the criterion function by introducing the multiplier factor that regulates the selection of smoothing parameter in the multiplicative aggregation. The results of the forms of aggregation considered were compared using real life data.

The aim of this study is the synthesis of ethylcellulose/clays nanocomposites by a very simple approach for an application as an electrocatalytic support of the oxidation of Dopamine. This electrochemical sensor was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electronic Microscopy (TEM). The results indicates that the proposed sensor has good electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of dopamine and exhibits a low detection limit of 1.15x10-6M, a wide linear range of 2,5x10-7–7,65x10-7M and fast response

An investigation was conducted at Bilashchhara and Shatgaon Tea Estates of Sreemangal under Moulvibazar district in Bangladesh to assessing the heavy metal accumulation in soils and their transfer to tea leaves. Thirteen composite soil and leaf samples were gathered from different elevations of the gardens where soil samples were from 0 to 25 cm depth and leaf samples were from three levels (upper, middle and lower leaves). Tea leaves were collected from the corresponding sites of the soils. The study showed that the heavy metal contents in soils of both the gardens were almost similar. Fertilized soils contained more heavy metals than the control soils. Chromium (Cr) and Cadmium (Cd) were not detectable in soils. The concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, Cr, and Ni in tea leaves were below the phytotoxic levels. Lead (Pb) and Cd were not found in leaves irrespective of the gardens.

This study investigates the potentiality of aquifer sediment colour as a broad indicator of Fe concentration in the shallow alluvial aquifer in parts of the Niger Delta. Using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) curve types obtained from geoelectrical sounding, three boreholes were drilled in HA curve type locations, two in HK locations and seven in K locations. Aquifer sediment colours at the screen depths in these boreholes were either grey, off-white or brown. Correlation of the aquifer sediment colour and chemical characteristics of groundwater samples from the boreholes shows that the groundwater derived from the grey and off-white aquifer sediments is characterised by relatively higher concentration of dissolved Fe (> 0.3 to 12.3mg/L) and occur in a reducing environment (redox potential Eh ~107 – 128mV). The groundwater abstracted from the brown aquifer sands is characterised by low concentration of dissolved iron (Fe < 0.3mg/l) and occur in a mildly oxidizing environment (Eh ~134 – 164mV). The study shows that aquifer sediment colour is a reliable indicator of high and low iron concentration and can be used to locate low iron groundwater in the study area.