University of Peshawar

Human body is continuously exposed to different types of agents that results in the production of reactive species called as free radicals (ROS/RNS) which by the transfer of their free unpaired electron causes the oxidation of cellular machinery. In order to encounter the deleterious effects of such species, body has got endogenous antioxidant systems or it obtains exogenous antioxidants from diet that neutralizes such species and keeps the homeostasis of body. Any imbalance between the RS and antioxidants leads to produce a condition known as "oxidative stress" that results in the development of pathological condition among which one is diabetes. Most of the studies reveal the inference of oxidative stress in diabetes pathogenesis by the alteration in enzymatic systems, lipid peroxidation, impaired Glutathione metabolism and decreased Vitamin C levels. Lipids, proteins, DNA damage, Glutathione, catalane and superoxide dismutase are various biomarkers of oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus. Oxidative stress induced complications of diabetes may include stroke, neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy. The basic aim of this review was to summarize the basics of oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus.

The unavailability of clean drinking water is one of the significant health issues in modern times. Industrial dyes are one of the dominant chemicals that make water unfit for drinking. Among these dyes, methylene blue (MB) is toxic, carcinogenic, and non-biodegradable and can cause a severe threat to human health and environmental safety. It is usually released in natural water sources, which becomes a health threat to human beings and living organisms. Hence, there is a need to develop an environmentally friendly, efficient technology for removing MB from wastewater. Photodegradation is an advanced oxidation process widely used for MB removal. It has the advantages of complete mineralization of dye into simple and nontoxic species with the potential to decrease the processing cost. This review provides a tutorial basis for the readers working in the dye degradation research area. We not only covered the basic principles of the process but also provided a wide range of previously published work on advanced photocatalytic systems (single-component and multi-component photocatalysts). Our study has focused on critical parameters that can affect the photodegradation rate of MB, such as photocatalyst type and loading, irradiation reaction time, pH of reaction media, initial concentration of dye, radical scavengers and oxidising agents. The photodegradation mechanism, reaction pathways, intermediate products, and final products of MB are also summarized. An overview of the future perspectives to utilize MB at an industrial scale is also provided. This paper identifies strategies for the development of effective MB photodegradation systems.

can be exploited as potential candidates for biomedical and environmental applications.

Research Article| June 01, 1987 The closing of Tethys and the tectonics of the Himalaya M. P. SEARLE; M. P. SEARLE 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar B. F. WINDLEY; B. F. WINDLEY 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar M. P. COWARD; M. P. COWARD 2Department of Geology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar D.J.W. COOPER; D.J.W. COOPER 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar A. J. REX; A. J. REX 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar D. REX; D. REX 4Department of Earth Sciences, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar LI TINGDONG; LI TINGDONG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar XIAO XUCHANG; XIAO XUCHANG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar M. Q. JAN; M. Q. JAN 6Department of Geology and National Centre of Excellence, Peshawar University, Peshawar, Pakistan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar V. C. THAKUR; V. C. THAKUR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar S. KUMAR S. KUMAR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information M. P. SEARLE 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom B. F. WINDLEY 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom M. P. COWARD 2Department of Geology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom D.J.W. COOPER 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom A. J. REX 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom D. REX 4Department of Earth Sciences, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom LI TINGDONG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China XIAO XUCHANG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China M. Q. JAN 6Department of Geology and National Centre of Excellence, Peshawar University, Peshawar, Pakistan V. C. THAKUR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India S. KUMAR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1987) 98 (6): 678–701. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1987)98<678:TCOTAT>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation M. P. SEARLE, B. F. WINDLEY, M. P. COWARD, D.J.W. COOPER, A. J. REX, D. REX, LI TINGDONG, XIAO XUCHANG, M. Q. JAN, V. C. THAKUR, S. KUMAR; The closing of Tethys and the tectonics of the Himalaya. GSA Bulletin 1987;; 98 (6): 678–701. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1987)98<678:TCOTAT>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Recent geological and geophysical data from southern Tibet allow refinement of models for the closing of southern (Neo-) Tethys and formation of the Himalaya. Shelf sediments of the Indian passive continental margin which pass northward into deep-sea Tethyan sediments of the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone were deposited in the Late Cretaceous. An Andean-type margin with a 2,500-km-long Trans-Himalayan (Kohistan-Ladakh-Gangdese) granitoid batholith formed parallel to the southern margin of the Lhasa block, together with extensive andesites, rhyolites, and ignimbrites (Lingzizong Formation). The southern part of the Lhasa block was uplifted, deformed, and eroded between the Cenomanian and the Eocene. In the western Himalaya, the Kohistan island arc became accreted to the northern plate at this time. The northern part of the Lhasa block was affected by Jurassic metamorphism and plutonism associated with the mid-Jurassic closure of the Bangong-Nujiang suture zone to the north.The timing of collision between the two continental plates (ca. 50-40 Ma) marking the closing of Tethys is shown by (1) the change from marine (flysch-like) to continental (molasse-like) sedimentation in the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone, (2) the end of Gangdese I-type granitoid injection, (3) Eocene S-type anatectic granites and migmatites in the Lhasa block, and (4) the start of compressional tectonics in the Tibetan-Tethys and Indus-Tsangpo suture zone (south-facing folds, south-directed thrusts).After the Eocene closure of Tethys, deformation spread southward across the Tibetan-Tethys zone to the High Himalaya. Deep crustal thrusting, Barrovian metamorphism, migmatization, and generation of Oligocene-Miocene leucogranites were accompanied by south-verging recumbent nappes inverting metamorphic isograds and by south-directed intracontinental shear zones associated with the Main Central thrust. Continued convergence in the late Tertiary resulted in large-scale north-directed backthrusting along the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone. More than 500 km shortening is recorded in the foreland thrust zones of the Indian plate, south of the suture, and > 150 km shortening is recorded across the Indian shelf (Zanskar Range) and the Indus suture in Ladakh. There was also large-scale shortening of the Karakoram and Tibetan microplates north of the suture; as much as 1,000 km shortening occurred in Tibet. The more recent deformation, however, involved the spreading of this thickened crust and the lateral motion of the Tibetan block along major approximately east-west–trending strike-slip fault zones. 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This study investigated – for the first time – the simultaneous degradation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene (BTEX) by persulfate (PS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated by asphaltenes (Asph) under ultrasound (US) irradiation. Advantageous properties such as high thermal stability, low production cost and extensive availability make asphaltenes as an appealing carbonaceous material for heterogeneous catalysis. The application of asphaltenes in PS/US increased the degradation of BTEXs from 31%, 34%, 35%, 32%–78%, 94%, 98% and 98%, while the removal of these compounds in PMS/US system was improved from 26%, 27%, 24%, 20%–76%, 91%, 97%, 97%, respectively. PS and PMS activation followed a typical sulfate-radical based advanced oxidation processes. In terms of activation of PS and PMS, the particles of asphaltenes intensified formation of reactive radicals by creating additional centers of cavitational events. Moreover, owing to π–π stacking interaction between asphaltenes and sp2-hybridized systems of BTEX, the contaminants undergo adsorption on the surface of asphaltenes and subsequent oxidation by formed radicals. The radical route of BTEX degradation in both PS/US/Asph and PMS/US/Asph systems was mainly contributed by sulfate (SO4•−) and hydroxyl radicals (HO•) and coexisting superoxide radical anions (O2•−) played a minor role.

The recent emergence of dengue viruses into new susceptible human populations throughout Asia and the Middle East, driven in part by human travel on both local and global scales, represents a significant global health risk, particularly in areas with changing climatic suitability for the mosquito vector. In Pakistan, dengue has been endemic for decades in the southern port city of Karachi, but large epidemics in the northeast have emerged only since 2011. Pakistan is therefore representative of many countries on the verge of countrywide endemic dengue transmission, where prevention, surveillance, and preparedness are key priorities in previously dengue-free regions. We analyze spatially explicit dengue case data from a large outbreak in Pakistan in 2013 and compare the dynamics of the epidemic to an epidemiological model of dengue virus transmission based on climate and mobility data from ∼40 million mobile phone subscribers. We find that mobile phone-based mobility estimates predict the geographic spread and timing of epidemics in both recently epidemic and emerging locations. We combine transmission suitability maps with estimates of seasonal dengue virus importation to generate fine-scale dynamic risk maps with direct application to dengue containment and epidemic preparedness.

Environmental pollution of microplastics (MPs) is known to be anthropogenically mediated menace to biosphere and becoming a debatable concern globally. Large quantities of plastic fragments are left behind after crop cultivation. The leftover plastic debris, gradually degrade into minute fragments with a diameter of less than 5 mm, known as MPs. MPs are responsible for many changes in the soil physicochemical characteristics, including porosity, enzymatic activities, microbial activities, plant growth, and yield. Because of their ubiquitous nature, high specific surface area and strong hydrophobicity, MPs play an important role in the transportation of toxic chemicals such as plasticisers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), antibiotics, and potentially toxic elements (PTEs). MPs may be transported deep into the soil and can pollute underground water. This review paper investigates the deleterious effects of MPs on the soil environment, enzymatic activities, soil microbes, flora, fauna and crop production, and highlights the general concept of MPs contamination as well as its possible environmental consequences. The review also converses some of the key areas for future research and for key stakeholders concerned with policymaking

Water, a necessary component of cell protoplasm, plays an essential role in supporting life on Earth; nevertheless, extreme changes in climatic conditions limit water availability, causing numerous issues, such as the current water-scarce regimes in many regions of the biome. This review aims to collect data from various published studies in the literature to understand and critically analyze plants' morphological, growth, yield, and physio-biochemical responses to drought stress and their potential to modulate and nullify the damaging effects of drought stress via activating natural physiological and biochemical mechanisms. In addition, the review described current breakthroughs in understanding how plant hormones influence drought stress responses and phytohormonal interaction through signaling under water stress regimes. The information for this review was systematically gathered from different global search engines and the scientific literature databases Science Direct, including Google Scholar, Web of Science, related studies, published books, and articles. Drought stress is a significant obstacle to meeting food demand for the world's constantly growing population. Plants cope with stress regimes through changes to cellular osmotic potential, water potential, and activation of natural defense systems in the form of antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of osmolytes including proteins, proline, glycine betaine, phenolic compounds, and soluble sugars. Phytohormones modulate developmental processes and signaling networks, which aid in acclimating plants to biotic and abiotic challenges and, consequently, their survival. Significant progress has been made for jasmonates, salicylic acid, and ethylene in identifying important components and understanding their roles in plant responses to abiotic stress. Other plant hormones, such as abscisic acid, auxin, gibberellic acid, brassinosteroids, and peptide hormones, have been linked to plant defense signaling pathways in various ways.

Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.

Biochar addition to soil has been proposed to improve plant growth by increasing soil fertility, minimizing bioaccumulation of toxic metal(liod)s and mitigating climate change. Sewage sludge (SS) is an attractive, though potentially problematic, feedstock of biochar. It is attractive because of its large abundance; however, it contains elevated concentrations of metal(loid)s and other contaminants. The pyrolysis of SS to biochar (SSBC) may be a way to reduce the availability of these contaminants to the soil and plants. Using rice plant pot experiments, we investigated the influence of SSBC upon biomass yield, bioaccumulation of nutrients, and metal(loid)s, and green housegas (GHG) emissions. SSBC amendments increased soil pH, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon and available nutrients and decreased bioavailable As, Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb (but not Cd, Cu, and Zn). Regarding rice plant properties, SSBC amendments significantly (P ≤ 0.01) increased shoot biomass (71.3-92.2%), grain yield (148.8-175.1%), and the bioaccumulation of phosphorus and sodium, though decreased the bioaccumulation of nitrogen (except in grain) and potassium. Amendments of SSBC significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced the bioaccumulation of As, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, and Pb, but increased that of Cd and Zn, though not above limits set by Chinese regulations. Finally regarding GHG emissions, SSBC significantly (P < 0.01) reduced N2O emissions and stimulated the uptake/oxidation of CH4 enough to make both the cultivated and uncultivated paddy soil a CH4 sink. SSBC can be beneficial in rice paddy soil but the actual associated benefits will depend on site-specific conditions and source of SS; long-term effects remain a further unknown.

Four methods, fast titration, salt addition, mass titration, and ζ potentiometry, were employed to determine the point of zero charge (PZC) and isoelectric point (IEP) of NiO. However, this work mainly focuses on the fast titration method because it limits the release of Ni from the substrate. Furthermore, the fast titration is simple, rapid, and accurate and requires a small quantity of substrate as compared to the salt addition and mass titration techniques. The similarity between the PZC and IEP values rules out the specific adsorption of the bulk electrolyte onto the NiO surface. However, the PZC values shift downward with the increase in Cd ion concentration, which indicates the specific adsorption of Cd onto the NiO. In addition, temperature has a mild effect on the deprotonation constants and PZC of NiO. It was also observed that the thermodynamic parameters favor the deprotonation of NiO.

Brain tumor is a deadly disease and its classification is a challenging task for radiologists because of the heterogeneous nature of the tumor cells. Recently, computer-aided diagnosis-based systems have promised, as an assistive technology, to diagnose the brain tumor, through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In recent applications of pre-trained models, normally features are extracted from bottom layers which are different from natural images to medical images. To overcome this problem, this study proposes a method of multi-level features extraction and concatenation for early diagnosis of brain tumor. Two pre-trained deep learning models i.e. Inception-v3 and DensNet201 make this model valid. With the help of these two models, two different scenarios of brain tumor detection and its classification were evaluated. First, the features from different Inception modules were extracted from pre-trained Inception-v3 model and concatenated these features for brain tumor classification. Then, these features were passed to softmax classifier to classify the brain tumor. Second, pre-trained DensNet201 was used to extract features from various DensNet blocks. Then, these features were concatenated and passed to softmax classifier to classify the brain tumor. Both scenarios were evaluated with the help of three-class brain tumor dataset that is available publicly. The proposed method produced 99.34 %, and 99.51% testing accuracies respectively with Inception-v3 and DensNet201 on testing samples and achieved highest performance in the detection of brain tumor. As results indicated, the proposed method based on features concatenation using pre-trained models outperformed as compared to existing state-of-the-art deep learning and machine learning based methods for brain tumor classification.

Pyrolysis of polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) into fuel like products was investigated over temperature range of 250– 400°C. The product yields as a function of temperature were studied. Total conversion as high as 98.66% (liquid; 69.82%, gas; 28.84%, and residue; 1.34%) was achieved at 300°C in case of PP and 98.12% (liquid; 80.88%, gas; 17.24%, and residue; 1.88%) in case of HDPE at 350°C. The liquid fractions were analyzed by FTIR and GC-MS. The results showed that the liquid fractions consisted of a wide range of hydrocarbons mainly distributed within the C6–C16. The liquid product obtained in case of PP is enriched in the naphtha range hydrocarbons. Similarly, the liquid product obtained in case of HDPE is also enriched in naphtha range hydrocarbons with preponderance in gasoline and diesel range hydrocarbons. The% distribution of paraffinic, olefinic, and naphthenic hydrocarbons in liquid product derived from PP is 66.55, 25.7, and 7.58%, respectively, whereas in case HDPE, the% distribution is 59.70, 31.90, and 8.40%, respectively. Upon comparing the hydrocarbon group type yields, PP gave high yield of paraffinic hydrocarbons while HDPE gave high yields of olefins and naphthenes. The whole liquid fractions and their corresponding distillates fractions were also analyzed for fuel properties. The results indicated that the derived liquid fractions were fuel-like meeting the fuel grade criteria.

Pyrolysis based biorefineries have great potential to convert wastes such as plastic and biomass waste into energy and other valuable products to achieve maximum economic and environmental benefits. In this study, the catalytic pyrolysis of different types of plastics waste (PS, PE, PP, and PET) as single or mixed in different ratios in the presence of modified natural zeolite (NZ) catalysts in a small pilot scale pyrolysis reactor was carried out. The NZ was modified by thermal activation (TA-NZ) at 550°C and acid activation (AA-NZ) with HNO3 to enhance its catalytic properties. The catalytic pyrolysis of PS produced the highest liquid oil (70 and 60%) than PP (40 and 54%) and PE (40 and 42%) using TA-NZ and AA-NZ catalysts respectively. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of oil showed a mixture of aromatics, aliphatic and other hydrocarbon compounds. The TA-NZ and AA-NZ catalysts showed a different effect on the wt.% of catalytic pyrolysis products and liquid oil chemical composition, with AA-NZ showing higher catalytic activity than TA-NZ. FT-IR results showed clear peaks of aromatic compounds in all liquid oil samples with some peaks of alkanes that further confirmed the GC-MS results. The liquid oil has higher heating values (HHV) range of 41.7-44.2 MJ/kg, close to conventional diesel. Therefore, it has the potential to be used as an alternative source of energy and as transportation fuel after refining/ blending with conventional fuels.

BACKGROUND: This paper represents the first ethnobotanical study in Chail valley of district Swat-Pakistan and provides significant information on medicinal plants use among the tribal people of the area. The aim of this study was to document the medicinal uses of local plants and to develop an ethnobotanical inventory of the species diversity. METHODS: In present study, semi-structured interviews with 142 inhabitants (age range between 31-75 years) were conducted. Ethnobotanical data was analyzed using relative frequency of citation (RFC) to determine the well-known and most useful species in the area. RESULTS: Current research work reports total of 50 plant species belonging to 48 genera of 35 families from Chail valley. Origanum vulgare, Geranium wallichianum and Skimmia laureola have the highest values of relative frequency of citation (RFC) and are widely known by the inhabitants of the valley. The majority of the documented plants were herbs (58%) followed by shrubs (28%), trees (12%) and then climbers (2%). The part of the plant most frequently used was the leaves (33%) followed by roots (17%), fruits (14%), whole plant (12%), rhizomes (9%), stems (6%), barks (5%) and seeds (4%). Decoction was the most common preparation method use in herbal recipes. The most frequently treated diseases in the valley were urinary disorders, skin infections, digestive disorders, asthma, jaundice, angina, chronic dysentery and diarrhea. CONCLUSION: This study contributes an ethnobotanical inventory of medicinal plants with their frequency of citations together with the part used, disease treated and methods of application among the tribal communities of Chail valley. The present survey has documented from this valley considerable indigenous knowledge about the local medicinal plants for treating number of common diseases that is ready to be further investigated for biological, pharmacological and toxicological screening. This study also provides some socio-economic aspects which are associated to the local tribal communities.

L. and is widely distributed in the Fabaceae family. As an isoflavone, mammalian genistein exerts estrogen-like functions. Several biological effects of genistein have been reported in preclinical studies, such as the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral activities, the effects of angiogenesis and estrogen, and the pharmacological activities on diabetes and lipid metabolism. The purpose of this review is to provide up-to-date evidence of preclinical pharmacological activities with mechanisms of action, bioavailability, and clinical evidence of genistein. The literature was researched using the most important keyword "genistein" from the PubMed, Science, and Google Scholar databases, and the taxonomy was validated using The Plant List. Data were also collected from specialized books and other online resources. The main positive effects of genistein refer to the protection against cardiovascular diseases and to the decrease of the incidence of some types of cancer, especially breast cancer. Although the mechanism of protection against cancer involves several aspects of genistein metabolism, the researchers attribute this effect to the similarity between the structure of soy genistein and that of estrogen. This structural similarity allows genistein to displace estrogen from cellular receptors, thus blocking their hormonal activity. The pharmacological activities resulting from the experimental studies of this review support the traditional uses of genistein, but in the future, further investigations are needed on the efficacy, safety, and use of nanotechnologies to increase bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Due to its diverse geographical and habitat conditions, northern Pakistan harbors a wealth of medicinal plants. The plants and their traditional use are part of the natural and cultural heritage of the region. This study was carried out to document which medicinal plant species and which plant parts are used in the region of Swat, which syndrome categories are particularly concerned, and which habitat spectrum is frequented by collectors. Finally, we assessed to which extent medicinal plants are vulnerable due to collection and habitat destruction. METHODS: An ethnobotanical survey was undertaken in the Miandam area of Swat, North Pakistan. Data were collected through field assessment as well as from traditional healers and locals by means of personal interviews and semi-structured questionnaires. RESULTS: A total of 106 ethno-medicinal plant species belonging to 54 plant families were recorded. The most common growth forms were perennial (43%) and short-lived herbs (23%), shrubs (16%), and trees (15%). Most frequently used plant parts were leaves (24%), fruits (18%) and subterranean parts (15%). A considerable proportion of the ethno-medicinal plant species and remedies concerns gastro-intestinal disorders. The remedies were mostly prepared in the form of decoction or powder and were mainly taken orally. Eighty out of 106 ethno-medicinal plants were indigenous. Almost 50% of the plants occurred in synanthropic vegetation while slightly more than 50% were found in semi-natural, though extensively grazed, woodland and grassland vegetation. Three species (Aconitum violaceum, Colchicum luteum, Jasminum humile) must be considered vulnerable due to excessive collection. Woodlands are the main source for non-synanthropic indigenous medicinal plants. The latter include many range-restricted taxa and plants of which rhizomes and other subterranean parts are dug out for further processing as medicine. CONCLUSION: Medicinal plants are still widely used for treatment in the area of Swat. Some species of woodlands seem to be adapted to wood-pasture, but vulnerable to overcollecting, and in particular to deforestation. It is suggested to implement local small-scaled agroforestry systems to cultivate vulnerable and commercially valuable ethno-medicinal woodland plants under local self-government responsibility.

Research Article| January 01, 2001 Seasonal stable isotope evidence for a strong Asian monsoon throughout the past 10.7 m.y David L. Dettman; David L. Dettman 1University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Matthew J. Kohn; Matthew J. Kohn 2University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jay Quade; Jay Quade 3University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar F.J. Ryerson; F.J. Ryerson 4Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tank P. Ojha; Tank P. Ojha 5University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Seyd Hamidullah Seyd Hamidullah 6National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information David L. Dettman 1University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Matthew J. Kohn 2University of South Carolina, Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA Jay Quade 3University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA F.J. Ryerson 4Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA Tank P. Ojha 5University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Seyd Hamidullah 6National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 31 May 2000 Revision Received: 25 Sep 2000 Accepted: 04 Oct 2000 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2001) 29 (1): 31–34. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0031:SSIEFA>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 31 May 2000 Revision Received: 25 Sep 2000 Accepted: 04 Oct 2000 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation David L. Dettman, Matthew J. Kohn, Jay Quade, F.J. Ryerson, Tank P. Ojha, Seyd Hamidullah; Seasonal stable isotope evidence for a strong Asian monsoon throughout the past 10.7 m.y. Geology 2001;; 29 (1): 31–34. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0031:SSIEFA>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Stable isotope profiles of fossil freshwater bivalve shells and mammal teeth provide a record of the seasonal δ18O variation in surface waters of the Himalayan foreland over the past 11 m.y. Between 3.1 and 10.7 Ma the δ18O of surface waters approached or exceeded 0‰ standard mean ocean water (SMOW) in the dry season. Since 9.5 Ma the magnitude of seasonal variability in δ18O has remained essentially unchanged. Both observations imply that the Tibetan Plateau had attained sufficient elevation and area prior to 10.7 Ma to support a strong Asian monsoon. These data also imply that the δ18O of wet-season rainfall was significantly more negative (−9.5‰ SMOW) prior to 7.5 Ma than after (−6.5‰ SMOW). If this change is attributable to a lessening of the amount effect in rainfall, this agrees with floral and soil geochemical data that indicate increasing aridity beginning at 7.5 Ma. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Over the years, the vaste expansion of plastic manufacturing has dramatically increased the environmental impact of microplastics [MPs] and nanoplastics [NPs], making them a threat to marine and terrestrial biota because they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals [EDCs] and other harmful compounds. MPs and NPs have deleteriouse impacts on mammalian endocrine components such as hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, testes, and ovaries. MPs and NPs absorb and act as a transport medium for harmful chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ether, polychlorinated biphenyl ether, organotin, perfluorinated compounds, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic contaminants, and heavy metals, which are commonly used as additives in plastic production. As the EDCs are not covalently bonded to plastics, they can easily leach into milk, water, and other liquids affecting the endocrine system of mammals upon exposure. The toxicity induced by MPs and NPs is size-dependent, as smaller particles have better absorption capacity and larger surface area, releasing more EDC and toxic chemicals. Various EDCs contained or carried by MPs and NPs share structural similarities with specific hormone receptors; hence they interfere with normal hormone receptors, altering the hormonal action of the endocrine glands. This review demonstrates size-dependent MPs' bioaccumulation, distribution, and translocation with potential hazards to the endocrine gland. We reviewed that MPs and NPs disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary axes, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid/adrenal/testicular/ovarian axis leading to oxidative stress, reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, cytotoxicity, developmental abnormalities, decreased sperm quality, and immunotoxicity. The direct consequences of MPs and NPs on the thyroid, testis, and ovaries are documented. Still, studies need to be carried out to identify the direct effects of MPs and NPs on the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands.

BACKGROUND: Endophytic fungi are known plant symbionts. They produce a variety of beneficial metabolites for plant growth and survival, as well as defend their hosts from attack of certain pathogens. Coastal dunes are nutrient deficient and offer harsh, saline environment for the existing flora and fauna. Endophytic fungi may play an important role in plant survival by enhancing nutrient uptake and producing growth-promoting metabolites such as gibberellins and auxins. We screened roots of Ixeris repenes (L.) A. Gray, a common dune plant, for the isolation of gibberellin secreting endophytic fungi. RESULTS: We isolated 15 endophytic fungi from the roots of Ixeris repenes and screened them for growth promoting secondary metabolites. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 gave maximum plant growth when applied to waito-c rice and Atriplex gemelinii seedlings. Analysis of the culture filtrate of IR-3-3 showed the presence of physiologically active gibberellins, GA1, GA3, GA4 and GA7 (1.95 ng/ml, 3.83 ng/ml, 6.03 ng/ml and 2.35 ng/ml, respectively) along with other physiologically inactive GA5, GA9, GA12, GA15, GA19, GA20 and, GA24. The plant growth promotion and gibberellin producing capacity of IR-3-3 was much higher than the wild type Gibberella fujikuroi, which was taken as control during present study. GA5, a precursor of bioactive GA3 was reported for the first time in fungi. The fungal isolate IR-3-3 was identified as a new strain of Penicillium citrinum (named as P. citrinum KACC43900) through phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA sequence. CONCLUSION: Isolation of new strain of Penicillium citrinum from the sand dune flora is interesting as information on the presence of Pencillium species in coastal sand dunes is limited. The plant growth promoting ability of this fungal strain may help in conservation and revegetation of the rapidly eroding sand dune flora. Penicillium citrinum is already known for producing mycotoxin citrinin and cellulose digesting enzymes like cellulase and endoglucanase, as well as xylulase. Gibberellins producing ability of this fungus and the discovery about the presence of GA5 will open new aspects of research and investigations.