The presence of heavy metals (HMs) and antibiotic residues together in agricultural soils is a critical environmental engineering issue in rural areas where untreated wastewater irrigation, livestock manure irrigation and poor waste management practices are prevalent. These coupled systems of soil and water have the potential to increase contaminant transport, retention, and persistence and thus increase environmental exposure pathways for rural populations. This study examines the HMs role in mediating environmental behavior and retention of antibiotics in rural soils of Punjab, Pakistan focusing on process-level interactions which are pertinent to environmental engineering systems. Soil samples from two rural areas, Chountra and Sialkot (n = 26 and 38, respectively) were sampled and analyzed for Cd, Cr, and Pb and the antibiotics that are widely used, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results revealed a higher concentration of HM in soils of Sialkot (Cd: 3.13, Cr: 26.78, Pb: 21.44 mg kg -1) than Chountra. The prevalent antibiotic residues in soil included erythromycin (38.76 mg kg -1), doxycycline (21.56 mg kg -1) and ciprofloxacin (14.32 mg kg -1). Uptake by the naturally growing vegetation found Medicago sativa to be the most important accumulator (0.7-2.9 mg kg -1) followed by Euphorbia hirta (0.8-2.5 mg kg -1). Correlation analyses showed the complex interactions between HMs and antibiotics, especially between Cd and Pb, which contribute to the increase of adsorption and retention of antibiotics in soils. These results show that sorption processes mediated by HM are responsible for antibiotic persistence and antibiotic mobility in rural soil-water systems. Regarding environmental engineering, the article exposes gaps in the rural wastewater reuse and manure management activities, as well as the improvement of the reuse of decentralized treatment, irrigation control, and exposure mitigation measures to decrease the long-term environmental loading and chronic exposure risks.

This investigation delineates occupational health concerns related to petroleum products handling at Petroleum Oil and Lubricant (POL) depots. The cohort included 117 workers from depots in Sihala, Risalpur and Lahore, alongside 69 controls. A strong correlation was found between specific job-related tasks, such as direct fuel handling, equipment maintenance, and tanker offloading, and urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites in exposed workers. Labourers and firemen displayed significantly higher (p < 0.01) urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (6.9 ± 1.7 and 5.8 ± 2.2 ng g-1 creatinine) concentration than watchmen (2.2 ± 1.2 ng g-1 creatinine) and controls (0.79 ± 0.3 ng g-1 creatinine). Logistic regression analysis linked exposure to increased likelihood of anxiety (OR = 4.6, 95% CI = 1.85-11.7), post-meal acidity (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.05-4.5), dermal lesions (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.8-6.4), and abdominal pain (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.02-3.5). Principal component analysis (PCA) identified a collective impact of escalating serum pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and job type on insomnia, thoracic discomfort, fatigue, and headache. Gastrointestinal symptoms correlated strongly with urinary 1-hydroxypyrene and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene while urinary 2/3-OH-Flu was associated with dermatological and neurasthenic symptoms. Cigarette smoking and a sedentary lifestyle further worsened health outcomes. In conclusion, robust measures are needed to reduce PAH exposure and mitigate its neuro-metabolic and psychological impacts on the health of petrochemical workers.

Climate change is causing the world to experience drought stress, which makes the planet water-stressed and unable to supply the demand for water for agriculture. Wheat, the queen of cereal crops, is the second most widely grown crop in the world, and one-third of all people eat it. It serves as a mainstay diet as well. The globe should have to adjust to new crop-cultivation techniques since the high temperatures cause plants to evapotranspirate at a faster rate. Biochar can improve nitrogen uptake and bring out the chemical characteristics of the soil. In the nursery, a controlled pot experiment was carried out wherein wheat seedlings were sown in pots, and biochar (derived from rice husk) was applied in varying percentages (3% and 6%) to assess the growth and water use efficiency of the plants under varying water stress conditions (75% and 50% field capacity). In addition to speeding up wheat plant development, the addition of biochar greatly lessened the impacts of drought. After 90 days of the experiment, the wheat plant reached a height of 41 cm and a maximum root length of 13 cm. The relative water content was 79.76% of 75% FC and 6% biochar-treated plants. The results of the energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests further indicated the most hydrophilicity on the surface of rice husk biochar, likely due to the abundance of oxygen- and carbon-containing functional groups in the biochar samples. This study concluded that biochar played a beneficial impact in reducing the drought conditions experienced by wheat plants growing in water-deficient environments, which would aid in the achievement of sustainable irrigation.

The vulnerability represents the level to which any ecosystem experiences impairment due to natural distress. One such distress is drought, a prolonged phase of deficient rainfall that causes the depletion of water resources. The possibility of the influences of drought principally depends on the vulnerability of the affected area. The predominantly arid climate of Pakistan and the dependence of its economy on agriculture make it vulnerable to climate change. Rahim Yar Khan and Tharparkar have similar environmental conditions, but Tharparkar experiences more droughts. Vulnerability factors observed by the two districts among the regions are different even with similar climate conditions. The system vulnerability to drought was observed for two districts by using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and drought vulnerability index (DVI). The drought vulnerability index (DVI) was used to assess the meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socio-economic indicators to build the hierarchy for these inconsistence factors and evaluate the most vulnerable and affecting cause among the meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socio-economic indicators. The selected measures specify the hypotheses and the relativity of the indicators to the overall vulnerability of the system. The evaluated weights for each variable are derived from the analytical hierarchy process by comparing the variables of the selected indicators. Due to different meteorological, agricultural, and socio-economic conditions, the weights for the DVI were not the same in both study districts, i.e., Rahim Yar Khan and Tharparkar. The classification of vulnerability depending upon the drought vulnerability index with AHP suggests that the DV indexation is favorable in assessing the regional drought vulnerability. The drought vulnerability assessment of Tharparkar indicates that Tharparkar is highly vulnerable to drought, i.e., DVI = 0.066, as it is highly dependent on irrigation resources for its agriculture and livestock. The unavailability of hydrological resources has increased the drought vulnerability of the Tharparkar, which corresponds to a high level of agricultural damage due to droughts. However, the district of Rahim Yar Khan with developed irrigation resources has a lower drought vulnerability index (DVI = 0.011). It is necessary for Tharparkar to establish countermeasures to mitigate the drought vulnerability through the development of water resources. Future studies are needed to be focused on more indicators for assessing particular drought vulnerability issues in order to reduce the drought vulnerability of Tharparkar.

Medicinal plants are extensively used throughout the world to treat a variety of ailments because of their safety, efficacy and affordability. Lawsonia inermis or Henna is commonly used in folk medicine for the cure of several illnesses. Particularly, it is used as a hair and hand dye. The objective of this study is to offer the most recent information regarding the pharmacological and phytochemical profile of the medicinal plant that is backed by evidence. Only indexed research and review papers were taken into account for the present study's data gathering in order to ensure authenticity. Only articles published in English language were considered for this study. To conduct a literature survey, various databases such as Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and MEDLINE were searched without any year limit. The following keywords are used to search the data: "Lawsonia inermis", "medicinal plants", "herbs", "phytochemical", "pharmacological", "in vivo", "in vitro", "Henna" and "toxicity". The study's findings showed that the plant contains a variety of potent phytochemicals, including Lawsona, linarigenin, linarisenin, luteolin, lawsochrysin, lawsoniaside, lawsonaphthoate e.tc. The fruits, leaves, and stems of L. inermis have all been demonstrated to have potential pharmacological effects in previous investigations. So far, its antioxidant, cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal, immunomodulatory, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties have been documented. Even though many aspects of the plant have been researched, additional study is still necessary to completely understand the mechanism behind its pharmacological actions, to confirm its medicinal efficacy, and to justify its usage in traditional medicine.

Microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems is a hot global debate due to wide spread effects on human life and environment. This study aims to identify microplastic pollution presence in the Main Line (ML) Thal canal, its distributaries and provide an overall estimation of microplastics concentration in surface water of Thal Canal. Six major sampling points at ML canal and distributaries were assessed for microplastic prevalence out of which five locations showed microplastic contamination. Size, structure and type of microplastic were assessed using light microscopy and FTIR. The study provided baseline information about the prevalence of microplastics in Thal Canal and evaluated their categories according to their size, color and type of polymers. Microplastics concentration in the canal ranged from 6.4 ± 0.5 to 8.8 ± 0.5 particles/m³. Films, mostly transparent in coloration, were the most prominent microplastic type appeared in this study. Polyethylene with 55% presence was the most prevalent type of microplastics found in the canal and the distributaries. This study provides a better understanding of the extent of microplastic pollution assessment in Thal canal with equal emphasis on Microplastic presence in distributaries which may be beneficial in identifying the introduction of microplastics at sources.

Environmental pollution has the potential to have a significant impact on animal's health especially on birds due to daily exposure and habitat. This experimental study was carried out for a 60 days period in which, a total of 24 pigeon birds with suitable weight (80-100 g) were kept in Animal house with suitable environmental conditions viz, controlled temperature, humidity & light source to minimize any other stress. Out of twenty-four, eighteen birds were divided into three treatment groups (6 birds in each group). Whole experiment was run in triplicate manner in breeding season. One served as Control (Group 1) and remaining three were experimental groups including Road traffic noise (Group 2), Military noise (Group 3) & Human activities noise (Group 4). Noise was applied as recorded high intensity music (1125 Hz/ 90 dB) through speakers for 5-6 hrs. daily. Blood sampling was done after 20, 40 and 60 days by sacrificing treatment birds. Noise stress significantly (p<0.05) increase the serum levels of corticosterone and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in Group 2 while significantly (p<0.05) decrease the serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) of Group 3 birds. Moreover, major fault bars formation was seen both in Group 2 and Group 3. It was concluded as that Noise stress caused rise in serum levels of Corticosterone and TSH but fall in LH and FSH. Along with fault bars formation was also prominent in all treatment groups due to stress hormone.

Climatic extremes events triggered by global warming are having negative impacts on agricultural systems and economies of countries that are highly susceptible to drought. Some plant species are capable of developing responses to drought through stress tolerance or stress avoidance. The short life cycle and high nutritional value of the common bean Phaseolus vulgaris made it an ideal candidate to study the effects water stress. We tested three field capacity (FC) conditions for up to five weeks: 100% FC, 60% FC (moderate water stress), and 40% FC (severe water stress). Plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, biomass, and relative water content all showed a statistically significant decrease under water stress compared to control plants. Proline content accumulation and root length both increased significantly under water stress compared to control conditions. The highest accumulation of proline was observed under severe water stress (40% FC), demonstrating the tolerance level and capacity of Phaseolus vulgaris to survive short periods of drought.

As a consequence of climate change/global warming earth’s agriculture output is under rigorous stress. There is a growing need to develop strategies to cope with these abiotic stresses. Biochar exhibiting many beneficial qualities appeared to alleviate these problems by improving soil fertility by adding carbon and preventing nutrient losses etc. Biochar can also enhance BNF and could be used as a carrier for rhizobium by providing a suitable microenvironment. The current study is aimed to find the ameliorative potential of different biochar types to be used as rhizobium carriers for Phaseolus vulgaris L. exposed to drought stress. Both types of biochar were analyzed for physico-chemical and morphological parameters. Presence of Silicon content remains the key finding for rice husk biochar which was absent in Lantana biochar. Increased C, K, and Ca weight percentages were found in Lantana biochar as compared to their proportions for rice husk biochar. On the contrary, the oxygen content was higher in rice husk biochar as compared to that in Lantana. Phaseolus seeds were used for the pot experiment where stress treatment was applied by FTSW (Fractionable Transpirable Soil Water) technique. One isolated strain along with two types of biochar carrier was applied to the plants in combination with water stress treatment. Plants were analyzed for growth and physiological parameters including plant height, leaf area, biomass, photosynthesis, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency, where rice husk biochar responded better than the one obtained from Lantana. Plants responded positively for all the growth as well as physiological parameters when treated in combination with the inoculum for both stress levels i.e., 100% and 60% field capacity F.C. The present study advocates rice husk biochar for its ability to enhance tolerance in Phaseolus against drought stress through its role as an inoculum carrier contributing suitable habitat for the microorganism.

Abstract Petroleum goods are extensively consumed in urban areas and cause hazardous effects on individuals related to petroleum related occupations. Chemical exposure of petrol pump workers to petroleum hydrocarbons such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is unprecedented in Pakistan. We conducted a prospective cohort study to analyze the risk of PAH exposure on hematological anomalies and health symptoms of petrol pump workers. Blood samples of 50 individuals were collected which include petrol pump workers (n = 30) and unexposed controls (n = 20). Serum phenanthrene and pyrene concentrations (µg ml−1) were estimated utilizing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) whereas hematological parameters were analyzed by subjecting samples to count Hematocrit, Hemoglobin white and red cells in the blood. Correlation and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to depict association for individual’s exposure with demographic variables and for the prediction of eye-irritation as health risk symptom among petrol pump workers. Results show that hematological parameters are affected by occupational exposure to PAHs while eye-irritation is relatively significant for smokers than the nonsmokers in exposed group (OR = 0.109, 95%; C.I = 0.013–0.881) (p < 0.05). Our study concludes that phenanthrene and pyrene poses serious health risk among petrol pump workers owing to their inevitable PAH exposure.

Flooding is among the most catastrophic and common natural events.It not only endangers human lives, their livelihoods, and possessions but also devastates the nation's economy.Increased flooding is an inevitable consequence of climate change.Hence, Identification of flood suspectable hotspots is vital for flood risk management along with disaster handling.The primary objective of this research is to use a frequency ratio model to classify flood-prone zones in two provinces of Pakistan.The flood inventory map was developed using 230 flood location points in Northern Sindh and Southern Punjab.Aspect, profile curvature, elevation, slope, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference soil index (NDSI), distance from the road, distance from the river, land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall were among the ten (10) determining factors.The data were randomly divided into two distinct datasets, with 70% flood points (161) used for inventory formulation and the other 30% (69 flood points) for result validation.The flood vulnerability map was categorized into five different zones ranging from very low (19.73%) to very high (20.37%)susceptibility range.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) was used to demonstrate the prediction result that yielded a reasonable score of 77.4%.The study suggested that in comparison to other studied districts, Jacobabad is the most prone region with acute vulnerability and constrained resilience.The presented data can serve as a source for tracking, assessing, and predicting potential flood activity in the area and could be beneficial for planners and decision-makers involved in early disaster response planning within the country.

Few studies have used biochar mixtures to remove potentially toxic elements from industrial wastewater. The present batch studies compare the adsorption of Cu2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ by single and mixed sorbents using rice husk feedstock (RH), rice husk biochar (RHB), ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid-modified biochar (EDTA-RHB), and a mixture (MB) of these biosorbents. Metal sorption studies were carried out by varying the adsorbents, metal ion concentrations, contact time, and solution pH in a synthetic industrial wastewater. In all experiments, RHB, EDTA-RHB, and MB removed up to 98% of the metal ions within 60 min at pH 4. Kinetic studies showed that first- and second-order models gave the best fit for MB; whereas, the Freundlich model gave the best fit for the isotherm data. Results indicate that MB and EDTA-RHB treatments were more effective for adsorbing the studied heavy metals than RH or RHB. Such biosorbents could be useful in the treatment of co-existing potentially toxic elements from wastewater.

Anthropogenic activities are the major cause of environmental pollution. Industrialization, urbanization and agriculture activities are also causing huge troubles linked to human health in Pakistan. Heavy metals contamination has increased in drinking water because of urbanization and agricultural activities. Being one of the urbanized Cities, Dera Ghazi Khan has also been subjected to the hastily increasing harms of contamination. The respective study was planned to evaluate the heavy metals concentrations and identification of high risk areas for the inhabitants living in the city. Total ninety-six samples of drinking water were collected. TDS and EC were in the range of 1.48 to 8.412 mg/L and1.41 to 9.4µS/cm respectively. TSS was from 40 to 599 mg/L which were exceeding WHO guidelines in eight samples. Heavy metals such as Ni, Cr, Zn, Pb and Cd were measured through atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Zn average value was well within WHO standard while Pb was exceeded in thirty-nine samples. Cd was exceeded in fifteen samples; Cr and Ni were exceeded in eighteen samples. Sources of heavy metals identified as agricultural activities, domestic and commercial effluent. Ground water samples were found potable at some locations but at the same time pose serious threat to human health due to heavy metals above permissible limits.

By applying the in-silico method, resveratrol was docked on those proteins which are responsible for bone loss. The Molecular docking data between the resveratrol and Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa-Β ligand [RANKL] receptors proved that resveratrol binds tightly to the receptors, showed the highest binding affinities of -6.9, -7.6, -7.1, -6.9, -6.7, and -7.1 kcal/mol. According to in-vitro data, Resveratrol reduced the osteoclasts after treating Marrow-Derived Macrophages [BMM] with Macrophage colony-stimulating factor [MCSF] 20ng / ml and RANKL 50ng / ml, with different concentrations of resveratrol (2.5, 10 μg / ml) For 7 days, the cells were treated with MCSF (20 ng / ml) and RANKL (40 ng / ml) together with concentrated trimethyl ether and resveratrol (2.5, 10 μg / ml) within 12 hours. Which, not affect cell survival. After fixing osteoclast cells with formaldehyde fixative on glass coverslip followed by incubation with 0.1% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min and after that stain with rhodamine phalloidin staining for actin and Hoechst for nuclei. Fluorescence microscopy was performed to see the distribution of filaments actin [F.actin]. Finally, resveratrol reduced the actin ring formation. Resveratrol is the best bioactive compound for drug preparation against bone loss.

Host defense against infectious disease is a tormenting task considering not only the enormous pathogens diversity, but also their rapid genome replication and mutation rates. Front line and anti-microbial defense is accomplished by the innate immune system with the help of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in prompt pathogens detection. In this study, distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR2 gene was studied in two cattle breeds Dhanni and locally adapted exotic Jersey. The complete sequences of TLR2 gene composed of 5'UTR 136 bp, coding sequence 2355 bp and 3'UTR 1316 bp. Phylogenetic analysis revealed clustering of Dhanni with Bos indicus and Jersey with Bos taurus as the nearest neighbor. Sequencing of TLR2 in Dhanni cattle showed the occurrence of 35 variable sites within coding region including 37% non-synonymous and 63% synonymous, while in Jersey cattle, 21 SNPs were identified within coding region including 48% non-synonymous and 52% synonymous. Mostly SNPs fell within the leucine-rich repeats (LRR) of extracellular domain, regions responsible for ligand recognition. The ratio of d S / d N substitutions was <1 at polymorphic-sites indicating purifying selection. The SNPs at position 681 (p.Leu227Phe in Jersey) and 521(p.Thr174Ile in Dhanni) were presumed to have possible damaging or functional altering effect. The predicted bovine TLR2 is a solenoid-like (coil-like) built from 20 LRRs bend into a horseshoe shaped structure. The polymorphisms in TLR2 can be useful in future research exploring its role in immunity and may be used as markers for disease resistance under selective breeding.

Among all other disasters floods are the most destructive and common natural hazards. It not only endangers people’s lives, land, and wealth but also destroys a country’s economy. As a result, identifying flood-susceptible areas have significant importance for flood risk management as well as early disaster management plan. The main aim of this study is to classify flood susceptible areas using a frequency ratio model. The ten (10) conditioning factors including aspect, profile curvature, Elevation, slope, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI, Normalized Difference Soil Index NDSI, distance from road, distance from river, land use/land cover LULC, and rainfall were included. Total 230 flood location points were used to create the flood inventory map. The data was split into two datasets at random, with 70 percent (161 flood points) being used for preparation and the remaining 30 percent (69 flood points) being used for validation. The flood vulnerability map was divided into five zones, very low (19.73%), low (20.37%), moderate (20.37%), high (19.88%), and very high (19.62 %). District Jacobabad has high susceptible land as compare to other districts of the study area. This region is highly sensitive and has very low adaptive capability. Pakistan’s share in Greenhouse gas emissions is relatively very low, but it is the most affected and vulnerable country by the impacts of climate change. Finally, the area under the ROC curve AUC was used to develop the presentation and prediction score, which yielded satisfactory results of 77.4%. The findings of this paper would be useful to planners, decision-makers, and future development programs in Pakistan.

This review aimed at providing an overview of the prevalence and epidemiosurveillance of brucellosis in non-ruminants and humans in Pakistan during 2000-2020. Sero-prevalence of brucellosis has been reported in non-ruminants such as camels, equines, dogs and humans with the range of 0.5-21%, 16.23-62.6%, 9.2-63.8% and 2.0-70% respectively. Non-target species like Avian, reptiles and amphibians were also reported with the prevalence of 2.5%, 24.9% and 25% respectively. Ignorance and indifference make it endemic in ruminants and much-neglected disease in non-ruminants with less or no studies reported in canines. Vaccines are available and being used for ruminants while none is available for non-ruminants, which may serve as an important source of spreading disease in animals and humans. In Pakistan, it is considered as ignored disease in non-ruminants lacking effective policies for control and eradication. This review guides policymakers to draw guidelines regarding brucellosis control and eradication using one health approach.

A copepod parasite, Argulusmonodi Fryer, 1959 was recorded first time from the freshwater fish Labeorohita (Ham.) captured from Haleji Lake Sindh in Pakistan. Argulusmonodi is a rare species and was only reported from Africa and India. This is the first report on the occurrence of this species from Pakistan.

Polychaetes are one of the most abundant group of macrobenthos at tropical beaches and considered as important tools to monitor physical health of intertidal systems. A total of 96 sediment samples were collected in duplicate from four stations at Sandspit and Hawksbay beach during 2013-2014. At each station 2 replicate quadrates of 0.25 m2 were excavated up to a depth of 10 cm and the collected sand was immediately sieved by using 0.5 mm mesh sieve. Six polychaete species Cossuracoasta, Magelonacincta, Ophelinacylindricaudata, O. norvegica, Glyceralongipinnis and Glycindeoligodon are recorded for the first time from coastal sediments of Karachi coast. Highest abundance of polychaeteworms were recorded during northeast monsoon season.

Safe and good quality potable water is a basic requirement for human existence, but if polluted can become the source of substances dangerous to human health.Azad Jammu and Kashmir is facing the problem of low quality of drinking water like other neighboring regions.Present study aimed to evaluate the heavy metal status in the drinking water of Muzaffarabad and outlying areas.Fifty three water samples were collected randomly from taps and spring waters of the study area and analyzed for six heavy metals (Copper, chromium, manganese, lead and zinc).Concentration of Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn were below the guideline values of WHO and GOP.Chromium and lead exceeded standard values of WHO and GOP in 21% (n=11) in each case.Overall 66% water samples were found potable, while in 33% samples heavy metal contamination surpassed permissible limit.The assessment shows quite a reasonable situation regarding heavy metal quality status of potable water.