Effectiveness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the Student’s Academic Achievement at University Level

The focus of this research is to explore the impact of ICT on students’ academic achievement.In this research study two university, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Pakistan (PMAS_AAUR) and Fatima Jinnah Women University Pakistan (FJWU) were selected Students from both male and female gender selected with multistage random sampling techniques. There 100 sample sizes of students and 30 sample of teacher were selected. A questionnaire was used as tool of research. This instrument was validated by the panel of experts. Internal consistency coefficient (using Cronbach Alpha) was used to check the reliability and its value was 0.951. The researcher herself collected the data conducting a survey technique. The researcher herself collected the completed questionnaires. After the interview the collected data of information were coded and analyzed with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The paired t-test, frequency and percentage were applied for comparison of the study.

Scenario model to forecast behavior of intrusive plant communities in response to control effects in arid agriculture

The presence of large areas of anthropogenic transformation of plant communities with a potentially negative impact on adjacent territories makes it relevant to develop various methods for automated monitoring and modeling of processes occurring in these ecosystems. Based on the results of previous studies of phytocoenoses, the authors selected four groups of indicators for constructing a scenario model: integral characteristics of intrusive plant communities (IPC), including those obtained by using remote dynamic methods; integral indicators of the negative impact of IPC on the adjacent agro-ecosystem; indicators of the distribution of mobile forms of trace elements in the soil; and indicators of soil microbiota. As the result, a hypothetical formula is obtained that allows, with minimal impact on the biosystem of technogenic IPC, to sufficiently reduce its adverse impact on the adjacent agro-ecosystem. Further refinement and dissemination of the scenario model and its connection to databases on plant communities will automatically change the values of the coefficients in the solving equations, thereby providing the most accurate and reliable forecast of the response of agro-ecosystems to various control actions.

Virtual Studies - Academic Revolution of COVID-19: A Case Study of Department of Anthropology, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi

The pandemic of Covid-19 has indeed affected the overall modern lifestyle globally. The lockdown leads to the closure of educational institutes around the world. The situation is not different in twin cities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad). The present research was designed to collect the opinions and perceptions of students regarding virtual learning. Department of Anthropology offers Facebook online classes for its students combined with the University's central learning management system (LMS) to provide an online platform for sharing course material(s). 64 students of Anthropology participated in this study voluntarily. Google form was designed and shared with the students through Google link for the collection of data on certain indicators such as class, location of the respondent, internet access and related technological issues, comprehension of LMS, etc. The shift towards virtual studies has revolutionized and also created certain operational challenges.

Effects of Amendments on Physicochemical Properties and Respiration Rate of Soil from the Arid Region of Northwest China

In arid regions, decreased soil fertility has adversely affected agricultural sustainability. The effects of different amendments in alleviating these issues and increasing soil fertility remain unclear. Herein, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the properties of grey desert soil and soil respiration (SR) dynamics under six different treatment groups: biochar (BC), leonardite (LD), anionic polyacrylamide (PAM−), cationic polyacrylamide (PAM+) powder, anionic polyacrylamide solution in water (PAM−W), and control (CK). We observed that the BC and LD amendments significantly altered soil pH, organic matter, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, and SR. PAM amendment increased the SR as compared to the control, except in autumn, but PAM did not affect the soil properties. SR under different amendments showed strong seasonal patterns, the highest and lowest SR rates were observed in June and January, respectively. Amendments and seasonal dynamics significantly affected SR, but no interaction was observed between these factors. Temporal variation of SR was substantially influenced by soil temperature at 15 cm of soil depth. Temperature sensitivity of SR (Q10) increased with soil depth and decreased with amendment addition. SR was significantly affected by soil temperature, moisture, air temperature, and their interactions. The outcomes of this study suggested that the BC and LD amendments improved soil fertility and negated the net carbon accumulation by increasing the SR and Q10 in arid agriculture soil.

Influence of Organizational Politics on University Teachers' Performance

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship of organizational politics on the performance of teaching faculty of the universities of Pakistan. The nature of the study was descriptive. The public sector universities of Punjab were the population of the study. The researchers randomly selected the four universities, i.e. the University of the Punjab Lahore, Bahaud din Zakria University Multan, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi and The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. Two questionnaires, namely Organizational Politics by Vigoda (2007) and Teachers Performance Evaluation Scale (TPES) by Shehzad and Farooqi (2016), were adapted for the study. The statistical techniques t-test and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were applied to analyse the data. It was inferred that organizational politics had significant impact and relationship with the performance of university teachers. It is recommended that a qualitative approach may be adopted to get a further in-depth understanding of the phenomenon.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Precipitation in Southwest Arid-Agriculture Zones of Pakistan

Investigation of spatiotemporal precipitation trends from a climate change perspective is essential, especially in those regions with rainfed agriculture in order to propose sustainable adaptation schemes. Some restrictive assumptions may hinder the efficacy of trend detection methods, so it could be supported with variability analysis to have a clear picture of the spatiotemporal precipitation dynamics rather than focusing on a single approach. Hence, in the current study, a spatiotemporal dynamic analysis of precipitation was carried out using trend detection methods (the innovative trend analysis method and Mann–Kendall test) and statistical indices (the consecutive disparity index, entropy-based variability index and absolute inter-variability index) in the southwest arid region of Pakistan. The results indicated that based on the monthly, annual and seasonal time series, no systematic precipitation pattern was observed across the whole study region. However, on average, an increasing trend was observed in the east plateau while decreasing in the west plateau. The variability analysis also signposted the higher variability in the case of the western plateau and coastal area compared to the east plateau. Based on the seasonal analysis, it was concluded that, on average, precipitation in the winter and spring season goes on decreasing with higher variability while a mixture of increasing and decreasing trends resulted for summer and autumn. Conclusively the study found that precipitation in the study area is more erratic and its behaviour abruptly changed over a short distance. Moreover, discrepancies and inconstancies were found in the selected trend detection approaches and variability indices. The results also indicated that climate change is going to seriously affect the region as a decreasing trend prevails in most of the cases and stations.