Assessment of Groundwater Quality and Soil Salinity/Status Under Various Irrigation Systems in Arid Region of Jamshoro District

The agricultural lands are being affected due to groundwater (GW) quality issues. To address this worldwide problematic situation, various irrigation studies have been practiced to identify the effects on the soil conditions. The current study has been designed to assess the GW quality and soil salinity/sodicity by different irrigation techniques in the remote mountainous area of Jamshoro district at Gul Muhammad Khaskheli farm Thana Boula Khan. The experimental plot was designed under furrow, pitcher and poly ethylene bag irrigation system. These soil characteristics indicated that the drain-ability of the soil was high, with an infiltration rate of 1.60 cm/h and water holding capacity was low. Water samples were collected at each irrigation time from sowing to harvest. The soil understudy was non-saline (ECe < 4.0 dS/m) and non-sodic (pH < 8.0, SAR < 7.5 and ESP < 15.0) before crop sowing in all the three methods of irrigation at all the three sampling depths, i.e., 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-60 cm. Thus, the quality of water used for cultivation of ladyfinger/Okra crop under all irrigation methods was Class-I quality water.The investigated results shown that ECw (electrical conductivity of water) was < 1.5 dS/m, pH < 8.0, SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) < 10.0 and RSC (residual sodium carbonate) were non detective. After crop harvest changed a little bit, change was observed in the soil, i.e., under furrow and pitcher irrigation method, the ECe, SAR. and ESP (exchangeable sodium percentage) decreased in the wetted zone and increased at the wetted periphery. Under the polyethylene bag irrigation method, ECe, SAR and ESP decreased at depths 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm but these increased at lower depth, i.e., 30-60 cm after crop harvest. However, the soil remained non-saline and non-sodic.

A Comparative Study of Support Vector Machine and Maximum Likelihood Classification to Extract Land Cover of Lahore District, Punjab, Pakistan

The advent of technological era, the scientists and researchers develop machine learning classification techniques to classify land cover accurately. Researches prove that these classification techniques perform better than previous traditional techniques. In this research main objective is to identify suitable land cover classification method to extract land cover information of Lahore district. Two supervised classification techniques i.e., Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC) (based on neighbourhood function) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) (based on optimal hyper-plane function) are compared by using Sentinel-2 data. For this optimization, four land cover classes have been selected. Field based training samples have been collected and prepared through a survey of the study area at four spatial levels. Accuracy for each of the classifier has been assessed using error matrix and kappa statistics. Results show that SVM performs better than MLC. Overall accuracies of SVM and MLC are 95.20% and 88.80% whereas their kappa co-efficient are 0.93 and 0.84 respectively.

A Review on Cancer Probability in Human Beings Due to Environmental Impact of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Remediation

Environmental consequences of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied to evaluate possible human health risks, subsequent cancer probabilities and remediation tools for their eradication. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generated globally through incomplete combustion of organic materials and emitted in the environment by various anthropogenic routes including residential heating, coal gasification, liquefying plants, cooking practices, thermal distillation of petroleum and coal, oil spills, ships embankments, incomplete burning of fossil fuels, forest fires, asphalt, engines and vehicles exhaust. Their high lipophilicity and marked tendency for localization in body fats made them easily absorbed through dermis, nasal mucosa and gastrointestinal tract of mammals. The reviewed data show estimated carcinogenic potency equivalent concentrations exceeding the screened value for food stuffs including fish species indicating significant carcinogenic health risks associated with the consumption of fishes. Many remedial measures have been taken to exterminate persistent organic pollutants including PAHs out of which bio-remediation being comparatively safer and economical methodology. Keywords:

Effect of Chemical Activating Agents on Surface Area and Methylene Blue Uptake Capacity of Activated Carbons

Activated carbon from Acacia asak (Fabaceae) tree branches was prepared utilizing three-steps- process and H3P04, ZnCl2, H2S04, K2C03, Na0H and K0H as chemical activating agents. In addition to the elemental analysis of precursor materials, produced activated carbon (ATB-AC) was also analyzed for moisture content, ash content, pH value, bulk density, volatile matter, hardness, specific surface area (SBET), iodine number and pore volume. Results revealed that the quality of ATB-AC is well comparable to the available commercial activated carbon (CAC). The SBET was found to be in the order of ATB-AC1> ATB- AC2> ATB-AC4> ATB-AC6> ATB-AC3> ATB-AC5. All the produced ATB-AC demonstrated good MB (methylene blue) removal efficiency, whereas ATB-AC1 and ATB-AC2 (produced from H3P04, and ZnCl2) showed higher efficiency. It is concluded that the chemical activating agent has significant effect on produced AC keeping all other production parameters constant. Among the six studied chemicals, H3P04 and ZnCl2 produced AC exhibited high SBET surface area and MB uptake capacity.

Evaluation of Enhancement Factor for Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Water through Adsorption by Non-Activated and Activated Carbon Prepared from Rice Husk

Removal of heavy metal ions (HMI) from water streams is desirable due to their toxic and carcinogenic effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to prepare a low cost adsorbent in the form of non-activated carbon (NAC) and activated carbon (AC) using rice husk, a local bio-waste material. Activation of material was performed by base leaching, chemical activation using ZnCl2, followed by acid washing. The initial and final concentrations of HMI in water were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Volatile matter, ash, moisture and surface area of the prepared material were measured using ASTM methods E 897- 88 R04, E 830 - 87 R04, E 949 - 88 R04 and D 1050 - 1 respectively. An enhancement factor was used to evaluate the activating effect of the adsorbent. Maximum % age removal of HMI was measured as 69.0, 64.0, 62.0 and 56% for Ni, Cd, Zn and Pb respectively using NAC. However, by using AC, a significant increase in the %age removal efficiency of HMI was observed and measured as 99.0, 95.5, 93.0 and 89% for Ni, Cd, Zn and Pb respectively. The results showed that AC derived from waste biomass is a simple, ecological and cost-effective approach to remove bulk of metal ions from water and wastewater.

Formulation, Physical Characterization and Antioxidant Potential of Silymarin Suspensions and Emulsions

Silymarin, is a therapeutically important flavonoid act as a hepatoprotective agent. However, has a positive effect on metabolism act as a hydrophobic drug but has a very low bioavailability. The aim of the present study was to prepare appropriate formulations of Silymarin in order to enhance its bioavailability. The natural suspending agents like (Xanthan gum, Tragacanth gum, Acacia gum and Iranian gum) were used for the formulation of suspensions, while emulsions were prepared with the combination of surfactant, co-surfactant and oil. The formulations were evaluated for their physical stability, pH, refractive index and conductivity. Among different formulations and suspensions prepared with xanthan gum as a green stabilizing agents were most stable. Emulsions formulated with tween 80 as a surfactant, polyethylene glycol as co-surfactant and olive oil were clear and stable for more than six months. The refractive index, pH and conductivity of the most stable suspension and emulsions were 1.347, 6.9 and 0.18 s/m and 1.43, 6.9, 0.01 s/m respectively. It was concluded that xanthan gum and tween 80 with polyethylene glycol has a good potential to enhance the therapeutic efficiency and stability of silymarin suspension and emulsion.

Central Composite Design Based Adsorption Study of Malachite Green Dye Using Reduced Graphene Oxide Nano-Adsorbent

The adsorption of Malachite Green (MG) dye was well studied and elucidated from the liquid phase using reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) nano-adsorbent. The desired levels of the factors were determined to be the amount of adsorbent of 0.2 g/L, pH of 8.5, the concentration of the dye as 100 mg/L and the sonication time of 50 min by Central Composite Design (CCD). The removal of the dye was found to be 95% at the optimum levels of the variables. Furthermore, the removal of the dye was higher at the higher values of the amount of adsorbent and pH. Langmuir and Temkin models were observed significant for rGO-MG dye system. The values of Gibb's free energy, the entropy and the enthalpy were found to be -10.502 KJ/mol, 34.314 KJ/mol and 0.147 KJ/mol.K, respectively. The kinetic data were also found well fitted to pseudo second order kinetics model for the said system. Afterwards, the cost of the process was found to be US$0.654/dm3. Therefore, the adsorption process effectively removed the dye from the simulated aqueous phase using rGO nano-adsorbent.

Field Investigation and Experimentation of Expansive Mortar in Dimension Stone Mining

Nature has blessed Pakistan with huge reserves of dimension stone that are mostly extracted through conventional mining methods. Different mechanized techniques have been tested and some give propitious results but failed to get popularity in the dimension stone sector of Pakistan. One such attempt is made in this work and a non-conventional method expansive mortar (EM) is introduce into this sector, to reduce the waste and cracks that are produced during conventional mining method (drilling and blasting). The results proclaim that expansive mortar efficiently reduced waste production and increased productivity. Through conventional method 470 MTs economical blocks were extracted from a block of 10758 cubic ft, earning $1121.95. In contrast, expansive mortar was applied to a block volume of 6750 cubic ft, in which economical blocks extracted were weighing 489 MTs, earning $5766.46. These encouraging figures replicate more than five-time increase in profit and high reduction in waste production.

Micro-Level Study of Deforestation in the Capital Terrotory of Pakistan

Wood products are better than artificial material, products when evaluating with environmental concerns, but our World's forests cannot be compromised for these products. As the increasing demand for wood product leads to deforestation, more rapid tree cutting even without permits and cause threat to human health and wildlife. The current study estimates the percentage of wood cutting and gives a comparison of green cover for a period (2009-2016) in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP), Islamabad. Scale and after math of wood harvesting is a major area of concern. The wood consumption by villagers of MHNP, the role of authorities and communities to safeguard MHNP and its effects are also studied by incorporating villagers and forest guards' point of view through questionnaire and interviews, respectively. The forest cover of MHNP is reduced at high percentage due to deforestation and different land use pattern. It needs to be monitored and taken as the responsibility of the government and the public to protect forests.

Geology, Geochemistry and Petrographic Studies of Exposed Rock Units from Zhob and Qila Saifullah Districts of Balochistan

Present research exertion provides the information about the stratigraphy, geological structure, geochemistry and petrographic characteristics of the exposed sedimentary rock units and igneous intrusions around Zhob and Qila Saifullah districts of Balochistan. Sedimentary deposition in this area is attribute to both Pashin basin and Suleiman basin. The litho-stratigraphic sections of Suleiman basin are Spingwar formation and Loralai formation (Allozai Group) of Jurassic age and Goru formation, Parh limestone and Pab sandstone of Cretaceous age, whereas Pashin basin comprises of Nisai formation of Eocene age and Multana formation of 0ligocene - Miocene age. The structural features of the area are comprising of complex, doubly plunging, anticlines and synclines which have been truncated by reverse faults at different places.Geochemical analysis (X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray fluorescence) displays that Igneous Intrusions are comprising of Clay, Mica, Plagioclase and Spinal mineral with abundance of Al203 (11-14% wt.), Si02 (27-34 % wt.), Ca0 (6-17% wt.) and Fe203 (19-32% wt.), whereas sedimentary rocks are rich in Quartz, Calcite and Albite with abundance of Al203 (0-17% wt.), Si02 (1.35-78% wt.), Ca0 (0.92-55% wt.) and Fe203 (0.07-13% wt.). The petrographic studies of the carbonates indicate mudstone to wackstone, carbonate fabric with skeletal grains of Alveolina, Miliolids, Globotrancana, Algae, Stylolites and foraminifera, whereas the sandstone samples are rich in sub rounded to rounded quartz grain, feldspar and mica. Petrographic analysis of igneous intrusion shows muscovite, pyroxene needles, chlorite and opaque minerals. Economically the research area is appropriate for cement factory, glass industry and building stones.