Open Access Research Paper

Tribulus (Tribulus terrestris L.) is an annual, silky herb plant belonging to the Zygophyllaceae family widely distributed around the world. Small woody Plant, leaves are compound and opposite and fruit have long, sharp and strong spines. The leaf, root and fruit of the plant have been utilized medicinally in traditionally Ayurvedic medicine, Siddha and Unani for their phytochemical and pharmacological activities. An assemblage of endophytic fungi was isolated from Tribulus terrestris L. collected from the Delta Region of Tamil Nadu, India. Fungal endophytes were isolated using leaf surface sterilization standard methods. Thirty-one species and 21 (genus) endophytic fungal strains were isolated from the leaves, petioles and stems of Tribulus terrestris. The identification of fungal strain through morphological observation from standard manuals and showed that fungal endophytes were associated with host plants belonging to a few taxons of Alternaria, Cladosporium, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Curvularia, Fusarium and Phyllosticta capitalensis fungi that were frequently isolated. The endophytic fungus Fusarium oxysporum was the dominant species in this study; it was isolated from host plant samples during wet and dry seasons.

The pollutants are the harmful substances that are most dangerous and found in water. Some of them are non-biodegradable and cannot convert into harmless substances show high level of toxicity at low concentrations in the bodies of living organisms. Water contamination also adding pollutants and heavy toxic metals such as lead, mercury and chromium to natural water resources and overall lethal effects to the living organism living in ecosystem. There are many methods used for removal of toxic metal from drinking and wastewater such as adsorption, precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, electrochemical treatments, membrane filtration, evaporation, flotation, and oxidation and biosorption processes. Adsorption is most reliable among all methods because economically positive testing and technically simplest to separate chemicals found in water. Many adsorbents and advancements in membrane filtration systems have been designed for the treatment of contaminated metal found in drinking and wastewater. This article focuses on modification in sorbents for improving their efficiency and new developments in conventional methods of extraction of heavy metals from water. This article also focuses on the recent developments and modern applications in methods for of treatments and removal of heavy metals from drinking and industrial wastewater.

Agricultural extension programs play a crucial role in enhancing farm productivity, technology adoption, and rural livelihoods. In the Philippines, the Farmer-Scientists Training Program (FSTP) represents a participatory and capacity-building approach that empowers farmers as active innovators. Despite its widespread implementation and reported high satisfaction rates, limited empirical studies have comprehensively assessed its long-term economic and social impacts at the local level. In Bohol, existing evaluations largely focus on implementation rather than outcomes, creating a gap in understanding how the program influences productivity, income, and community development. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the challenges and impact of the FSTP among corn farmers in Bohol. A mixed-methods cross-sectional design was employed, involving structured surveys, key informant interviews, and field observations among program graduates. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), were used to analyze relationships between socio-demographic and farm characteristics, challenges encountered, and program impacts. Findings reveal that participants are predominantly smallholder, low-income farmers who received strong support in terms of training and farm inputs. However, gaps persist in access to credit, mechanization, and market linkages. Farmers experienced moderate challenges, particularly related to environmental factors, program participation demands, and operational inefficiencies such as delayed input distribution. Despite these constraints, the program contributed positively to knowledge enhancement, adoption of improved practices, and moderate productivity gains. The study highlights that the effectiveness of the FSTP is shaped by institutional support, resource accessibility, and local governance conditions. It implies that strengthening integrated support systems, particularly in financing, market access, and extension services, is essential to sustain program benefits and enhance community development outcomes.

This paper deals with the taxonomic studies of the representative species of five moss families; Enclyptaceae, Hedwigiaceae, Hypopterygiaceae, Splachnaceae and Timmiaceae reported from Mansehra District-Pakistan. Among these Enclyptaceae and Timmiaceae are acrocarpous while Hedwigiaceae, Hypopterygiaceae and Splachnaceae are Pleurocarpous. The aim of this study was the critical taxonomic characterization of the rare species of the mentioned families and to check the distribution of in the District Mansehra. Only one specimen of Enclypta streptocarpa, Timmia megapolitana and Tayloria froelichiana, collected by previous workers were examined in this study, no new specimen were found in the study area in recent investigation; however Hypopterygium flavolimbatum is collected from two more localities of the district. Hedwigia ciliata is new record for the district and occurred in one locality. The investigation is based on study of plants through extensive field surveys conducted from May 2013 to Jun 2015 along previously collected specimens hosted at Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH). For identification examination of specimens was done both on morphological and anatomical basis. Detailed taxonomic descriptions, dates, collectors name, locality, key notes and Voucher specimen number has been given for each species along with altitude. This study reveals that the analyzed species are very rare in not only in the study area but also in Pakistan, Timmia megapolitana Tayloria froelichiana and Enclypta streptocarpa were found extinct in the study area. The current study will help to upgrade the existing information’s of the mosses taxonomy and distribution in the district Mansehra with special reference to Pakistan.

The study determined the growth performance and meat sensory evaluation of broilers using different levels of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder as feed supplement. Analysis of Variance in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used to determine significant differences among treatment means and further tested using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Four treatments consisted of T0 – pure commercial ration + 2.5ml electrolytes added to the drinking water; T1 – 1% turmeric powder per kg of commercial feeds; T2 – 2% turmeric powder; and T3 – 3% turmeric powder, were administered to 160 day-old broiler chicks. Different levels of turmeric powder (1%, 2% and 3%) significantly increased the final weight, gain in weight, feed conversion ratio and lower percent fat in the carcass, while other parameters were found comparable with the birds given commercial ration. Sensory evaluation of broiler meat in terms of eye appeal, juiciness, palatability and general acceptability rated “like very much” which ranged from 7.10 to 8.0. Supplementation of turmeric powder in the broiler diet at a rate of 1 to 3% per kilogram of feeds can be used as growth enhancer for broilers.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seeds (100 accessions) were selected on the basis of different geographical areas of Pakistan. Isolation and identification of seed born fungi were conducted according to standard blotter test. A total of five major seed borne fungi including Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp., Drechslera sp. and Phytophthora sp. were isolated from the wheat seeds. The frequency ofoccurrence of these five seed born fungi Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp. Drechslera sp. and Phytophthora sp. was 49%, 46%, 42%, 35% and 16%, respectively. Infection percentage varied from 0-90% in all 100 wheat accessions. Among the accessions, highest infection (100%) of seed born fungi was recorded in 011185 and 011757 while lowest infection (10%) was recorded in 011415 accessions. Moreover,in accessions collected from Gilgit Baltistan and AJK, Alternaria niger and Alternaria fusarium were dominant, while in Kpk province, Aspergillous niger was prevalent followed by Alternaria alternata. In case of Baluchistan province, the dominant seed born fungi was Alternaria alternata followed by Drechslera spp. Similarly in case of Punjab, the occurrence of Alternaria alternata, Drechslera sp , Fusariumsp, and Aspergillous niger associated with seeds were similar. For accession collected from Sindh province, the dominant seed born fungi was Aspergillous niger and Drechslera sp. However, the Phytophthora sp. infection of wheat seeds accession of Baluchistan was highest followed bywheat seeds accession collected from Gilgit Baltistan and AJK, Kpk and Punjab whereas wheat seeds accessions collected from Sindh province were found to be free from Phytophthora species.

Locomotion is one of the essential characters of humans. During daily activity human body is subjected to several factors such as shock, stress, strain and other environmental factors. Most of times human body remains un-affected by these factors as they are contradicted by skin, fats, muscles, bones etc. But when the body is subjected to a trauma of higher impact an injury can occur which can affect capability of human body. One of the common injuries is bone fractures. Among the bone’s femur is susceptible to the fractures being the longest bone in the human body. Femoral fractures affect mobility of humans to the greater extent; in order to restore maximum function of femur, implants are used to treat fractures. Implants such as nails, Screws, plates are used to repair the bone. These implants are either made up of metals or alloys commonly used metals are titanium, gold, iron, cobalt, chromium and several others that have been reported to cause one or other toxicological episodes. Femoral fractures may take months to get treated and till the time implants are embedded in human body. Within this time frame implants start producing oxides that may result in several implications such as hypersensitivity, allergies, neurological problems and other toxicological implications.

Based on the customary norms inherent in the Meratus Dayak community located around the Meratus Protection Forest in Loksado Sub-District, Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency in an effort to align the forest based on local wisdom, especially in the utilization of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) by knowing the wisdom of the Meratus Dayak tribe. in managing bamboo in the Meratus Protection Forest in Loksado District, South Hulu Sungai District. In general and specifically the purpose of this study is to know, analyze and explore developing local wisdom and bamboo management systems based on the ideological aspects of the superstructure, aspects of social structure and aspects of material infrastructure by the Dayak Meratus community in Loksado District, South Kalimantan. the metrode used in this study is qualitative descriptive by identifying local wisdom elements such as ideological superstructure aspect, social structure aspect, aspect of material infrastructure. Turning bamboo cultivation activities has a lot of local wisdom – local wisdom in terms of conservation/ecology, economic and socio-cultural aspects of the local community. The level of ecology from shifting cultivation in the village of Hulu Banyu can be said to be moderate. This is related to a number of points that have a low score and some have a high score.

To evaluate the impact of rice production on malaria transmission in the district of Malanville in northern Benin, an entomological study was carried out from January to December 2021. Therefore, human landing catches (HLC) activities were conducted over two consecutive nights in 6 random houses selected from each study site for adult mosquito collection monthly. Additionally, indoor pyrethrum spray catches (PSC) were done in 6 additional houses at each study site. This scheme of mosquito sampling was the same each month during the study period. Female mosquitoes collected by HLC particularly the Head-thoraces of these mosquitoes were tested for the presence of circumsporozoite protein (CSP). Mosquitoes collected by PSC were used for species identification based on the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technic. Results from this study showed a total of 63,012 female mosquitoes were caught from the two methods whereas 58,285 were by HLC. Plasmodium falciparum was mainly transmitted by Anopheles gambiae s.s and Anopheles arabiensis where malaria transmission was high from June to November during the rainy season and declined during the dry season (December-May). The average entomological inoculation rate (EIR) was significantly higher during the rainy season compared to the dry season (p

The purpose of current study was to investigate the fish biodiversity and physiochemical assessment of river Kurram district Bannu. Total 8 species belonging 7 genera, 4 families and 4 orders were collected from two sites (KurramGari andDaud Shah) of river Kurram. The cyprinidae family was most abundant represented by 5species, notopteridae, mastacemblida and channidae families were represented by 1 species. The catchment frequencies of the collected specimen were 49 and percentile value of cyprinidae (63.27%), mastacemblidae (14.28%), notopteridae (12.24%) and Channidae (10.21%) respectively, while most of the species were commercially important fishes.Water samples were taken in between 1.00 to 3.00 p.m. from two sites (KurramGari and Daud Shah) within a month of river Kurram and brought to the water monitoring laboratory National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) Islamabad for analyzed their hardness, alkalinity, pH (Power of Hydrogen ion concentrations), TDS (total dissolved solids), temperature and oxygen.After analyzing their physiochemical parameters showed the normal values and not too much different and risky for fish life in the river Kurram.