Endophytes from medicinal plants and their potential for producing indole acetic acid,improving seed germination and mitigating oxidative stress

Medicinal plants have been used by marginal communities to treat various ailments. However, the potential of endophytes within these bio-prospective medicinal plants remains unknown. The present study elucidates the endophytic diversity of medicinal plants (Caralluma acutangula, Rhazya stricta, and Moringa peregrina) and the endophyte role in seed growth and oxidative stress. Various organs of medicinal plants yielded ten endophytes, which were identified as Phoma sp. (6 isolates), Alternaria sp. (2), Bipolaris sp. (1), and Cladosporium sp. (1) based on 18S rDNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The culture filtrates (CFs; 25%, 50%, and 100% concentrations) from these endophytes were tested against the growth of normal and dwarf mutant rice lines. Endophytic CF exhibited dose-dependent growth stimulation and suppression effects. CF (100%) of Phoma sp. significantly increased rice seed germination and growth compared to controls and other endophytes. This growth-promoting effect was due to the presence of indole acetic acid in endophytic CF. The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed the highest indole acetic acid content ((54.31±0.21) μmol/L) in Bipolaris sp. In addition, the isolate of Bipolaris sp. exhibited significantly higher radical scavenging and anti-lipid peroxidation activity than the other isolates. Bipolaris sp. and Phoma sp. also exhibited significantly higher flavonoid and phenolic contents. The medicinal plants exhibited the presence of bio-prospective endophytic strains, which could be used for the improvement of crop growth and the mitigation of oxidative stresses.     

Politicization of bilateral aid and educational development in Pakistan

Increasing international cooperation and interdependence are important features of the contemporary globalized world. In the present age, foreign aid is a very peculiar type of transaction in the sense that its focus is to satisfy the objectives of the donor and the recipient, which are not always the same. This paper attempts to analyse the situation of US and British aid to Pakistan’s education sector. The role of international donors in the development of the education sector in Pakistan cannot be underestimated. They have been even more important for this developing country which has faced financial crises, particularly during the 1990s. These financial hardships faced by the country were mainly the outcome of the changed regional, political, as well as the geostrategic situation which also caused the change in the behaviour of international donors. It is especially true in the case of the USA and the UK where the aid to Pakistan was seriously affected by the changed situation in Afghanistan, political changes within the country, its nuclear programme and more recently the events of 9/11. This discussion reflects that the potential benefits of the aid were not reaped adequately due mainly to disruption and resumption of aid on the grounds of the geo‐political situation and strategic interests of donors.     

Capturing the online academic reading process

Described here is a study of how students actively read electronic journal papers to prepare for classroom discussions. Eighteen students enrolled in a graduate course participated in this study; half of them read the documents privately, while the other half shared their readings. These readers were digitally monitored as they read, annotated, and shared the electronic (e-) documents over a course of several weeks during a semester. This monitoring yielded a comprehensive data bank of 60 e-documents (with 1923 markings), and 56 computer logs. Using semi-structured interviews, the reading, marking, and navigational activities of the participating readers were analyzed in detail. Under scrutiny were a range of activities that the subjects carried out. Analyses of the data revealed the types of markings that the users employ, and the ways in which those marking were placed. A derivation of the user-perceived functions of the marking structures was then carried out. The findings then lead to several implications for informing the design of reading and marking applications in digital libraries.     

Information ethics in Pakistani librarianship: The role of online mailing groups

This study examines the practice of information ethics of the members of the mailing group of the Pakistan Library Automation Group, called PAKLAGPK who participate frequently in the discussions on a variety of LIS ethical issues. The research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods, including a survey questionnaire to measure subscribers' prior knowledge about certain issues in Information Ethics (IE). The research also uses the content analysis method to investigate the information communication behavior of the subscribers over this mailing group.     

Electronic resources and services in Pakistani university libraries: A survey of users' satisfaction

This study is an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic resources and services in Pakistani university libraries on the basis of users' satisfaction. A survey method was employed to conduct the research. Using convenience sampling, eight university libraries; four each from Islamabad and Lahore including two from the public sector and two from the private sector having IT applications, were included in the users survey. The total population (i.e., 40,236) of library users was very large; therefore, a reasonable, manageable and convenient sample of 800 library users, including 100 users each from the eight libraries was selected. A semi structured questionnaire was designed to collect data, while a five-point Likert Scale from 1 (Dissatisfied) to 5 (Extremely satisfied) was used to measure the satisfaction level of the respondent. The study concluded that Pakistani university libraries are offering effective electronic resources and services to their users.     

Off-Campus Postgraduate Students’ Perceptions About Distance Library Support Services: A Case Study of Allama Iqbal Open University Libraries Network

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to assess distance learning students’ perceptions about location and physical set up of libraries, collections, resources, and services rendered at thirty-four regional campuses as well as main campus libraries network of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) all over Pakistan. During the spring semester of 2007, a questionnaire was mailed to 250 randomly selected students enrolled in eleven postgraduate programs throughout the country. The response rate was 61.2%, which was made up of 43.1% females and 56.9% males. A majority of the respondents were dissatisfied with the virtual reference services, online database facilities, interlibrary loan, library membership, and borrowing of library material from the AIOU libraries. They were satisfied with the location and physical setup of the libraries, the collections, and the resources of the libraries. The study revealed that most of the respondents used the libraries during workshops as well as for research purposes. The statistical analysis (t = 0.550, Sig. = 0.970) showed that there was no significant difference between the opinion of females and males. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 10.0.     

Quantitative estimation of dust fall and smoke particles in Quetta Valley

INTRODUCTION Over the recent decades extensive research on atmospheric particles in urban environments was carried out. Most of the following papers refer to their authors’ contribution to air pollution and the effects on human health (Dzubay and Mamane, 1989; van Borm et al., 1989; 1990; Rojas et al., 1990; Paoletti et al., 1991; 1999; Al-Rajhi et al., 1996; McMurry et al., 1996; Querol et al., 1996; BéruBé et al., 1997; Esteve et al., 1997; Harrison et al., 1997; Zou and Hooper…     

Scientometric Analysis of Library and Information Science Journals 2003–2012 Using Web of Science

This article highlights the research productivity and scholarly communication of library and information science professionals during 2003–2012 by using Web of Science databases from 40 library and information science core journals. Data was interpreted by using two open-source software Vantage point (powerful text-mining tool for discovering meaningful result from raw data) and CiteSpace II to visualize the library and information science growth and trends. Underlying results indicated that mainstream of authors (12,847, 69.9%) published their article as a single author from 2003–2009, this trend has declined and collaborative number of publications trend has inclined during the last 3 years. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign produced 95 (0.52%) of the total publications and stands at the leading position. The maximum number of publications was carried out by universities rather than non-academic institutions. This article identified that Asian countries, such as China, Taiwan, India, and Iran, are still in its infancy stage. The present study could be considered as a useful tool for effective allocation of research funds in the research community and academic world of library and information science to enhance the research process.     

FreeForAll: Free Articles to Those in Need

FreeForAll is an international collaboration of libraries whose mission is to provide underserved nations with health science journal articles for free and to foster lending between nations through the creation of a database of international libraries’ (non–North American) holdings.