ISESCO Women in Science Conference:

Contribution of Pakistani Women in Scientific

and Social Development
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
March 8, 2016

Abstract Book

Organized by

ISESCO Women in Science Chair

Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
in collaboration with
The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)
Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST)
Biochemists Association QAU, Islamabad (BAQI)
Higher Education Commission (HEC)

Organizing Committee:

Patron:

Prof. Dr. Javed Ashraf

(Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University)

Coordinator:

Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza

(Chairperson, ISESCO Women in Science)

Advisory Committee:

Prof. Dr. Tariq Mahmood

(Director, Science & Technology, ISESCO)
Prof. Dr. Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani (SI)
(Chairman, PCST)
Prof. Dr. Aliya H. Khan
(Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, QAU)
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad
(Dean, Faculty of Biological Sciences, QAU)
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Afzal Bhatti
(Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences, QAU)

Secretary:

Dr. Aneesa Sultan

(Department of Biochemistry, QAU)

Facilitation:

Prof. Dr. Farzana Latif Ansari (TI, PCST)

Dr. Saadia Abid (Anthropology, QAU)

.

Dr. M. Ansar (Biochemistry, QAU)

.

Dr. Mariam Anees (Biochemistry, QAU)

.

Dr. Rashid Khan (Biochemistry, QAU)

.

Dr. Tahir Waheed (Biochemistry, QAU)

.

Dr. S. Waseem (Biochemistry, QAU)

.

Dr. Ibrar Ahmed (Biochemistry QAU)

.

Dr. Tahir Ali (President, BAQI)

Message from the worthy Vice Chancellor

It gives me immense pleasure in recording this message
for ISESCO Women in Science Conference on
Contribution of Pakistani Women in Scientific and Social
Development.
It's a matter of pride for us that the ISESCO Women in
Science Chair was awarded to Dr. Bushra Mirza, Professor
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad, with several objectives including highlighting
the achievements of women scientists and
networking/information sharing by promoting
cooperation between universities and academic
institutions. This conference will help to promote
scientific culture and mutual relations among individuals
for future perspectives.
I wish the faculty and students success in promoting science to play its due role. Quaid-i-Azam
University enjoys a distinct position among the various academic circles of our country and is
the top ranked institution in Pakistan. We strongly believe in gender equality and support such
positive moves to highlight scientific contributions of female scientists who play a great role in
socio-economic uplift of the country. We have ambitious plans for this university and our main
focus is on producing high quality graduates for the country in particular and the world in
general.

Prof. Dr. Javed Ashraf

Vice Chancellor
Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad, Pakistan

Message from Chairperson ISESCO Women in Science

We extend our warmest welcome to all the participants of
ISESCO Women in Science Conference on Contribution of
Pakistani Women in Scientific and Social development. It
gives us great pleasure to have enthusiastic researchers
and friends in Islamabad from all over Pakistan. This
unique conference aims to showcase research
achievements of Pakistani female scientists of
international repute to pay tribute to their contribution in
the field of science and to motivate young Pakistani female
researchers to use their full potentials. It will not only
benefit the women related directly or indirectly to
scientific research but ultimately will benefit Pakistan at
large. The abstract book will be shared with the member
countries of ISESCO and with other international
organizations like Organization of Women Scientists of
the Developing World, TWAS for promoting research
achievements of female scientists of Pakistan and future possible collaborations. This multidisciplinary conference will feature plenary talks by keynote speakers and oral as well as
poster presentations. We are very excited to host this integrative event at our university and
hope that you will find it highly productive and enjoyable. We look forward to your valuable
suggestions for future activities.

Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza

Chairperson ISESCO Women in Science
Department of Biochemistry
Quaid-i-Azam University
Islamabad, Pakistan

Message from Conference Secretary

It is a great pleasure to welcome all participants of this
conference coming from all corners of Pakistan. Special
thanks to our keynote speakers who came all the way to
Islamabad and dedicated their precious time to grace this
event. This conference has a very broad spectrum and is
hosting participants from diverse fields in sciences; hence
its beauty lies in the blend of science with vast variety of
research themes.
We would specially like to thank Prof. Dr. Javed Ashraf
(Vice Chancellor, QAU), Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza (ISESCO
Women in Science Chair) and Dr. Muhammad Ansar
(Chairman Department of Biochemistry) for their
expertise and support during the organization of this
conference. Special thanks to Dr. Ibrar Ahmed
(Department of Biochemistry, QAU), our expert for online
submission system for his thorough help, without his support the work would have been far
difficult to manage. I am highly indebted to Dr. Mariam Anees (Department of Biochemistry,
QAU), Dr. Saadia Abid (Department of Anthropology, QAU) and Dr. Farzana Latif Ansari (PCST)
for providing help and peer review of the abstracts. Thanks to Dr. Tahir Waheed (Department
of Biochemistry, QAU) for organizing teas and lunch, and making arrangements for the poster
session. The contribution of our student's body BAQI (Biochemists Association of QAU
Islamabad) is worth-mentioning in organizing this event.
Within a limited time period of about seven weeks spanning from planning to execution of this
event, we have had an overwhelming response from our respectable participants from all
corners of Pakistan. I extend my gratitude to all the participants for taking interest in this
conference and making it a reality. We accepted 120 submissions in total: 62 for the Biological
Sciences, 17 for the Natural Sciences, and 41 for the Social Sciences sessions. Abstracts in this
book are arranged in their respective sections, separated into oral and poster presentations.
Within these sections, these are arranged according to their order of submission in our
easychair online submission system (https://easychair.org/conferences/
?conf=isescowins2016).
I wish you all a pleasant time in the prestigious Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and wish
you take beautiful memories back home.
Dr. Aneesa Sultan
Conference Secretary
Assistant Professor
Dept of Biochemistry
QAU, Islamabad

Outline of the conference program, ISESCO WINS 2016

DRSM Library, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
8 March 2016 (Tuesday)

9:00 am 10:00 am

Registration and Poster Display

10:00 am 11.00 am

Inaugural Session
Chief Guest: Dr. Sania Nishtar (Ex-Federal Minister)
Guest of Honor: Prof. Dr. Samina Qadir (VC, FJWU)
Guest of Honor: Prof. Dr. Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani (Chairman, PCST)
Welcome Note: Prof. Dr. Javed Ashraf (VC, QAU)

11.00 am 11:30 am

Tea Break

11:30 am 12:30 pm

Technical Session I (Biological Sciences)

Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Rabia Hussain (AKU, Karachi)
Oral Presentations

12:30 pm 1:30 pm

Technical Session II (Natural Sciences)

Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Bina Siddiqui (HEJ / ICCBS, Karachi)
Oral Presentations

1:30 pm 2:00 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm 3:00 pm

Technical Session III (Social Sciences)

Key note speaker: Dr. Rubina Saigol (Lahore)
Oral Presentations

3:00 pm 4:00 pm

Concluding Session
Distribution of shields
Vote of Thanks

4:00 pm 4:30 pm

Refreshments

Invited Speaker for the Biological Sciences Session: Prof. Dr. Rabia Hussain
Prof. Dr. Rabia Hussain is a Ghulamali Hirji professor at the
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Aga Khan University,
Karachi, Pakistan, and HEC distinguished National Professor. She
obtained her PhD (Immunology, 1973) from University of
Western Ontario, Canada. Her early research work at Johns
Hopkins University and National Institute of Health in USA was
focused on the key properties of allergens and natural
mechanisms which protect against allergies in human parasitic
diseases. At Aga Khan University, she focused on Mycobacterial
diseases (leprosy and Tuberculosis), where she identified
biomarkers for early diagnosis and pathogenesis. She is an
elected fellow of Royal College of Pathologists; Pakistan Academy
of Sciences; Islamic World Academy of Sciences, The World
Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and elected member of the TWAS
Council. The council also elected her as Vice President for Central and South Asian Region in 2012.
She was designated Patron-in Chief for Pakistan Society of Immunology in 2012, and governing
body member of the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Center. She has received Berson-Yallow award, from
the American Society of Nuclear Medicine, USA; AKU Award for excellence in research; TWAS Prize
in Basic Medical Sciences; lifetime achievement award from Pakistan Society for Pathology,
Tamghe-i-Imtiaz and Sitara-i-Imtiaz from Government of Pakistan. Prof. Hussain has 137
publications with impact factor of 4320, H-index 37 and i10-index of 93. She has been listed in "the
top 20 most influential women in science in the Muslim world in January 2014" and top 4 in
Pakistan.

Title of the talk: Development of a research program in infectious diseases in Pakistan

To establish a meaningful research program relevant to the needs of a developing country, one has
to face major challenges in order to compete in science with the developed world for international
publications and research grants. Competing priorities for funding, lack of understanding of
research needs, and lack of political will are some of the major challenges for development of
Science and Technology as seen by budgetary allocations for research, health and education in the
developing worlds. These are some of the reasons for a lack of a critical core of scientist in the
developing world. In this presentation, I will discuss some of the key elements that led to the
development of a successful research program in Immunology of infectious diseases with a focus
on leprosy and tuberculosis. This program developed a State-of-Art Immunology Laboratory.
National collaborations were developed with The Marie Adelaide Leprosy Control Program and
Masoomeen Hospital in Pakistan, and International collaborations were developed with The
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Case Western Reserve University and Stanford
University to mention a few. The initial funding support was provided by The Aga Khan University
in the form of Seed Grant, World Health organization which provided Institutional grant to the
Principal Investigator, Rockefeller Foundation, Welcome Trust and many others. In addition to
publishing> 150 papers ,training was provided for PhD students, FCPS students, Postdoctoral
Fellows and mentored junior faculty at The Aga Khan University. Several are now holding key
academic position which is really the hallmark of this research program as success of any program
lies in its continuity. I will highlight some of key research findings in this presentation.

Invited Speaker for the Natural Sciences Session: Prof. Dr. Bina Siddiqui
Prof. Dr. Bina Siddiqui, Fellow Pakistan Academy of Sciences,
TWAS, OWSD and Chemical Society of Pakistan, is a
Distinguished National Professor of the Higher Education
Commission of Pakistan at HEJ, ICCBS, University of Karachi.
She did PhD from University of Karachi (under supervision of
late Prof. Dr. Salimuzzman Siddiqui, FRS) and was inducted in
the Faculty soon after her PhD. She served HEJ Institute of
Chemistry as Co-Director (1999-2002) and as Acting Director
(2000-2002). She has over 400 publications and 22 patents to
her credit. She participated in more than 80 national and
international conferences as plenary and invited speaker. Her
honors and awards include civil awards, namely Sitara-iImtiaz and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, the First Al-Khwarizmi
International Award (President of Iran), D.Sc. (University of Karachi), Salam Prize, First Prize
National Book Council, Gold Medal and Star Women (South Asian Publications) and Life Time
Academic Achievement Award (HEC Pakistan). Dr. Siddiqui was ranked among four pioneer
ladies in 20 Most Influential Women in Science in the Islamic World . The unique contribution
of Dr. Siddiqui's research is the discovery and identification of a large number of molecules
from indigenous plant resources possessing potential use in medicine for a broad range of
infectious and non infectious diseases as well as in agriculture. Some of them with significant
pharmacological profile are at different stages of efficacy trials. Her current research interests
are directed towards obtaining new anti-tuberculosis and anti-cancer compounds from plants
and their endophytic fungi and to understand the relationship of chemical structures and
biological activity through synthesis of new molecules using the structures of bioactive
compounds as templates.

Title of the talk: Exciting journey of research and lessons learnt

My research journey started several decades before when I did a small research project
(thesis) as a Master student. The imperatives of science and technology and the role these can
play for the development of any nation were hard to realize at that point of time. Many ups and
downs, successes and failures were seen during this period which reformed the thinking and
perspective and induced a sense of accepting challenges. Many exciting moments were
experienced as well as several lessons learnt over the years. This forum will provide a chance
to share these experiences with the young generation.

Invited Speaker for the Social Sciences Session: Dr. Rubina Saigol
Dr. Rubina Saigol received her PhD in Education and
Development from the University of Rochester and her MA in
Development Psychology from Columbia University. She is
currently an independent researcher based in Lahore. She has
authored and edited several books and papers in English and
Urdu on education, nationalism, the state, ethnicity, religious
radicalism, terrorism, feminism and human rights. Her work
has been published in international journals and publications.
Some of her publications include, The Pakistan Project: a
feminist perspective on nation and identity; Knowledge and
Identity: Articulation of Gender in Educational Discourse in
Pakistan; Symbolic Violence: Curriculum, Pedagogy and
Society; Reconstructing Patriarchies: Nationalism and Religion
in Women's Education; Social Sciences in the 1990s; A Critical Appraisal of the Human Rights
Movement; Enemies Within and Enemies Without: The Besieged Self in Pakistani Textbooks;
His Rights, Her Duties: Citizen and Mother in the Civics Discourse; A Tale of Two Communities:
Textbook Representations of 1857; Becoming a Modern Nation: Educational Discourse of
Ayub Era: 1959-1964; Women's Education and Cultural Nationalism; Gender in Education;
Aspects of Women and Development; Deconstructing Terrorism: Discourse and Death in
Pakistan; Militarization, Nation and Gender, and Talibanization of Pakistan: myths and
realities. She is the recipient of the American Association of University Women Award,
Scandling Scholarship and the Susan B. Anthony Fellowship Award. Dr. Saigol occasionally
contributes to the Express Tribune, the daily DAWN and The News.
Title of the talk: Feminism, women studies and the social sciences
Globally, and in Pakistan, feminists have made significant contributions to the social sciences.
Women's Studies, a discipline that emerged from the women's movement and activism,
constructed new ways of conceptualizing the world and acting upon it. As a discipline,
Women's Studies reject the traditional approach to knowledge and offers entirely new
perspectives on social science knowledge and methodology. The main contributions of
women, in particular feminists, include the following: 1) an emphasis on patriarchy as a
material and ideological system that subordinates women; 2) Intersectionality the idea that
women do not constitute a homogenous group but are divided by class, ethnicity, religion, sect
and geographical location; 3) research methodology that resurrects the importance of the
subjective and experiential in understanding the social world, and 4) the specific effects of
war, militarism, globalization, family systems, informal economies and ideology-production
on women. These contributions are discussed with a special reference to the contributions of
Pakistani women to the various social disciplines.

Biological Sciences (BS)

Oral Presentations

Commercialization of agro based microbial technologies in Pakistan

Fauzia Yusuf Hafeez
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Chak Shahzad, Park
Road Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: Fauzia_y@yahoo.com
Plants need nutrients and protection from the diseases caused by various pathogens. These
pathogens include bacteria, fungi, viruses etc. Among the various pathogens, fungi constitute
an important group as they inflict damage to the crop plant at different developmental stages.
Under favorable conditions fungi causes many diseases like damping off, seedling blight, collar
rot, stem rot, charcoal rot and root rot in various economically significant crops. Potential nonchemical control strategies for these diseases include the application of bacteria capable of
producing antifungal compounds such as Pseudomonas, Serratia and Bacillus spp. These
rhizobacteria induce systemic resistance against phytopathogens by producing structurally
diverse secondary metabolites such as antibiotics, siderophores and hydrolytic enzymes. The
strains have been characterized at biochemical and genetic level, which were found to be
producer of antibiotic like surfactin, pyoluteorin and hydrolytic enzymes. These strains have
also been in vivo evaluated on many crops like sugarcane, rice, tomato and potato under field
conditions. The potent strains have been bioformulated as a commercial phosphatic fertilizer
with the trade name Biophos & Humiphos.

11

Antimicrobial resistance situation and research & Development for

development of sustainable economic case for investment (Pakistan)
Rani Faryal
Department of Microbiology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: ranifaryal@qau.edu.pk
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its development is not only a national, but now is also a
global issue. With the advent of time, resistance to available antibiotics and antimicrobial
agents has risen through the world. There are an increasingly large number of reports on
presence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin Resistant
Enterococci (VRE) and ESBL-Producing Enterobacteriaceae from Pakistan in similar patterns,
as reported from various other countries. This AMR situation is locally further complicated
due to rise of multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB), XDR-TB and TDRTB. In this study, meta-analysis of publications from 2006-2016 on AMR in microbes was done
from various online available databases to analyse the real picture of AMR in Pakistan, in order
to develop a sustainable economic case regarding investment for management of AMR in
Pakistan. On the basis of situational analysis, stakeholders, key elements and actions were
identified. One key element was an effective action plan needed to integrate basic and clinical
research. Further, effective networks for dissemination of information to clinicians, laboratory
managers, technicians, scientific community and general public needs to be developed at a
national level for better management. Role and cooperation of pharmaceutical industry's R&D
and public sector for sustainable evidence based intervention, capacity building and viable
economic ventures for development of new, novel and cost effective therapeutics is
mandatory.

12

Herbicidal activities of pure compound isolated from rhizosphere

inhabiting Aspergillus species
1

Saeed Ullah Khattak *, Ghosia Lutfullah *, Zafar Iqbal , Abid Ali Khan

Center of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar - Pakistan

Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Peshawar
3
Alvi-armani, 2680 Matheson Blvd. East, Suite 102, Mississauga, ON L4W 0A5, Canada
4
Department of Chemistry, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad Campus,
Abbottabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: khattak@upesh.edu.pk; ghosia_lutfullah@upesh.edu.pk
2

In the quest for bioactive natural products of fungal origin, Aspergillus species was isolated
from rhizosphere of Mentha piperita. The fungal strain was cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar
(PDA) and Czapec Yeast Broth (CYB) was used for metabolites production. Bioassay guided
isolation led us towards the isolation of pure compound. With the help of Liquid
Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) the mass of the pure compound was determined
to be 388 while structure of the pure compound was elucidated using 500 Varian Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machine. The pure compound was subjected for herbicidal
activities against two common weed species i.e. Silybum marianum and Avena fatua which are
common problem in the wheat crop throughout Pakistan. For this different dose
concentrations i.e. (10, 100, 1000 g/ mL) of the compound were prepared and applied to
seeds. The results showed that all seeds germinated in control treatments but various degree
of seed germination, root length, shoot length, root and shoot biomass was observed in
compound applied treatments. At highest dose concentration i.e. at 1000 g /mL all seeds of S.
marianum were completely inhibited while 60% inhibition was observed against A. fatua. The
pure compound was also tested against the seeds of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) but it
showed no significant effect on the seeds of T. aestivum. At highest dose concentration i.e. at
1000 g /mL only 10% seed inhibition was recorded for T. aestivum.
Keywords: Aspergillus, herbicidal activities, Silybum marianum, Avena fatua, Triticum
aestivum, LCMS, NMR

13

Neuroproteomics: the bridge between Alzheimer's Disease genomics and

biology
Nikhat Ahmed Siddiqui
Research Department, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan
*Correspondence: deanresearch@zu.edu.pk
Building research capacity in emerging state-of art technologies in proteomics to meet current
and future challenges in Neuroscience is the focus of our laboratory .the broad initiatives of
Ziauddin University is to focus on strengthening coordination between institutes nationally,
promote international collaboration and to emphasize interdisciplinary work. Proteomics is a
key tool in health research; comprehensively envision the dynamic nature of the cellular
proteome. As the function of the gene is dependent on the action of its translated proteins in
response to a specific micro-environment, it provides adequate rationalization for studying
gene expression in disease directly at the proteome level. Current advancement in proteomic
technologies has significant implications for understanding the regulation of cellular
processes in Nervous system in health and disease particularly in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Here we present the establishment of a protein expression library in AD and its application in
the reliable identification of specific protein interaction partners, which could help to
understand disease progression and functional alterations associated with AD. Alzheimer's
disease (AD), representing 46.8 million people suffering with dementia as of 2015, a
progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia , , and
cognitive impairment is usually characterized by neuritic amyloid plaques, cerebrovascular
amyloidosis and neurofibrillary tangles. The proteomic analysis of post mortem bran tissues
from patients with AD were compared with profiles from age-matched healthy controls using
high through- put proteomic technology, for large scale identification and quantitation of
protein expression ,protein modifications ,PPI and protein function Brain site specific
proteome changes resolved by 2DE PAGE and identified by Orbitrap MS analysis, validated by
western blot and Immunoprecipitation resulted in 69 differentially expressed proteins
amongst the 3 brain regions cortex, hippocampus and Substantia nigra. These proteins were
grouped into functional categories including energy metabolism, cytoskeletal function, and
signaling and apoptotic pathways to identify their aberrant role. A number of proteins
identified in our lab and their PPI is reported for the first time in the pathogenesis of AD. We
conclude that targeted proteomic approaches based on MS will definitely contribute to the
understanding of the multitude of biological processes that govern the response of Nervous
System to disease and helps in elucidation of differentially expressed proteins which will
provide insight to understand disease progression and functional alterations associated with
AD

14

Biological Sciences (BS)

Poster Presentations

A novel locus for ectodermal dysplasia of hair, nail and skin pigmentation
anomalies maps to chromosome 18p11.3211.31
Rabia Habib
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology , Islamabad
Correspondence: rabiahabib@comsats.edu.pk
Ectodermal dysplasias (EDs) are a large heterogeneous group of inherited disorders
exhibiting abnormalities in ectodermally derived appendages such as hair, nails, teeth and
sweat glands. EDs associated with reticulated pigmentation phenotype are rare entities for
which the genetic basis and pathophysiology are not well characterized. The present study
describes a five generation consanguineous Pakistani family segregating a novel form of
ectodermal dysplasia in an autosomal recessive manner. Affected members presented sparse
and woolly hair, severe dystrophy of nails and reticulate skin pigmentation. After exclusion of
known genes related with other skin disorders, genome-wide linkage analysis was performed
using Illumina HumanOmniExpress beadchip SNP arrays. Linkage in the family was
established to human chromosome 18p11.32-p11.31, flanked by SNPs rs9284390 (0.113Mb)
and rs4797100 (3.14 Mb). A maximum two-point LOD score of 3.3 was obtained with several
markers along the disease interval. The linkage interval of 3.03 Mb encompassed seventeen
functional genes. However, sequence analysis of all these genes did not discover any
potentially disease causing-variants. The identification of this novel locus provides additional
information regarding the mapping of a rare form of ED. Further research, such as the use of
whole-genome sequencing, would be expected to reveal any pathogenic mutation within the
disease locus.

Rabia Habib is serving as an Assistant Professor at department of BioSciences, COMSATS

Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. She completed her PhD in area of Human
Molecular Genetics under supervision of Dr. Wasim Ahmad from department of Biochemistry,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. The research area focused on genetic mapping of
causative genes involved different Syndromic and Non syndromic cases of Inherited skin
disorders in consanguineous Pakistani families. So far, her research work has been published
in seven peer reviewed international research articles.

15

Gender inequalities pose major threat for promotion of cardiovascular

health of women in Pakistan
Rubina Barolia.
Aga Khan University, Karachi Pakistan.
Correspondence: rubina.barolia@aku.edu
Cardiovascular disease exerts an enormous burden on women's health. Intake of a healthy diet
may reduce this burden. However, social norms and economic constraints are often factors
that restrain women from paying attention to their diet. Underpinned by critical realism, this
study explores how gender/sex influences Pakistani women's food choices and decision
making regarding food consumption among women of the low socio-economic status (SES).
The study was carried out at two Cardiac facilities of Karachi, Pakistan, in which 24
participants (male and female from different ethnic backgrounds), who had received health
education, were selected to elicit the facilitators and barriers to healthy diet. Using an
interpretive descriptive approach, the study identified major barriers to healthy diet as:
proscribed gender roles and lack of women's autonomy, power, male domination, and abusive
behaviours. The cardiovascular risk and disease outcomes for Pakistani women of low SES are
likely to further escalate if individual and structural barriers are not reduced, using
multifactorial approaches.

16

Anti Mullerian Hormone: Ovarian response indicator in young patients

receiving long GnRH agonist protocol for ovarian stimulation
1

Zehra Jamil *, Syeda Sadia Fatima , Rehana Rehman , Faiza Alam , Sara Arif

Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

Intern, Civil Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
*Correspondence: zehra.jamil@aku.edu
2

Anti Mullerian hormone (AMH) is gaining place as the most accurate biomarker reflecting
ovarian response to gonadotropins stimulation in Assisted Reproductive Technology.
Therefore, we evaluated its correlation with oocytes retrieval after long GnRH agonist
protocol of stimulation, in 20 to 35 years and 35 to 43 years old infertile population.
Furthermore, we compared the strength of AMH and Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in
discriminating between good and poor response to ovarian stimulation.
Methodology: This retrospective analysis compiles the data of 166 infertile females, receiving
IVF with ICSI treatment from June 2014 to March 2015. Serum samples taken on days 3 were
assessed for Follicle Stimulating hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), Estadiol and
AMH. Antral follicle count (AFC) was evaluated on trans-vaginal ultrasound. Outcomes were
measured as good responder (oocyte count of 5 to 19) and bad responder (less than 5
oocytes).
Results: ROC analysis revealed higher discriminatory power of AMH (AUROC; 0.771; p < 0.05)
in comparison to FSH (AUROC; 0.692; p < 0.05) and AFC (AUROC; 0.690; p < 0.01) in predicting
the responder groups. AMH reported stronger association with the number of oocytes
retrieved while comparing with FSH and AFC (odds ratio of 15.06, 4.12 and 0.81 respectively).
In our population, AMH cut-off value of 1.37ng/ml was calculated with a specificity of 75% and
a sensitivity of 90%. Subgroup analysis reported 68.6 % risk of bad response in patients with
AMH levels of less than 1.37ng/ml. This association was observed more significant in young
infertile patients <35 year of age (r=0.245; p=0.012) than older population >35 year (r=0.169;
p>0.05).
Conclusion: This is the first study to report a cut-off value for AMH in Pakistani population that
may predict the ovarian response to long GnRH protocol. We confirm that correlation of AMH
with oocytes retrieval is superior to age of patient or FSH, particularly in younger infertile
population. Therefore we suggest incorporation of AMH evaluation as a baseline assessment
of infertile females that are falsely advised to postpone infertility interventions based on their
age and normal FSH levels.

Zehra Jamil is a Senior Instructor of Anatomy at the Department of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi. She has been working on the role of various
biomarkers such as Anti Mullerian hormone in assessing the ovarian reserve and predicting
the outcomes of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Prospective collaborators may discuss
their research possibilities at zehra.jamil@aku.edu.

17

Interleukin-18 and its association with metabolic syndrome

1

Syeda Sadia Fatima *, Daniyal Nadeem , Ahmed Ansari , Zara Bashir

Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
*Correspondence: sadia.fatima@aku.edu
2

Background: Cytokines have been implicated as pathophysiological link for causing lipid
derangements and insulin resistance. We aimed to assess the levels of one such cytokine
Interlukin-18 and identify its association with metabolic syndrome phenotypes.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 180 healthy individuals from the
waiting areas of outpatient department of Aga Khan University. They were divided into three
groups (n=60 each). Group A: normal weight (18.0-22.9 kg/m2), Group B: overweight (23.025.9 kg/m2), Group C: obese (>26.0 kg/m2) according to South Asian criteria of BMI. Fasting
blood glucose (FBG), Lipid profile, Insulin, IL-18 and TNF were measured using
commercially available kits, whereas LDL-cholesterol, Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and
insulin sensitivity (QUICKI) were calculated by formula. The body fat percentage (BF) was
measured using Diagnostic Scale BG55 (Beurer Germany) through bioelectrical impedance
analysis. Student t test, One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlation (r)
were used, where a p-values <0.05 were considered significant.
Results: In an aged matched apparently healthy cohort, obese subjects had higher levels of
FBG, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL as compared to normal weight subjects
(p<0.001). Remarkably no differences were observed for the HDL levels between groups
(Group A: 39.96 9.38 mg/dl; Group B: 38.37 8.00 mg/dl; Group C: 36.40 6.40 mg/dl). IL18 and TNF levels showed an increasing trend with the highest levels seen in Group C (IL-18:
58.87 8.59 ng/L) (TNF: 4581.93 2132.05 pg/ml). An independent strong positive
correlation of IL18 with BMI (r= 0.751), WHR (r= 0.695), FBG (r= 0.559), Insulin (r= 0.655), HOMA-IR (r=
0.699), QUICKI (r= -0.600), Cholesterol (r= 0.514), and TNF- (r= 0.577) while a moderate
correlation for LDL (r= 0.464) and BF (r= 0.454) were seen after multiple adjustments
(p<0.01).
Conclusion: This preliminary data suggests that raised Interluekin-18 levels might cause low
grade inflammation, exacerbated by increased TNF-. These changes lead to development of
insulin resistance and deranged lipid metabolism and/or storage. Further longitudinal
studies exploring the possible underlying mechanism are required to substantiate these
findings.

Key words: Metabolic Syndrome, Interleukin 18, Obesity, Body Fat, HDL, LDL, Insulin
Syeda Sadia Fatima is working as a Senior Instructor at the Aga Khan University Hospital. She
holds M.B.B.S., MPhil degrees and is currently pursuing her PhD in molecular physiology. Her
research focuses on genetic and adipocytokine factors, unique to Pakistani population in
respect to metabolic syndrome.

18

Green synthesis of silver nanobeads using annual meadow grass (Poa

annua)
Mehmooda Bibi, Shahid Waseem*
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad-45320, Pakistan
*Correspondence: swaseem92@yahoo.com
Nanobiotechnology is an emerging field which has vast applications in biomedicine. Various
biological materials are used in green synthesis of nanobeads from precursor inorganic salts.
Green synthesis of nanobeads render them safe and eco-friendly. This is the first report of
using annual meadow grass (Poa annua) in the green synthesis of silver nanobeads from silver
nitrate. Phytochemical analysis of Poa annua through gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry, reduction power assay and total flavonoid and phenolic contents depicted
ample quantities of reductant materials including flavonoids, phenols and alkaloids which are
essential in bioreduction of precursor salts. We characterized generic silver nanobeads
through UV-visible spectroscopy, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction
and scanning electron microscopy. Hydrodynamic diameter of silver nanobeads was found to
be 67 nm. Silver nanobeads synthesized by this method are biocompatible as they exhibited
biomaterials of the grass on their surface. Poa annua is a potent species for green synthesis of
silver nanobeads, with potential applications for other nanomaterials.
Keywords: Nanobiotechnology, Poa annua, reductant material,silver nanobeads

19

Antiovarion antibodies concentrations: a contributory factor causing

infertility
Mehwish David, Javadia Shafq, Natasha Iftikhar, Hizb Ullah, Sarwat Jahan*
Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: sjahan@qau.edu.pk
In the present population study, seventeen fertile and sixty-five infertile (Premature ovarian
failure (POF), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), idiopathic, endometriosis) female subjects
were included. Blood samples were collected from each subject and plasma was separated by
centrifugation and stored at -20C. Plasma concentration of antiovarian antibodies (AOA),
Luteinizing hormone (LH), Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), Prolactin (PRL) and estrogen
(E2) were estimated by EIA. Significantly high (P<0.001) AOA levels were found in infertile
subjects with POF, whereas AOA levels were non significantly (P>0.05) different in subjects
with PCOS, endometriosis or idiopathic, as compared to fertile group. FSH, LH and PRL
concentrations were significantly higher (P<0.05) in infertile women as compared to fertile
women, while E2 levels were significant low (P<0.05) in women with POF and PCOS. AOA
concentrations showed significant (P<0.0001) positive correlation with FSH and significant
negative correlation (P<0.0001) with E2 in patients with POF. These findings suggest that
measurement of AOA may be an additional marker for human female infertility. Together with
levels of reproductive hormones, measurements of AOA may contribute additional marker for
human female infertility. Thus, testing for the presence or absence of antiovarian antibody in
women prior to acceptance into the IVF-ET program should be recommended, as this would
help to counsel the patients regarding the reproductive outcome of IVF.
Key words: Infertility, Human Female, Invitro fertilization, estrogen, prolactin.

20

Reciprocal relation of Fetuin A and Beta Crosslaps with bone health

1

Faiza Alam , Alizeh Abbas , Muhammad Abdullah , Sana Shah , Syed Arish Haider , Syeda Sadia
1
Fatima *
1

Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan
Medical College, Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan
*Correspondence: faiza.alam@aku.edu
2

Background: Over 90% of the Pakistani population being vitamin D deficient contributes
tremendously to annually increasing trend of osteoporosis worldwide. Fetuin-A is one of the
bone turnover markers which play a dynamic role in improving bone health. Similarly, serum
beta Crosslaps (CTx) is a sensitive marker of bone resorption. This study aimed to correlate
serum levels of Fetuin-A and CTx with bone health in healthy females.

Methods: Total of 115 females of ages between 20 to 60 years were recruited in this crosssectional study from Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi. They were grouped as A & B
on the basis of bone mass density (BMD) T score >-1 and <-1, respectively. Anthropometric
measurements were recorded and BMD was calculated by ultrasound bone densitometer
(considering T-score 1 as normal). Serum was analyzed for bone minerals, Vitamin D, CTX
and Fetuin A. Data was analyzed statistically by SPSS 21, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's
correlation (r) were applied where p value <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: The complete cohort showed normal calcium levels while a low level of vitamin D
was observed (P>0.05). Interestingly, both serum Fetuin-A and CTx levels were found high in
group B as compared to group A (p<0.001). Serum Fetuin (r=-0.718, p<0.001) and CTx (r=0.756, p<0.001) depicted negative correlation with BMD % and BMI, while their levels were
positively associated to each other (r=0.481, p<0.001).
Discussion: Low values of BMD T-score (less than -1) are associated with high levels of
Fetuin A in our female population. Raised Fetuin A in the presence of low vitamin D and high
CTx, suggests that serum Fetuin A does not reflect increased bone turnover. Further
experiments are required to validate the role of Fetuin A in bone mineralization.

Faiza Alam is a Senior Instructor at the Aga Kahn University, Karachi, Pakistan. Her research
focuses on obesity and its link with nutritional deficiencies. Currently she is working on
identifying prevalence along with genetic and non-genetic causes of obesity and their effect on
health status. The goal is to identify biomarkers and cut-off values of body fat and body mass
index in pregnant Pakistani population. Non-communicable disease being her interest
domain, she is also working on causes of Infertility among females of Pakistan.

21

Identification of disease causing genes in families with congenital

nephrotic syndrome
1

Madiha Shakoor *, Farkhanda Hafeez Shahida Parveen , Faiza Noor , Ali Amar , Aiysha Abid ,
1
Shagufta Khaliq
1

Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation,
Karachi, Pakistat
3
Department of Pediatric Nephrology, The Children Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
2

*Correspondence: khaliq.shagufta@gmail.com

Congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS) is a rare autosomal recessive kidney disorder which may
present at birth or develop within 3 months of life. It is caused by increased permeability of the
glomerular capillary wall for macromolecules resulting in heavy proteinuria, hypoproteinemia,
hypercholesterolemia, lipiduria, and edema. Many proteins have a highly specialized role in the
functioning and maintenance of podocytes present in slit diaphragm; the key cell of filtration
barrier. Majority cases of CNS are caused by genetic defects in the podocyte expressed proteins.
Genetic linkage studies have identified several genes involved in the development of nephrotic
syndrome. A European study has reported ~85% of cases of CNS having mutations in NPHS1,
NPHS2, WT1, LAMB2 genes whereas remaining 15% of cases are genetically uncharacterized.
Therefore, further studies are needed to be carried out to identify the unknown disease causing
genes involved in the remaining cases. The aim of this study was to identify the loci/genes (NPHS1,
NPHS2, WT1, LAMB2, PLCE1, ARHGDIA) involved in the pathogenesis of CNS in our population by
linkage analysis and to identify the mutations in the candidate genes through sequence analysis.
15 families affected with CNS were recruited for this study. With
informed consent, blood samples from patients and their healthy family members were collected
from pediatric nephrology department of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation
(SIUT), Karachi and Children Hospital, Lahore. For linkage analysis DNA was extracted and
genomic DNA of all participating families was amplified by using STR markers for each gene locus.
PCR products were then resolved on 8% non-denaturing poly-acrylamide gel and genotypes were
made by assigning the allele numbers. Haplotype were then constructed from the obtained data to
find the linkage through homozygosity mapping. Five families showing homozygosity for the
NPHS1 gene locus were then subjected to sequence analysis. NPHS1 gene was found to be the most
prevalent gene in the pathogenesis of CNS in our population. As in this study three missense
(c.3047G>A, c.791C>G, c.3544A>G) one non sense (c.3478C>T) and a duplication mutation
(c.2673dupCA) were identified in 5 families with CNS. In-silico analyses by a most widely used
pathogenicity prediction tools SIFT, POLYPHEN, and MUTATION ASSESSOR predicted the possible
damaging nature of these mutations whereas, MSA showed their conservation across the species.
Structural modeling using the I-TASSER protein modelling server demonstrated the position and
effects of these mutations on different domains of nephrin protein which play a crucial role in the
structural and functional integrity of slit diaphragm.

Keywords:
Congenital nephrotic syndrome Podocyte Linkage analysis Sangar Sequencing In silico analysia

22

Is antimullerian hormone (AMH) a true ovarian marker for fibroiod, PCOS,

and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in infertile women?
Benish Farooq, Sarwat Jahan*, Quratul Ain, Ghazala Shaheen, Hizb Ullah
Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: sjahan@qau.edu.pk
This study was designed to measure Anti mullerian hormone (AMH) concentration as a true
ovarian marker in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fibroids and hypogonadotropic
hypogonadism including blocked tubes, endometriosis, and unexplained primary and
secondary infertile female patients.
Study design & subjects: This study was prospective and performed in department of animal
sciences and Salma & Kafeel medical center F-7/4 Islamabad. Seventy seven female patients
were included. Infertile women were further divided in to seven groups and compared with
fertile women.
Results: Significant increase (p < 0.001, p < 0.01) of AMH concentrations in PCOS and
unexplained secondary infertile group were observed. Whereas significant decreased (p <
0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.05) were found in fibroids, HH, endometriosis and blocked tubes.
High significant increase of LH, FSH concentrations (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively) was
also observed in endometriosis. In unexplained secondary infertility, significant decreased (p
< 0.05) of prolactin concentration was observed. High significant negative correlation
between AMH and LH, FSH, prolactin (R = -1, p < 0.001; R = p < 0.001 and R = p < 0.001,
respectively) was observed in HH and endometriosis. Whereas, high significant negative
correlation between AMH and prolactin (R = -1, p < 0.001) was also observed in fibroids.
Conclusion: It was concluded that AMH is a true ovarian marker in PCOS, fibroids,
hypogonadotropic hypogonadism infertile female patients and reproductive tool to measure
infertility.

Keywords: Infertility, AMH, PCOS, Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism, Fibroids,

Endometriosis.

23

Design of polymeric nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery

1

Gul Shahnaz *, Irshad Hussain , Muhammad Farhan Sohail , Nadeem Irfan Bukhari
1

Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad,

45320, Pakistan.
2
Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management
Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
3
University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
*Correspondence: gshahnaz@qau.edu.pk
In the past years, tremendous endeavors have been intended for the development of
nanocarriers for controlled and targeted drug delivery systems because of their potentialities
to carry multifunctional properties. However, few of the nanocarriers have achieved most
favorable outcomes, due to a poor intracellular trafficking process and/or inefficient drug
release at the site of action. By the immobilization of thiol groups (-SH) on the multifunctional
polymeric backbone this essential shortcoming can be overcome. Therefore, hybrid folate
grafted thiolated polymer modified liposomes nanocarriers with docetaxel (DTX) were
synthesized as therapeutic strategy for breast cancer targeting. Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy tests confirmed the synthesis of hybird modified nanocarriers. The hybird
modified nanocarriers were spherical shaped with particle size 328.5 0.3 nm, polydispersity
0.372 0.004, and positive zeta potential 18.8 2.5. Moreover, powder X-ray diffraction
(XRD), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) revealed the amorphous form of DTX
inside hybird modified nanocarriers. This hybird modified nanocarriers based oral drug
delivery system showed a promising potential by enhancing the oral bioavailability of DTX to
several folds and formulation can release DTX n a controlled manner within therapeutic
window for above 96h after single oral administration. In vitro cytotoxicity studies indicated
that hybird modified nanocarriers could efficiently kill MDMB-231 breast cancer cells and
show a many-fold greater efficacy than native drug. It is suggested that this improved uptake
was likely due to permeation enhancement, improved mucoadhesion and p-gp inhibition
activity of hybird modified nanocarriers envelope which was further supported by the lipid
bilayer of liposomes to deliver drug across the plasma membrane in a better way. Thus the
designed hybird modified nanocarriers might turn to be a valuable system in term of stability,
enhanced intestinal permeation and improved bioavailability of hydrophobic anticancer
drugs along with better targeting.

Gul Shahnaz is an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology, at the Department of

Pharmacy, Quaid-i-University, Pakistan. She is a member of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences,
and a former UNESCO-LOreal fellow. She is interested in controlled and targeted delivery of
nanomedicine for Infectious and cancer diseases.

24

Association of TRAIL and NF-kappaB pathways in prostate cancer

Sidra Bukhari and Mariam Anees*
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: mariamanees@yahoo.com
Prostate is the most common cancer among men. TRAIL (Tumor Necrosis Factor Related
Apoptosis Inducing Ligand) has been widely considered as therapeutic agent in many cancers
due to its apoptosis inducing role. NF-B is the transcription factor having many effects that
helps in tumorigenesis, such as the inhibition of apoptosis, metastasis and angiogenesis. This
study was conducted to see the associations of NF-B with TRAIL in prostate cancer and there
correlation with clinical parameters. Prostate Tissue samples were paraffinized and
microtomy was performed for histological slide preparation. Immunohistochemistry was
used to determine the expression of TRAIL components and NF-B. Standard
immunohistochemistry protocol was followed in which samples were incubated with the
polyclonal antibodies of DR4, DR5, FLIPL, TRAIL, DcR1, DcR2 and NF-B. The results indicated
an upregulated expression of epithelial TRAIL, decoy receptors, FLIPL and NF-B in tumors
samples. While the expression of stromal TRAIL and death receptors were low in tumors
tissues. We saw a negative correlation between stromal TRAIL and epithelial TRAIL
expressions with statistical difference of <0.05. Loss of decoy receptors was observed with
increase in age which also affected survival of patients. FLIPL expression was higher in the
tumors as compared to benign prostate cancer. Ki-67 showed significantly higher difference in
tumors than benign tissues. There was a strong significant correlation of NF-B expression
and proliferation marker Ki-67. Interestingly we observed a strong co-expression of DcR2 and
NF-B in tumors. Kaplain Meier survival analysis was used to determine the survival rate in
prostate cancer with respect to NF-B expression. Worst survival was seen in patients having
positive NF-B expression (p=0.01). To summarize, high NF-B expression was observed in
tumor samples, which showed strong co-expression with DcR2. Keeping in view the role of
NF-B in cellular survival, some alternate targeting approach may be sought involving DcR2
linked inhibition of NF-B which could control tumor growth and proliferation.

Mariam Anees is an Assistant Professor working on Molecular Cancer Therapeutics in the

Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, since 2012. She worked on
prostate cancer biology during her PhD studies in the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. In
2010, she became the first Pakistani to receive the Austrian Life Science Award for her
research publication regarding prostate cancer prognosis. She is working on the molecular
mechanisms governing cellular survival and apoptosis in context of tumorigenesis. Her
research interests are molecular signal transduction and the crosstalk of various signaling
pathways. She could be reached at mariam@qau.edu.pk

25

DNA integrity as molecular biomarker of genotoxic effect of pesticides in

Cyprinus carpio
Faiza Ambreen*, Muhammad Javed , Ummara Batool
Laboratories of Toxicology, Fisheries Research Farms, Department of Zoology, Wildlife and
Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: faiza_zool@yahoo.com
Eco-toxicity is the science of studying the effects of pesticides that get into the natural
environment and affect the non-target animals. Environmental biomarkers are sensitive
enough, easily and rapidly assayed, respond in a time and dose-dependent manner and valid
for the species concerned. In the present study, molecular biomarker 'DNA integrity' has been
studied as dose dependent and time dependent responses of Cyprinus carpio after exposure to
binary mixture of pesticides (bifenthrin-chlorpyrifos). The fish were exposed to four different
sub-lethal concentrations of pesticide mixture viz. 16, 20, 25 and 33% of 96-hr LC50 along
with negative and positive control groups for a period of one month at constant laboratory
th
conditions. Fish peripheral blood erythrocytes were sampled on day 15 and 30th of exposure
for the assessment of DNA damage. Genotoxic effect of mixture was determined in terms of
percentage of damaged nuclei in the peripheral blood erythrocytes of fish. Statistically
significant effects (p<0.05) for both concentration and time of exposure were observed in
treated and control fish. The level of DNA damage in terms of percentage of damaged nuclei
th
was significantly higher on day 30 of exposure at all sub-lethal concentrations as compared to
th
15 day. The observed results of this study confirmed that pesticide mixture does produce
effect on DNA molecule and alter the DNA stability or integrity by breaking the DNA strands.
DNA strand breaks may cause changes or mutation in DNA which can interfere with
replication, transcription and translation process thereby produces mutants and code for
abnormal proteins. This study also confirmed that the comet assay is a useful tool for assessing
the genotoxic potential of waterborne pollutants and might be appropriate as a part of
environmental monitoring programs in future.

Key Words: Pesticide, Comet assay, Cyprinus carpio

Faiza Ambreen is a student of PhD Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries in the University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Handling HEC funded research project in the field of
Genetic Toxicology and first author of three research papers which are published in Pakistan
Journal of Zoology and Pakistan journal of Animal and Plant Sciences.

26

Sporadic early onset colorectal cancer in Pakistan: A case-control analysis

of molecular characteristics
Sabeehuddin Siddique, Sobia Rafiq, Ahmed Raheem, Rashida Ahmed, Munira Shabbir-Moosajee
and Kulsoom Ghias*
Agha Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
*Correspondence: kulsoom.ghias@aku.edu
Early onset sporadic CRC is hypothesized to exhibit differences in terms of clinical outcome,
histological features and microsatellite instability (MSI) status as compared to late onset CRC.
This objective of our study was to compare the histological and molecular characteristics of
early onset (45 years; cases) sporadic colorectal cancers with typical onset (>45 years;
controls) sporadic colorectal cancers.MSI analysis of the tumor samples from 30 cases and 30
controls was done using the Bethesda panel consisting of 2 mononucleotide markers (BAT25
& BAT26) and 3 dinucleotide markers (DS123, D5S346 & D17S250). Immunohistochemical
staining was also done on these samples to test for mismatch repair deficiency using
antibodies hMLH1, hMSH2 & hMSH6. Molecular analysis revealed MSI-H and MSI-L in 11/30
(36.7%) and 7/30 (23.3%) cases, respectively, as compared to 6/30 (20%) and 8/30 (26.7%)
controls. Immunohistochemical staining for mismatch repair deficiency in MSI-H samples
showed lack of hMLH1 expression in 81.8% cases versus 50% controls, lack of hMSH2 in
90.9% cases versus 50% controls and lack of hMSH6 in 63.6% cases versus 33.3% controls.
Preliminary analysis suggests clinicopathological and microsatellite status is comparable
between early and typical onset CRC patients.

27

Socio-economic impacts of waste water irrigation and heavy metals

accumulation in crops
Shameem Raja
Department of Botany, Govt College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: shameempbg@yahoo.com
Water scarcity is one of the main constraints for crop production in many countries.
Consequently, wastewater is often used for irrigation, especially in peri urban areas. One of the
drawbacks in applying waste water is heavy metal pollution in the soil and water along with
their entrance in food chain. The studies were conducted to assess the socio-economic
impacts of wastewater irrigation and to obtain information about the reasons behind its
application from the farmers' perspective, and role of females in farming. This study also
sought to analyze the accumulation of heavy metals in wastewater, canal water, underground
water, soil and crops irrigated with waste water. Two contrasting views were observed in the
farmers about wastewater irrigation. Over 90% preferred to use wastewater due to its low
cost and nutrient load. In contrast, they were also largely of the opinion that wastewater
irrigation had serious negative effects on human health and the quality of the groundwater.
Though farmers were well aware of negative effects, they opted to use it for lowering the cost
of production and the scarcity of canal water. Applying waste water was considered the
cheapest alternate of manure/fertilizer for the prevailing mixed cropping patterns of wheat,
rice, vegetables, sugarcane and fodder. About 16% of the interviewer females help their males
in farming. The analysis of waste water, ground water, and canal water showed the
accumulation of Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni and P more than the recommended threshold limits. None of
these water sources was found to be safe for irrigation due to heavy metals pollution.
Therefore, wastewater irrigated crops and vegetables were also analyzed to determine their
levels of heavy metals accumulation. Concentrations of Cr, Mn, Zn and Pb were observed more
than safe limits in all the analyzed vegetables (spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard leaves
and round gourd) and crops (berseem, sorghum, maize, rice, wheat, lucerne, sugarcane). This
study showed that farmers are sacrificing not only their own health but also the consumers of
these crops and vegetables by irrigation with waste water and the main reason for this option
is their economic condition while living below the poverty line.

Keywords: Peri urban agriculture, waste water, health hazards.

28

Evaluation of chemopreventive and anti-leukemic activity of Ocimum

basilicum and Thymus vulgaris crude extract and fractions in benzene
induced leukemic rats.
Touseef Rehan, Hadiya Batool, Rabia Ghafoor, M Usman Tareen, Aneesa Sultan
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad-45320. Pakistan
*Correspondence: aneesa@qau.edu.pk
The need to develop safe, effective and targeted drugs against cancer still exists despite heaps
of research being done during the past decade. Keeping in mind the phenomenal attributes of
medicinal plants, this study was designed to evaluate the anti-leukemic and chemopreventive
activity of Ocimum Basilicum and Thymus vulgaris by exploring particular compounds or
functional groups which render these plants important against cancer and also to suggest
their mechanisms against cancerous cells. This objective was achieved by isolating the organic
compounds from crude extract by column chromatography, identification via FTIR analysis
and by estimating the effect of these compounds in benzene induced leukemic rats.
Concentration of TNF- was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in all
rats. 11 fractions were obtained by using ethyl acetate/n-hexane solvent system in column
chromatography. Some of the fractions of Ocimum basilicum had a significant effect on weight
of organs, differential count and level of TNF-. Weight of liver was significantly decreased in
rats administered with benzene and compounds having C-H stretch (alkane) etc as compared
to rats given benzene only. Our results also imply that same compounds caused a significant
increase in monocyte and neutrophil differential count (%) as compared to normal healthy
rats. Level of TNF- was found to be significantly higher in rats which were given compounds
isolated by 70%ethyl acetate and 30%n-hexane solvent system. Thymus vulgaris crude extract
and Fractions2 to 10 with different percentage composition of n-hexane/ethyl acetate and
characteristic functional groups most importantly Fraction9 restored changes caused by
benzene and exhibited profound immunotherapeutic and leukemia suppressor activities by
strongly up-regulating TNF- concentration as a possible mechanism of apoptosis in benzene
induced leukemic rats. There still remains a need to characterize these functional groups and
to explore the anti-leukemic properties of these organic compounds by confirming these
effects on cell lines which will help in designing sophisticated and efficacious drugs in the
future.

Aneesa Sultan is Assistant Professor at Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam

University, Islamabad. The research in her lab is focussed on Cancer Genetics. She can be
contacted on her email address aneesa@qau.edu.pk

29

Enhanced cadmium accumulation and nutrient acquisition in Triticum

aestivum and Avena sativa grown in phosphorous fertilized soil
Numrah Nisar*, Hina Chaudhry, Zaira Ahmad, Fakhira Aslam, Zahra Asghar, Saima Atif, Arifa
Tahir
Lahore College for Women University
*Correspondence: numrahnisar@gmail.com
Phosphorus fertilizers have varying concentrations of Cadmium (Cd) as well as other trace
metals. Periodic use of these fertilizers on crops may lead to the accumulation of Cd in the soil
that can be taken up by the plants grown on them. Following the three phases of xenobiotics
metabolism, Cd after getting reduced and mobilised finally gets accumulated into the grains of
crops (T. aestivum and A. sativa) and conjugate to the lingocellulosic fibres of these grains.
These toxic metals finally gain entry to the human body on their consumption. For this, two
commonly used crops (T. aestivum and A. sativa) and phosphorus fertilizers. Seedlings (14
days old) of wheat (T. aestivum) and Oats (A. sativa) were grown in a native soil fertilised by
phosphorus (fertilised for 2 months before cultivation) until the onset of grains. Treatments
consisted of phosphorus (available NPK) fertiliser sources containing 5, 50, 100, 150, 300 mg
Cd /Kg P which yielded to 0.05, 1.7, 4.25, 10.23 g Cd /ha yr. These treatments were repeated by
varying pH of the soil induced by saline-sodic treatments. The surface soil (0-20 cm) showed
that the total extractable Cd, Zn, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and phosphorus (PO43-)
were also measured. Analysis of plants showed that as the concentration of Cd increased in the
grains and the amount of Zn decreased simultaneously with high phosphorus fertilizers. The
pH has significant effect on the root shoot biomass growth in case of both species, with the
increase in pH (> 9) of soil the biomass significantly reduced; however, the decrease in pH (< 4)
also reduced the biomass growth. The Cd and Zn concentrations were reduced in plants at
alkaline pH (9-11). NH4NO3- extractable Cd in the soil also increased with the increase in
phosphorus fertilizers. Therefore, the concentration of Cd and Zn in the grains of both T.
aestivum and A sativa was significantly dependent on phosphorus fertilizers in the soil.

30

Distribution and migration patterns of plants in northern irrigated plains

of Pakistan in response to climate change
Arifa Tahir , Sidrah Minhas
Environmental Science Department, Lahore College For Women University Lahore
*Correspondence: arifa.tahir@gmail.com
The research work was carried out to evaluate the probable changes in the flora of Pakistan
due to briskly changing climate. The detailed study of existing and past climate reveled that
Climate change is affecting, directly or indirectly to the flora , its habitats and leading it to
migrate and in most severe cases, even extinction. There is a high degree of confidence that
these changes will be significantly, affecting almost all species, ecosystems and landscapes.
The first phase of this research comprised of detail account of the edaphic characteristics and
a brief study of metrological conditions of the Northern Irrigated Plains of Punjab. Extensive
documental study of the existing and past flora of this ecological zone was also studied.
To understand the nature and extent of the impacts of climate change on the flora, the second
phase of the research included a closed environment experiment on the three plant species
Ficus religiosa (Peepal), Rosa berberifolia (Gulab) and Morus nigra (Shatoot). These plants
were kept in a glass container and subjected to elevated temperature using thermal bulbs. To
complete the natural phenomena of global warming increased Green House Gases (GHG) were
also released in the glass container. The main GHG used were CO2, SOX, NOX and CH4. The
major emphasis was on the analysis of physical changes of the plants and the compositional
changes in the soil. The key parameters analyzed for plants were Nitrogen, Sulfur, Carbon,
Phosphorous, Magnesium and Potassium. It was concluded that the Nitrogen and the sulfur
accumulation in the plants were extremely high (affecting the color of the leaves), with the
increase in the temperature levels the Plants shed their leaves and only the stems remained.
The plants of most areas of different ecological zones are migrating towards favorable
environmental conditions most of these are moving towards elevated areas.
Climate change model was developed for Northern Irrigated Zone of the Punjab Pakistan
based on the Past and present climatic data collected from the Metrological department of
Lahore Pakistan.

31

Neuregulin 3 gene intronic polymorphisms RS10883866, RS6584400,

RS1937970 and RS677221 in patients with schizophrenia
1

Osheen Sajjad , Sumira Qambar Bokhari , Ali Ammar , Aiman Shehzad , Syed Mohsin Naqvi ,
3
Saqib Mahmood *.
1

Allied Health Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Lahore.

Department of Psyciatry, Services Hospital, Lahore.
3
Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore.
*Correspondence: sqb_medgen@yahoo.com
2

Schizophrenia is a disease presenting with insufficiencies in thought processes, perceptions,

and emotional responsiveness. The disease has an onset usually in late adolescence or early
adulthood. It is diagnosed clinically by psychiatric analysis and by observing patients
abnormal social behaviour. There are no laboratory tests or specific biomarkers that can be
used to make a diagnosis of this disease. Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the people
with a prevalence of 4.0 per 1,000 persons. The incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia
differs across the world population and affects men and women equally although males are
reported to have an earlier onset of disease and present with more severe disease process than
females.
Symptoms of schizophrenia are classified into two broad groups; positive and negative
symptoms. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disorders in thoughts and
behaviour that is bizarre. Negative symptoms usually include social withdrawal, loss of
focused attention, loss of emotions, impaired thoughts, impaired speech and difficulty in
cognition. Definite etiology of developing Schizophrenia has not been determined but a
number of risk factors for developing this disease have been suggested. Abnormal
neurodevelopment, genetic predisposition and environmental factors are considered to be
the main factors associated with this disease.
NRG3 gene is present on the long arm of chromosome 10 and belongs to Neuregulin family.
NRG3 is a growth factor that binds to the extracellular domain of ERBB4 receptor tyrosine
kinase and controls the proliferation, differentiation, and migration of neural progenitor cells.
The association of NRG3 gene and its SNPs with Schizophrenia has been documented in
various populations.
The aim of the study was to find the NRG3 gene polymorphisms i.e. rs10883866, rs6584400,
rs1937970 and rs677221 in Schizophrenic patients (n=144) and then compared with healthy
controls (n=144). Blood samples were taken after the informed consent from patients and the
controls followed by DNA extraction. SNPs were analysed by PCR-RFLP and ARMS-PCR.
Statistical analysis, allele frequencies, genetic modelling, and linkage disequilibrium and
haplotype analysis was done on the observed data. No significant association of these NRG3
gene polymorphisms was found with the risk of the disease in the present study.
Keywords:
Schizophrenia Neuregulin 3, Linkage Disequilibrium, Genetic modelling

32

Antioxidant and phytochemical studies of Crotalaria burhia, Alhagi

maurorum, Heliotropium crispum and Dipterygium glaucum
1

Iram Fatima , Urooj Niaz , Tariq Mahmood , Faiz-ul-Hassan Nasim

1

Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Department of Biology, Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
3
Department of Biochemistry, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: iramfatima46@yahoo.com
2

Antioxidants acts as a defense mechanism that protects against oxidative damage caused by
free radicals produced in the body. Plants are source of medication for curative, preventive or
protective purposes. In present studies, antioxidant activity and qualitative phytochemical
tests of four species of Cholistan desert was done with five different solvents i.e. methanol,
ethanol, acetone, n-hexane and water. Antioxidant activity was studied by DPPH free radical
essay. The samples were reacted with the stable DPPH radical in an ethanol solution. The
reaction mixture consisted of adding 5 L of sample, 95 L of DPPH radical solution 0.5 mM in
ethanol. The changes in color (from deep violet to light yellow) were read absorbance at 517
nm after 100 min of reaction using ELISA. The mixture of ethanol and sample serve as blank.
The control solution was prepared by mixing ethanol and DPPH radical solution. Vitamin C
was used as a standard antioxidant which showed 91.23% inhibition. Among five different
extracts, good radical scavenging activity was possessed by ethanolic and methanolic extracts
of all species followed by acetone and water extracts. However, n-hexane extracts showed
poor radical scavenging activity. Overall, the comparative analysis of species revealed that
Crotolaria burhia showed maximum radical scavenging activity and Heliotropium crispum and
Dipterygium glaucum showed moderate activity while Alhagi maurorum showed poor activity.
Moreover, the qualitative analysis of these species revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins
and steroids in ethanolic, methanolic, acetone and water extracts while n-hexane extracts
confirmed the presence of flavonoids in all species respectively. The secondary metabolites
identified in the respective plants may be responsible for their biological activity. Hence, all of
the selected plant species can be used as a potential source of antioxidant in pharmaceutical
industries.

Iram Fatima is a Ph.D student at Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology under
the supervision of Dr. Tariq Mehmood in Quaid-e-azam University, Islamabad. She completed
her M.phil from Islamia University of Bahawalpur and have two years experience of teaching
as well as conducting research in Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur.
She also once presented her poster entitled Comparison of antibacterial potential from
different herbs and shrubs of family Solanaceae in 12th International Conference of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology--IUB, Pakistan.

33

Study of phytochemicals, antioxidant and antiurease activity of Panicum

antidotale Retz., Festuca glauca Lam., Lasiurus scindicus Henr. and
Stipagrostis plumusa L. (Poaceae)
1

Bushra Arif *, Iram Fatima *, Faiz-ul-Hassan Nasim and Sanober

1

Department of Biology, Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
3
Department of Biochemistry, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: vcbvnnb@gmail.com; iramfatima46@yahoo.com
2

The present study was based on two pharmacological activities i.e. antioxidant activity and
antiurease activity of four species belonging to family Poaceae viz., Panicum antidotale Retz.,
Festuca glauca Lam., Lasiurus scindicus Henr. and Stipagrostis plumusa L. and their respective
phytochemical components. The qualitative analysis of four plants confirmed the presence of
flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, saponins and cardiac glycosides in almost all plant extracts
made with five different solvents i.e. methanol, ethanol, acetone, n-hexane and water.
Antioxidant activity of plants was studied by DPPH free radical assay. Vitamin C was used as a
standard antioxidant which showed 86.407% inhibition. Overall, good radical scavenging
activity was observed in methanolic exracts of F. glauca (71%), L. scindicus (71%), S. plumusa
(51%), ethanolic extracts of F. glauca (71%), P. antidotale (51%), L. scindicus (45%) and water
extract of S. plumusa (59%). Antiurease activity was determined by Berthlot (phenol
hypochlorite) method and thiourea was used as a standard antiurease which showed 91.74%
net inhibition. Methanol, ethanol and water extracts of these species showed slight antiurease
activity while acetone and n-hexane fractions of these plants possessed no activity. Hence,
results revealed that the selected species can be used as source of useful drugs in the
treatment of many diseases and can also be exploited for the use in the pharmaceutical
industries.

Bushra Arif has completed her BS. Honours in Botany and got distinction from Islamia
University of Bahawalpur and has one year experience of conducting research in Government
Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur.

34

Zinc removal and recovery by Paecilomyces formosus from aqueous

solution: Biosorbent characterization and equilibrium modeling
1

Kiran Aftab , Kalsoom Akhtar , Abida Kousar , Rikza Zahid

1.

Government College for Women University, Faisalabad.

National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad.
*Correspondence: kiranaftab@gcwuf.edu.pk
2.

Zinc sequestration capacity of locally isolated Paecilomyces formosus DTO 63f4 were studied as
a function of pH, temperature, pulp density, contact time and initial metal ion concentration.
The maximum zinc uptake was found to be 199.62.5 mg g-1 with initial metal concentration
600 mg L-1 at intial pH 5.0 and temperature 282 C. The Freundlich isotherm gave good fits to
equilibrium data with correlation coefficient value of 0.98. The involvement of the functional
groups and lipids to zinc biosorption as identified by chemical pretreatment was in the order: COOH > -OH > -NH2 > lipids. The mechanism of uptake was also studied using Fourier
transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The
biosorbent was regenerated using 0.01 M HCl with 63.6% elution efficiency and was reused
for five sorptiondesorption cycles with 34.9% loss in biosorption capacity. The order of cocations showing increased inhibitions of zinc uptake by A. flavus NA9 was Pb > Cu > Mn > Ni.
The biosorption assays conducted with actual paint industry effluents revealed efficiency of
78.7% for Zn (II) removal by candidate biomass.

35

Evolutionary dynamics in plastomes

Naila Qayyum , Ibrar Ahmed
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: iahmed@qau.edu.pk
Plastids are vital to existence of life on this planet. These cell organelles in plants and fungi
transform light energy into chemical energy. Plastids contain their own copy of a haploid
circular genome, called plastomes, which code for some of the proteins involved in the energy
metabolism. The sequence information contained in plastomes has been excessively used to
infer phylogenetic relationships in plants ranging from recent population-level splits to deep
divergences. Mutations in plastomes have been considered independently and identically
distributed, thus different polymorphic sites are supposed to exhibit equal chances of
polymorphism, without affecting or being affected by other sites. However, recent studies
using sequences of whole chloroplast genomes indicate deviations from this fundamental
principle. Here we test the correlations among substitutions, indels (insertions/deletions),
and oligonucleotide repeats to validate whether these correlations are merely coincidental in
a few families, acquired during the course of evolution in certain lineages (a derived trait), or a
fundamental property of chloroplast genomes in all lineages (a basal trait). We performed a
metadata analysis of plastomes from 80 plant species belonging to 40 families (two species
per family). These plant families, comprising of 7 from gymnosperms and 33 from
angiosperms, came from a wide range of geographical habitats and ecological habits.
Phylogenetic relationships among the selected families were inferred using 16S and 23S
ribosomal DNA sequences. Pair-wise alignment was used in each family to record locations of
substitutions and indels, while the positions of oligonucleotide repeats were recorded in one
of the two genomes in all 40 families. Data were analyzed in non-overlapping bins of 250 bp
throughout the entire length of the genomes. Total number of bins ranged from 456 to 664 for
the selected 40 families. Highly significant correlations were observed for all three
comparisonssubstitutions and indels, indels and oligonucleotide repeats, and oligonucleotide
repeats and substitutionsin most of the comparisons. Our study elaborates that the
correlations among SNPs, indels and repeats are basal to all land plants. Also, the mutations do
not strictly follow the i.i.d. assumption of molecular evolution. These findings have
consequences for maximum likelihood models of molecular evolution.

36

Heat related disorders in employees of oil terminal, Machike

Hina Chaudhry*, Numrah Nisar*, Sidra Naz
Environmental Science Department, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore.
*Correspondence: hinachaudhry.env@hotmail.com; numrah_nisar@hotmail.com
Outdoor operations conducted in hot weather and direct sun, such as farm work, construction,
operations related to oil and gas, asbestos removal, landscaping, emergency response
operations, and hazardous waste site activities. Operations involving high air temperatures,
radiant heat sources, high humidity, direct physical contact with hot objects, or strenuous
physical activities have a high potential for inducing heat stress in employees engaged in such
operations. Every year, thousands of workers become sick from occupational heat exposure,
and some even die. Petroleum products are one of the major kinds of fuel used now a days and
huge numbers of health and safety hazards are related to their handling and transportation.
These hazards affect the workers' health and cause many occupational diseases. The present
study was carried out for identifying physical hazards in the oil terminal. Duration of study
was four months from March to June. The present study was carried out for the purpose of the
assessment high temperature hazard and other occupational health and safety issues in the oil
terminal using survey, questionnaire and checklist methodology. The terminal was located in
small industrial area near Sheikupura, Machike. Heat related disorders were occurring in high
range in the oil terminal in Machike due to high workplace temperature. The study results
revealed that the ambient air temperature (45oC) was significantly high. 38% respondents
reported heat fatigue and 33% respondents reported heat rashes while other included (14%)
heat collapse, (9%) heat cramps, (8%) of heat exhaustion and (3%) of the heat stroke.
Personal protective equipments were sufficiently provided by the oil terminal management
but not worn by the employees. The present study unfolded that oil terminal is occupational
threatening jobsite, which can be extremely hazardous. Hence improvement of worker
attitude towards these hazardous is needed.

Hina Chaudhry is working as Lecturer in Environmental Science Department Lahore College

for Women University. She has research expertise in the field of occupational health and safety,
environmental monitoring and biological conservation studies.

37

Shelf life enhancement of packed meat using local plant extracts

Arifa Tahir , Dania Taqi
Environmental Science Department, Lahore College for Women University Lahore
*Correspondence: arifa.tahir@gmail.com
The objective of this study was to find natural plant extracts with antibacterial capacities that
could be potentially used as natural preservatives in fresh meat. The inhibitory effects of
garlic, turmeric and Moringa oleifera.extracts either alone or in combination on the
microbiological quality of fresh meat during storage at room temperature of 23oC were
investigated. The antimicrobial activity of plant extracts was tested against three bacterial
strains Streptococcus sp, Pseudomonas sp and E.coli using agar well diffusion method. It was
found that widest zone of inhibition (27mm) was formed using garlic extract against
Pseudomonas sp. The results showed that addition of the extracts either alone or in
combinations significantly delayed the proliferation of aerobic plate counts or extended the
shelf life of the product up to nine days against one day only for control. During storage the pH
and colour parameters of extract-treated meat samples changed slightly, in comparison with
significant changes in the control.The results showed that, the sensory scores of mixture
extracts treated samples was the best, followed by the garlic treated meat,turmeric-treated
meat, Moringa oleifera -treated meat.

38

Economic yield potential study of different hybrid varieties / cultivars of

Helianthus annuus L. under Bahawalpur conditions, Pakistan
1

Saman Maqbool , Liaquat Ali , Musarrat Bashir , Amber Raza , Ammarah Maqbool , Sana
1
Rasheed
1

Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur

Regional Agricultural Research Institute, Bahawalpur
*Correspondence: samanmaqbool@yahoo.com
2

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the economic yield potential of Helianthus annuus L.
hybrid cultivars/varieties under Bahawalpur conditions during January 2014. Nine hybrid
cultivars/varieties, i.e. LG-5658, AG-SUN-8251, FSS-60, SY-4045, SMH-0917, US-444, KSF777, Aftab-12, and Hysun-33 were grown in the field area of Regional Agricultural Research
Institute, Bahawalpur. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design
with three replications and plot size of 3 7 m. Statistical analysis of data showed significant
differences for all parameters except plant population plot-1.Cultivar AG-SUN-8251 stood best
in case of height while lowest was recorded in Aftab-12. Largest head (21.67cm) was
produced by SY-4045 while AG-SUN-8251 showed poor head diameter (15.33cm). Maximum
yield and 1000 grains weight were recorded in Hysun-33. Among varieties included in the
experiment, Hysun-33 proved to have a maximum yield potential while, in cultivars, AG-SUN8251 gave maximum yield.

Keywords: Helianthus annuus L., yield potential, hybrids, cultivars, varieties

39

Alternative polyadenylation; Change in message at 3` end of mRNA

Sumera Shaheen
Department of Chemistry, Government College Women University, Faisalabad.
*Correspondence: sumerashaheenpk@yahoo.com
Use of alternative polyadenylation (APA) signals results in shortening of 3` untranslated
region (3`UTR) which is an emerging hallmark of cancer as 3 UTR shortening is recently
linked to proliferation and cancer. Expression of genes is regulated at different levels, but
posttranscriptional control of gene regulation has got tremendous importance. One of the
processing steps of all pre-mRNAs except histones is cleavage and polyadenylation at 3`end.
Genome wide studies showed that more than half of genes (54%) in human contain two or
more APA signals. Among 54 % of the genes containing alternative poly(A) sites, almost 20%
contain poly (A) site within introns. The alternative intronic polyadenylation (IPA) produce
truncated isoforms with different 3`UTRs; affecting the 3 UTR-mediated regulation of genes
due to removal of regulatory elements such as sequence for mi-RNA regulation. These 3`UTRs
are important part of gene regulation as they control essential cellular processes like
metabolism, morphogenesis, cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell differentiation by
regulating mRNA stability, its localization, processing of 3`end and translation.
The mRNA variants produced by IPA are not destroyed by nonsense mediated decay (NMD),
therefore survive and translated normally. The length of 3`UTR affects the efficiency of mRNA
translation, mRNA having short 3`UTR will be more efficiently translated and produce higher
levels of protein. Due to loss of important C-terminal domain, the peptides perform different
functions as compared to the normal isoforms.
Due to the development of resistance against chemotherapeutic drugs, it is very important to
identify novel method to treat the disease. In present scenario these truncated mRNA isoforms
can be very good target to cure the disease as mRNA with short 3 UTRs have been found in
rapidly proliferating cells. Unique RNA sequences elements and protein factors as well as
underlying mechanism controlling the 3 processing of primary transcript are known.
However, little is known about alternative polyadenylation on global level. Important
questions need to be answered are; Is the mechanism of APA is same or different from normal
polyadenylation event? If APA requires additional RNA sequence elements and protein
factors?

Sumera Shaheen working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, GCWU

Faisalabad. Interested in Gene Expression Regulation in eukaryotes. Worked with Dr. Stephan
Vagner and studied regulation of intronic polyadenylation in human breast cancer MCF7 cells
at INSERM U981, at Institute the Cancerologie GUSTAVE Roussy, University of Paris-11,
France. You can contact me at sumerashaheenpk@yahoo.com.

40

Comparative yield potential study of locally developed strains/varieties of

raya (Brassica juncea L.)
1*

Sana Rasheed , Liaquat Ali , Amber Raza Ammara Maqbool , Saman Maqbool , Nazish
1
1
Irum , Parveen Kousar .
1

Department of Botany, Government Sadiq College Women University Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Department of Agronomy , Regional Agricultural Research Institute Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: sanarasheed2011@gmail.com
2

The present study was planned to determine the yield potential of locally developed
strains/varieties of Raya (Brassica juncea L.). Six genotypes of B. juncea were sown in
Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications at Regional Agricultural Research
Institute, Bahawalpur 2013. Data were recorded for grain yield and yield related components.
The variety Bwp-Raya produced maximum grain yield kilogram per hectare (kg ha-1) as
4856.5 kg/ha due to highest number of siliquae per branch as169.25 , grains per siliquae as
18.500 and 1000 grain weight as 4.015g . While among strains Brj-9070 produced maximum
grain yield kilogram per hectare (kg ha-1) as4278 kg/ha due to highest number of siliquae per
branch as 168.50, grains per siliquae 18.250 and 1000 grain weight (p< 0.05).

Key words: Genotypes, strains, varieties, yield potential, siliquae.

41

Working women and nutritional health in Pakistan

Huma Umbreen*, Nighat Bhatty , Madiha Ilyas
Department of Home Economics & Food Sciences, Government College Women University,
Faisalabad
*Correspondence: huma_umbreen@yahoo.com
Prevalence of malnutrition among Pakistani women and children remains high with little
evidence of improvement over the last two decades. Not only that food insecurity at the
household level is one major cause of malnutrition but also certain gendered norms are also
there to further aggravate the condition. The core objective of the study is to find the answer to
the question that if women's work help or hinder nutrition in Pakistan. Multi tasking way of
Pakistani women may lead to imbalanced diet not only to themselves but also to the family.
Moreover, some other factors as demands at work, household chores, childcare
responsibilities, caretaking of ill and elderly family members and competing demands at work
vs. family roles make proper nutrition care further difficult to meet. All these aspects lead to
deprived health status resulting in obesity, musco-skeletal and cardiovascular disorders.
Whether and to what extent women work-care time balance is a matter of choice. Meanwhile,
greater exposure to modern health services has created awareness among women about
health and nutrition practices. Need of the time is an acknowledgement of their economic
value that can lead to an improvement in strategic position within the family and the wider
community. Furthermore, nutrition inputs and outcomes can also be improved by norms
regarding various aspects of care and do change in response to health interventions

Key Words: Nutritional status, gendered norms, working women

42

Effect of corn gluten 60%, soybean meal and feather meal on digestibility
and growth performance of Cirrhinus mrigala
1, 2

Imrana Amir *, Muhammad Salim , Amina Zuberi , Azka Anwar

1

Department of Zoology and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Fisheries and Aquaculture Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam
University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: imamir@student.qau.edu.pk
2

The present study was designed to evaluate the nutritive value of some important and readily
available plant and animal based feedstuffs Corn Gluten60, soybean meal and feather meal for
Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings. The experiment was conducted in V-shaped fiberglass tanks
designed especially for the collection of faeces. The fingerlings were acclimatized for two
weeks. All test diets were composed of 70 percent reference diet and 30 percent test diet on
dry weight basis. Chromic oxide (Cr2O3) was used as an inert marker at 1.0 percent inclusion
levels. Fishes were fed at the rate of 4 percent of live wet body weight. Proximate nutrient
analysis of diets and faeces showed that percentage utilization of dry matter, crude protein
and gross energy was higher for Corn gluten 60% while crude fat content were high for feather
meal. The apparent dry matter, crude protein and crude fat digestibility percentage of all test
diets was highly-significant (P<0.05) while gross energy digestibility of all the test diets
showed significant results. For test ingredients, apparent digestibility coefficient of dry
matter, crude fat and gross energy was higher for soybean meal while apparent crude protein
digestibility was higher for corn gluten 60%. Maximum growth in terms of weight gain was
recorded for Corn gluten 60%. Our results showed the maximum availability of the nutrients
in soybean meal and corn gluten60 for Cirrhinus mrigala but Protein is most vital nutrient that
must be included in the diets at appropriate level to ensure adequate growth and health of fish.

Imrana Amir is currently a PhD Scholar in the Field of Fisheries and Aquaculture at
Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. She has completed her
M.Phil degree from Department of Zoology and Fisheries, University of Agriculture
Faisalabad. She has conducted her research work in Fish Nutrition since her Masters and
M.Phil degree. She is particularly interested in Fish nutrition because there is growing need to
fulfil the nutritional requirements of growing population around the world especially in
Pakistan. Her research will help in combating this issue as fish is an excellent source of protein
and other essential nutrients.

43

Regression studies of increase in fish biomass and planktonic productivity

on physico-chemical characteristics of earthen ponds stocked with
Zn+Pb+Mn mixture stressed fish.
Sidra Abbas*, Muhammad Javed
Fisheries Research Farms, Department of Zoology, Wildlife & Fisheries, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan
*Correspondence: sidraabbas2012@hotmail.com
The 90-day five fish species viz. Catla catla, Labeo rohita, Cirrhina mrigala, Ctenopharyngodon
idella and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix were exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of metals
(Zn+Pb+Mn) mixture in glass aquaria for twelve weeks under constant laboratory conditions.
Another group of five fish species was kept for the same duration in metal free media,
considered as control group. After laboratory exposures, these groups (metals mixture
stressed and control) were stocked separately in earthen ponds and reared for twenty four
weeks under semi-intensive culture system. Two replications were used for each group.
Weekly data on increase in fish biomass, dry weights of planktonic biomass and physicochemical characteristics (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrates, sodium,
potassium, total ammonia, total hardness, total alkalinity, electrical conductivity, light
penetration and chlorides) of ponds water were collected and analyzed statistically. The
correlation and regression analyses were performed to find-out statistical relationships
among different parameters defined for this study. The results revealed that various physicochemical parameters of water exerted significant impact on increase in fish biomass and
planktonic productivity of both Zn+Pb+Mn mixture stressed and control fish ponds. In both
stressed and control ponds, light penetration exhibited positive and highly significant
(p<0.01) while total ammonia and temperature showed negatively significant (p<0.01)
regression on an increase in fish biomass. In control fish pond, dissolved oxygen exhibited
negative but significant (p<0.01) regression on an increase in fish biomass. Among the
variables, temperature appeared as a variable that exerted significant impact on the
planktonic productivity of stressed as well as control fish ponds.

Keywords: Regression; metals mixture; fish yield

Sidra Abbas, Research Associate and student of Ph.D. Zoology in Department of Zoology,
Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Handling Pakistan
Science Foundation funded project # 285 along with the principal investigator Professor Dr.
Muhammad Javed at Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad, Pakistan. Also first author of research paper published in Pakistan Journal of
Zoology.

44

Female patients of muscular dystrophies classified by

immunohistochemistry
Nadia Naseem, Usman Ali, A.H Nagi
Department of Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore.
*Correspondence: drnadiaf@hotmail.com
Dystrophinopathies including Duchenne (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) are a
group of X-linked recessive hereditary, non-inflammatory, progressive, degenerative disorders
with mutations of dystrophin gene. Females may be the obligate asymptomatic carriers. Limb
girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD) and its variants constitute other less common types of
female dystrophies. As muscular dystrophies are relatively uncommon disorders, very little
work has been done in Pakistan. This study has provided (for the first time in Pakistan) the
biochemical, morphological and immunohistochemical evaluation of the FEMALE patients with
muscular dystrophies. Thirty eight female patients clinically suspected of having muscular
dystrophy reporting to a Rehabilitation Hospital in Lahore during 2011-2014 were included.
Detailed clinical history and electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV)
findings were recorded. Serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) and aldolase levels were
analyzed. Open muscle biopsies were taken and subjected to Haematoxylin/Eosin, periodic acid
Schiff (PAS), Masson trichrome staining followed by immunohistochemical staining with
dystrophin (N, C and Core terminal), and sarcoglycan (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) antibodies
with beta spectrin control. (Abcam and Novacastra, USA). Of the 38 patients, 15 were excluded
for having non-dystrophic features on biopsy. Clinically however, these patients were diagnosed
as muscuar dystrophy earlier. Mean age of the rest 23 patients was 11+ 12.23 years. A total of
57.5% patients were partial to non ambulatory with 68% reporting severe exercise intolerance.
Motor mile stones were delayed in 62.5%. Family history was positive in 50% while parents of
70 % reported consanguineous marriages. Mean serum CPK and aldolase levels were 1391 +
1491 IU/L and 10.15 +5.99 IU/L respectively. Clinical examination findings suggested DMD in 8
patients while 14 were labelled as carriers. One patient was suspected of LGMD. All the females
showed typical clinical and histological features of muscular dystrophies of varying severity.
Mosaic pattern of DYS- N and C immunostaining was present in 16 females with normal
sarcoglycans that confirmed the CARRIER status of DMD/BMD. Two had weak but diffuse
membranous staining with DYS-N, C and Core while sarcoglycan alpha and beta were markedly
reduced that suggested manifested 2 cases of DMD/BMD. Four patients demonstrated near
normal labelling with DYS-N and C terminal antibodies while Sarcoglycan alpha and beta were
absent in 3 and 1 patient respectively that characterized them of having LGMD type 2D and 2E
respectively. IHC in one female was inconclusive as all antibodies stained diffusely weak that
depicted dystrophy type other than DMD or LGMD. Clinical correlation suggested congenital
muscular dystrophy (CMD) in this case. Serum CPK levels and DYS-C immunohistochemistry
was associated significantly (p<0.05) with the severity of dystrophic changes in muscle
biopsies. The present study shows unusually high number of female patients of
Dystrophinopathies not mentioned in the literature before. Use of dystrophin- sarcoglycan
antibody panel on the muscle biopsies has led to unmasking of female patients of DMD/BMD or
LGMD and exclusion of patients with myopathies which signifies the implication of
immunohistochemistry for correct diagnosis and classification of different types muscular
dystrophies.

45

Mapping and DNA sequence analysis of genes causing primary

microcephaly
Tamanna Mustajab, Muhammad Ansar*
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: ansar@qau.edu.pk
Recent advances in the genetics of inherited neurological disorders increases our knowledge
about molecular mechanisms that control the growth and functioning of the nervous system.
Among these neurological disorders, a significant progress has been made on
neurodevelopmental disorders which also include microcephaly. Microcephaly is
neurodevelopmental disorder which result in reduced head size than normal individuals.
Although it is autosomal recessive hence its incidence rate is increased in consanguineous
population. Microcephaly is genetically heterogeneous with twenty genes, identified up to
date. The current study is carried out on three consanguineous families (A, B, C) belonging to
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. In order to identify underlying
defects in three families, genotyping was performed by using markers of flanking known
MCPH genes. Analysis of the results showed that normal and affected individuals of family A
and B are heterozygous at most of the tested markers, indicating absence of homozygosity
across the currently known MCPH genes. This probably indicates the involvement of novel
genes in both families while one affected individual of family C was homozygous at several
markers present close to the gene WDR62 present at MCPH2 locus. But after sequencing, no
mutation was found in any of 32 exons of WDR62 except the identification of few nonpathogenic variations. The identification of genes in these families will facilitate the genetic
counselling serving that can be provided to the families with MCPH patients.

46

Plant extract formulations improved the expression of pathogenesisrelated proteins in the apoplast of maize leaves in response to Fusarium
oxysporum
Rabia Naz
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: rabia.naz@comsats.edu.pk
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important food crops for human and animal in Pakistan as
well as in the world. Fusarium oxysporum is one of the major wilt causing fungal pathogen in
maize that affects its productivity. Current study is an approach towards the development of
eco-friendly biofungicide. To achieve the objective, in vitro antifungal potential of selected
plant extracts was conducted against Fusarium oxysporum. Tribulus terrestris fruit and leaf
extracts and Cuscuta pedicellata reduced fungal growth by 98%, 94% and 93% respectively.
Antifungal potency of plant extract formulations was compared with chemical fungicides
(Mancozeb) and chemical elicitor (Chitosan) in glasshouse experiment. Results showed that
the combined bioformulations of Tribulus terrestris fruit and Cuscuta pedicellata stem extracts
with chitosan reduced disease severity by 91% and 84% respectively. Bioformulations of
Tribulus terrestris and Cuscuta pedicellata in combination with chitosan significantly
promoted the maize seedling growth, increased chlorophyll a, b, phenolic and protein
contents and induce high activities of antioxidant defensive enzymes i.e. CAT, POD, SOD, PPO,
PAL, -1,3- glucanase and chitinase in the leaf apoplast. Electrophoretic pattern of proteins
demonstrated that Tribulus terrestris and Cuscuta pedicellata in combination with chitosan
caused up regulation and new induction of several proteins that can be associated with
resistance to Fusarium oxysporum infection in maize seedlings. This study indicates that the
botanical extracts (Tribulus terrestris and Cuscuta pedicellatai) in combination with chitosan
could be a good alternative in developing a potent biofungicide which can be used in organic
farming for the management of Fusarium oxysporum.

Rabia Naz is serving as an Assistant Professor at the department of Biosciences, COMSATS

Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. She has published more than 13 papers in
reputed journals. Prospective students can discuss their research possibilities with Rabia Naz
at rabia.naz@comsats.edu.pk.

47

Diagnosis of DNA damage in peripheral erythrocytes of Labeo rohita

during chronic exposure of copper
1

Safina Kousar *, Muhammad Javed , Rahila Ilyas

1

Department of Zoology, Government College, Women University, Faisalabad.

Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: safina_137@yahoo.com
2

A diverse array of agricultural and industrial chemicals containing heavy metals and other
xenobiotics are contaminating the aquatic environments. Metals are non-biodegradable that
can cause toxicity in animals through oxidative damage to membrane lipids, DNA and proteins.
This study reveals copper induced genotoxic damage in peripheral erythrocytes of 150-day
old fish, Labeo rohita using single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet assay) and micronucleus test
under controlled laboratory conditions. Fish were exposed to four different sub-lethal
concentrations viz. 17%, 25%, 33% and 50% of LC50 of copper, separately, for 30 days.
Peripheral blood of chronically exposed fish was examined for damaged nuclei (%), genetic
damage index (GDI), cumulative tail length (m) micronuclei frequency (%) and frequency of
other nuclear abnormalities. Chronic exposure of copper to Labeo rohita induced DNA
damage in peripheral erythrocytes of fish that varied significantly (p<0.05) with exposure
concentration. The DNA damage caused by copper was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that
recorded in negative control group. Significantly higher genetic damage in terms of
percentage of damaged nuclei (66.003.46 %), genetic damage index (2.110.15) and
cumulative tail length (205.700.10 m) of comets was recorded at 50% of copper LC50
exposure to the fish while this damage was significantly minimum at 17%. Significantly higher
micronuclei frequency of 28.510.11% was observed at 50% of copper LC50 while it remained
significantly least (10.500.11 %) due to 17% of LC50 concentrations. This study reveals that
both Comet assay and micronucleus test can be used as useful tools for the determination of
genotoxic effects of metals on fish.
Key Words:
Labeo rohita, copper, DNA damage, peripheral erythrocytes, Comet assay, micronucleus test

48

Genome-wide association studies of early stage drought stress in historical

wheat germplasm
Sehrish Talib, Sadia Latif, Umar Masood Qureshi
Department of Plant sciences, Quaid-i- Azam University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: umasood@qau.edu.pk
Climate change has paramount influence on temperature and precipitation profiles of IndoPak region effecting grain production of crops. Inefficient rainfall, early stage drought stress
and low availability of mineral nutrients are the significant factors responsible for less than
anticipated grain production of wheat. Particular attention is given to selection and
development of advance cultivars adapted to drought stress. Genome wide association study
was conducted to identify the genomic regions associated with early stage drought stress on
123 historical bread wheat lines of Pakistan at seedling stage using cigar roll method. The
population was genotyped with high density iSelect 90K single nucleotide polymorphism
(SNPs) assay to map 14960 polymorphic SNPs with an average density of 0.14cM. Population
structure was examined using 1000 unlinked markers which identified seven populations
(K=7) representing different breeding programs of Pakistan and adaptation from CIMMYT, in
addition to local land races. Total 155 Marker Trait associations (MTAs) with log p>4 were
identified for drought indices traits under stress conditions. Multi trait loci were detected on
chromosomes 7A, 2A, 4D, 5A, 4B, 6B, 7D, 4A, 5D and 1D. The genes encoding proteins; kinase
domain containing protein, Plant PDR ABC transporter associated domain protein, CAMK
includes calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinases protein and Lysine ketoglutarate
reductase trans-splicing protein identified as a result of association mapping plays an
important roles in plant drought stress. Statistical results revealed that stressed plants
showed significant reduction in shoot length, root length, Membrane stability index, and shoot
fresh and dry weight. Varieties which performed better under stress includes PIRSBK-08,
TARNAB-73, IQBAL, and TD-1 are drought tolerant lines, while CHAKWAL-86, CHAKWAL-97,
MAIRAJ-08, AARI-11 and AAS-11 were susceptible to drought.
Key words:Wheat, Drought, Genome wide association studies

My name is Sehrish Talib and I am a Ph.D student of Department of Plant sciences, Quaid-iAzam University, Islamabad. I am doing research under the supervision of Dr. Umar Masood
Quraishi. My research focus is on Genetic Decryption of uptake efficiency in Pakistani wheat
germplasm (Historical & Synthetic lines). Enhancing uptake efficiency of water and nutrient in
wheat germplasm will boost up the yield of wheat, a staple food crop of Pakistan. I am affiliated
with the wheat wide program of National Agriculture Research Center.

49

Association of non synonymous SNPs in DC-Sign receptor gene with

tuberculosis (TB)
Saima Suleman*, Kalsoom Sughra, Naeem Mahmood, Sonia Khalid
University of Gujrat- Pakistan
*Correspondence: saimasalman50@yahoo.com
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a communicable chronic illness. This disease is being highly
focused by researchers as it is present approximately in one third of world population either in
active or latent form. The genetic makeup of a person plays an important part in producing
immunity against disease. And one important factor association is single nucleotide
polymorphism of relevant gene. In this study, we have studied association between single
nucleotide polymorphism of CD-209 gene (encode DC-SIGN receptor) and patients of
tuberculosis. Dry lab (in silico) and wet lab (RFLP) analysis have been carried out.. Therefore,
CD-209 has been selected for this study. Different databases like ENSEMBLE and 1000
Genome Project has been used to retrieve SNP data in form of VCF file which is further
submitted to different software to sort SNPs into benign and deleterious. Furthermore,
selected nsSNPs were checked in Gujrat & Faisalabad population through RFLP analysis. In
this study population two SNPs are found to be associated with tuberculosis while one nsSNP
is not found to be associated with the disease.

50

Mitigate the salt stress by seed priming with different temperatures,

sodium chloride and distilled water in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
1

Abida Kausar *, Muhammad Yasin Ashraf , Kiran Aftab , Sara Zafar

1

Department of Botany, Government College Women University Faisalabad, Pakistan

Crop Stress Management sub division, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology Faisalabad
(NIAB), Pakistan
3
Department of Chemistry, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
4
Department of Botany, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
2

*Correspondence: kausaragc@Yahoo.com
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a glycophytic plant, frequently grown on tropical and
subtropical areas of the world. It is the most important cereal grain crop being consumed by
more than half population of the world. However, soil salinity is a major constrain which
severely affecting the wheat crop productivity resulting its shortage in arid and semi-arid
regions by altering the certain physiological and biochemical processes. Different approaches
are being utilized to cope with salinity and to enhance the tolerance of plants in salt -hit areas.
Seed priming with different temperatures and chemicals is a shot-gun approach which may
improve seed performance and seedling establishment of field crops in saline soils. Good crop
stand and vigorous seedling growth can improve tolerance of crops to salt stress and may
enhance grain yield under adverse environmental stresses. Keeping in view the importance of
priming, two wheat cultivars (Punjab-2011 &FSD-2008) were selected to evaluate their salt
O
tolerance behavior under150 Mm NaCl stress. Seeds were primed with chilling (5 C), heating
O
(60 C), distilled water and 150 mM NaCl solution and then primed and non-primed seeds
were subjected to 150 mM NaCl stress to grow for 45 days in pots in strength of Hoaglands
nutrient solution in sand culture experiment in completely randomized design (CRD). Results
showed that fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots, lengths of shoots and roots, potassium,
calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen contents were increased in plants raised from seeds
primed with salt stress as compared to other priming treatments in both the cultivars.
However, cultivar Punjab-11 give better performance as compared to FSD-2008 both in saline
and non-saline medium.

Abida Kausar is Assistant Professor at Dept. of Botany, Government College Women

University Faisalabad. She is the life time member of Pakistan Botanical Society. She is HEC
approved supervisor. Her area of research is stress physiology, molecular biology and marker
assisted selection. Student can discuss their research related problems at
kausaragc@yahoo.com.

51

Sequence analysis of 793/B like Infectious Bronchitis virus isolated from

commercial poultry
1,2

Saba Rafique *, Naila Siddique , Muhammad Athar Abbas , Aamer Ali Shah , Akbar Ali ,
1
1
1
1
Abdul Rahim , Rabia Nawaz , Adeela Sharif , Khalid Naeem
1

National Reference Laboratory for Poultry Diseases, Animal Sciences Institute, National
Agricultural Research Center, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: sabarafique@ymail.com
Infectious Bronchitis (IB) is a contagious viral disease of chicken and has significant economic
importance. This study was designed to recovered the prevailing viruses from suspected cases
that were subjected to molecular characterization. Primarily the recovered IB-isolate
characterized through RFLP using four restriction enzymes Alu I, Hae III, BstYI and XcmI, the
distinct isolates spike gene were sequenced partly and characterized phylogenetically by
using MEGA 4. It was named as (Chicken/Attock/NARC-786/2013) and the sequence
submitted in GenBank having accession numbers KU145467. Sequence analysis revealed
noticeable variation including large number of point mutations Phylogenetic grouping and
maximum nucleotide sequence identity values were used to identify the isolate that looked to
be derived from recombination. It showed highest nucleotide homology 99.5% with Chinese
(ck/CH/LHB/121010) and Indian (India/IBV572) isolates, when compared with prevailing
vaccines it showed 99.3% with 4/91 vaccine, 75% with M41 vaccine and was least related to
other 19 isolates compared in this study. The study concluded that the commercial flocks
vaccinated with multiple serotypes of IBV will generate the variety of variants originate
through random spontaneous mutation and genetic recombination. It is better to include such
emerging variants in killed-vaccine form in the vaccination program of the affected region to
control the disease.
Key Words: IBV, RFLP, Spike sequencing, M41, 793/B

Saba Rafique is doing PhD in Microbiology from Quaid-i-Azam University. She is also working
as Research Fellow in National Reference Laboratory for Poultry Disease, Animal Sciences
Institute, NARC, Islamabad. She is interested in Biology of Infectious bronchitis Virus or other
poultry microbes. Potential students can discuss their research possibilities with Saba at
sabarafique@ymail.com

52

Production and activity of amylase from two indigenous Bacillus spp.

isolated from soil
Shumaila Zaib, Azra Yasmin*
Microbiology & Biotechnology Research Lab. Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima
Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi.
*Correspondence: azrayasmin@fjwu.edu.pk
Amylase is an extracellular enzyme that has been used in different industries like food, textile
and detergent industry etc. It is obtained from plants, animals and microbial sources. However
bacterial sources are preferred to other sources because of several reasons. Present study was
conducted for assaying amylase production/activity in the presence of various environmental
and nutritional factors. Two strains out of twenty eight strains were selected on the basis of
higher starch degrading power. These were identified through 16S ribosomal analysis as
Bacillus sp. MB301 and Bacillus sp. MB311. Activity was calculated through DNS method after
incubating enzyme at different temperatures (25, 30, 37, 45C) and pHs (4-10). Effect of starch
concentrations (1-5%), inoculum sizes, metals (Pb, Cd, Ca, K , Fe), surfactants / chemicals
(Tween 20, Tween 80, Triton X-100, EDTA, SDS and 2-Mercaptoethanol was also checked.
Maximum amylase production was recorded at 30-37C incubation temperature, in the
presence of 1% substrate, inoculum and salt concentration. Amylase showed stability towards
higher temperatures (up to 70C). All metals other than potassium acted as inhibitors at
higher concentrations. Tween 80, SDS and 2-Mercaptoethanol acted as promoters while triton
X-100 and Tween 20 acted as inhibitors at higher concentrations. EDTA promoted the activity
of amylase from Bacillus sp. MB301 but inhibited the activity of Bacillus sp. MB311 amylase.
This research explored amylase producing abilities of Bacillus strains, isolated from soil.

53

Improvement in wheat grain yield through alterations in physico-chemical

attributes by Zn and K application under saline conditions
1

Sara Zafar *, M. Yasin Ashraf , Mubashir Niaz , Abida Kausar

Department of Botany, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Nuclear Institute of Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Botany, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: saraomer_gcuf@yahoo.com
2

Salinity is a serious abiotic stress factor hampering crop production. Optimum fertilization
management is an important technique to alleviate the adverse effects of salinity for
reasonable expectation of crop yield. The paper mainly reported the effects of Zn (25, 50 kgha1) and K (50,100 kgha-1) fertilization on photosynthetic, biochemical and ionic attributes
aiming to clarify its effect on grain weight and biomass plant-1 of wheat genotypes Abadghar
and Pari-73 under saline conditions. A factorial experiment with three levels of K (0, 50 and
100 kgha-1) and three levels of Zn (0, 25 and 50 kgha-1) based on a complete randomized
design was employed. Salt stress markedly decreased the total soluble proteins, A, E, C, K, Ca,
Mg, N, P ,thousand grain weight and biomass plant-1. An increase in total soluble sugars, total
free aminoacids, Na and Cl contents was observed under saline conditions. Application of Zn
and K improved growth under normal as well as saline conditions, however, Zn1+ K2 was
relatively more effective as compared to other levels used in this study. Results achieved
highlight the importance of Zn and K nutrition in salt stress condition.
Key words:- Salinity, Zn, K, Nutrients

54

Genetic variability among the Avian Influenza Viruses isolated from

different bird species in Pakistan during 1995-2015
Naila Siddique, Saba Rafique, Muhammad Athar Abbas, Akbar Ali, Abdul Rahim, Abdul
Rehman, Imrana Begum, Sidra Zamir, Khalid Naeem
National Reference Laboratory for Poultry Diseases, Animal Sciences Institute, National
Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad-45500, Pakistan
*Correspondence: naila.nrlpd@gmail.com
Pakistan has experienced multiple incursions of avian influenza virus serotypes H7N3, H5N1
and H9N2 in commercial poultry between 1995-2015. Although, no case of HPAI has been
reported from Pakistan since July 2008, LP serotype H9N2 appears to have become endemic
and despite regular vaccination numerous new outbreaks have resulted in heavy mortality
among young chicks and significant decline in egg production among laying flock. Some other
types of Low pathogenic AIVs including H3N1, H4N6 and H14N3 were also recovered from
different bird species. Pakistan homes a wide variety of migratory birds flocking up from
Siberia and Russia during winters. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis along with
cartographic evaluation were employed to figure out the genetic makeup. Phylogenetically
Pak -AIVs revealed close relationship to the Eurasian-American AIV strains which indicted and
intercontinental spread.
The sequence analysis revealed noticeable genetic diversity including gene reassortment and
attainment of large number of point mutations, specifically in surface glycoproteins (HA and
NA) which also affected the antigenic and immunogenic properties of these viruses. Although,
the effects of these unique point mutations were not reported earlier, the possibility of their
involvement in failure of vaccine cannot be ignored. The known molecular signatures
associated with pathogenicity, drug sensitivity, virulence and species barrier crossing over
were also studied.

Naila Siddique is a Senior Scientist and Laboratory Director at the NRLPD, NARC Islamabad.
Dr. Naila has served on FAO-expert for molecular diagnosis of AIVs. She has been actively
involved in surveillance and diagnosis of major poultry pathogens. Dr. Naila is also a member
of the research team involved in the area of zoonotic diseases and one health. She is playing a
significant role for the ISO/IEC/17025:2005 accreditation of NRLPD. Prospective students
can discuss their research possibilities with Dr. Naila at naila.nrlpd@gmail.com

55

Relationship of heat wave and dietary factors on high blood pressure in

hypertensive female population under extreme weather conditions.
Ayesha Riaz
Government College Women University, Faisalabad
Correspondence: ayeshariazrana@googlemail.com
Background: Seasonal variations of blood pressure related diseases have been described in
several populations. Studies have been conducted to examine the seasonal variations of blood
pressure in the elderly, a segment of the population particularly exposed to vascular diseases.
Method: The association of blood pressure in relation to serum profile and outdoor
temperature was examined in one hundred and sixteen young systemic hypertension female
subjects in our study that previously diagnosed as hypertensive.
Results: Subjects were evaluated for fasting serum cholesterol profiles and observed that
there was a significant difference in serum cholesterol levels among these two groups (prehigh blood pressure group; mean=175.64.26 versus high blood pressure group;
mean=206.165.48). We observed the effects of vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet on high
blood pressure among hypertensive female population. A significant difference was observed
in systolic blood pressure (mean=140.751.84) in vegetarian hypertensive subjects in
comparison with systolic blood pressure (mean=1492.19) among non-vegetarian
hypertensive study group. Similarly, effect of vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet on diastolic
blood pressure was also studied. A significant difference in diastolic blood pressure was also
observed among vegetarians (mean=87.930.88) and non-vegetarian group
(mean=92.161.12) under extreme temperature conditions.
Conclusion: We observed that increase in serum cholesterol level and outdoor temperature is
directly related to elevation in hypertension ratio noticed that high temperature affects
hypertensive content in female population who also exhibited elevated serum cholesterol
profile.

56

Bridging role of serotonin between hyperglycemia and cardiac pathologies

through ROS regulation
Ayesha Ishtiaq, Erica Silas, Javeria Saeed, Iram Murtaza*
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam Univeristy, Islamabad - Pakistan
*Correspondence: irambch@qau.edu.pk
Hyperglycemia is a common complication in patients with Diabetes Mellitus, and is
considered as a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to the expression of certain
pathological factors such as serotonin. During diabetic condition high glucose level induces
the release of serotonin from enterochromaffin cells (EC) which in turn elevate reactive
oxygen species and downregulate antioxidant enzymes. The aim of the current study was to
evaluate the bridging role of serotonin between diabetes and cardiac complications including
cardiac hypertrophy and valvulopathy. Here in, eighty diabetic patients and fifty healthy
individuals along with experimental models were studied. DM was induced in the rat model
via intraperitoneal alloxan injection, followed by serotonin administration. ROS, SOD, CAT,
BNP expression and histopathological assessments were performed. Increased ROS level and
decreased antioxidant enzyme activities were detected in serotonin treated diabetic rats as
well as in diabetic individuals. The heart valves of the serotonin treated diabetic rats were
impaired along with BNP expression. Further, we have observed an increased cell surface area
suggesting the event associated with cardiac hypertrophy. Finally, from the present
contribution, it is apparent that serotonin in diabetes could contribute to cardiac pathologies
through accelerating free radical (ROS) generation.

Iram Murtaza is an Associate professor at Department of Biochemistry Quaid-i-Azam

University, Islamabad. She has produced 2 PhDs, 30 M. Phil students and 3 students are
currently enrolled in PhD. She is doing her post doc in USA. Her area of interest includes
molecular signaling and role of miRNA in cardiovascular diseases.

57

Hematological response elicited by nanobead based targeted drug

delivery in leukemic rat model
Anum Tahir, Touseef Rehan, Aneesa Sultan, Shahid Waseem*
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: swaseem@qau.edu.pk
Nanoparticle mediated chemotherapy against leukemia would be more effective as compared
to the native drug. The present study aimed to synthesize drug-loaded mesoporous silica
nanoparticles (MSNPs) to investigate hematological response in leukemic rat. Scanning
electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared scpectroscopy and
UV/Visible spectrophotometry indicated characteristic properties of generic MSNPs. It makes
MSNPs suitable drug carriers. Neutrophilia, lymphopenia and decreased monocyte level were
observed after benzene induction in rat. MSNPs loaded with crude extracts of Rosmarinus
officinalis, Thymus vulgaris and Ocimum basilicum exhibited a capacity to minimize the impact
of benzene (acute myeloid leukemic condition) as determined by differential count of WBC,
relative organ weight and morphological analysis of bone marrow. However, MSNPs loaded
with crude extract of Ocimum basilicum exhibited significant impact to improve cellular
indicators as compared to MSNPs loaded with crude extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis and
Thymus vulgaris.
Keywords: Nanomedicine, mesoporous, silica nanoparticles, drug delivery, hematology

58

Neutralization of snake venoms by polyvalent antisnake venoms (ASVs): A

comparative study of antivenoms used in Pakistan with animal models
1

Amina Najam *, Mashal Akhtar , Mujahid Hussain Shah , Hussain Ali , Sumbal Khalid

Biological Production Division, National Institute of Health, Islamabad

International Islamic University Islamabad.
*Correspondence: ameenanajam@gmail.com
2

Background: Snakebite is a serious public health hazard in the rural areas of Pakistan.
Intravenous administration of anti snake venom the only proven treatment for envenomation
caused by venomous snake bite.
In Pakistan , NIH is the only manufacturer of ASVS against four deadly species of the country.
However extra demand is compensated through Indian origin ASVS which is also produced
against the similar snake species of the Indian origin.
Methodology: In the present study safety and efficacy of Pakistani and Indian ASVS was
compared by testing neutralization potency and neutralization of hemorrhagic activity in
mice against the venom from three snake species i.e Cobra ( Naja Naja ), Russell's viper (Vipera
russelli) and saw scaled viper (Echis carinatus).
Principle findings: In vivo neutralization study using Swiss Webster mice showed that both
antivenoms were able to neutralize effectively the lethality of venoms of Cobras,Russell's viper
and saw scaled viper . However r the comparison of hemorrhagic activity showed that Indian
ASVS was only moderately to weekly effective against venoms of saw scaled viper than NIH
product.
Conclusion/significance. The similar studies have already been conducted by PMRC for
comparative cost and efficacy analysis of these two Anti venoms on patients. I t was concluded
in the study that Pakistani ASVS is better in terms of and 2.5 times cheaper than Indian
product. In the present study, efficacy was tested using animal models.
Due to lack of studies on this neglected public health issue and proper data for snakebite
incidence in Pakistan, it is hard to estimate the exact demand of anti venom in order to attain
self sufficiency in ASVS ,NIH has to increase production to meet the country's demand and to
rule out dependency of ASVS import on other countries.

59

Risk factors for prostatic carcinoma: A multifactorial case control study

Nosheen Masood*, Saima Shakil Malik, Azra Yasmin
Microbiology and Biotechnology Research Lab. Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall,
Rawalpindi.
*Correspondence: nosheenmasood@hotmail.com
Prostate cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer among Pakistani men. We
evaluated various risk factors for prostatic carcinoma by conducting a population based case
control study. Cases were 896 diagnosed prostate cancer patients from 2010 to 2015
identified from the records of different hospitals. Age matched 900 controls without having
history of prostate cancer and any other metabolic disease were identified from the general
population of the same region. Data was collected through detailed in-person interviews and
questionnaires. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR)
and 95% confidence interval (CI). P values for different factors were computed by t test, Chisquare test or Fishers exact test. Prostatic carcinoma was increased with age (OR: 10.65; CI:
7.92-14.31; P<0.0001; Z=15.7). Elevation of one unit serum estradiol and testosterone
concentration was associated with increased (OR: 1.15; CI: 1.03-1.28; P=0.007; Z=2.6) and
decreased (OR: 1. 12; CI: 1.00-1.25; P=0.03; Z= 2.12) risk of prostatic carcinoma respectively.
Prostatic carcinoma patients have history of increased prostate specific antigen (OR: 1.24; CI:
1.11-1.38; P=0.0001) and diabetes (1.17; CI: 1.05-1.30; P= 0.004). Cigarette smoking was
significantly associated with prostate cancer. Other factors like ethnicity in different
populations, education, marital status, occupation, dietary habits and family history of
prostate cancer have not shown any effect on risk of prostatic carcinoma in the Pakistani
population. This is the first epidemiological study reported such a diverse and potential risk
factors for prostate cancer from Pakistan.
Keywords: Prostate cancer, risk factors, case control study, Pakistan.

60

Nanoparticle synthesis in marine microbes and their potential biomedical

applications
1

1,2

Ramsha Tariq Baig , Faouzia Tanveer , Irum Iqrar , Zabta Khan Shinwari *
1

Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad,

Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Islamabad
*Correspondence: shinwari2008@gmail.com
2

Nanotechnology involving creation and applications of nanomaterials is a promptly growing

field with significant applications in therapeutics, biomolecular detection and as
antimicrobial agents. Among a variety of physical, chemical and biological methods available
for the production of nanoparticles, the biogenic synthesis is considered a clean, nontoxic and
environment-friendly method. The microbial synthesis of nanoparticles has been currently
acknowledged as a promising means of nanomaterials. Marine waters are not only a good
source of metal micro-nutrients but also provide a range of extreme habitats from cold waters
to hot geothermal areas with tremendous possibilities of finding microorganisms with huge
biosythetic potential. In this regard, the marine microorganisms are less explored despite the
fact that researches on marine nanobiotechnology in future may provide new and interesting
sources of nanoparticles derived from these microbes having ability to grow under extreme
conditions. Recently, the potential of marine microbes including bacteria and actinobacteria,
fungi, yeast and algae has been greatly explored and their potential for biosynthesis of a
number of metal nanoparticles including silver, zinc, cadmium etc revealed. According to the
available reports, silver nanoparticles synthesized by marine actino-bacteria showed good
stability without using any toxic chemical as capping agent. Having lower toxicity provides for
an excellent biomedical application. Considering the developing global scenario it has been
suggested that initiatives should be taken for exploitation of marine microorganisms in the
area of nanobiotechnology.

I am Ramsha Tariq Baig, currently enrolled in M. Phil under the supervision of Dr. Zabta Khan
Shinwari at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. I am currently working on exploring the
therapeutic potential of extremophile microbes' specifically marine bacteria. My research
interest include studying diverse potential of extremophiles in terms of their applications in
medical biotechnology as well as nanotechnology.

61

In vitro biological assessment of Plectania milleri, endophytic fungus

isolated from Taxus fauna
1

Hira Mehboob Mirza *, Ulyana Muoz Acua , Safia Ahmed , Esperanza J. Carcache de Blanco ,
3
Masoom Yasinzai
1

Department of Microbiology Quaid-i-Azam International University Islamabad - Pakistan

Divisions of Pharmacy Practice and Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of
Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United State America
3
Centre of Interdisciplinary Research, International Islamic University, Islamabad - Pakistan
*Correspondence: hiraqau@yahoo.com
2

Throughout the ages humans have relied on nature to cater for their basic needs, not the least
of which are medicines for the treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases. However, an
increasing number of pathogenic microorganisms and the emergence of new diseases have
created great demand for the search for novel chemical entities with improved antimicrobial
properties. Among natural sources, recent discovery of microorganisms living
asymptomatically in the tissues of higher plants endophytic microorganisms are a promising
source of pharmaceutically important metabolites. Northern areas of Pakistan have rich
biodiversity of Taxus species. Crude extracts from endophytic fungus Plectania milleri isolated
from indigenous species of Taxus fauna have been screened in biological assays, as part of a
bioassay-guided fractionation scheme. Extracts of endophytic fungi have shown promising
activities in antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, NF-kB, K-ras and especially in
antileishmanial assays. Cytotoxicity of the crude extracts has also been evaluated by the
Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assays. Further fractionation of the crude extract has resulted in pure
compounds which will be tested for their biological potential.

62

Diversity of Pseudomonas geniculata, an endophyte from wild plants and

its potential applications in agricultural biotechnology
1

1,2

Irum Iqrar , Faouzia Tanveer , Imran Afzal , Zabta Khan Shinwari , Azra Yasmin
1

Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad,

Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Islamabad
3
Microbiology & Biotechnology Research Lab, Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima
Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi
*Correspondence: irum_rao@hotmail.com
2

Endophytic bacteria from wild plants are superior in plant growth promoting activity due to
their efficiency to serve their host under various environmental stresses. They can improve
the yield and quality of agronomically important crops by improving the soil fertility,
increasing nutrient availability to the plant, combating phytopathogens and remediating
polluted agricultural soils. The aim of the present study was to explore the diversity of
Pseudomonas geniculate, an endophyte isolated from various wild plants (Cannabis sativa,
Dodonaea viscosa and Calendula arvensis) and its potential as biofertilizer, biocontrol agent
and for the purpose of bioremediation. Three different strains of Pseudomonas geniculata i.e.
tnc1, RD36 and MB321 were found to have 90% homology among each other (based on
phylogenetic analysis of their 16s rRNA gene sequences). All the strains shared many PGP
traits such as IAA, siderophore, pectinase enzyme and ammonia production with tnc1 having
further ability to produce cellulase, protease and RD-36 with potential to produce cellulase,
protease, chitinase, HCN and solublize phosphate. Strain RD36 showed anti-fungal activity
against Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus niger with potential to contribute towards plant
protection through controlling plant diseases. Furthermore, tnc1 and RD36 increased the root
length of commercial Canola variety by 31.4% and 17% respectively as compared to uninoculated control. Strain MB321 could tolerate multiple heavy metals (Ni2+, Pb2+,, Cd2+,, Cr6+,,
3+
2+
As , and Hg ) in very high concentrations and increased the root length of Canola variety
2+
2
2+
PARC (in presence of Ni , by 14% and Cd +, by 55%) and SHIRALEE (in presence of Ni , by
2+
13% and Cd , by 20%) emphasizing its potential to improve plant growth in unfavorable soils.
Thus, Pseudomonas geniculata can be employed as an integrated strategy towards sustainable
agricultural biotechnology.

I am Irum Iqrar, PhD candidate, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Zabta Khan Shinwari at
the Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. I am currently working
on exploring the biocontrol potential of endophytic bacteria against phytopathogens. My
research interest include analyzing the potential of endophytes for biological control using
bioassays and identifying secondary metabolites responsible for antagonism of target phytopathogens, potentially will lead to a broad spectrum biopesticide for our agriculturally
important crops.

63

Phytochemical and pharmacological assessment of Quercus dilatata L.

fruits; a stupendous folklore remedy
Madiha Ahmed, Durdana Waseem, Ihsan-ul-Haq*
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad Pakistan
*Correspondence: ihsn99@yahoo.com, ihaq@qau.edu.pk
The study is aimed to investigate biological activities and phytochemical profiling of Quercus
dilatata L. fruits to assess its curative potential. Total 28 extracts were prepared from seed
coats and cores of fruits by sonication aided maceration using solvents of variable polarities.
Samples were subjected to different phytochemical evaluation, antioxidant, antimicrobial,
antileishmanial, alpha-amylase inhibition, protein kinase inhibition and anticancer assays.
Maximum phenolic and flavonoid contents were quantified in aqueous (26.08 1.5 g
GAE/mg DW) and methanol + ethyl acetate (5.28 0.3 g QE/mg DW) fruit core extracts.
Similarly significant antioxidant and reducing power potential was displayed by aqueous
(48.57 1.1 g AAE/mg DW) and methanol + ethyl acetate (50.76 1.0 g AAE/mg DW) fruit
core extract. Acetone fruit core extract also depicted significant DPPH radical scavenging
activity (IC50 24.10 g/mL). Methanol + ethyl acetate core extract exhibited noticeable protein
kinase inhibitory activity (22 1.4 mm zone of inhibition) while chloroform core extract
showed maximum anticancer activity against human leukemia (THP-1) cell line (IC50 19.5
g/mL ) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2) cell line (IC50 18.2 g/mL). Maximum
antibacterial and antileishmanial activities were observed by acetone + ethyl acetate core
extract against Klebsiella pneumonaea (MIC 25 g/disc) and Leishmania tropica KWH23 strain
(IC50 19.6 g/mL). Ethyl acetate core extract showed maximum alpha amylase inhibitory
activity (IC50 158.6 g/mL). All extracts showed negligible antifungal activities against test
fungal strains. Considering these observations, Q. dilatata L. can be a considered as source of
natural antioxidants, antimicrobials and anticancer compounds for pharmaceutical
applications and health care benefits.

Madiha Ahmed is PhD scholar in Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University,

Islamabad. Currently she is working in "Natural Product Drug Discovery Lab"
(Pharmacognosy division). She is conducting research to isolate and characterize novel
anticancer, antileishmanial and antidiabetic compounds from medicinal plants and to explore
possible pharmacological mechanisms.

64

Genetic transformation of Artemisia carvifolia Buch with rol genes for

enhancement of secondary metabolites
Erum Dilshad, Bushra Mirza*
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad
*Correspondence: bushramirza@qau.edu.pk
The secondary metabolites of Artemisia genus are well known for their high therapeutic
importance. In the current study, Artemisia carvifolia Buch has been evaluated for its content
of various medicinally important phytochemicals including artemisinin and flavonoids.
Furthermore genetic transformation of this plant was carried out with rol B and rol C genes.
The biochemical content of these transformed plants including flavonoids and artemisinin
was increased. A similar pattern was observed for artemisinin analogues. The dynamics of
flavonoids and artemisinin content in transgenics and wild type A. carvifolia was also
correlated with the expression of genes involved in their biosynthesis. Real time qPCR analysis
revealed the differential expression of genes involved in flavonoids and artemisinin
biosynthesis. Pharmacological potential of transformed and untransformed plants was also
evaluated which include the antioxidant, antidiabetic and anticancer activity. Findings
suggest that the enhanced production of flavonoids and artemisinin in rol gene transformants
increased the antioxidant, antidiabetic and anticancer potential of the plant, besides showing
synergism of flavonoids and artemisinin against cancer.

65

Transgenic Artemisia dubia Wall showed altered phytochemistry and

pharmacology
1

Bushra Hafeez Kiani *, Nazif Ullah , Ihsan-ul Haq , Bushra Mirza

1

Department of Biotechnology, Women University of Azad Kashmir, Bagh, AJ&K.

Department of Biotechnology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan
3
Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
4
Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: bushrahafeez.kiani@gmail.com
2

The rol genes have been shown to enhance the production of secondary metabolites in plants.
This report examines the effect of trans-genes (rol ABC) on possible high production of
biologically important phytochemicals and enhanced pharmacological activities. Three
transgenic lines (1, 2 and 3) of Artemisia dubia Wall (transformed with Agrobacterium
tumefaciens harboring rol ABC genes) were subjected to phytochemical analysis and
pharmacological studies. A great variation in phytochemistry and the pharmacological
activities was observed not only between the transgenic and non-transgenic control plants
but also among the transgenic lines itself. Comparative chemical profile obtained via HPLC,
TLC and spectrophotometry showed high degree of variations in the quantity of
phytochemicals. An increased production of total flavonoids (71.1% in transgenic line 2) and
total phenolics (110.8% in transgenic line 1), increase in caffeic acid and catechin and a
decrease in gallic acid content in the extracts of transformed plants compared to the
untransformed control plants was decreased. In case of pharmacological activities, moderate
to high level increase in antimicrobial (antibacterial and antifungal) activities, cytotoxicity
(14.1%), antitumor (29%) and antioxidant activities (23.9%) was observed (in transgenic line
2). In general all the three transgenic lines under study showed improvement in their
pharmacological activities in the order of transgenic line 2> 1>3> control. The implication of
these findings will help to meet the increasing demand of pharmacologically important
compounds.

66

Anti-leukemic and immunomodulatory effects of Thymus vulgaris extract

and fractions in benzene induced leukemic rats
Touseef Rehan, Rabia Ghafoor, Hadiya Batool, M Usman Tareen, Aneesa Sultan
Department of Biochemistry Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: aneesasultan@gmail.com
Leukemia is a malignant disorder of white blood cells, which if untreated leads to sudden
death. Conventional chemotherapies due to drug resistance phenomenon and adverse side
effects are not very much useful. So, the use of active components from plants with
immunotherapeutic and anti-leukemic potential is a tempting alternative to the conventional
therapeutic protocols of leukemia. Within this aspect, the present study was conducted for the
chemoprevention of leukemia by immunomodulatory and anti-leukemic characteristics of T.
vulgaris crude extract and its fractions in benzene induced leukemic rats. Column
chromatography with n-hexane/ethyl acetate solvent system was used to separate
methanolic crude leaf extract of T. vulgaris into fractions and subsequent FTIR analysis.
Sprague dawley rats were randomly allocated into 3 groups with different treatments for 3
weeks, control group A treated with normal saline, leukemic group B with intravenous
injections of benzene (0.2ml), and group C with T. vulgaris crude extract and its 10 fractions
orally (0.5ml), with consecutive intravenous benzene injections. Different parameters, i.e
organ/body weight ratio percentage, WBCs differential count, morphological assessment of
blood and bone marrow giemsa stained slides and serum concentration of TNF- by standard
enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), were checked. Increase in liver and spleen
weights with hypertrophy, significant leukocytosis, lymphocytopenia and blasts cells
appearance in bone marrow suggested successful leukemia induction. Thymus vulgaris crude
extract and fractions F2 to F10 with different percentage composition of n-hexane/ethyl
acetate and characteristic functional groups most importantly F9 restored changes caused by
benzene and exhibited more or less profound immunotherapeutic and leukemia suppressor
activities by strongly up-regulating TNF- concentration as a possible mechanism of
apoptosis in benzene induced leukemic rats. In future in vitro comprehensive study on the
resulting active T. vulgaris functional constituents will lead to the discovery of a new
promising anti-leukemic botanical-drug having immunomodulatory properties.
Key words: Thymus vulgaris, TNF-a, Leukemia

67

Cancer inhibitory potential of Ajuga bracteosa Wall ex. Benth

1

Samina Rubnawaz , Waqas Khan Kayani , Tamara P. Kondrytuk , John M. Pezzuto and Bushra
1
Mirza *
1

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University

Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
2
Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Hilo, HI, 96720, United States
*Correspondence: bushramirza@qau.edu.pk
Natural products discovered from medicinal plants have played an important role in the
treatment of many diseases especially cancer, but world still needs more effective compounds
for better eradication of such problems. Based on enormous ethnomedicinal uses of Ajuga
bracteosa, present study was designed to investigate its anti-cancer and cytotoxic activities.
Crude, methanolic and chloroform extracts of aerial portions and roots of A. bracteosa were
screened by nuclear factor kappa-B assay (NFB), aromatase inhibition assay and Quinone
reductase 1 assay (QR1). In addition, cytotoxicity against two cancer cell lines i.e. MCF-7 and
MDA-MB-231 was also tested by using sulforhodamine B assay (SRB). The results of cancer
chemo-preventive assays revealed that both fractions (methanol and chloroform) have
promising cancer chemo-preventive activity. Chloroform extracts from the aerial parts
represented lowest IC50 value in nuclear factor kappa-B (NFB) assay and also a strong
aromatase inhibition (76%). However, chloroform extract of the root portion displayed some
activity (18%) in cytotoxicity assay against MDA-MB-231 cell line. An induction ratio (IR) of
3.0 was displayed by methanolic root extracts while other extracts affected a mild induction of
QR1 (1.2 and 1.4). This study confirms the safe traditional use of aqueous extracts of aerial
portion for a wide array of diseases and presence of both cancer chemo-preventive and
cytotoxic agents in A. bracteosa. Isolation of these active agents may provide some potential
therapeutic compounds for treating cancer.

68

Cdk10 Interaction with Ets2 facilitate human corneal wound healing

1

Meraj Zehra , Shamim Mushtaq Nikhat Ahmed Siddiqui

1

Department of Biochemistry, Karachi University, Karachi, Pakistan

Department of Biochemistry, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan
3
Department of Research, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan
Correspondence: deanresearch@zu.edu.pk
2

Background Corneal related complications are major health concerns worldwide because its
progression is associated with significant impaired vision. Therefore, there is an urgent need
to develop reliable understanding of the underlying mechanism of corneal epithelial wound
healing to apply therapeutic options. We aimed to investigate the alterations in protein
expression and association of CDK10 and ETS2 during corneal epithelial migration and to
demonstrate the networks of the total identified proteins with potential dual functions.
Methods In this study, human corneal epithelial cells lines (HCEC) have been used for wound
healing model. Mechanical wound was made in HCEC lines and healing was monitored at 24,
48 and 72 hours of post wounding. Epithelium was scrapped at 24, 48 and 72 hours, followed
by protein quantification using BCA kit. The wounded and unwounded cells were subjected to
SDS-PAGE and two -dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). Mass Spectrometry (MALDI TOF) was
done to identify the proteins through protein database searches. The identified protein were
further analyzed and validated by western blot analysis. A further insight into the links among
the identified proteins and their functional roles were analyzed by STRING 8.3 software.
Results A significant finding of the present study is the identification of Cdk10, EFNB3, RAB 34,
RRAS, HSP2 and HSP90 in healing corneal epithelium at active phase of migration. Expression
of CDK10 and ETS2 were validated using antibody by western blot. Interaction association
network analysis further confirms the close interacting relationship between CDK10 and
ETS2 proteins. Conclusions These findings are one step forward in identifying the mechanism
of wound repair or re-epithelialization. Association of CDK10 and ETS2 in migrating samples
suggested that they have positively regulated the cell cycle and cell proliferation and hence
mediate the wound healing. This study may also increase the understanding of normal and
abnormal corneal function with likely relevance to corneal disease and transplants.

69

Natural Sciences (NS)

Oral Presentations

LiCo1-xZnxPO4 materials for methanol electro-oxidation

1

Naveed Kausar Janjua *, Javeria Arshad , Misbah Mumtaz , Ibrahim Qazi

1

Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad-45320, Pakistan.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad44000, Pakistan.
2

*Correspondence: nkausarjanjua@yahoo.com ; nkjanjua@qau.edu.pk

Lithium transition metal phosphates (LiMPO4, M=Co, Ni. Fe and Mn) possess versatile
properties as electroactive materials. A series of zinc analogues of LiCoPO40 olivines (LiCo1xZnxPO4) were synthesized by sol gel method and characterized by XRD, FTIR, and SEM. Their
electrochemical potential was evaluated for methanol oxidation in basic medium (0.5 M KOH)
using cyclic voltammetry. Kinetic (ksh and Do) and thermodynamic parameters (G, H and
S) were derived for electro-oxidation of methanol on Pt electrode modified with the
synthesized olivine powders. Increase in methanol concentration and temperature of the
electrochemical assembly, an increase in the methanol oxidation peak current was observed.
This depicted the stability of modified electrode at higher temperatures and the potential to
act as an electrode material in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). LiCo0.2Zn0.8PO4 possessed
better conducting properties but all the synthesized materials posed catalytic effect for
methanol oxidation.

Keywords: LiCo1-xZnxPO4 olivines; Cyclic voltammetry; Methanol electro-oxidation;

Electrocatalysts.

71

Exact solution of cilia induced flow of a Jeffery fluid in an inclined tube

Khadija Maqbool
International Islamic University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: khadija.maqbool@iiu.edu.pk
In this paper, the mechanism of cilia-induced .ow is discussed through a mathematical model.
In this study two dimensional .ow of a Jeffrey .uid in the presence of magnetic .eld and porous
media are observed in an inclined tube with ciliated walls. Cilia have a speci.c pattern of
motion by which they can set .uid into motion at low Reynolds number. The .ow is modeled in
wave and .xed frame of reference. Exact solution is calculated for the velocity pro.le as a
function of the cilia and metachronal wave velocity. Results for velocity, pressure rise, pressure
gradient and stream function are constructed and evaluated graphically.
Keywords: Ciliary motion, Jeffery .uid, MHD, Inclined plane.

Khadija Maqbool is an Asst. Prof of Mathematics and Statistics at the International Islamic
University Islamabad. She is an indigenous fellow of HEC. She is interested in mathematical
biology, boundary layer theory and non linear system of engineering. Interested researchers
may contact on khadija.maqbool@iiu.edu.pk.

72

Gold nanocages as potential toxicological agents for human keratinocyte

cell line
* 1,2,

Farhat Saira Rumana Qureshi , Megan . Mackey , Mahmoud . Mahmoud

Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad, Pakistan.
2
Laser Dynamics Laboratory, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0400.
*Correspondence: fsghaus@gmail.com
1

Gold nanocages (AuNCs) are comparatively novel nanostructures, as many of their

characteristics are still to be exploited. The purpose of present study was to systematically
investigate the toxicological effects of AuNCs on human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) utilizing
Dark Field (DF)/Bright Field (BF) imaging and flow cytometry cell cycle techniques. We have
applied surface modification, concentration, and incubation time as variables to investigate
their effect on the cellular imaging and cell cycle response of HaCaT cells. The results indicate
that the HaCaT cells interact with AuNCs in accordance to their surface charge and
concentration. Cellular uptake is evident from DF images which lead to the cell cycle
perturbations and apoptosis in HaCaT cells. AuNCs cause a prominent G2/M phase arrest after
24 hrs of incubation. To the best of our knowledge this is a first report on toxicological effects
of AuNCs on human keratinocyte cell line in vitro.

73

Natural Sciences (NS)

Poster Presentations

Ethanol sensing magical properties of the hydrothermally synthesized

ultra-long V2O5 nanowires
Abdul Hakim Shah, Al Omar Muneerah, Hafiza Bushra Gul, Munazza Gul, Wen Chen

*Correspondence: dr.abdulhakim@kkkuk.edu.pk
Due to their versatile features, transition metal oxides, particularly their one dimensional (1-D)
morphologies on the nanoscale have been focused for solid state gas sensors since last several decades.
Due to a suitable band gap, moderate melting point, good catalytic behavior, flexible structure and
stable among all the oxides of vanadium, vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is an emerging transition metal
oxide, which has been concentrated by the research community in gas sensors during recent years.
Earlier, various kinds of V2O5 nanostructures have been explored for conductometric gas sensors,
which exhibited sensing ability towards different kinds of target gases such as ethanol, acetone etc.
However, due to the scarcity in several gas sensing parameters (In-adequate behavior of the working
temperature-sensitivity and relatively poor selectivity) of the sensors based on V2O5 nanostructures,
further investigations are required in this regard.
In this work, we report the synthesis of novel V2O5 nanowires with length upto few m through a facile
and economic hydrothermal approach. Gas sensor device based on these nanowires was fabricated by
in-situ technique which responded well to a few ppm ethanol with reasonable sensitivity and
selectivity as well as response speed at a working temperature as low as room temperature. Such a
remarkable and magical gas sensing performance could be attributed to the linear electronic transport
paths offered by V2O5 nanowires towards ethanol molecules which is promising in their practical
applications.

Keywords: Vanadium pentoxide, Ethanol sensor, Nanowires, One dimensional

Munazza Gul is M.Phil student in the Physics. She is carrying out her research under the cosupervision of Dr. Abdul Hakim Shah. Her research interests are based on the synthesis of metal oxides
based nanostructures for different device applications such as gas sensor. Prospective student having
research interest in this field can contact her on his email address munazzaphysics@gmail.com.

Abdul Hakim Shah is Assistant Professor of Physics at Khushal Khan Khattak University, Karak
Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. He obtained his Ph.D (Material Physics) in 2015, from the Wuhan University of
Technology, Wuhan P.R.China. His research interests are based on the synthesis of metal oxides based
nanostructures and hetero-nanostructures for different device applications such as gas sensor, Na-ion
batteries electrodes, solar cells and photocatalysis. Prospective student having research interest in
these fields can contact Dr. Shah on his email address dr.abdulhakim@kkkuk.edu.pk and website
www.kkkuk.edu.pk.

75

GNPs induced tailoring in bandgap, dielectric and antibacterial

characteristics of MgO/GNPs nanohybrids
Aqsa Arshad*, Javed Iqbal
International Islamic University, Islamabad , Pakistan.
*Correspondence: aqsa.arshad@iiu.edu.pk
The synthesis and physical properties of novel antibacterial agent MgO/GNPs nanohybrids
have been reported in this work. Hexagon shaped morphology oriented MgO/GNPs
nanohybrids have been synthesized using simple and versatile chemical route. The
crystallinity, phase purity, morphology, chemical bonding, vibrational modes and optical
properties of prepared nanostructures have been studied in detail using XRD, FE-SEM, FTIR,
Raman and UV-Vis spectroscopy. It has been interestingly observed that the direct band gap of
MgO has shift towards lower energies with the incorporation of GNPs into host nanomaterial
which make it potential for opto-nanodevices. It is also found that the dielectric properties of
the prepared nanohybrids are significantly changed by keeping different stoichiometric ratio
of GNPs in the nanohybrids. The effect of increased amount of GNPs on antibacterial
performance of nanohybrids against pathogenic micro-organisms has been researched,
suggesting them toxic for S. aureus and E. coli. It is expected that these MgO/GNPs nanohybrids
may have potential applications in nano-optoelectronics, nanomedicine and dielectric
nanomaterial medium with incorporated intrinsic properties of GNPs.

Aqsa Arshad is serving as lecturer in Department of Physics, International Islamic University,

Islamabad, Pakistan since last five years. Her web address is
http://www.iiu.edu.pk/index.php?page_id=2164. Her area of research is nanoscience and
nanotechnology. She is interested to probe the physical and biological aspects of graphene and
metal/non metal oxide nanocomposites and doped metal oxide nanostructures.

76

Energy efficiency and reliability in medical body area networks

1

Madiha Fatima *, Adeel Baig

1

Department of Computer Science, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Sahiwal

Campus, COMSATS road, Sahiwal, Pakistan.
2
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS), National University of Science
and Technology, Islamabad - Pakistan
*Correspondence: 11msitmfatima@seecs.edu.pk

Wireless sensor networks is composed of minute sized sensor are collected and connected for
the purpose of observing the environmental and physiological parameters. Size of wireless
sensors is very small and there are limitations on the battery power, and computational and
processing capabilities. Devices in wireless sensor networks can be categorized as source and
sink nodes. Source nodes sense environment and Sink nodes are actually interested in
collecting data from source nodes. Applications of wireless sensor networks are military,
agriculture, medical, home, office and building automation, industry etc. Body area networks
is a term used to describe a subclass of wireless sensor networks in which tiny sensors are
attached on human body for the purpose sensing the bio vital signs. Body area networks can be
implemented in old houses to monitor the vital signs of old people, in ICUs of hospitals to
continuously monitor the patients in critical conditions. Other applications of body area
networks include military sports and different human industries to ensure the safety of
people. In medical body area networks, tiny sensors are used for the purpose of monitoring
vital signs of critical patients in hospitals. Medical body area networks exhibit all the
limitations of wireless sensor networks including its own limitations such changing topology
because of as small body movements, radiations emitted from patients body etc. One of major
challenges in medical body area networks to ensure reliability because of critical nature of
patients data. Another major issue is to ensure energy efficiency because of limited battery
power of sensors. These two issues are controversial with each other and there is always a
tradeoff between them. We try to find a balance line between these two challenges. In our
work we propose an enhancement in IEEE 802.15.4 MAC mechanism to ensure reliability and
energy efficacy. We categorize the patients data into normal and emergency traffic on the
basis of thresholds and make our proposed MAC mechanism aware of it.

Madiha Fatima is a Lecturer at Department of Computer Science, COMSATS Institute of

Information Technology, Sahiwal Campus, Pakistan. She is interested in cloud computing, IoT
and medical body area networks. She can be contacted through her email Id:
madihafatima@ciitsahiwal.edu.pk to discuss different research opportunities.

77

Highly selective CO2 capture by S-doped microporous carbon materials

Humaira Shahzad
Institute of Chemical Sciences University of Peshawer - Pakistan.
*Correspondence: hawkkhan2@gmail.com.
S-doped microporous carbon materials were synthesized by the chemical activation of a
reduced-graphene-oxide/poly-thiophene material. The material displayed a large CO2
-1
adsorption capacity of 4.5 mmol g at 298K and 1 atm, as well as an impressive CO2 adsorption
selectivity over N2, CH4 and H2. The material was shown to exhibit a stable recycling
adsorption capacity of 4.0 mmol g-1. The synthesized material showed a maximum specific
surface area of 1567 m2 g-1 and an optimal CO2 adsorption pore size of 0.6 nm. The
microporosity, surface area and oxidized S content of the material were found to be the
determining factors for CO2 adsorption. These properties show that the as synthesized Sdoped microporous carbon material can be more effective than similarly prepared N-doped
microporous carbons in CO2 capture.

Humaira Shahzad is a lecturer at Institute of Chemical Sciences University of Peshawer,

Pakistan. She has completed her PhD studies from POSTECH, Korea in 2014. She was selected
from Pakistan to participate in 59th Nobel Laureates Conference in 2009 at Lindau, Germany.
Her research interest is environmental remediation by Graphene based nanomaterials.
Prospective students can discuss their research possibilities with Humaira
hawkkhan2@gmail.com.

78

Entropy as counterpart of citations

Tehmina Amjad*, Atia Akram
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
International Islamic University Islamabad
*Correspondence: tehminaamjad@iiu.edu.pk
In today's research oriented academic society, inevitable collaboration of researchers
engenders academic social networks. For ranking of academic entities, like venues of
publications (journals/conferences/workshops), number of publications and citations count
are considered to be very significant. Citation count is most powerful metric for ranking
entities like web pages, research articles, authors and publication venues and it can determine
importance of academic entities. Apart from ranking, these metrics are also used to evaluate
the results generated by a ranking method. Given a dataset, calculating the number of
publications of an author or a journal is a simple task. On the other hand, finding the number of
citations is tricky, as a real world dataset do not provide all citing papers of a paper in it. This
study aims to find an alternative measure to rank and evaluate the academic entities. We study
the correlation between entropy and citations, as entropy is known to represent the disorder
of a system. We use entropy to measure the importance or quality of a venue that is calculated
by using the titles of papers published in that venue. This research analyses the correlation
between the number of citations of a venue and entropy of that venue. The results show that
venues with high citations have low entropy and venues with low citations have high entropy.
Venues that publish topic specific papers are considered as high level venues. The results of
this study are significant and enables the future researchers to use simple metric of entropy to
rank and evaluate publication venues instead of going through the complications of finding all
citations from real world datasets. Experiments are conducted on version 7 of DBLP dataset
ranging from 2004-2013. Our findings will overcome the problem of missing citations and
presents entropy as a substitute of citations count for ranking of venues. Future researchers
can use it to evaluate their research work.

Tehmina Amjad is a Lecturer in Department of Science and Software Engineering,

International Islamic University Islamabad since 2007. Her research interests include
information retrieval, data mining, social network analysis, probabilistic topic models,
machine learning and data grids. Prospective students can discuss their research possibilities
with Tehmina at tehminaamjad@iiu.edu.pk

79

CuO@Al2O3 and CuO@CeO2 hybrid catalysts for enzyme less glucose

sensing
Ayesha Mujtaba
Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam university Islamabad
*Correspondence: ayesha.mujtaba@live.com
Enzyme less glucose sensors based on CuO@Al2O3 and CuO@CeO2 hybrid catalysts were
investigated in this study. The XRD results confirmed the phase purity of the synthesized
materials. Electrochemical investigations performed on the modified electrodes based on the
prepared materials confirmed that they were redox active. Cyclic voltammetric studies were
performed to determine their electro catalytic ability for glucose oxidation in alkaline media.
The materials displayed encouraging performance as glucose sensors with a much higher
upper limit of detection than some of the reported materials for similar applications.

I am Ayesha Mujtaba, a Ph.D. Scholar at the Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam

university Islamabad, working under the supervision of Dr. Naveed Kausar Janjua. I have
recently submitted my Ph.D. dissertation for foreign evaluation. My areas of interest are
material science and electrochemistry.

80

Electro-oxidation of methanol using copper doped lithium nickel

phosphate powders
1

3,4

Misbah Mumtaz , Naveed Kausar Janjua *, Azra Yaqub , Mehwish Jabeen , Bin Zhu *
1

Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad-45230, Pakistan

Chemistry Division, Directorate of Science, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and
Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Faculty of Physics and
Electronic Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, Hubei 430062, P.R. China
4
Department of Energy Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SE-10044, Sweden
*Correspondence: nkjanjua@qau.edu.pk; zhubin@hubu.edu.cn
2

The use of nano-sized Cu doped olivine powders LiNi(1-x)CuxPO4 (0 < x < 0.99) finished as thin
films on the Pt electrode is demonstrated. The resulting films are electrocatalytically active for
methanol (MeOH) electro-oxidation; as measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 0.1 M KOH.
The basic objective besides MeOH oxidation studies is to investigate particle size
performance, as decrease in particle size to nanometer scale is a prevalent tactic to proliferate
the active surface area of electrode materials. As a result of tailoring parent structure by
doping, elevated performance in the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol is exhibited by
LiNi(1-x)CuxPO4 olivines and the resulting kinetics is diffusion-controlled as retrieved by CV
data. Compared to Pt-Nafion electrode, two-fold enhancement is observed in the
electrochemical results for methanol oxidation using copper doped olivine powders owing to
better electrode performance. The enhanced electrochemical stability is rendered
presumably due to formation of high dispersion as well as improved adhesive bonding of the
thin films of the active materials with the electrode surface.
Keywords: Copper doped olivines; Methanol electro-oxidation; Cyclic voltammetry; Efficient
electrodes.

Misbah Mumtaz, is QAU visiting faculty member. She is a member of the Royal Society of
Chemistry, and a former HEC indigenous and IRSIP fellow. She is awarded three poster prizes
along with EU scholarship grant at University of St Andrews. Dr. Mumtaz research interest
stems in various energy material used for Li-Ion batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells.

81

Application of away cluster head utilizing adaptive clustering habit under

water using wireless sensor network
1

Saeeda Usman *, Nighat Usman , Sikandar Khan

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal - Pakistan

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad - Pakistan
3
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad - Pakistan
*Correspondence: saeeda@ciitsahiwal.edu.pk
2

Terrestrial and Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (TWSNs and UWSNs) need different
communication mechanisms. In order to gather the desired information from the underwater
environment, multiple acoustic sensors are deployed with limited resources such as memory,
battery, processing power, transmission range, etc. Replacement for a particular node is not
feasible due to harsh underwater environment. Thus the only solution left after node(s)
deployment is to use these resources efficiently so that network lifetime could be enhanced. In
this paper, a terrestrial based "Away Cluster Head with Adaptive Clustering Habit" (ACH)2 is
examined in the specified three dimensional (3-D) region inside water. Three different cases
are considered, which are: single sink at water surface, multiple sinks at water surface and
sinks at both water surface and inside water. "Underwater (ACH)2" (U-(ACH)2) is evaluated in
each case. We have used depth in our proposed U-(ACH)2 to examine the performance of
(ACH)2 in ocean environment. Our proposed U-(ACH)2 is compared with depth based routing
(DBR) and energy efficient depth based routing (EEDBR) protocol. From the extensive
simulation results, we have observed that while comparing U-(ACH)2 with DBR and EEDBR
protocols, U-(ACH)2 enhances the performance of the network.
Keywords: Underwater, wireless, sensor, networks, throughput, away, clustering.

82

Numerical simulation of microfluidic droplet formation in flow focusing

device using VOF model
Saima Iqbal, Shazia Bashir*
Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: shazia@pieas.edu.pk
The field of microfluidics has dramatically improved over the last decade. Microfluidic flow
focusing devices have been widely utilized for droplet generation on account of its superior
control over droplet size as they generate droplets comparable to the size of the orifice. These
micronanometer sized generated droplets have tremendous applications in pharmaceutical
industry, biomedical studies and drug delivery.
The aim of this work is to numerically investigate the dynamics of microdroplets by the
droplet generation process of an aqueous flow in mineral oil in a microfluidic flow focusing
device. Volume of fluid (VOF) model is used to numerically model the droplet generation
process for the accurate interface tracking. The monodispersed droplet breaking processes
are studied at different flow rate ratio of the dispersed phase to the continuous phase which
shows the influence of this parameter on droplet size. Also, the effect of wettability of
dispersed phase (Water) with the channel wall has also been studied which is controlled by
altering the contact angle with the wall. It showed that the droplet size becomes independent
of contact angle in the super hydrophobic regime.

83

Enhanced rate of electron transfer across gold nanoparticle-nthraquinone

hybrids.
1

Humaira Razzaq *, Rumana Qureshi , David Schiffrin

1

National Centre of Physics, Islamabad

Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
3
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
*Correspondence: hunza_pk2@yahoo.com
2

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold [8-10] have been used as to

prepare a chemical interface which is stable and structurally well defined, with controllable
thickness and desirable function for applications, for instance, in electroanalysis and
biosensors. The stability of SAMs, resulting from the strength of Au-sulfur interactions, makes
them ideal model systems to study fundamental questions such as distance-dependence and
interfacial structure effects on long-range electron transfer kinetics between a redox active
species and an electrode.
The binding of Au nanoclusters incorporating AQ redox molecules to a dithiol SAM has been
demonstrated and is compared with AQ tethered to the gold electrode without nanoparticles.
The incorporation of the gold nanoclusters establishes electrical communication between the
electrode and the redox centre resulting in fast direct electron transfer between the AQ group
and the gold substrate. The importance of the present work is to have shown that gold
nanoparticles can efficiently mediate direct electron transfer to covalently bound molecules
that follow proton coupled electron transfer reactions.

84

Catalytic wet air oxidation of aqueous ammonia over -al2o3 based cu-ru
bimetallic catalysts
Fatima Zahid, Amna Bashir, Zareen Akhter*
Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: zareenakhter@yahoo.com
Due to the excessive use of ammonia in the industry it is one of the most important
environmental issues. The presence of ammonia in the environment is harmful towards living
organism. Therefore, removal of ammonia from waste water is very important in maintaining
the aquatic environment. Catalytic wet air oxidation is one way of removing ammonia from the
environment. Different catalysts have been used for ammonia removal. Ruthenium supported
catalyst is very active towards ammonia decomposition. But due to the high cost and limited
availability its industrial application is limited. Copper is also found to show some activity
towards ammonia decomposition. In order to make the catalyst cost effective, the -Al2O3
supported Cu-Ru bimetallic catalysts with different metal loading have been successfully
synthesized using impregnation method. The -Al2O3 was synthesized by sol-gel method. The
catalysts were characterized by using different techniques including Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometry (AAS), Surface Area Analysis, Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), FourierTransformed Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Field
Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The catalysts were successfully applied for
catalytic wet air oxidation of aqueous ammonia. The ammonia decomposition activity was
studied at three different temperatures i.e. 150 C 200 C 230 C and it were found that
catalytic activity increases with increase of temperature. Up to 99 % ammonia decomposition
was achieved at 230 C with catalyst containing 3% Ru loading over 10% copper. The
promoting effect of Ru over catalytic activity of Cu was also studied and it was observed that
activity of copper is enhanced by the addition of ruthenium. The selectivity of the catalyst
towards different products was also calculated and it was found that selectivity towards
nitrogen production was maximum with minimum production of nitrates. This was also
confirmed by analysis of gaseous products which also indicated that no NOx were present in
the products. The ammonia to catalyst ratio was also optimized. The catalyst was recovered
from the reaction mixture by filtration and it was found active for five cycles. The stability of
catalyst in the reaction medium was confirmed by determination of dissolution degrees of the
catalyst which was quite low.

85

Electroactive oligo(aniline)s containing polyethylene glycol blockcopolymers as potential self-assembled material

1

Irrum Mushtaq , Charl FJ Faul , Zareen Akhter *

1

Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
*Correspondence: zareenakhter@yahoo.com
2

The conducting polymer poly(aniline) (PANI) has received much attention due to its ease of
synthesis and its electrochemical and optical properties. Its unique properties are due to the
presence of a conjugated -electron system. However, PANI lacks solubility in most common
solvents, which limits its applications. Therefore oligo(aniline)s are identified as ideal
replacement, as the oligomers have the same desirable properties of PANI as well as good
solubility and processability.
Keeping advanced applications in mind like drug delivery and artificial muscles using
biocompatible and biodegradable molecules with electroactivity, one of the important
problems facing conducting polymers is the lack of biocompatibility and biodegradability. A
potential solution to this problem is the introduction of biocompatible moieties with
degradable linkages. Hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) is an attractive candidate because
of its biocompatibility, flexibility and water solubility. The biodegradability can be induced by
adding ester linkage in the molecule. Block-like structures containing oligo(aniline)s
terminated with PEG chains containing ester linkages can potentially solve the mentioned
problems and yield attractive properties for biomedical and electrochemical applications.
In this project we aim to synthesize amine/amine end-capped tetra(aniline), (NH2/NH2 TANI).
Once prepared, we aim to functionalize this oligomer with short ethylene glycol chains (Figure
1
1) using different coupling strategies. FT-IR spectroscopy, H NMR, 13CNMR, UV-vis
spectroscopy andmass spectrometry will be used to characterize the block copolymers. Selfassembly studies will be shown using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. The
effect of dopants on the electroactivity and self-assembly of the materials will also be
discussed.

PEG-TANI-PEG
Figure 1: chemical structures of TANI-PEG and PEG-TANI-PEG

86

Synthesis and characterization of functionalized Graphene-oxide

polyimide nanocomposites as potential fluorescent / HTM for
optoelectronics.
1,2

Asma Iqbal , Humaira Masood Siddiqi *, Toheed Akhtar , O. Ok. Park , Sung Woo Lee .
1

D e p a r t m e n t o f C h e m i s t r y Q u a i d - i -A za m U n i ve r s i t y, I s l a m a b a d , Pa k i s ta n
Department of chemical and biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advance Institute of Science and
Technology, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea.
Correspondence: humaira_siddiqi@yahoo.com
2

In this work, Graphene oxide nanosheets were surface modified by developing Imide linkage
on it. The modified GO was then incorporated as filler into the novel hyperbrached Polyimide
matrix, which was cured with amine to form nanocomposites as future hole transporting
materials .The synthesized nanocomposites were analyzed by FT-IR, XPS and SEM for the
confirmation of formation of nanocomposite, Similarly, their thermal, optical, fluorescent, and
electrochemical properties were measured using TGA, UV-Vis spectroscopy,
photoluminescence spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry which revealed that the
synthesized polyimides exhibit high lying HOMO levels, blue light emission, and stable
electrochemical properties. Thus, these properties make our synthesized nanocomposites as
potential candidates for hole transporting materials in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

87

Evaluation of performance parameters of indigenously developed roots

pumping system
1

Aisha Usman , Muhammad Maqsood , M Fahad Bodla and Jawad Ali

1

National Institute of Vacuum Science and Technology, Shahdara road, NCP-Complex, Islamabad
Pakistan
2
Department of Physics, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan
Correspondence: aisha@ninvast.edu.pk
Roots pumping systems are widely used in industries to generate vacuum with high pumping
speed. In the present work, the performance parameters of indigenously developed Roots
pumping system have been studied. The performance parameters being studied are the
ultimate pressure, working temperature, compression ratio and pumping speed. Ultimate
pressure of the Roots pump after continuous running of eight hours is found to be 1.110-3
mbar. The most important parameter of the roots pump is the zero-gas flow compression
Ratio (Ko) which is found to be 18 for the pumping system under study. Efficiency of Roots
pump is found to be 76% which is in good agreement as reported in the literature.

Aisha Usman is serving as Scientific Officer (Physics) in Vacuum Standards Lab at National
Institute of Vacuum Science and Technology, Islamabad. Her areas of research are Vacuum
generation, vacuum metrology and applied vacuum technology.

88

Social Sciences (SS)

Oral Presentations

Evaluating Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2015 in the

light of the cultural and religious context of Pakistani society
Naseem Razi
Faculty of Shariah and Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: naseem.razi@iiu.edu.pk
This article aims to evaluate the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2015 in
the light of the cultural and religious context of Pakistani Society. It explores that the objective
behind the enactment of the Act was to promote gender equality and to protect the Pakistani
women against violence including domestic violence. This Act also aims to improve the
miserable condition of the Pakistani women at homes and to encourage them to contribute
and to play an active role in the development of the society. Yet due to cultural rigidity, illiteracy
and restrained understanding of the Quranic provisions, ignorance of Sunnah (PBUH), a sever
resistant launched by the clerics that has made this Act a matter of sever debate on the media
and among the common men, civil activists, social reformers, and the clerics of Pakistan. In this
context, this article argues with the help of the Quranic provisions and Sunnah (pbuh) that
Islam has declared the women equal to men in all aspects of life including self-respect,
wisdom, and dignity. It further, explores that Islam is the founder of the human right
phenomenon, introduced the principle of equality, culminated gender discrimination and
lifted the status of the women up rather declared these rights as the fundamental rights of the
humankind without which the life cannot be survived. It also throws light on the cultural
rigidity due to which most of the people are unable to understand the spirit of the Act. It thus,
concludes that this is only the cultural rigidity, illiteracy, gender discrimination and strained
literal interpretation of the Quranic provisions that have led the people resistant. It is also
concluded that most of the resistant takethis Act as against their ego and personal dignity and
have ignored the actual meanings of the Quran and the Sunnah (pbuh). It thus, recommends
evaluating the Act in the light of the objectives of Shariah and in the light of the status of the
woman at home and her role in the development of the society during the era of the Prophet
(PBUH) and his companions by keeping a side ego.

Naseem Razi is an Associate Professor of Law at the Faculty of Shariah and Law, International
Islamic University, Islamabad. Her specialization is in the Interpretation of Statutes and
Ijtihad. She has presented 16 research papers at national and international conferences
during the last four years. She has 20 research publications in different national and
International journals of USA, on different issues of Pakistani society including Islamic
Banking and Finance. Currently, she is teaching interpretation of statutes, Human Rights Law,
comparative Jurisprudence and international Justice System to LLM and PhD law classes. She
may be contacted @ naseem.razi@iiu.edu.pk

89

Independence through interdependence: Self-sustained social support

system in Pakistan
Najma Sadiq*, Wajiha Haq
National University of Science and Technology, H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: anajma.sadiq@s3h.nust.edu.pk
Social integration mainly depends on different individuals and/or their groups, who interact,
contribute and share to maintain functionality with their domain. In Pakistan, where social
support system is not properly managed and implemented through government umbrella, the
locals have developed their own social support system; this is also a tool to overcome any
disastrous situation. The insecurity and instability in external environment have given rise to
mutual trust, compassion and understanding. Members of self-sustained social support
system in Pakistan share a certain amount of money with others over a specific time period to
provide financial backup in case of human loss, health crisis or any other issue that is defined
and incorporated through consensus. The focus of the present paper is to explore dynamics
and underlying objectives that act as driving force for reckoning independence through
interdependence. The scope of this paper is to present structure, characteristics and working
of self-sustained social support system. This study investigates how these small indigenous
models scattered in different communities can be brought together to deal with the bigger
issue through identification of motivating factors underlying this volunteer caring behavior.
The social system based on these models will also demonstrate how to fight any emergency or
disastrous management. These results have also led us to find how people can be motivated to
establish theses self-sustained economies to address their financial problem and how can we
be insulated from loss through these economies.

Keywords: Social support system, integration, caring and sharing, communication and
interdependence, Crisis management

90

A sociolinguistic Study of the challenges faced by Pakistani working

women
Wasima Shehzad* , Syeda Tehseen Zehra
Faculty of Social Sciences, Air University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: wasima.shehzad@yahoo.com
The role of women in scientific and social development in the last two decades has been matter
of considerable discussion among sociolinguists. The World Development Report 2012
reveals that fact that in Pakistan female participation at workplace is 28 % which is lower than
many other developing countries such as Vetinam where the percentage of female employees
is 77 %. Pakistan Employment Trends Report (2011) compiled by Bureau of Statistics
reported positive increase of women participation in workplace; it was 16.3 % in 2000 and
24.4 % in 2011 which means 7 million female workers have joined the workforce in a period of
11 years. The increase in women's participation in the workforce is viewed as a progress and
at higher level a major milestone for Pakistan. However, the working women of Pakistan have
to encounter many adversities and put extra efforts to prove themselves in their workplaces
(Hussain, 2009). Thus, there is a need to explore the problems that obstruct women
participation in workforce? To explore the issue thirty women were selected though
purposive sampling and divided into three categories based on their salary packages. Hence,
in this paper we discuss; the use of language in workplace, purdah/veil (hijab), and gender
earning gaps which hinder their participation in scientific and social development of Pakistan.

91

Role of women in social cadre of disaster hit areas in Pakistan; A case study
of Yasmeen Lari's works in Sindh, Pakistan
Yasmeen Maan
Architecture Department, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore Pakistan.
*Correspondence: yasmeen.arch@gmail.com
The livability and rehabilitation processes in disaster prone regions all over the world need an
integrated mechanism within government and social circles. The enormity of disasters in
Pakistan during last two decades has raised the need even more. Yasmeen Lari holds a
dynamic profile for contributing towards rehabilitation of families in disaster hit areas of
Sindh.Working on these lines she has implemented an elusive element of pride among
traumatised families. Natural disasters have provided the backdrop to much of her later work.
Since 2010 Yasmeen Lari has built over 36,000 houses for those affected by Pakistan's floods
and earthquakes. Lari implements traditional building techniques and local materials in
rebuilding the Sind Valley region of Pakistan. As CEO Heritage Foundation Ar. Yasmeen Lari is
credited for strenghthening capabilities of communities in gaining self resilience. The
methodologies to enliven post disaster communities involved donors and IPOs in undertaking
shelter at an accelerated pace.However a maximised participation of household Womenfolk
was targeted by Lari for rehabilitation of shelters..converting structures into homes. Women
were predominantly involved in this by utilising their skills and capabilities. Henceforth
Yasmeen Lari 's works for development of families in disaster hit areas is exemplary and
presented here.

92

Factors behind successful women in non-traditional careers

Shaista Waqar*, Rubina Hanif *
National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: shaistawaqar@nip.edu.pk; drrubinahanif@nip.edu.pk
Contribution of women in Pakistan's economic and social development is significant. It is
important to understand how their career development can be facilitated. The present study
intended to investigate the factors leading women to experience career success in nontraditional careers. Human capital, demographic, personality and career beliefs variables
were studied as the predictors of career success for women working in telecom and banking
sector. Career Satisfaction Scale (Greenhaus, Parasuraman & Wormley ,1990) was used to
assess subjective career success while monthly salary and number of promotions were taken
as indicators of objective career success. The data was taken from 176 females working in
government and semi-government banks and telecom organizations. The regression analyses
provided the evidence that extra version, work experience, education, and facilitating career
beliefs positively predicted career success while career myths negatively predicted career
success. Group wise comparisons showed that women who are married, from nuclear family
system, having employed spouse, whose jobs were permanent, working in semi-government
organizations, have compatibility between degree and job and those who work in banking
sector experience higher levels of career success. Implications for women's' career
development have been discussed.

Key words: Career Success, Objective Career Success, Subjective Career Success, Women,
Non-traditional Career

93

Social Sciences (SS)

Poster Presentations

An analytical study of occupational stress, stress coping skills and

personality preferences among female academic managers at higher
education level
Shazia Zamir* and Nadia Nazir
National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: szamir@numl.edu.pk
The purpose of present study was to analyze occupational stress and personality type of
female academic managers serving in public sector degree colleges in Punjab. Major
objectives of the study were to find out the relationship between occupational stress and
personality types, to identify the level of occupational stress of female academic managers, to
determine the personality preferences of female academic managers. All the 295 government
degree colleges in Punjab constituted the population of the study, out of which 60 were taken
as representative sample. Data were collected through Occupational Stress InventoryRevised
and Myers Briggs type indicator personality type. Data were analyzed by using descriptive
statistics such as Mean, Percentages and Inferential statistics such as Pearson Correlation. On
the basis of findings major conclusions were drawn which indicated a higher level of
occupational stress in female academic managers with average stress coping skills. Data
revealed that female academic managers possess personality preference of extroversion,
sensing, thinking, judging as measured by Myers Briggs type indicator, this personality type is
referred as the mark of the leader. It was also concluded that there is positive correlation
between occupational stress and extroversion, sensing, thinking, and judging. Higher scores
on preference of extroversion, sensing, thinking, judging lead to high stress and average
coping skills. Based on conclusions it was recommended that steps should be taken to reduce
the occupational stress of female academic managers in higher education in order to improve
the physical and mental health of female academic manager which will ultimately lead to the
development of healthy and calm environment in higher education institutions consequently
enhancing the quality of higher education. These findings further suggest that teachers with
over stress prone personality should be screened and if needed, be counseled to cope with
occupational stress.

95

War and women: Reflections from the poetic works of Allama Muhammad
Iqbal
Humaira Shahbaz
Department of Persian Studies, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: hshahbaz@numl.edu.pk
Human sensitivity is most reflected in poetry. Allama Iqbal is one of the greatest poets of IndoPak Subcontinent, recognized in world class literature. His vision and his revolutionary
thoughts reflected in his Urdu and Persian poetry are timeless. Even today we find his
philosophy very much relevant with current issues.
In his poetry we come across hundreds of verses and tens of poems addressing the various
issues of women from all walks of life. It is worth knowing that how Allama Iqbal reflected on
the issue of "War and Women"? What are his inspirations and role models in this field?
In present war prone world woman is one of the most effected victims of war. It is not that
Allama Iqbal expresses women as war victim alone but he proudly quotes the examples of
female heroic characters especially from the Muslim world history who contributed in the
defense of their homeland. His Urdu and Persian poetry on this topic is awe inspiring as he
recalls the motivating role models from Arab and Indo Pak Subcontinent etc.
Allama Iqbal highlights the sacrifices of women and encourages the participation of women as
an important member of society in national interest. By exploring these poetic lines we can
reach a poet's perspective about war and women and will be able to appreciate the role that
women has been playing in glorious past and can define the guide lines for future actions.
Key words: Women, war victim, poetry, history.

Humaira Shahbaz is M.Phil in Persian language and literature from University of Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Currently she is a PhD Scholar and Lecturer at Department of Persian Studies,
NUML Islamabad. Her field of research specialization is Iqbal Studies. She has presented a
number of research papers in national and international conferences. She is life member of
Iqbal Academy, Pakistan and is a freelance writer. She can be approached at
hshahbaz@numl.edu.pk

96

Gender based analysis of organizational citizenship behaviour and self

efficacy of university teachers
Nadia Nazir* and Shazia Zameer
National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: nadianazir481@yahoo.com
The purpose of present study was to analyse organizational citizenship behaviour and selfefficacy among university teachers based on gender. The main objectives of this study were to
explicate organizational citizenship behaviour based on gender among university teachers, to
measure self-efficacy of university teachers in relation to their demographic variation of
gender and to find out relationship between organizational citizenship behaviour and selfefficacy. Data were collected through Organizational Citizenship Behaviour questionnaire by
Podsakoff consisting of 24 items and Self efficacy questionnaire by Schwarzer consisting 10
items. Sample was taken from various universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Data was
collected from 73 females and 26 males' university teachers. For data analysis mean, standard
deviation and t-test were applied. Finding of the study revealed that there is statistically
difference between male and female university teachers regarding organizational citizenship
behaviour. It also revealed that female teachers have higher mean score on organizational
citizenship behaviour and self-efficacy and there is positive correlation between
organizational citizenship behaviour and self-efficacy.Finding will provideguidelines to
educational administrator and teachersas devices that can boost their self-efficacy level in
social and psychological adjustments. High levels of self-efficacy enhance one's
accomplishments and feelings of personal well-being.Organizations should also find ways to
restrain organizational citizenship behaviour, as it brings no benefit to the organization, but
rather cripples the organization.

97

Women's labor force participation: a comparative study of Pakistan and

Malaysia
1,2

Adeela Rehman *, Nurazzura Mohamad Diah , Muhmmad Shujah-Ur-Rehman Malik

1.

Faima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi.

International Islamic University, Malaysia
3.
University Technology Malaysia
*Correspondence: dradeelarehman@gmail.com
2.

Over the time in last decade, the women's labor force participation has increased in both
formal an informal sector, yet comparative analysis signified higher percentage (51.2%) of
women participation in economy in Pakistan as compare to less number (43.8%) in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, because of less education more women involved in clerical works, agriculture,
service workers and marker sales workers. The stumpy female involvement in the Malaysian
labour force is also owed to, stubborn working provision and deficient privileges to working
women. On the other hand in Pakistan, the women work force is also higher in informal
economy because of socio-cultural determinants of mobility, working hours and household
responsibilities. Despite extensive women working power in formal sector too, more
managerial positions with high salaries are devoted to men only. Despite all these
impediments, women labor power is contributing a lot in the overall economy of both
countries nevertheless lack potential recognition. Regardless of much endeavour devoted in
recent decades in Malaysia and Pakistan to minimize gender inequalities in labour market,
women low participation in labor force prevalently evidenced required strategic policy
decision to bestow more women participation in work force. Being a Muslim country with
having ideology of giving equal rights and opportunities to both men and women, abundant
discrepancies existed in division of economic resources. Assorted literature on the above
mentioned concern indicated existence of gender inequalities in both the countries in terms of
autonomy on economic activities and employment distribution. Although job opportunities
are accessible to both men and women, but still gender wise labour market is more crammed
with men as compare to women in both countries.

98

Mobile banking: enhancing women's participation in informal economy of

Pakistan
Muhmmad Shujah-ur-Rehman Malik, Zarina Abdul Salam
University Technology Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
*Correspondence: zarina@ibs.utm.my
Mobile money transfer is becoming essential part of daily life and is progressing through
telecom agents. Due to larger potential, this study focuses on the mobile banking provided
through telecom-bank collaboration model and its acceptance at individual level especially to
women of Pakistan. It is proven by the previous researches that women are the strategic
partner to succeed in any field we have to move along with them for better growth. To be more
focused women are the entrepreneur in them but due to lack of financial assistance and less
exposure to market, their skills are unutilized. Mobile payment service is providing them
financial feasibility to do their own business event in remote areas of Pakistan. This research
has also proposed a model that may be useful to enhance adoption of mobile payment service
among women based on the factors, trust, compatibility, social influence and accessibility.
These variables directly and indirectly (via perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use)
affect the adoption of mobile payment service for any type of financial transaction.
Key Words: Mobile Banking, Informal Economy, Women's Participation

99

Strive of medical students in satiating thirst of mental power (intellectual

wellness)
Rehana Rehman*, Ayesha Saba Naz, Mehwish Hussain.
Aga Khan University, Karachi
*Correspondence: drrehana7@gmailcom
Objective: To identify and compare awareness of intellectual wellness (IW) in male and female
medical students of Karachi.
Materials & Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire based survey to evaluate awareness of
IW among randomly selected 800 male/female medical students was carried from January till
December 2010 in eight medical colleges of Karachi. Responses; never, sometimes, mostly and
always (numbered 0-4 ) were analyzed in terms of frequency, proportion and percentages by
PASW(Predictive analysis soft ware) version 18. Chi square test was applied for comparison of
categorical aspects of wellness; results declared significant with p value<0.05.
Results: 736 complete questionnaires with 71.5% responses from females were selected. IW
was significantly higher in females due to an increasing aptitude towards book reading,
selection of movies and analytical thinking. Male students derived help from mentors to
acquire IW (P value<0.03)
Conclusion: Females were found to be better in terms of intellectual wellness as compared to
males; however males used their mentorship support to acquire IW
Keywords: Intellectual wellness, private sector medical colleges, public sector medical
colleges, medical students .

100

Intersection of personal and political: Allegorical significance of Suleri's

Meatless Days
Humaira Riaz*
City University of Sciences & Information Technology, Peshawar
*Correspondence: humairariaz@cusit.edu.pk
The study investigates the allegorical significance of Sara Suleri's Meatless days by examining
how her personal story is interwoven with the political history of Pakistan. It examines the use
of language as a vehicle which reflects Suleri's notion of 'dislocation'. The memoir represents
the tales of food, love, home and belonging. Written within the context of the creation of
Pakistan the narrative brings together intimate memories of the author's personal and public
life. Anecdotes about Suleri's family and friends which narrate the major turning points in
contemporary Pakistan history are brought to life through her unique play of language. The
author's life is marked by historical and public events most significantly independence. Her
use of language re- creates that history, invoking the 'lost' through the tales of her mother,
sister and friends. The study also helps us to understand the concept of female identity in the
South Asian cultural context. It concludes by foregrounding Suleri's idea of displacement as
'subtle'. For her the visualization of displacement is 'slightly pleasing'.

101

Work related outcomes of authentic leadership among female employees:

moderating role of organizational structures
Aisha Zubair* , Anila Kamal
National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: aishazubair@nip.edu.pk
The present study was undertaken to determine the work related outcomes of perceived
authentic leadership; that is work related flow and creative work behavior among female
employees of flat and tall organizations. Moreover, it was also intended to determine the
moderating role of organizational structure (flat and tall) in the relationship between
perceived authentic leadership with work related flow and creative work behavior. In this
regard two types of organizations have been considered; that is, banks as a form of tall
organizational structure with multiple hierarchical structures while software companies have
been considered as flat organizations with minimal layers of management. Respondents (N =
405) were female employees of marketing departments of banks (202) and software
companies (203) with age range of 27-52 years. Results showed that perceived authentic
leadership was positively associated with work related flow and creative work behavior.
Likewise, work related flow was positively aligned with creative work behavior. Furthermore,
type of organizational structure significantly moderated the relationship of perceived
authentic leadership with work related flow and creative work behavior. Results of
independent sample t-test showed that women working in flat organizations (software
houses) reflected better perceptions of authentic leadership; higher work related flow, and
elevated levels of creative work behavior as compared to those working in tall organizations
(banks). Implications of the present study for female employees and management as well as
future recommendations were also discussed.

102

Spatial patterns of cancer and its various types in Punjab, 2011-2014

1

Rubab Z. Kahlon *, Aamer G. Mufti Mehak Hassan

1

Department of Geography, University of the Punjab, Lahore

Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore
3
Govt College (W) Wapda Town, Lahore
*Correspondence: rzkahlon@gmail.com
2

Cancer is a major health problem in the under developed countries. Variants of its incidence
rate amongst geographical areas are due to various contributing factors. This study was
performed to assess the spatial patterns of cancer incidence in the Punjab Province, Pakistan,
based on the cancer registry data. A retrospective study was conducted and secondary data
were collected from 11 hospitals dealing in cancer at provincial level and PSCO. Standardized
incidence rates (ASR) per 100,000 were calculated in each year. A total of 13,445 new cases
were diagnosed with cancer during 2011-2014 in the Punjab Province. The highest
Standardized morbidity rate (SMR) was observed in Lahore, which is the largest county in the
Punjab. After Lahore, the highest Standardized morbidity rate (SMR) was in various districts
(Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Khusab, Mandi Bhau Din) of the Punjab. Breast cancer
incidence rate is higher than any other type. The disease ratio is higher in female than male.
The analysis of the spatial distribution of cancer shows a significant difference from year to
year and between different districts. These findings may help to generate etiologic hypotheses
of cancer causation and identify spatial anomalies in cancer incidence in the Punjab province.
Our findings should stimulate further research on the possible causes underlying these
clusters and associations. However, a clear spatial difference is observed, which can be of great
importance and interest to researchers for the future epidemiological studies, and to
policymakers for applying preventive measures.

Keywords: Cancer, Gender, Punjab, spatial analysis

103

Accentuating women's participation in dairy production: a step towards

economic advancement
1

Sana Zeb *, Abdul Saboor

1.

Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi - Pakistan.
*Correspondence: sanazeb91@gmail.com)
2.

Dairying is now being recognized as a vital source of enhancing future productivity and
household enrichment strategy. The involvement of women in this sector has been neglected
so far in a way that the actual recognition and salutation was always deficient. Research
evidences clearly depicted that high transactions costs and marketing limit participation in
dairy production proved to be an asset for poor, hardworking yet ignorant group of rural
women. The present study incorporated qualitative research design comprising of detailed
interviews with illiterate population of women working in dairy sector. The sample was
collected from four villages including Dhowk suleman, Nathia, Noorpur and Noon village of
Islamabad, Where dairy farming is women's profession. As per descriptive analysis it is being
revealed that 60% individuals are earning around 70,000 rupees per month, 75% people
spend 9000-10,000 on one animal per month. The highest frequency for Milk production
came to be around 16 liter by one animal. Selling price was around 100 rupees per liter. It
suggested sound contribution of illiterate women in family income and in economic
development of the state. Furthermore, utilization of human capital in dairy production along
with associated factors was also elaborated for highlighting this serious domain. The practical
implications included the profound attempts to highlight and activate positive and
encouraging potential for women in this fruitful sector for collaborative contribution and
collective advancement of the county.

Key words: Dairy production, Women's contribution, Economic development, Earning,

collective advancement.

Sana Zeb is M.Phil Scholar in Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. She is interested
in the field of economics for practical and extensive contribution. Her email address is
sanazeb91@gmail.com.

104

Demographic variables as determinants of emotional burnout among

public school teachers
1

Faiza Shaheen *, Nasir Mahmood

1.

University of Education, Lahore

Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: fizjanjua@gmail.com
2.

The Maslach and Jackson (1981) three factor model of burnout was used as basis of this study
that categorized the perceived dimensions of burnout as Emotional Exhaustion (EE),
Depersonalization (DP), and reduced Personal Accomplishment (PA) among school teachers.
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the emotional involvement of teachers
on job. Multi stage sampling technique was used to draw the sample of 424 (male=178, 42%
and females=246, 58%) school teachers working in 22 public schools from Lahore at junior,
primary, elementary and secondary school levels. The major purpose of the study was met by
highlighting the contribution of such variables (gender, locale, job status, marital status, age,
qualification, level of education) towards the prevalence of burnout among public school
teachers. Data were analysed by using descriptive statistics, as well as t-tests, and ANOVA
tests. The results confirmed the existence of burnout among teachers with varied levels.
Gender, locale, qualification, and level of education were significant towards the progression
of burnout whereas job and marital status and age were found non-significant on prevalence
of burnout. Findings pointed a parallel attention towards not only the comparison of
determinant variables as beneficial but also shown that day-to-day job stressors are not
ignorable when the quality of work is kept priority.

105

Role of food myths and body mass index in development of eating attitudes
among adolescents
Irum Naqvi* , Anila Kamal
National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
*Correspondence: irumnaqvi@nip.edu.pk
The present study was designed to explore the role of food myths in the development of eating
attitudes among adolescents. Food myths beliefs not only serve as deriving force to approach
and abstain from certain food items rather it plays moderating role in between the body mass
index and eating attitudes. Body mass index (BMI) is nutritional indicator of obesity and it was
proposed in the research the underweight and obese reflecting the extreme weight groups are
more vulnerable to develop the unhealthy eating attitudes. Data of 1250 adolescents including
girls (n = 641) and boys (n = 609) with the ages range from 16-22 years (M = 18.89; SD = 2.79)
was collected from colleges and universities of Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Results revealed food
myths beliefs and BMI are positively related with negative eating attitudes. High food myths
believers are considered to be on risk population to develop the eating related problems.
Moreover, moderation results showed underweight adolescents are low food myths believers
as compared to obese adolescents and show more negative eating attitudes. Girls reflect more
negative eating attitudes as compared to boys and they are more vulnerable to develop eating
related pathologies. Another interesting fact is found with reference to gender difference i.e.,
boys are more food myths believer as compared to girls. Implications of the present study with
reference to health psychology for adolescents as well as future recommendations are also
discussed.

106

The nexus between performance of financial institutions, board

composition and duality: an empirical analysis
1

Maha Khursheed *, Muhammad Akhtar , Ghulam Shabbir Khan Niazi

1.

Riphaha International University, Islamabad.

National Defence University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: mahakhursheed@yahoo.com
2.

The recent development in industrial era has paced momentum to corporate governance,
being the blistering issue. The current study intends to probe the impression of corporate
boards, and corporate efficiency on the performance of the financial institutions. The sample
includes banks, listed on the Karachi stock exchange, over the period of eight years. To
determine the efficiency of the banks, the study has employed the capital adequacy, asset
quality, management efficiency, earnings efficiency and liquidity (CAMEL). Employing Slack
based model of data envelopment analysis, the five ratios are wrapped in to singular measure,
depicting operational performance of the firms.
The empirical findings revealed that the size of the board is significantly linked with the
performance of the firms. The Independent directors, executive directors and non-executive
directors are found significant in affecting the financial performance of commercial banks. On
the contrary, size has statistically insignificant impact. However, corporate efficiency exerts
substantial impact on firm performance. Banking sector being the vital cord of financial
sector needs to cater the issues pertaining to corporate governance specifically in order to
prosper. Compliance to the code of corporate governance can further unveil the impact of
corporate board and duality on the performance of financial institutions.

Keywords: banks performance, board composition, duality, CAMEL.

Maha Khursheed is MS (Finance) from Faculty of Management Sciences, Riphah

international University, Islamabad. She is interested to witness the impact of corporate
governance on the success of firms. Besides this, she is interested to probe the challenges
faced by Islamic banks. Prospective researchers can discuss their research possibilities with
Maha on mahakhursheed@yahoo.com

107

Outsider as adversary: The communal politics of rewriting history in India

Sabah Mushtaq
Department of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: sabahshah82@gmail.com
The main aim of this paper is to shed light on the rewriting of history the Sangh Parivar, the
family of Hindu nationalist organisations, has undertaken with the collusion and collaboration
of the government is basically an endeavour at communal mythification, which lends
ideological support and legitimacy to the politics of communalism. The communal
interpretation of history has a long historical convention, at least going back to the colonial
times. The history of the subject that the colonial administrators and ideologues wrote, either
as a piece of their scholarly interest or as a political mission, basically took a religious
perspective of the past. The history of India is seen through a progression of stereotypes
rooted in religious identity. No part of society or polity has gotten away from this religious
view, be it social tensions, political fights or cultural contrasts. Such an elucidation of history
has been a part of the text books, both of school and college, for a long time, moulding the
historical consciousness of society and in turn the social viewpoints and behaviours of several
generations. In the Hindu communal perspective and politics, the religious interpretation of
history has a completely different import, regardless of the fact that it shares a significant part
of the colonial assumptions. Unlike the colonial history which mainly emphasises social
divisions, despite invoking the tyranny of the Yavanas and the Muslims, its attention is more on
social antagonism and political hostility, which separates the Hindu communal from the
colonial communal. The antagonism and hostility encoded in the interpretative structure of
the former, which distinguishes the "outsider" as adversary, transform history into an
ideology of communalism. The principal objective of the rewriting of history in India is to
grant certain historical legitimacy to communal politics. .

Sabah Mushtaq is a MPhil student at the history department of Quaid-i-azam University,

Islamabad. She is interested in historiography and relationship between knowledge and
power. She can be accessible at sabahshah82@gmail.com

108

Leadership styles: Women and glass ceiling effect in Pakistani media

Noor-ul-Ain, Ayesha Siddiqua
Department of Mass Communication, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad,
Pakistan
*Correspondence: nuain@numl.edu.pk
In this new century, women are leaders in industry, government and organizations worldwide.
Much progress has been made for women's advancement, with yet more to achieve. Both
domestically and globally, women represent a relatively untapped source of talent for leadership
in the workplace. While progress has been made across the globe, barriers to women's
advancement continue to exist, including cultural norms, stereotypes, and employer policies and
practices. Talking specifically about the leadership styles in corporate world the status of women
in the workplace is changing day by day. One of the biggest challenges women faces in working
environment is that of glass ceiling. The glass-ceiling literature discusses differences in
management/leadership styles between men and women. Previous literature studies found
valuable information, insights and recommendations to combat the glass ceiling effect,
advancement of women in the workplace and expansion of women's leadership roles on domestic
and global fronts. Women who have attained executive positions have apparently achieved some
measure of success against sex discrimination in matters of promotion and advancement.
However, as evident by the existence of the glass ceiling, executive women are by no means
discrimination free. Hundreds of studies have assessed the leadership styles of male and female
managers since the 1950s. Female leaders, on the average, are more democratic and participative
than their male counterparts. Men, more than women, adopt a top-down, "command and control"
style. The study aims to review the existing literature which focused on the top factors which
prohibit women from advancing into leadership positions at the same rate as men in media. The
present review paper also tends to focus on the prevailing situation of glass ceiling effect of
Pakistani working media women along with the barriers they encounter. The study also aims to
analyse the glass ceiling effect with reference to the barriers women in media face due to overt
discrimination and sexual harassment.

Noor-ul-Ain is a Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, National University of

Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. Prospective students can discuss their research
possibilities with Noor-ul-ain at nuain@numl.edu.pk .
Ayesha Siddiqua is a Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, National University of
Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. Prospective students can discuss their research
possibilities with Ayesha at asiddiqua@numl.edu.pk

109

Globalization and changing role of women in media

Sadaf Asif *, Amna Zulfiqar
Department of Mass Communication National University of Modern Languages Islamabad,
Pakistan
*Correspondence: saasif@numl.edu.pk
The world today is changing rapidly and everyone is interconnected that results in greater
cultural exchange. Social relationships are being reconstructed on the basis of individual
values .People constructs meanings by themselves and for themselves. It results in redefining
social roles that is similar now for everyone whether a male or a female. Talking specifically
about women roles they are changing day by day due to advancement of technology. People get
influence by different cultures presented on various mass media. Gender inequity is seen as a
major hurdle to human development. The roles of women have been changing and they are
now emerging from the past traditions into a new era of freedom and rights. The basic
objective of this paper is to review the literature available on the changing role of women due
to globalization. It will tackle how globalization has impacted on the growth of real economies
in diverse regional contexts. There is a need to critically evaluate the influence of globalization
on women and also to know the positive & negative attributes associated with the position of
women at present. Women are discriminated against every field of life with negative
repercussion for development of their capabilities .Typically mass media is not the
transparent technologies. Women still face massive pressure to conform to social traditions conforming to traditional roles within families poses as much of a barrier to the progress of
women. Though women have made great strides in the corporate world in the last three
decades, women from all income classes are still too often discouraged by family members
from having careers that infringe too much on family life. The study aims to point out how
various previous studies have focused on these dimensions which are changing the role of
women in society due to the effects of globalization

Sadaf Asif is a Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, National University of

Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. Prospective students can discuss their research
possibilities with Sadaf at saasif@numl.edu.pk.
Amna Zulfiqar is a Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, National University
of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. Prospective students can discuss their research
possibilities with Amna at amzulfiqar@numl.edu.pk

110

Examining empowerment among homemakers: narratives of women from

district Karak, KPK, Pakistan
Rabia Ali*, Farhan Ahmad
Department of Sociology, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: rabi.aly@gmail.com.
The main aim of this study was to examine women's empowerment in District Karak in the
light of social-cultural factors. Purposive sampling technique was employed for selecting the
respondents. Interview guide was prepared as a tool for collecting primary data and the data
was thematically analyzed. Theoretically this study is inspired by Connell's theory of
patriarchal dividend. Some of the socio-cultural factors like purdah, mobility, male
dependency, segregation of spaces, family control, harassment, and low rewards were found
to be the major the barriers which provide hindrance towards empowerment of women in the
study area. The research findings highlight that it is not only patriarchy that disadvantages
women in patriarchal societies but women's self-internalization of the patriarchal system also
contributes to women's disadvantages.

Keywords: Women, Empowerment, Home Makers, Household, Decision Making

Rabia Ali works as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the International
Islamic University Islamabad. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of New South
Wales Australia. Her research interests include gender justice, globalization, Sociology of
children and youth, Sociology of peace and conflict and Sociology of education. Some of the
courses she teaches at PhD and MS level include Globalization: Issues and Debates, Gender
and Discourse, and Contemporary Sociological Theories. She can be reached at
rabi.aly@gmail.com.

111

Discipline wise impact of higher education on economic growth of

Pakistan: A case study
Farahnaz Turi, Verda Salman*
School of Social Sciences & Humanities National University of Science & Technology Islamabad.
*Correspondence: verda.salman@s2h.nust.edu.pk
This study investigates the role of discipline wise higher education in economic output of
Pakistan between 1965 and 2012. Seven academic disciplines of higher education in Pakistan
are selected to examine the effects of curricular structure on the economy. In addition, impact
of education is examined on its three sub sectors i.e. agriculture, services and manufacturing
sector. Results reveal that higher education positively contributes towards economy and all of
its subsectors where medical sciences, engineering, education and law disciplines play the
most noticeable part.

Keywords: Economic Growth, Higher Education, Sectors of Economy

Jel Classification: I23,O47, O53.

112

Socio-political awareness of Pakistani women writers (selective Urdu

writings)
Najeeba Arif* , Naeema Bibi, Ghazal Yaqub, Maria Termezi, Sabra Bagum
Department of Urdu, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: najeeba.arif@iiu.edu.pk
Pakistani women writers have always taken keen interest in the socio-political issues of
national as well as global significance and have responded to these issues with intellectual
maturity and sensitivity through their writings in all genres of literature. Our current research
identifies their socio-political awareness regarding three most significant events that left
substantial and lasting impact on Pakistani society. These are the Partition of the subcontinent, Fall of Dacca and the aftermath of 9/11. We will delimit our research to two main
genres of literature; fiction and poetry. Only selected writings of the renowned women writers
will be taken into account. The objectives of the research are; to understand and describe how
women writers have perceived and responded to these three eventful epochs of Pakistani
history and to identify the mode and tone of their rejoinder. The outcome of the research will
be presented in the form of poster presentation.

Najeeba Arif, Chairperson Department of Urdu, International Islamic University, Islamabad is

a writer, poet and academician and has authored nine books and 40 research papers,
published in national and international journals. She was the founder co-editor of the research
journal Meyr, and is the Guest editor of Bunyd, the research journal of LUMS. She has also
established the Indexation agency for the Urdu Journals and published its first volume in
2014. Her first collection of poetry Ma'ani se Ziyada has won the OUP award for the Urdu
Literature 2015. She is a member of several academic and literary bodies of national level.

113

Derelict province: Coverage of Baluchistan in Pakistani English

newspapers
Saira Waqar , Najma Sadiq *
Department of Mass Communication, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: najma.sadiq@s3h.nust.edu.pk
Baluchistan is the largest but at the same time neglected and under-developed province of
Pakistan. The aim of the present research was to study the print media coverage of different
issues prevailing in Baluchistan including missing persons, terrorism, military operations,
human rights violation, government of Pakistan and foreign interference. It also explored
newspaper's reporting for analyzing media framing and news bias towards the province. In
this paper, the researcher also discussed whether and to what extent print media was biased
during the whole coverage. The different issues and news bias were studied in the light of
framing concept of agenda setting theory. The study was quantitative in nature involving a
content analysis to examine the portrayal of Baluchistan by Pakistani English newspapers i.e.
Dawn and The News during January to March 2012. The main findings of the study stated that
most of the stories tend to be framed with a neutral slant by both the newspapers. The concept
of news bias is not true as the two newspapers i.e. Dawn and The News only portrayed the
statements attributed by the source. English press portrayed the Baluchistan issue in a very
neutral manner. The study had many folds significance, specifically, in understanding the news
coverage. It had focused on the foreign policies of Pakistan regarding the province through the
coverage of Pakistani newspapers. The paper had also contributed by adding into knowledge
about the application of news bias and neutrality of the Pakistani press allowing audience to
make an informed choice.

Keywords: Baluchistan, missing persons, terrorism, news bias, military operations, foreign
interference, framing, agenda setting, newspaper coverage, content analysis

114

Exploring key sources that shape teachers' mathematical world view

Munira Amirali
Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development, Karachi - Pakistan.
*Correspondence: munirasarang@yahoo.com
In mathematics education it is discussed that teachers' perceptions pertaining to the nature of
mathematics, mathematics teaching and learning influence their teaching practice. The study
explored mathematics teachers' knowledge about the nature of mathematics and investigate
the sources that shape their viewpoints using in-depth focus group discussions. The study
demonstrates that teachers had dual views about the nature of mathematics. On the one hand,
teachers believed that mathematics knowledge is divine, created by Allah and therefore
irrefutable and absolute. On the other hand, they maintained that mathematics knowledge is a
human creation, invented to facilitate religious practices and to support human survival.
One of the key findings include that the teachers acknowledged human contribution in
developing mathematical concepts as an important addition to the divine body of knowledge.
The teachers based on their religious faith viewed mathematical knowledge as a divine
creation. While explaining their viewpoint they referred to mathematical patterns present in
nature and the holy Quran which was revealed to Hazrat Muhammed (PBUH) 1400 years back
as frame of reference. The teachers perceived that Almighty Allah has created the universe in
which the mathematical principles and patterns are part of the creation.
Furthermore, teachers believed that the human contribution in developing mathematical
concepts, for example, ratio and proportions, measurement and spherical trigonometry were
considered as an important invention. One of the key reasons explained was that these
mathematical concepts facilitate the practice of their faith effectively. Finally, teachers viewed
that Almighty created the universe using mathematical patterns and wants us to appreciate
and acknowledge natural beauty. While teachers believed that mathematics knowledge is a
divine creation, they saw an active role of human effort in discovering mathematical
knowledge present in nature for instance ratios exist between different parts of the human
body (Golden ratio); symmetry in plants - the hexagonal tessellations in beehives. The study
concludes that teachers' demonstrate absolutist views of mathematics by considering
mathematics 'out there' and waiting to be discovered.

Munira Amirali is an Assistant Professor of mathematics education at the Aga Khan

University Institute for Educational Development, Karachi, Pakistan. Her interest is towards
exploring and challenging teachers' beliefs about the nature of mathematics, mathematics
teaching and educating teachers to teach for conceptual understanding.

115

Implementation of WTO and its impact on Pakistan external trade

Robina Karim*, Dawood Jan
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Faculty of Rural Social Sciences, the
University of Agriculture, Peshawar-Pakistan
*Correspondence: robikarim@yahoo.com
This study aims at analyzing the status of implementation of WTO and its impact on Pakistan
external trade (Imports + Exports). To achieve the stated purpose, study adopted
methodology which required testing of hypothesis which states Pakistan's foreign trade is
expected to be largely better off once WTO's regime is fully implemented in Pakistan and rest
of the world.
The statistical results show that, the coefficient of variation of Pakistan exports trade
estimates at 0.1657 during 1985-90 and 0.0936 during 1990-95 pre-WTO periods, which with
the exception of sub-period 2000-05 decreased throughout post-WTO period, which suggests
Pakistan exports got smoothened after WTOs implementation in the world arena, perhaps
due to less restrictions on trade after WTOs arrival, relative to pre-WTO period. Compared to
exports, Pakistan imports coefficient of variation does not show significant declines; rather it
appears largely static, suggesting Pakistan imports trade could not be benefited much by
reductions in trade restrictions associated with the implementation of WTO in Pakistan
domestic market. This stated analysis thus supports partial acceptance of hypothesis 4, which
states that Pakistan's foreign trade is expected to be largely better off once WTO's regime is
fully implemented in Pakistan and rest of the world.
When econometric analysis was carried out for pre and post WTO periods, it has been
concluded that the external trade of Pakistan has not been increased up to the expectations
that is the main aim of WTOs unfinished agenda.

Robina Karim is lecturer (BPS-18) in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
at the University of Agriculture Peshawar, AMK Campus Madan. She is also a PhD Student at
the mentioned department.She is an active member of BDS (Blood Donor Society) as well as
acting as staff proctor. Here ambition is to enhance economic research in Pakistan. Interested
students can contact her at
robikarim@yahoo.com.

116

Vibrant colours of Hunza: A case study of traditional costumes of Hunza

Syeda Munazza Gilani
Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: munazza.gilani93@ymail.com
This research is about the vibrant colours of Hunza along with the emphasis on the culture of
Hunza specially "Costumes of Hunza valley". The main focus of this research is about the
"traditional costumes of Hunza". Existence of mankind and culture has evolved
simultaneously because if we look back at the time when human being came first to the earth,
they used to cover themselves with leaves, which can be considered as the part of costumes at
that time. Costumes or dresses are very much important as they represent culture, tradition,
customs, believes and religion of the specific areas. The study on this research topic prove that
the origin of the motifs and embroidery on their costumes. This study also verified that the
dresses and the embroidery of Hunza are influenced by neighbouring countries or they are
indigenized. Moreover this research shows the result that how much their old tradition is in
practice and in what ways the people of these areas keeping alive their culture and heritage
from extinction.

117

Rate of psychopathology in the first degree relatives of the deceased

during bereavement period
1

Nighat Haider , Iffat Batool

1

DHQ/Allied Hospitals, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad.

Department of Psychology, Government College University, Lahore.
*Correspondence: nighathaider@gmail.com
2

Objective: To measure the rate of psychopathology in the first degree relatives of the deceased
during bereavement.
Design: Cross sectional exploratory study
Subjects and Methods: A purposive convenient sample of 290 participants was drawn from
different government colleges, public and private sector universities, public hospitals, and
members of general society. Inclusion criterion restricts participants to be selected
irrespective of gender, aged at least 16 and having experienced the death of a first-degree
relative in past one year. Exclusion criterion is defined as presence of any already existing
psychiatric disorder before the death of the deceased relative or having any medical condition
that may mask symptoms of psychiatric illnesses. Urdu version of SRQ-24 was administered to
assess psychopathology.
Results: Majority of the participants were female, married, and were living in rural residences.
74.8 percent of the participants scored above the cut off on SRQ-24. One sample t test
produced statistically significant evidence (p = 0.00) that majority of the sample reported
considerable levels of psychopathology in the bereavement period.
Conclusion: The instance of psychopathology is quite high among the first degree relatives
during the period of bereavement so the general public, health care providers and mental
health professionals should be sensitized to pick up the early signs of psychiatric disorders in
the bereaved population to avoid the complications and burden of full blown disorder so that
it may save the bereaved families from the disadvantages additional to the bereavement.
Key words: Psychopathology, First degree relatives, Bereavement.

Nighat Haider is clinical psychologist in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral

Sciences, DHQ/Allied Hospitals, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad. Other than psychiatric
assessment, diagnosis, and psychotherapy, she looks after the research and publication
activities in the department, and provide research consultancy in social sciences. She is
affiliated with Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society as assistant editor and do peer reviews
for a few journals. She may be contacted at nighathaider@gmail.com.

118

Role of female teachers in development of social awareness about

deviance: perceptions of secondary school students in public and private
sector
1

Manzar Ali , Misbah Malik *, Ghulam Fatima

University of Education, Lahore

University of the Punjab, Lahore
*Correspondence: misbahmalik@ue.edu.pk
2

This survey study was aimed to assess the role of female teachers in development of social
awareness about deviance through perceptions of secondary school students. Population of
the study was all the students enrolled in public and private secondary schools of Lahore.
Randomly selected sample consisted on 345 secondary school students. A self developed and
validated instrument was used to get students' perceptions about teachers practices related to
development of social awareness about deviance. The pilot study to validate the instrument
showed reliability index Cronbach Alpha = .77 which is statistically significant. Data was
analyzed through SPSS. T-test was used to identify the difference in development of social
awareness about deviance practices of teachers in public and private secondary schools.
Descriptive statistics was used to assess the teachers' role for the development of social
awareness about deviance of students. Results showed that teachers in private schools have
more tendency of the development of social awareness about deviance of students. Mean
scores showed that teachers' practices were more tended to endorse social development
among students at secondary level.

Key Words: development of social awareness about deviance, role of female teachers, public
and private sector schools

119

Susan: A Woman Wailing for Her Demon Lover Case Study of 'To Room
Nineteen' by Doris Lesssing
Sonia Sakhawat Hussain
City University of Science & Information Technology, Peshawar
Correspondence: soniahussain965@gmail.com
Female subjectivity and individuality has been a subject of constant questioning and debate.
Whether her individuality is a matter of being able to talk back to the dominant discourses or
to be able to negotiate and hence understand the conflicts in her mind and soul has baffled the
very understanding of this wave of 'Feminism'. It has not yet been understood as what is it that
a woman's soul is looking for? Her individuation process is on the most part described as being
able to get recognition from the society (i.e., the man); however female subjectivity offers
much more grounds of contemplation than of restricting it to the recognition from men. Doris
Lessing in her writings has given a very insightful study of the dilemma that women of every
society go through and at times result in her sufferings. Over the period of time the
stereotypical roles assigned to the female gender has collapsed due to educational level and
growing economic competence. However there are other intangible reasons that may cause
the split in psyche resulting in consequences that Lessing has addressed in her story. What
distinguishes Lessing from other female writers is her unique approach towards
individuation process, which is most likely to raise a few questions from the traditional
approach towards Feminism.
Keywords: female consciousness, subjectivity, patriarchal order, individuation, female
psyche.

120

An exploratory phenomenological study of post traumatic adjustment of

the surviving students of the 16th december, 2014 army public school
Peshawar Attack
1

Sumbal Gilani *, Dr. Salma Siddiqui

1.

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Islamabad

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Islamabad
*Correspondence: gilani_sumbal@yahoo.com
2.

The city of Peshawar has been the worst victim of terrorism in Pakistan in the past decade,
with every successive attack, the brutality increased in intensity. Every time Peshawar is hit,
the question of post trauma adjustment of its people is raised, but so far little scientific
research is found on the trauma adjustment on the people in this region. The present
qualitative study is an exploratory phenomenological study, conducted to develop an
understanding of the post trauma adjustment of the survivors of the terrorist attack on Army
Public School, Peshawar, 16th December, 2014. The participants included 4 students from APSBoys and data was collected through in-depth interviews. The data gathered was coded and
analyzed according to the phenomenological tradition. It was found that though the
participants had experienced and were struggling with profound distressful emotional
experiences, still they have found support in their self as well as in interpersonal interactions.
Social settings were particularly found to have a significant impact for the trauma survivors in
their adjustment. The results were discussed according to the cognitive literature of meaning
making and the shattered assumptions model. Further research on post trauma adjustment is
recommended to further explore meaning making, and role of culture in trauma adjustment in
depth for this region.

121

Role of female teachers in personality development: Perceptions of

secondary school students in Lahore
1

Misbah Malik *, Manazar Ali , Ghulam Fatima , Abid Hussain

1

University of Education, Lahore.

University of the Punjab, Lahore.
*Correspondence: misbahmalik@ue.edu.pk
2

The substantive purpose of the study was to identify the role of female teachers in personality
development of students. Population of the study was all the students enrolled in public and
private secondary schools for girls in Lahore. Sample of the study was selected through multi
stage random sampling technique. Sample comprised 306 (180 public and 126 Private) school
students. A self developed questionnaire was used to know students' perceptions about
teachers' role in the personality development of students. The pilot study was conducted to
validate the instrument. Reliability index was Cronbach Alpha = .79 which is considered
statistically significant. Data were analyzed through SPSS. t-test was used to identify the
difference in students' perceptions regarding role of public and private school teachers in
personality development of students. Descriptive statistics was used to assess the students'
perceptions regarding teachers' role for the development of different personality aspects of
students. Results showed that teachers in private schools put more focus on personality
development of students as compare to public schools. Mean scores showed that secondary
school students think that female teachers play a significant positive role in personality
development of students.
Key Words: personality development, role of female teachers, secondary school students

122

Innovations to be brought in the discipline of archaeology with the

implementation of forensic science: A case study of lab work in forensic
archaeology
Huda Mughal
Taxila Institute Of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-azam University Islamabad
*Correspondence: qauarch@gmail.com
Archaeology is a rapidly developing discipline working its way out and coping up the hurdles it
is facing in Pakistan, although developing yet dynamic. It is proving itself and showing that it
not restricts itself to digging up but merges with many scientific disciplines as well, which
include Natural sciences i.e. Biology, Physics, Chemistry, further enhancing into bioarcheology,
biodegradation, zoo archaeology, computational digital archaeology and much more. Among
above listed disciplines the researcher's intrigue developed into a much evolving field which is
Forensic Archeology. So the thesis statement decided for MSc 3rd semester under the
supervision of HOD of Taxila Institute of Asian Civilization, Prof.Dr Muhammad Ashraf khan,
keeping in view the limitations and demands for the study conducted is "Innovations to be
brought in the discipline of archaeology with the implementation of Forensic Science: A case
study of Lab work in Forensic Archaeology" "Forensic archaeology is defined as a forensic
discipline that uses archaeological theories, methods and techniques in a legal context". The
research ground was and will be empirical in nature including primary and secondary data
following analytical, comparative explanatory and descriptive methodologies including all the
data gathered from forensic and related labs of Pakistan and reports along with research work
carrying out in regarding discipline all over the world. Amalgamating all these a thesis will be
compiled with the most expected conclusion of revolutionizing archaeology with
implementation of forensic science, but as an initiative for further research it can be well
hypothesized that merging archaeology with science and practically experimenting it in
scientific labs can change the course of history, many burials which have been unconsciously
deteriorated by poor and unequipped or illegal excavation could have told striking stories
about the past if they were excavated under forensic archaeologist's expert supervision. The
Lab tests are mandatory to get to the conclusion of an individual's death. This study will give a
detailed description of processes that can lead to authentically narrate the past of our
ancestors their way of living their habitat, their average physical build cause of death epidemic
disease of that time, climate of that time warfare and much more. In addition the process of
building a phylogenetic tree to ponder upon how the evolution occurred how changes
happened what led them happen and what revolutions can be brought if whole genome
sequencing is performed on the human skeletal remains recovered, would be analyzed and
explained which would transform the present mode of interpretation of data recovered
through archaeological excavations. This work would hopefully contribute in social and
scientific both aspects by addressing and subsequently resolving one of the serious problem
being faced by the archaeologists i.e. poor and unscientific most importantly illegal excavation
through application of forensic science to archaeology. False and subjective stories would be
discouraged and lab tests plus scientific authentication would be promoted. It will also
apprise and agitate the minds of the authorities to give due attention to the problem,
highlighting the errors occurring in formal burial excavations.

123

Conflict management styles of working and non-working women

1

Mussarat Jabeen Khan *, Hafsa Kausar , Asma Noreen , Ayesha Waheed

Department of Psychology, International Islamic University, Islamabad

Foundation University, Rawalpindi
*Correspondence: mussarat.jabeen@iiu.edu.pk
2

The purpose of this study was to examine the conflict management styles of working and nonworking women. A sample of 200 women was selected in which 100 were working women and
100 were non-working women. In this sample, two age clusters were considered (25-35 years
and 36-50 years). The sample of working women was collected from different banks and of
non-working women from domestic areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A comprehensive
scale of Thomas Kilmann conflict-mode instrument was applied to measure five different
conflict management styles including competing, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating
and compromising conflict management style of women. Results showed that working
women use more competing and collaborating style than non working women. It also shows
that older women (age range: 36-50 years) use more competing and collaborating style than
younger women (age range: 25-35 years). But there were non-significant differences on
avoiding, accommodating and compromising conflict management styles among working and
non-working women.
Keywords: conflict management styles, competing, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating,
compromising, working women, non-working women

124

Identification or alienation: Emotional response of audience regarding

female protagonist in BOL (Film)
Tooba Farooq, Najma Sadiq*
National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad
*Correspondence: najma.sadiq@s3h.nust.edu.pk
BOL film highlights social issues presented in Pakistan via a lower middle class family living
inside Lahore. This research tends to explore emotional response of audience regarding
female protagonist in BOL. This research also discovered the patterns of perception which
BOL Film has created in people of Pakistan such as reinforcement of personal values, insight
into themselves and other, empathy to carry out our own roles and model of behavior in BOL's
female protagonist. A survey was conducted, from people who watched BOL Film, using non
probability sampling technique. From the sample of 200 respondents 100 were males and 100
were females, ages 20-40. This study concluded that issue oriented content can create an
awareness in people and how the revival of Pakistani cinema has raise an interest in people to
watch serious content about the issues that exist in our society. The present research will
provide an insight into the expectations of the film going public in Pakistan as well as revealing
how the content of a film can influence a society and cast an impact on their perception. The
findings can help the filmmakers to create content more in touch with the viewer's
expectations and scholars will be able to use the findings to evaluate other cinematic content.

Keywords: Personal Values, Model Behavior, Social Empathy, Pakistani cinema, issue-based
film, BOL film.

125

Contribution of Pakistani women to science and technology

Saima Nasir, Jamila Ahmed
Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
*Correspondence: saimanasir2007@hotmail.com
Present paper discusses contribution of Pakistani women in relation to science and
technology. About 31.3% of the scientists and engineers in Pakistan are women. The data for
science and technology manpower of the country shows that out of total women scientists and
engineers 14.64% are contributing to health sciences, 25.74 % to natural sciences, while the
share of women scientists in engineering and technology (12.92%) and agricultural sciences
(3.68%) is very low. Out of total women scientists and engineers 18.5 % are PhD, 35.6% are
M.Phil and 38.9% hold Masters or equivalent qualification. The percentage of female students
is 38.09% and 40.55% for PhD and M.Phil respectively when compared to males students
enrolled. This study also considers the number of women scientists for Research Productivity
Award (RPA) from 2004-05 to 2014-15 which shows that % of female awardees is very low as
compared to males (only 2.7% in 2014-15). A slight increase was observed only in years 200910 to 2011-12, when the minimum threshold was reduced. This trend is also obvious when we
consider the representation of women in Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS), where only
8.75% of present fellows are females. Paper further highlights the contribution of women
scientists and engineers in terms of impact factor and journal citation index. The ratio of
women scientists contributing to patents as compared to men is 1:1.5, which is encouraging.
Attention has also been drawn to disproportionately low numbers of women in science and
technology and to sensitize educators, policy-makers and the scientific community of both
genders that national socio-economic development cannot be realized without making the
best use of all sectors of a nation's population.

126

Skin-lightening practices among females living in Islamabad: Prevalence

and perception
Nazia Iqbal , Fizza Khan, Shanza Rafique, Sidra Mumtaz
International Islamic University, Islamabad,
*Correspondence: nazia.iqbal@iiu.edu.pk
Skin lightening is a common practice in several parts of the world, seldom it is used for treating
skin problems on dermatologist's recommendation but often it is used for attaining social
acceptance by becoming fair. Pakistan is also a part of it along with a number of other
countries. Markets are full of skin lightening products that are deluding people by their punch
lines like 'visible fairness in months, weeks or days'. Behind the scene, many hazardous
substances are being used in the preparation of skin lightening products. This study was led to
observe prevalence and perception of skin lightening practices among females of Islamabad,
Pakistan. A convenient sample of 150 female respondents was collected on a well-designed
questionnaire and t-test was applied to analyze the results. Moreover, Pearson correlation was
also applied to analyze the possible links between variables. Occurrence of use of skin
lightening practices has been reported 50% in studied population, while majority agreed with
the perception that lighter complexion is more beautiful, increases chances of marriage and
gathers men's attention. Due to high use-misuse ratio there is a need of strict rules and
regulations to check and balance these products and social responsibility of advertising
companies.
Key words: skin lightening usage, prevalence, females living in Islamabad

127

Women autonomy and household decision making

Saeeda Batool*, Fatima Suleman
Department of Economics, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad.
*Correspondence: saeeda@s3h.nust.edu.pk
Household decision-making is a dynamic phenomenon as it evolves with economic growth,
changing social norms, customs and changes in the institutional environment. Large and
growing literature in economics has focused on the distribution of decision-making power
between spouses in the family, identifying a series of factors which determine this relative
power. This distribution of decision making power can be analyzed in the light of cooperative
Nash bargaining models where marriage can be recognized as a cooperative game, and the
bargaining power is majorly influenced by the traditional gender roles, expectations from it
and social norms (Iversen, 2003). On the contrary, the other prevailing theory is of noncooperative bargaining based on Cournot Nash framework, where one spouse has control
over resource distribution due to his or her ownership of the resources (Chawla, 1993). This
paper aims to investigate the role of all leading variables i.e socio-economic and cultural
variables to determine wives' autonomy in decision-making at household level in Pakistan.
This research has an advantage over the existing studies in terms of modeling sophistication.
It used data of PSLM 2007-08.Two decision-making autonomy Indices were created in the
context of Family Planning and Economic Matters through Factor Analysis technique that
helps in detecting and structuring the relationship between the chosen variables/indicators.
Family Planning Index and Economics Matter index were further converted into binary
variables .Using the Binary Logistic regression technique this study empirically tested the
hypothesis that employment, education and age will positively affect the decision-making
authority. Whereas cultural variables such as nuclear family system and total number of
children along with the regional identity will significantly influence the intra-household
decision-making dynamics in favor of empowering women. Results concluded that for Family
Planning autonomy, the regional variable was most impactful whereas 'employment' was of
greater magnitude in the Economic Matters decision making. Thus, factors that improve the
empowerment of women lead towards a cooperative game solution at the household level.

128

The role of Pakistani women in translating the national & international

literature
Shair Ali Khan*, Sidra Maqbool
Department of Translation & Interpretation, Faculty of Arabic, International Islamic University,
Islamabad, Pakistan.
*Correspondence: shair.ali@iiu.edu.pk
Man and Women are the two important, honorable, ruling species of the world. In the creators
words the offspring of Adam crowned with honor. Both genders come with innate creative
abilities of creating unknown word, data, containing concepts, imaginary thoughts full of
philosophical wisdom that kept the minds for years to understand Sub-continent is the piece
of land that produced the unrivalled genius of all sciences starting from Sakatayana ( 8th cent
BC) and Panini ( 5th Cent BC born of Swabi area near Attock River) in the field of linguistics
protecting the text of Vedas( produced in the area of Sindh round about 1500 BC), keeping in
mind Pangala a mathematician of the same era, coming to a Kashmirian Monk Kumarija ( 4th
Cent AD) who transferred all the Buddhist Sanskrit text into Chinese Language. There are a
glimmering names of women who played unrivalled role in various sciences printing their
creative lightening thoughts on pages with dark ink. The list is worth mentioning but keeping
in view some of them like Fatima Surayya Bajia (born 1930), Tehmeena Durrani (born 1953),
Bano Qudsia,, Zaib un Nisa Hamidullah, (19212000), Parveen Shakir (19521994), Bapsi
Sidwa (born 1938). Among them were the names who translated the books from many other
languages and among them are those whose literary work enriched other languages as well. In
this paper I will just focus on the women who played role in translating Pakistani culture in
other languages including the translational works from other languages into any Pakistani
language.

129

Women matter: The linkage between female leadership behaviors and

competitive advantage
1

Nausheen Syed *, Sana Saleem

1.

Department of Business Administration. G.C Women University, Faisalabad

Institute of Business Management sciences (IBMS), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
*Correspondence: nausheen.dr@gmail.com
2.

This study proposes a theoretical model for investigating the relationship between female
leadership behaviors and perceived competitive advantage of the organizations in Pakistan. A
survey data of 185 female managers from five telecommunication companies (u-phone,
Telenor, Mobilink, Warid and PTCL) are used to analyze the data. This study is based on work of
two researchers Bernard Bass and Bruce Avolio, who surveyed, classified and measured the
full range of leadership behaviors observed in corporate environment. This study have
selected seven leadership behaviors because Pakistani female frequently used these
behaviors ,the seven leaderships behaviors are Role model, Expectations and reward, People
development ,Efficient communication, Intellectual stimulation, Control and corrective
actions, Participative decision making. The study has selected seven leadership behaviors
which improves organization performance and thus contributes to the organization
competitive ability. The study measured perceived competitive advantage in terms of
innovation, motivation, accountibilty, work environment and values, coordination and
control, leadership team, direction. The findings of study demonstrated that there is strong
and significant correlation between female leadership behaviors and organization
performance and competitive advantage.
Keywords: female leadership behaviors, competitive advantage, Telecommunication
companies, Pakistan

130