Parasitism is an important limiting factor responsible to cause damage to agricultural production. Plant parasitic root knot nematodes attack several economic crops in Pakistan. Plant- parasitic nematodes considerably add huge losses to economies in the top tomatoes crop producing countries throughout the world, instead of controlling the main pathogenic nematode species as usual; one of the innovative strategies to control plant-parasitic nematodes would be to manage diversity in communities in order to lead them to be less pathogenic. The plants and their materials are one of the potential remedies for nematodes management. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) along with its several biological applications may serve as a biopesticide against Meloidogyne incognita, a nematode species. A bioassay guided isolation of various fractions of turmeric was subjected to nematicidal activity in comparison with Azadirachta indica against Meloidogyne incognita larvae at the concentration of 0.25, 0.5, and 1% for 48 hours. Alongside, Larvae and eggs of nematodes were inoculated around the tomato seedlings in experiments with turmeric in a growth chamber. The control contains water instead of turmeric. Root gall severity and final nematode population were suppressed significantly. It was observed that the use of turmeric is very important for selected plant parasitic nematodes management.

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Background:The main object of this study was to analyze the opinion of general public in Karachi city to examine the levels of psychological impact (anxiety, stress and depression) during the 1 st episode of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus epidemic is a public health emergency of international distress and poses a challenge to psychological resilience. The collected data will be used for future reference.Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted from April to May, 2020. The survey was conducted by using snowball sampling techniques, virtual learning environments and social networking (e.g.Whats-App and Facebook groups). The online collected data were based on socio-demographic characters comprised on age, gender, level of education, marital status and occupational background, physical symptoms during the past 14 days, knowledge and fear, precautionary measures and supplementary data regarding the COVID-19 infection. DASS( 21) scale was used to analyze the status of mental helth of common habitants during COVID infection. Results:In this survey 510 participants were participated from different areas of Karachi city. For stress 189(51.4%) male and 63(44%) female were considered to have normal score (0-10), mild to moderate (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) in 112 (30.5%) male and 42(29.3%) female, severe to extremely severe score (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42) was found among 66(18%) male and 38(1926.5%) female respondents. For depression subscale, 152 (41.4%) male and 56 (39%) female were considered to have normal score (0-9), 110 (30%) male and 42 (29%) female considered mild to moderate score (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) and severe to extremely severe score (21-42) was found among 105(29%) male and 45(31.4%) female respondents. For anxiety subscale, 142(39%) male and 58(40%) female were considered to have normal score (0-7). Mild to moderate score (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) was of 101(28%) male and 37 (26%) were female. Severe to extremely severe score was found among 124(34%) male and 48 (33%) were female participants. There is no significance of anxiety as marital status and education wise. Only the students are anxious about their studies and future.Conclusions: High levels of anxiety, stress and depression among general population were noted, which is a cause for concern. Both the government and health care agencies are responsible for protecting the psychological well-being all over the world and ensuring a healthy work environment.

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This study identified health hazards associated with indoor air pollution (IAP) in Karachi. The main purpose of the paper was to examine the extent to which female domestic cook experience health threats related with cooking environment, and to understand their perceptions of the link between IAP exposure and poor health outcomes. One hundred female domestic cook in Karachi City, Pakistan, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire interview method; educational level, oven and fuel types were used as proxy determinants of class, based on educational level, respondents were categorized into three classes: illiterate, graduate and above, and in-between (from level one to level 12). It was found that the higher the educational level the respondents had, the more likely they were to be aware of health effects associated with IAP. The author drew a conclusion that respondents with minimum levels of education, using wood fired mud-ovens, were more likely to be exposed to IAP and, as a consequence, had greater health risks than other women.