Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is an emerging area for alternative renewable energy generation and it offers additional opportunities for environmental bioremediation. Recent scientific studies have focused on MFC reactor design as well as reactor operations to increase energy output. The advancement in alternative MFC models and their performance in recent years reflect the interests of scientific community to exploit this technology for wider practical applications and environmental benefit. This is reflected in the diversity of the substrates available for use in MFCs at an economically viable level. This review provides an overview of the commonly used MFC designs and materials along with the basic operating parameters that have been developed in recent years. Still, many limitations and challenges exist for MFC development that needs to be further addressed to make them economically feasible for general use. These include continued improvements in fuel cell design and efficiency as well scale-up with economically practical applications tailored to local needs.

In recent years, transgenic approaches have played a significant role in improving traits that help plants overcome abiotic stresses. Combined gene discovery and functional genomics have helped identify diversified mechanisms and gene families, which improved productivity under various abiotic stresses. We report on the genetic stability and persistent morphological features of transgenic pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants harboring the dicistronic vector construct pG0229MASnhx1/luc over five generations. In addition to salt stress tolerance, the transgenic plants showed frost tolerance compared to wild-type (WT) plants. Frost tolerance of AtNHX1 transgenic pea plants was unexpected and needs further investigation. We report morphological and molecular characteristics of transformed plants after long-term storage at 30-50 °C. The transgenic plants were morphologically stable and genetic stability of integrated genes was confirmed prior to and after transfer of plants to a glasshouse. Leaf size, shape, and color, plant height, number of tendrils, flower shape, pod shape, and grains were morphologically similar to the WT counterpart in all transgenic generations. This is the first report showing the genetic stability of transgenic pea plants harboring the salt stress tolerance gene (AtNHX1) from Arabidopsis thaliana in subsequent generations over a period of 6 years.

Introduction: Covid-19 disrupted educational systems on a global scale with Pakistan being no exception. Classes had to be shifted to online mode almost overnight with little time for preparation or training. There is no indication of whether the students were satisfied with this switch over from their traditional modes of learning. Objective: To determine the satisfaction level of students of National University of Science and Technology regarding online teaching during 2nd wave of covid-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at the National University of Science & Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from March 2021 to April 2021 on university undergraduate students through an online survey using email and social media. The survey requested demographic and socioeconomic information, as well as information related to online learning and electronic devices; education status during the COVID-19 pandemic; and e-learning knowledge, attitudes, and practices. SPSS 23 was used to analyze calculated data. Results: A total of 256 students participated in the study. The majority were from the age group 18–20 years (55.5%, n=142). Among them 57% (n= 146) consist of male and 43% (n=110) were female. Majority of participants (27.3%; n=70) were studying in 2nd semester of Software Engineering department. Among electronic device used for online study, laptop was used as major electronic device (34.8%; n=89), followed by mobile phone (25.8%; n=66). Majority of students (57%) were not satisfied with online teaching as compared to conventional classroom teaching and considered not to prefer online teaching; 67.2% students complained about difficulty in understanding topics and questions during online classes. However, online system is not a total failure, as majority of students (71.4%) were satisfied with the fact that teachers were supportive, responsive, and quick enough to solve their queries. Conclusion: Overall, there was dissatisfaction and negative comments regarding interaction among students, practical learning, focus on study, and technological/infrastructural flaws.

Background: Uncertainty exists about the impact of placental vit D metabolism on mother's blood levels of vit D in people. Objective: Awareness of placental vit D metabolism and how it affects the amount of vit D metabolites in mother's blood was one of the goals of this investigation. Methods: To take part in a 14-week controlled feeding experiment, 27 third-trimester singleton pregnant women in good health from Hayatabad Medical Complex during Jan 2022 to April 2022. Female trophoblasts in vitro were further treated using Vitamin D3-13C to investigate the synthesis of vit D intermediates. Results: In maternal tissue, there was a substantial connection between 24,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol and 25-hydroxyvitamin D. These placental metabolites were also closely connected to the corresponding compounds found in maternal circulation. 3-epi-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and low density lipoprotein-related protein 2 with 25-hydroxyvitamin D; CYP2R1 with 3-epi-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3; Cubilin (CUBN) with 25-hydroxyvitamin D; CYP27B1 with 3-epi-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and CYP24A1 with 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 24,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol all showed positive relationships. Conclusion: Strong relationships between the levels of circulating vit D metabolites in pregnancy and a number of placental markers of vit D metabolism suggest the hypothesis that the profile of vit D metabolites in mother's blood is altered by the placenta. Keywords: 24,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol (24,25(OH)2D3), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3), 3-epi-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 (epi-25(OH)D3), CYP2R1, CYP24A1

The study aims to investigate the relationship of perceived threat of terrorism, stress appraisal and psychological distress in College and University students. Four hundred students of ages 19 to 22 years (M = 20.01, SD = 1.05) were recruited from different Colleges and Universities of Lahore. The research protocol consisted of Terrorism Catastrophizing Scale (Sinclair & LoCicero, 2007), Stress Appraisal Measure (Peacock & Wong, 1990) and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (Horowitz et al., 1979). The data was analyzed by using Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that threat challenge, centrality, uncontrollable and stressfulness(subscales of stress appraisal) had significant positive relationship with helplessness, rumination, psychological distress, intrusion, avoidance and arousal (subscales of psychological distress), negative relationship of perceived threat of terrorism with appraisal of challenge, controllability by self and controllability by other. Moreover, the results showed that threat, centrality and rumination were significant positive predictors of psychological distress. Findings of the study will help in developing interventions for students who feel high level of psychological distress because of perceived threat of terrorism.