Teachers’ education has a pivotal role in the process of societal change and for leading towards a sustainable future. The current study aimed at investigating the effect of a course regarding ...education for sustainable development on the student-teachers’ attitude towards sustainable development. The data were collected from student teachers in two stages; in the first stage, data were collected from 287 students to validate the questionnaire while in the second stage data were collected from the experimental and controlled group. Structural equation modelling technique, paired and independent sample t-tests were applied for data analysis. The results of the quantitative and qualitative data indicate a positive change in the student-teachers’ attitude towards sustainable development. Student-teachers who studied education for sustainable development subject during their course-work were surveyed to determine if they had a positive attitude towards sustainable development compared to their counterpart student-teachers who did not study education for sustainable development subject. Results of the study advocate the need and potential of education for sustainable development in different academic programs, especially teachers’ education program in Pakistan, is to enhance the students’ attitude towards sustainable development.
•Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) plays a significant role in sustainable future.•Analysis of ESD course on pre-service teachers’ attitude and behaviour towards sustainable development (SD).•A significant increase in student-teachers’ attitude towards sustainable development (SD) after studying the ESD course.
Over the past two decades, medical imaging has been extensively apply to diagnose diseases. Medical experts continue to have difficulties for diagnosing diseases with a single modality owing to a ...lack of information in this domain. Image fusion may be use to merge images of specific organs with diseases from a variety of medical imaging systems. Anatomical and physiological data may be included in multi-modality image fusion, making diagnosis simpler. It is a difficult challenge to find the best multimodal medical database with fusion quality evaluation for assessing recommended image fusion methods. As a result, this article provides a complete overview of multimodal medical image fusion methodologies, databases, and quality measurements.
In this article, a compendious review of different medical imaging modalities and evaluation of related multimodal databases along with the statistical results is provided. The medical imaging modalities are organized based on radiation, visible-light imaging, microscopy, and multimodal imaging.
The medical imaging acquisition is categorized into invasive or non-invasive techniques. The fusion techniques are classified into six main categories: frequency fusion, spatial fusion, decision-level fusion, deep learning, hybrid fusion, and sparse representation fusion. In addition, the associated diseases for each modality and fusion approach presented. The quality assessments fusion metrics are also encapsulated in this article.
This survey provides a baseline guideline to medical experts in this technical domain that may combine preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative imaging, Multi-sensor fusion for disease detection, etc. The advantages and drawbacks of the current literature are discussed, and future insights are provided accordingly.
•CA-storage (1% O2+5% CO2) delayed browning and red color loss of litchi pericarp.•CA-stored fruit showed suppressed membrane leakage and malondialdehyde contents.•CA-storage maintained acidic ...pericarp pH and reduced POD & PPO enzymes activities.•CA-stored litchi fruit showed higher enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants.•CA-storage could be useful in delaying browning and maintaining litchi fruit quality.
‘Gola’ litchi fruits were stored under ten different CA-combinations at 5±1°C to investigate its effects on pericarp browning, biochemical quality and antioxidative activities. Control fruit turned completely brown after 28days of storage and were excluded from the study. Fruit-stored under CA7-combination (1% O2+5% CO2) showed reduced weight loss, pericarp browning, membrane leakage and malondialdehyde contents. Soluble solid contents, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid contents were higher in CA7-stored fruit. Activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes, levels of total anthocyanins, DPPH radical-scavenging-activity and phenolic contents were significantly higher in CA7-stored litchi fruit. In contrast, activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase enzymes were substantially lower in fruit kept under CA7-combination. Fruit subjected to CA7-conditions also maintained higher organoleptic quality. In conclusion, 1% O2+5% CO2 CA-conditions delayed pericarp browning, maintained antioxidative activities and biochemical characteristics along with better organoleptic quality of litchi fruit for 35days.
Nitric oxide (NO), a colorless gaseous molecule, is a lipophilic free radical that easily diffuses through the plasma membrane. These characteristics make NO an ideal autocrine (i.e., within a single ...cell) and paracrine (i.e., between adjacent cells) signalling molecule. As a chemical messenger, NO plays a crucial role in plant growth, development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, NO interacts with reactive oxygen species, antioxidants, melatonin, and hydrogen sulfide. It regulates gene expression, modulates phytohormones, and contributes to plant growth and defense mechanisms. In plants, NO is mainly produced via redox pathways. However, nitric oxide synthase, a key enzyme in NO production, has been poorly understood recently in both model and crop plants. In this review, we discuss the pivotal role of NO in signalling and chemical interactions as well as its involvement in the mitigation of biotic and abiotic stress conditions. In the current review, we have discussed various aspects of NO including its biosynthesis, interaction with reactive oxygen species (ROS), melatonin (MEL), hydrogen sulfide, enzymes, phytohormones, and its role in normal and stressful conditions.
What are the effects of parenting styles on academic performance and how unequal are these effects on secondary school students from different gender and socioeconomic status families constitute the ...theme of this paper. A cross-sectional and purposive sampling technique was adopted to gather information from a sample of 448 students on a Likert scale. Chi-square, Kendall's Tau-c tests and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the extent of the relationship among the variables. Chi-square and Kendall's Tau-c (T.sup.c) test results established that the socioeconomic status of the respondent's family explained variation in children's academic performance due to parenting style; however, no significant difference was observed in the academic performance of students based on gender. Furthermore, hierarchal multiple regression analysis established that the family's socioeconomic status, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting, the interaction of socioeconomic status and authoritative parenting, and the interaction of socioeconomic status and permissive parenting were significant predictors (P<0.05) of students' academic performance. These predictor variables explained 59.3 percent variation in the academic performance of children (R2 = 0.593). Results of hierarchal multiple regression analysis in this study ranked ordered the most significant predictors of the academic performance of children in the following order. Family socioeconomic status alone was the strongest predictor (beta = 18.25), interaction of socioeconomic status and authoritative parenting was the second important predictor (beta = 14.18), authoritative parenting alone was third in importance (beta = 13.38), the interaction of socioeconomic status and permissive parenting stood at fourth place in importance (beta = 11.46), and permissive parenting was fifth (beta = 9.2) in influencing academic performance of children in the study area. Children who experienced authoritative parenting and were from higher socioeconomic status families perform better as compared to children who experienced authoritarian and permissive parenting and were from low socioeconomic status families.
A plant’s response to osmotic stress is a complex phenomenon that causes many abnormal symptoms due to limitations in growth and development or even the loss of yield. The current research aimed to ...analyze the agronomical, physiological, and biochemical mechanisms accompanying the acquisition of salt resistance in the Vigna radiata L. variety ‘Ramzan’ using seed osmo- and thermopriming in the presence of PEG-4000 and 4 °C under induced salinity stresses of 100 and 150 mM NaCl. Seeds were collected from CCRI, Nowshera, and sowing was undertaken in triplicate at the Department of Botany, Peshawar University, during the 2018–2019 growing season. Rhizospheric soil pH (6.0), E.C (2.41 ds/m), field capacity, and moisture content level were estimated in the present study. We observed from the estimated results that the agronomic characteristics, i.e., shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight in T9 (4oC + 150 mM NaCl), root fresh weight and root dry weight in T4 (PEG + 100 mM NaCl), shoot moisture content in T5 (PEG + 100 mM NaCl), and root moisture content in T6 (PEG + 150 mM NaCl) were the highest, followed by the lowest in T1 (both shoot and root fresh weights) and T2 (shoot and root dry weights). Similarly, the shoot moisture content was the maximum in T5 and the minimum in T6, and root moisture was the highest in T6. We observed from the estimated results that agronomical parameters including dry masses (T4, T6, T4), leaf area index, germination index, leaf area, total biomass, seed vigor index under treatment T9, and relative water content and water use efficiency during T5 and T6 were the highest. Plant physiological traits such as proline, SOD enhanced by T1, carotenoids in treatment T2, and chlorophyll and protein levels were the highest under treatment T4, whereas sugar and POD were highest under treatments T7 and T8. The principal component analysis enclosed 63.75% of the total variation among all biological components. These estimated results confirmed the positive resistance by Vigna radiata during osmopriming (PEG) and thermopriming (4 °C) on most of the features with great tolerance under a low-saline treatment such as T4 (PEG), T5 (PEG + 100 mM NaCl), T7 (4 °C), and T8 (4 °C + 100 mM NaCl), while it was susceptible in the case of T6 (PEG + 150 mM NaCl) and T9 (4 °C + 150 mM NaCl) to high salt application. We found that the constraining impact of several priming techniques improved low salinity, which was regarded as economically inexpensive and initiated numerous metabolic processes in plants, hence decreasing germination time. The current study will have major applications for combatting the salinity problem induced by climate change in Pakistan.
Vanadium dioxide (VO2) received tremendous interest lately due to its unique structural, electronic, and optoelectronic properties. VO2 has been extensively used in electrochromic displays and ...memristors and its VO2 (B) polymorph is extensively utilized as electrode material in energy storage applications. More studies are focused on VO2 (B) nanostructures which displayed different energy storage behavior than the bulk VO2. The present review provides a systematic overview of the progress in VO2 nanostructures syntheses and its application in energy storage devices. Herein, a general introduction, discussion about crystal structure, and syntheses of a variety of nanostructures such as nanowires, nanorods, nanobelts, nanotubes, carambola shaped, etc. are summarized. The energy storage application of VO2 nanostructure and its composites are also described in detail and categorically, e.g. Li‐ion battery, Na‐ion battery, and supercapacitors. The current status and challenges associated with VO2 nanostructures are reported. Finally, light has been shed for the overall performance improvement of VO2 nanostructure as potential electrode material for future application.
The review focuses on the discussion of different nanostructures of Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) and its composites for energy storage application. The different methodology for the synthesis of these VO2 nanostructures, its current status in battery and supercapacitor applications are presented along with its potential as electrode material for future applications.
Abiotic stresses lead to excessive crop yield losses and are a major threat to agriculture. It is essential to equip crops with multi-stress tolerance to mitigate the adverse effects of abiotic ...stressors and meet the demands of the increasing global population. The association between plants and symbiotic microorganisms is involved in key functions at the ecosystem and plant levels, and the application of microbial plant biostimulants (MPBs) is a sustainable strategy to augment plant growth and productivity, even under abiotic stress conditions. Several different microorganisms can be used as MPBs to enhance plant growth and produce progressive and reproducible effects on crops. In the present review, we assessed the current knowledge on the use of MPBs, discuss the diversity and characteristics of MPBs, and provide a meticulous assessment of the possible applications of MPBs in abiotic stress relief in crops.
Several environmental stresses, including biotic and abiotic factors, adversely affect the growth and development of crops, thereby lowering their yield. However, abiotic factors, e.g., drought, ...salinity, cold, heat, ultraviolet radiations (UVr), reactive oxygen species (ROS), trace metals (TM), and soil pH, are extremely destructive and decrease crop yield worldwide. It is expected that more than 50% of crop production losses are due to abiotic stresses. Moreover, these factors are responsible for physiological and biochemical changes in plants. The response of different plant species to such stresses is a complex phenomenon with individual features for several species. In addition, it has been shown that abiotic factors stimulate multi-gene responses by making modifications in the accumulation of the primary and secondary metabolites. Metabolomics is a promising way to interpret biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. The study of metabolic profiling revealed different types of metabolites, e.g., amino acids, carbohydrates, phenols, polyamines, terpenes, etc, which are accumulated in plants. Among all, primary metabolites, such as amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids polyamines, and glycine betaine, are considered the major contributing factors that work as osmolytes and osmoprotectants for plants from various environmental stress factors. In contrast, plant-derived secondary metabolites, e.g., phenolics, terpenoids, and nitrogen-containing compounds (alkaloids), have no direct role in the growth and development of plants. Nevertheless, such metabolites could play a significant role as a defense by protecting plants from biotic factors such as herbivores, insects, and pathogens. In addition, they can enhance the resistance against abiotic factors. Therefore, metabolomics practices are becoming essential and influential in plants by identifying different phytochemicals that are part of the acclimation responses to various stimuli. Hence, an accurate metabolome analysis is important to understand the basics of stress physiology and biochemistry. This review provides insight into the current information related to the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on variations of various sets of metabolite levels and explores how primary and secondary metabolites help plants in response to these stresses.
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