Muhammad Adrees | Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan (original) (raw)

Papers by Muhammad Adrees

To provide the most comprehensive analysis of observed global extreme daily and persistent precip... more To provide the most comprehensive analysis of observed global extreme daily and persistent precipitation, we use high-quality daily precipitation data from a number of different sources. Co-authors from fifteen countries contributed daily data, most of which until now were not available for global precipitation studies. The compilation of global daily precipitation data includes the GHCND dataset (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ghcn-daily-description), the ECA&D dataset (https://www.ecad.eu/), the USHCN dataset (http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ftp/ushcn_daily/), and the dataset for Canada (http://climate.weather.gc.ca/), raw data provided by authors from Argentina, Australia, Benin, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Russia. In total 12151 stations were collated. After quality control and homogeneity test, 6125 high-quality stations with long-term (data are available at least for 45 years) daily precipitation for the ...

Changes in precipitation, and in particular heavy precipitation extremes, have wide-ranging impli... more Changes in precipitation, and in particular heavy precipitation extremes, have wide-ranging implications for society particularly in a changing climate. However, the impacts of these changes can be sensitive to how precipitation accumulates over time and, for example, large-scale disastrous flooding is often associated with extreme precipitation persisting over several days. Little is known about how the temporal sequencing of precipitation is expected to change under global warming. This lack of knowledge is alarming given the link between multi-day extreme precipitation and flooding catastrophes. We address this gap, and focus on a previously neglected aspect of precipitation, by studying changes in temporally clustered extreme precipitation (that is, extreme precipitation occurring on consecutive days), based on a unique quasi-global database of observational records (5989 high-quality stations with long-term daily precipitation during 1961-2010) and climate model simulations. We...

Approaches to the Remediation of Inorganic Pollutants, 2021

Plant Nutrients and Abiotic Stress Tolerance, 2018

Food productivity is decreasing with the drastic increase in population, while it is expected tha... more Food productivity is decreasing with the drastic increase in population, while it is expected that the global population will be nine to ten billion in 2050. Growth, production, and development on whole plant, cell, and subcellular levels are extremely affected by environmental factors particularly with the extreme temperature events (high- or low-temperature stress). Increase in the fluidity of lipid membrane, protein accumulation, and denaturation are the direct effects of high temperature on a plant. Membrane integrity loss, protein deprivation, protein synthesis inhabitation, and inactivation of mitochondrial and chloroplast enzymes are the indirect effects of high temperature. Similarly, the oval abortion, alteration of the pollen tube, reduction in fruit set, pollen sterility, and flower abscission are the consequences of low temperature at the time of product development, which in turn lowers the yield. The judicious nutrient management is essential for improving the plant nutrition status to mitigate the drastic effects of temperature stress as well as for sustainable plant yield under extreme temperature events, because nutrient deficiency results in growth and development problems in 60% cultivars worldwide. Additionally, effective nutrient management increases the temperature stress tolerance in plants. Therefore, the appropriate nutrient application rates and timings are imperative for alleviating the heat stress in plants and can serve as an effective and decent strategy. To minimize the contrasting effects of the environmental stresses, particularly heat stress, several examples of the supplemental applications of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Se, and Zn are given in detail in this study, to observe how these nutrients reduce the effects of temperature stress in plants. This study concluded that judicious nutrient management minimizes the heat stress and increases the growth and yield of plants.

Essential Plant Nutrients, 2017

Nanomaterials and Environmental Biotechnology, 2020

Great use of nanotechnology for potential benefits and novel applications has been developed in b... more Great use of nanotechnology for potential benefits and novel applications has been developed in biotechnology and agriculture. Fertilizers have a critical role in plant growth and metabolism, but at most concentrations, applied fertilizers are unavailable to the plants because of leaching, runoff, and degradation. Nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulate nutrients, as chemical fertilizers that are released on demand for plant growth and development. Several studies have revealed that specific (low-dose) concentrations of NPs, foliar spray/irrigation, and carbon nanotubes significantly enhanced plant growth (plant height, root length, number of leaves, fruit size and production, seed germination, fresh shoot and root biomass), physiology (chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid content, photosynthesis, carbohydrates, formation of photosynthetic pigments), oxidants, antioxidants, and developed plant tolerance against biotic and abiotic stress. There is further need to explore NP effects on the photosynthetic mechanism, their activity beneath plant roots, and an urgent need to develop target-specific, controlled release of NPs as fertilizers to decrease the loss and spread of NPs into other environmental expanses.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2020

Recently nanoparticles (NPs) are ubiquitous in the environment because they have unique character... more Recently nanoparticles (NPs) are ubiquitous in the environment because they have unique characteristics which are the reason of their wide use in various fields. The release of NPs into various environmental compartments mainly ends up in the soil through water bodies which is a serious threat to living things especially plants. When present in soil, NPs may cause toxicity in plants which increase significance to minimize NPs stress in plants. Although gibberellic acid (GA) is one of the phytohormones that has the potential to alleviate abiotic/biotic stresses in crops plant, GA-mediated alleviation of cerium oxide (CeO2) NPs in plants is still unknown, despite the large-scale application of CeO2-NPs in various fields. The present study was performed to highlight the ability of foliar-applied GA in reducing CeO2-NPs toxicity in wheat under soil exposure of CeO2-NPs. We observed that CeO2-NPs alone adversely affected the dry weights, chlorophyll contents, and nutrients and caused oxidative stress in plants, thereby reducing plant yield. GA coupled with CeO2-NPs reversed the changes caused by CeO2-NPs alone as indicated by the increase in plant growth, chlorophylls, nutrients, and yield. Furthermore, GA alleviated the oxidative stress in plants by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities under CeO2-NPs exposure than the NPs alone which further provided the evidence of reduction in oxidative damage in plants by GA. Overall, evaluating the potential of GA in reducing CeO2-NPs toxicity in wheat could provide important information for improving food safety under CeO2-NPs exposure.

Iranian Polymer Journal, 2020

The current study explores the potential of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (AEAP... more The current study explores the potential of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (AEAPTS) functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) as interface modifier to enhance thermomechanical characteristics of glass fiber/epoxy (GF/epoxy) composites. GF/epoxy laminates each embedded with 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt% of pristine SWCNTs (p-SWCNTs) and f-SWCNTs, respectively, were fabricated using hot press technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated successful attachment of AEAPTS on SWCNTs while thermogravimetric analysis assessed the grafting density of AEAPTS. Tensile strength, modulus and interlaminar shear strength increased by ~ 27, ~ 14 and ~ 43%, respectively, at 0.5 wt% f-SWCNTs loading. However, no marked improvements were observed in mechanical properties with p-SWCNTs addition. Scanning electron microscopy revealed excellent dispersibility of f-SWCNTs in an epoxy matrix. Moreover, fractographic analysis revealed excellent compatibility of GF and epoxy resin in the presence of f-SWCNTs which accounts for improved interfacial adhesion. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis showed ~ 40% increment in storage modulus at 25 °C with 0.5 wt% f-SWCNTs content whereas the glass transition temperature remarkably improved by ~ 13 °C as compared to the neat composite (~ 136 °C). The cross-link density increased up to ~ 51% with f-SWCNTs addition implying that grafted AEAPTS moieties undergo a three-way cross-link reaction with epoxide groups of epoxy and silanes of glass fibers. Such multi-scale composites with enhanced strength and thermomechanical stability can replace metallic components in various engineering applications.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019

Soil degradation with different stress conditions like accumulation of cadmium (Cd) contents in s... more Soil degradation with different stress conditions like accumulation of cadmium (Cd) contents in soil and drought stress has become one of the most dangerous issues that obstruct the sustainable agriculture production. Silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) play beneficial roles in combating various biotic and abiotic stresses but their role under combined metal and drought stress is not studied. A pot study was designed to determine the effect of Si NPs on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and uptake of Cd grown in Cd contaminated soil with different water levels under ambient conditions. Four different levels of Si NPs (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) were applied in the soil before 1 week of wheat sowing and two water levels (70% and 35% soil water-holding capacity) were introduced after 50 days of seed sowing for the remaining growth period. The lowest biomass, yield, and photosynthesis were observed in the control plants while oxidative stress and the highest Cd concentrations in shoots, roots, and grains were observed in the control plants, and the drought stress further enhanced this effect on the plants. The Si NPs treatments improved the plant growth indicators and photosynthesis, and reduced the Cd concentrations in wheat tissues, especially in grains either without or with drought stress. The Si NPs reduced the oxidative stress in leaves as was indicated by the reduced production of hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde contents, and increase in superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities. The improvement in wheat growth and a reduction in oxidative stress and Cd concentration in tissues were dependent on the levels of Si NPs and the effect was the highest with the highest level of NPs used.

Journal CleanWAS, 2019

In recent years, rural industries have developed unexpectedly leading to augmented pollution and ... more In recent years, rural industries have developed unexpectedly leading to augmented pollution and consequently affected human health, agriculture, horticulture as well as forestry. Transportation, urbanization and brick kilns playing an important role in the devastation of the environment and also cause global warming. Used different kinds of materials as fuel like wood, oil, saw dust and coal to burn the brick kilns. Many harmful and dangerous gases produced such as Oxides of Nitrogen, Carbon, Sulphur, Carbon monoxide and particulate matters. These emissions from brick kilns damage the environment and also hazardous for human health. This study provides the basic information to understand the issues and highlight their impacts on the natural environment, food production and human health arising from the brick kilns emissions.

Chemosphere, 2019

h i g h l i g h t s Combined cadmium (Cd) and drought decreased the yield of wheat. Drought stres... more h i g h l i g h t s Combined cadmium (Cd) and drought decreased the yield of wheat. Drought stress increased the Cd concentration in grains of wheat. Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe NPs) increased the wheat growth under Cd þ drought stress. Fe NPs increased photosynthesis and reduced oxidative stress in Cd and drought-stressed wheat. Fe NPs decreased Cd and increased Fe concentrations in wheat grains.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019

Environmental Pollution, 2019

of cadmium accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.) by foliar spray of zinc oxide nanoparticles and bi... more of cadmium accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.) by foliar spray of zinc oxide nanoparticles and biochar to contaminated soil,

Key Engineering Materials, 2018

The present study aimed to identify the potential of modified nanoreinforcement (multiwalled carb... more The present study aimed to identify the potential of modified nanoreinforcement (multiwalled carbon nanotubes; m-MWCNTs) to attenuate the thermal transport/decomposition/transition and mechanical aspects of three different polymeric matrices. In order to develop strong interfacial interaction between the host matrix and the incorporated nanotubes, 3-aminopropyletrimethoxy silane (APTMS) was used to m-MWCNTs. IR spectra confirmed the silane chemical moiety attachment on the upper surface of the MWCNTs. Conventional elastomeric mixing techniques were adopted to disperse m-MWCNTs within the three polymeric matrices (Acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, Silicone rubber, and Styrene Butadiene rubber) separately. SEM images assured the uniform dispersion of m-MWCNTs within the host polymeric matrices. Experimental evaluation of thermal conductivity revealed the reduction of thermal transport through the developed composite specimens by increasing the host polymer matrix to nanofiller concentra...

Journal of environmental management, Jan 14, 2017

Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination and drought stress are among the main issues hindering global foo... more Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination and drought stress are among the main issues hindering global food security. Biochar has been used to reduce metal uptake by plants and water stress mitigation, but long-term residual effects of biochar under Cd stress at different moisture levels needs to be investigated. A following rice (Oryza sativa L.) was grown after wheat on Cd-contaminated soil amended with different levels of biochar (0, 3.0, and 5.0%, w/w). Thirty five days old plants were irrigated with three moisture levels including zero drought as a control (1-2 cm water layer on soil), mild drought (MD, 50% of soil water holding capacity, WHC), and severe drought (SD, 35% of soil WHC) for an accompanying 35 days. Plant height, biomass and photosynthesis were reduced whereas oxidative stress increased under MD and SD than control in un-amended soil while opposite trends were observed in plants grown in biochar amended soil. At the same biochar addition, Cd concentrations in seedlings wer...

Desalination, 2017

Novel Polyurethane/Polyvinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate (PU/PVCA) blend RO membranes were synthesi... more Novel Polyurethane/Polyvinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate (PU/PVCA) blend RO membranes were synthesized in four different ratios 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40. On the basis of appreciable salt rejection, PU/PVCA-4 (60/40) was selected for chemical crosslinking with 1 to 4 wt% of Epichlorohydrin (ECH). The confirmation of physical and chemical crosslinking between PU and PVCA was validated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The SEM micrographs confirmed the dense film structure for all crosslinked and un-crosslinked membranes. Tensile testing, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) evaluated the performance of ECH crosslinked membranes. In addition, DMA revealed the existence of single glass transition temperature (T g) in case of crosslinked membranes advocating the compatibility of PU and PVCA. In terms of flux and salt rejection, PU/PVCA-4 membrane crosslinked with 3 wt% ECH demonstrated the optimum results. The permeation data was collected at two different temperatures i.e. 25°C and 70°C for crosslinked membranes and the results indicated~67.6% higher flux at 70°C over the flux obtained at 25°C. This amelioration in flux shows the thermo-sensitive behavior of crosslinked membranes. These results demonstrate that ECH crosslinked PU/PVCA membranes can outstand the conventional PU membranes in terms of mechanical, thermal and permeation properties.

Chemosphere, Jan 2, 2017

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in vegetables is an important environmental issue that threatens human ... more Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in vegetables is an important environmental issue that threatens human health globally. Understanding the response of vegetables to Cd stress and applying management strategies may help to reduce the Cd uptake by vegetables. The aim of the present review is to summarize the knowledge concerning the uptake and toxic effects of Cd in vegetables and the different management strategies to combat Cd stress in vegetables. Leafy vegetables grown in Cd contaminated soils potentially accumulate higher concentrations of Cd, posing a threat to food commodities. The Cd toxicity decreases seed germination, growth, biomass and quality of vegetables. This reduces the photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and alteration in mineral nutrition. Toxicity of Cd toxicity also interferes with vegetable biochemistry causing oxidative stress and resulting in decreased antioxidant enzyme activities. Several management options have been employed for the reduction of Cd uptake and toxi...

Oilseed Crops, 2017

Finding a suitable set of controllers to which a large set of control functions with different sa... more Finding a suitable set of controllers to which a large set of control functions with different safety levels can be assigned, while minimizing cost, is a significant task during the design of the operational control system of a critical process, like a power plant. This task is currently performed by experts and extremely time-consuming, which explains why its automation is a real concern. This paper shows first that the above assignment problem can be identified as a Multiple-Choice Vector Bin-Packing with Conflicts problem, a combination of different variants of the well-known one-dimensional bin-packing problem. Such a problem is known to be strongly NP-Hard and exact techniques to solve it on large-sized examples are too time and/or space consuming because of the combinatorial explosion. To solve this problem in polynomial time, this article proposes a fast heuristic based on a FFD (First-Fit Decreasing) approach. Two strategies to perform this heuristic and several criteria to rank the functions before assignment are defined. These strategies and criteria are then compared on the basis of numerous experiments. These experiments show that the proposed heuristic scales well and provides results that are very close to optimum; the difference in the worst case is less than 1%.

Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2017

This study examines the variability and change in the patterns of climatic extremes experienced i... more This study examines the variability and change in the patterns of climatic extremes experienced in Indus-Delta of Sindh province of Pakistan, comprising regions of Karachi, Badin, Mohenjodaro, and Rohri. The homogenized daily minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation data for a 36-year period were used to calculate 13 and 11 indices of temperature and precipitation extremes with the help of RClimDex, a program written in the statistical software package R. A non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope estimates were used to determine the statistical significance and magnitude of the calculated trend. Temperatures of summer days and tropical nights increased in the region with overall significant warming trends for monthly maximum temperature as well as for warm days and nights reflecting dry conditions in the study area. The warm extremes and nighttime temperature indices showed greater trends than cold extremes and daytime indices depicting an overall warming trends in the Delta. Historic decrease in the acreage of major crops and over 33% decrease in agriculture credit for Sindh are the indicators of adverse impacts of warmer and drier weather on Sindh agriculture. Trends reported for Karachi and Badin are expected to decrease rice cultivation, hatching of fisheries, and mangroves forest surrounding these cities. Increase in the prevailing temperature trends will lead to increasingly hotter and drier summers resulting to constraints on cotton, wheat, and rice yield in Rohri and Mohenjodaro areas due to increased crop water requirements that may be met with additional groundwater pumping; nonetheless, the depleted groundwater resources would have a direct impact on the region's economy.

To provide the most comprehensive analysis of observed global extreme daily and persistent precip... more To provide the most comprehensive analysis of observed global extreme daily and persistent precipitation, we use high-quality daily precipitation data from a number of different sources. Co-authors from fifteen countries contributed daily data, most of which until now were not available for global precipitation studies. The compilation of global daily precipitation data includes the GHCND dataset (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ghcn-daily-description), the ECA&D dataset (https://www.ecad.eu/), the USHCN dataset (http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ftp/ushcn_daily/), and the dataset for Canada (http://climate.weather.gc.ca/), raw data provided by authors from Argentina, Australia, Benin, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Russia. In total 12151 stations were collated. After quality control and homogeneity test, 6125 high-quality stations with long-term (data are available at least for 45 years) daily precipitation for the ...

Changes in precipitation, and in particular heavy precipitation extremes, have wide-ranging impli... more Changes in precipitation, and in particular heavy precipitation extremes, have wide-ranging implications for society particularly in a changing climate. However, the impacts of these changes can be sensitive to how precipitation accumulates over time and, for example, large-scale disastrous flooding is often associated with extreme precipitation persisting over several days. Little is known about how the temporal sequencing of precipitation is expected to change under global warming. This lack of knowledge is alarming given the link between multi-day extreme precipitation and flooding catastrophes. We address this gap, and focus on a previously neglected aspect of precipitation, by studying changes in temporally clustered extreme precipitation (that is, extreme precipitation occurring on consecutive days), based on a unique quasi-global database of observational records (5989 high-quality stations with long-term daily precipitation during 1961-2010) and climate model simulations. We...

Approaches to the Remediation of Inorganic Pollutants, 2021

Plant Nutrients and Abiotic Stress Tolerance, 2018

Food productivity is decreasing with the drastic increase in population, while it is expected tha... more Food productivity is decreasing with the drastic increase in population, while it is expected that the global population will be nine to ten billion in 2050. Growth, production, and development on whole plant, cell, and subcellular levels are extremely affected by environmental factors particularly with the extreme temperature events (high- or low-temperature stress). Increase in the fluidity of lipid membrane, protein accumulation, and denaturation are the direct effects of high temperature on a plant. Membrane integrity loss, protein deprivation, protein synthesis inhabitation, and inactivation of mitochondrial and chloroplast enzymes are the indirect effects of high temperature. Similarly, the oval abortion, alteration of the pollen tube, reduction in fruit set, pollen sterility, and flower abscission are the consequences of low temperature at the time of product development, which in turn lowers the yield. The judicious nutrient management is essential for improving the plant nutrition status to mitigate the drastic effects of temperature stress as well as for sustainable plant yield under extreme temperature events, because nutrient deficiency results in growth and development problems in 60% cultivars worldwide. Additionally, effective nutrient management increases the temperature stress tolerance in plants. Therefore, the appropriate nutrient application rates and timings are imperative for alleviating the heat stress in plants and can serve as an effective and decent strategy. To minimize the contrasting effects of the environmental stresses, particularly heat stress, several examples of the supplemental applications of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Se, and Zn are given in detail in this study, to observe how these nutrients reduce the effects of temperature stress in plants. This study concluded that judicious nutrient management minimizes the heat stress and increases the growth and yield of plants.

Essential Plant Nutrients, 2017

Nanomaterials and Environmental Biotechnology, 2020

Great use of nanotechnology for potential benefits and novel applications has been developed in b... more Great use of nanotechnology for potential benefits and novel applications has been developed in biotechnology and agriculture. Fertilizers have a critical role in plant growth and metabolism, but at most concentrations, applied fertilizers are unavailable to the plants because of leaching, runoff, and degradation. Nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulate nutrients, as chemical fertilizers that are released on demand for plant growth and development. Several studies have revealed that specific (low-dose) concentrations of NPs, foliar spray/irrigation, and carbon nanotubes significantly enhanced plant growth (plant height, root length, number of leaves, fruit size and production, seed germination, fresh shoot and root biomass), physiology (chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid content, photosynthesis, carbohydrates, formation of photosynthetic pigments), oxidants, antioxidants, and developed plant tolerance against biotic and abiotic stress. There is further need to explore NP effects on the photosynthetic mechanism, their activity beneath plant roots, and an urgent need to develop target-specific, controlled release of NPs as fertilizers to decrease the loss and spread of NPs into other environmental expanses.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2020

Recently nanoparticles (NPs) are ubiquitous in the environment because they have unique character... more Recently nanoparticles (NPs) are ubiquitous in the environment because they have unique characteristics which are the reason of their wide use in various fields. The release of NPs into various environmental compartments mainly ends up in the soil through water bodies which is a serious threat to living things especially plants. When present in soil, NPs may cause toxicity in plants which increase significance to minimize NPs stress in plants. Although gibberellic acid (GA) is one of the phytohormones that has the potential to alleviate abiotic/biotic stresses in crops plant, GA-mediated alleviation of cerium oxide (CeO2) NPs in plants is still unknown, despite the large-scale application of CeO2-NPs in various fields. The present study was performed to highlight the ability of foliar-applied GA in reducing CeO2-NPs toxicity in wheat under soil exposure of CeO2-NPs. We observed that CeO2-NPs alone adversely affected the dry weights, chlorophyll contents, and nutrients and caused oxidative stress in plants, thereby reducing plant yield. GA coupled with CeO2-NPs reversed the changes caused by CeO2-NPs alone as indicated by the increase in plant growth, chlorophylls, nutrients, and yield. Furthermore, GA alleviated the oxidative stress in plants by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities under CeO2-NPs exposure than the NPs alone which further provided the evidence of reduction in oxidative damage in plants by GA. Overall, evaluating the potential of GA in reducing CeO2-NPs toxicity in wheat could provide important information for improving food safety under CeO2-NPs exposure.

Iranian Polymer Journal, 2020

The current study explores the potential of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (AEAP... more The current study explores the potential of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (AEAPTS) functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) as interface modifier to enhance thermomechanical characteristics of glass fiber/epoxy (GF/epoxy) composites. GF/epoxy laminates each embedded with 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt% of pristine SWCNTs (p-SWCNTs) and f-SWCNTs, respectively, were fabricated using hot press technique. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated successful attachment of AEAPTS on SWCNTs while thermogravimetric analysis assessed the grafting density of AEAPTS. Tensile strength, modulus and interlaminar shear strength increased by ~ 27, ~ 14 and ~ 43%, respectively, at 0.5 wt% f-SWCNTs loading. However, no marked improvements were observed in mechanical properties with p-SWCNTs addition. Scanning electron microscopy revealed excellent dispersibility of f-SWCNTs in an epoxy matrix. Moreover, fractographic analysis revealed excellent compatibility of GF and epoxy resin in the presence of f-SWCNTs which accounts for improved interfacial adhesion. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis showed ~ 40% increment in storage modulus at 25 °C with 0.5 wt% f-SWCNTs content whereas the glass transition temperature remarkably improved by ~ 13 °C as compared to the neat composite (~ 136 °C). The cross-link density increased up to ~ 51% with f-SWCNTs addition implying that grafted AEAPTS moieties undergo a three-way cross-link reaction with epoxide groups of epoxy and silanes of glass fibers. Such multi-scale composites with enhanced strength and thermomechanical stability can replace metallic components in various engineering applications.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019

Soil degradation with different stress conditions like accumulation of cadmium (Cd) contents in s... more Soil degradation with different stress conditions like accumulation of cadmium (Cd) contents in soil and drought stress has become one of the most dangerous issues that obstruct the sustainable agriculture production. Silicon nanoparticles (Si NPs) play beneficial roles in combating various biotic and abiotic stresses but their role under combined metal and drought stress is not studied. A pot study was designed to determine the effect of Si NPs on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and uptake of Cd grown in Cd contaminated soil with different water levels under ambient conditions. Four different levels of Si NPs (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) were applied in the soil before 1 week of wheat sowing and two water levels (70% and 35% soil water-holding capacity) were introduced after 50 days of seed sowing for the remaining growth period. The lowest biomass, yield, and photosynthesis were observed in the control plants while oxidative stress and the highest Cd concentrations in shoots, roots, and grains were observed in the control plants, and the drought stress further enhanced this effect on the plants. The Si NPs treatments improved the plant growth indicators and photosynthesis, and reduced the Cd concentrations in wheat tissues, especially in grains either without or with drought stress. The Si NPs reduced the oxidative stress in leaves as was indicated by the reduced production of hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde contents, and increase in superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities. The improvement in wheat growth and a reduction in oxidative stress and Cd concentration in tissues were dependent on the levels of Si NPs and the effect was the highest with the highest level of NPs used.

Journal CleanWAS, 2019

In recent years, rural industries have developed unexpectedly leading to augmented pollution and ... more In recent years, rural industries have developed unexpectedly leading to augmented pollution and consequently affected human health, agriculture, horticulture as well as forestry. Transportation, urbanization and brick kilns playing an important role in the devastation of the environment and also cause global warming. Used different kinds of materials as fuel like wood, oil, saw dust and coal to burn the brick kilns. Many harmful and dangerous gases produced such as Oxides of Nitrogen, Carbon, Sulphur, Carbon monoxide and particulate matters. These emissions from brick kilns damage the environment and also hazardous for human health. This study provides the basic information to understand the issues and highlight their impacts on the natural environment, food production and human health arising from the brick kilns emissions.

Chemosphere, 2019

h i g h l i g h t s Combined cadmium (Cd) and drought decreased the yield of wheat. Drought stres... more h i g h l i g h t s Combined cadmium (Cd) and drought decreased the yield of wheat. Drought stress increased the Cd concentration in grains of wheat. Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe NPs) increased the wheat growth under Cd þ drought stress. Fe NPs increased photosynthesis and reduced oxidative stress in Cd and drought-stressed wheat. Fe NPs decreased Cd and increased Fe concentrations in wheat grains.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019

Environmental Pollution, 2019

of cadmium accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.) by foliar spray of zinc oxide nanoparticles and bi... more of cadmium accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.) by foliar spray of zinc oxide nanoparticles and biochar to contaminated soil,

Key Engineering Materials, 2018

The present study aimed to identify the potential of modified nanoreinforcement (multiwalled carb... more The present study aimed to identify the potential of modified nanoreinforcement (multiwalled carbon nanotubes; m-MWCNTs) to attenuate the thermal transport/decomposition/transition and mechanical aspects of three different polymeric matrices. In order to develop strong interfacial interaction between the host matrix and the incorporated nanotubes, 3-aminopropyletrimethoxy silane (APTMS) was used to m-MWCNTs. IR spectra confirmed the silane chemical moiety attachment on the upper surface of the MWCNTs. Conventional elastomeric mixing techniques were adopted to disperse m-MWCNTs within the three polymeric matrices (Acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, Silicone rubber, and Styrene Butadiene rubber) separately. SEM images assured the uniform dispersion of m-MWCNTs within the host polymeric matrices. Experimental evaluation of thermal conductivity revealed the reduction of thermal transport through the developed composite specimens by increasing the host polymer matrix to nanofiller concentra...

Journal of environmental management, Jan 14, 2017

Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination and drought stress are among the main issues hindering global foo... more Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination and drought stress are among the main issues hindering global food security. Biochar has been used to reduce metal uptake by plants and water stress mitigation, but long-term residual effects of biochar under Cd stress at different moisture levels needs to be investigated. A following rice (Oryza sativa L.) was grown after wheat on Cd-contaminated soil amended with different levels of biochar (0, 3.0, and 5.0%, w/w). Thirty five days old plants were irrigated with three moisture levels including zero drought as a control (1-2 cm water layer on soil), mild drought (MD, 50% of soil water holding capacity, WHC), and severe drought (SD, 35% of soil WHC) for an accompanying 35 days. Plant height, biomass and photosynthesis were reduced whereas oxidative stress increased under MD and SD than control in un-amended soil while opposite trends were observed in plants grown in biochar amended soil. At the same biochar addition, Cd concentrations in seedlings wer...

Desalination, 2017

Novel Polyurethane/Polyvinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate (PU/PVCA) blend RO membranes were synthesi... more Novel Polyurethane/Polyvinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate (PU/PVCA) blend RO membranes were synthesized in four different ratios 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40. On the basis of appreciable salt rejection, PU/PVCA-4 (60/40) was selected for chemical crosslinking with 1 to 4 wt% of Epichlorohydrin (ECH). The confirmation of physical and chemical crosslinking between PU and PVCA was validated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The SEM micrographs confirmed the dense film structure for all crosslinked and un-crosslinked membranes. Tensile testing, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) evaluated the performance of ECH crosslinked membranes. In addition, DMA revealed the existence of single glass transition temperature (T g) in case of crosslinked membranes advocating the compatibility of PU and PVCA. In terms of flux and salt rejection, PU/PVCA-4 membrane crosslinked with 3 wt% ECH demonstrated the optimum results. The permeation data was collected at two different temperatures i.e. 25°C and 70°C for crosslinked membranes and the results indicated~67.6% higher flux at 70°C over the flux obtained at 25°C. This amelioration in flux shows the thermo-sensitive behavior of crosslinked membranes. These results demonstrate that ECH crosslinked PU/PVCA membranes can outstand the conventional PU membranes in terms of mechanical, thermal and permeation properties.

Chemosphere, Jan 2, 2017

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in vegetables is an important environmental issue that threatens human ... more Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in vegetables is an important environmental issue that threatens human health globally. Understanding the response of vegetables to Cd stress and applying management strategies may help to reduce the Cd uptake by vegetables. The aim of the present review is to summarize the knowledge concerning the uptake and toxic effects of Cd in vegetables and the different management strategies to combat Cd stress in vegetables. Leafy vegetables grown in Cd contaminated soils potentially accumulate higher concentrations of Cd, posing a threat to food commodities. The Cd toxicity decreases seed germination, growth, biomass and quality of vegetables. This reduces the photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and alteration in mineral nutrition. Toxicity of Cd toxicity also interferes with vegetable biochemistry causing oxidative stress and resulting in decreased antioxidant enzyme activities. Several management options have been employed for the reduction of Cd uptake and toxi...

Oilseed Crops, 2017

Finding a suitable set of controllers to which a large set of control functions with different sa... more Finding a suitable set of controllers to which a large set of control functions with different safety levels can be assigned, while minimizing cost, is a significant task during the design of the operational control system of a critical process, like a power plant. This task is currently performed by experts and extremely time-consuming, which explains why its automation is a real concern. This paper shows first that the above assignment problem can be identified as a Multiple-Choice Vector Bin-Packing with Conflicts problem, a combination of different variants of the well-known one-dimensional bin-packing problem. Such a problem is known to be strongly NP-Hard and exact techniques to solve it on large-sized examples are too time and/or space consuming because of the combinatorial explosion. To solve this problem in polynomial time, this article proposes a fast heuristic based on a FFD (First-Fit Decreasing) approach. Two strategies to perform this heuristic and several criteria to rank the functions before assignment are defined. These strategies and criteria are then compared on the basis of numerous experiments. These experiments show that the proposed heuristic scales well and provides results that are very close to optimum; the difference in the worst case is less than 1%.

Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2017

This study examines the variability and change in the patterns of climatic extremes experienced i... more This study examines the variability and change in the patterns of climatic extremes experienced in Indus-Delta of Sindh province of Pakistan, comprising regions of Karachi, Badin, Mohenjodaro, and Rohri. The homogenized daily minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation data for a 36-year period were used to calculate 13 and 11 indices of temperature and precipitation extremes with the help of RClimDex, a program written in the statistical software package R. A non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope estimates were used to determine the statistical significance and magnitude of the calculated trend. Temperatures of summer days and tropical nights increased in the region with overall significant warming trends for monthly maximum temperature as well as for warm days and nights reflecting dry conditions in the study area. The warm extremes and nighttime temperature indices showed greater trends than cold extremes and daytime indices depicting an overall warming trends in the Delta. Historic decrease in the acreage of major crops and over 33% decrease in agriculture credit for Sindh are the indicators of adverse impacts of warmer and drier weather on Sindh agriculture. Trends reported for Karachi and Badin are expected to decrease rice cultivation, hatching of fisheries, and mangroves forest surrounding these cities. Increase in the prevailing temperature trends will lead to increasingly hotter and drier summers resulting to constraints on cotton, wheat, and rice yield in Rohri and Mohenjodaro areas due to increased crop water requirements that may be met with additional groundwater pumping; nonetheless, the depleted groundwater resources would have a direct impact on the region's economy.