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Land use/land cover (LULC) change has serious implications for environment as LULC is directly related to land degradation over a period of time and results in many changes in the environment. Monitoring the locations and distributions of LULC changes is important for establishing links between regulatory actions, policy decisions, and subsequent LULC activities. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) has the potential ability to identify the vegetation features of various eco-regions and provides valuable information as a remote sensing tool in studying vegetation phenology cycles. Similarly, the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) may be used for quoting built-up land. This study aims to detect the pattern of LULC, NDBI, and NDVI change in Lodhran district, Pakistan, from the Landsat images taken over 40 years, considering four major LULC types as follows: water bodies, built-up area, bare soil, and vegetation. Supervised classification was applied to detect LULC changes observed over Lodhran district as it explains the maximum likelihood algorithm in software ERDAS imagine 15. Most farmers (46.6%) perceived that there have been extreme changes of onset of temperature, planting season, and less precipitation amount in Lodhran district in the last few years. In 2017, building areas increased (4.3%) as compared to 1977. NDVI values for Lodhran district were highest in 1977 (up to + 0.86) and lowest in 1997 (up to − 0.33). Overall accuracy for classification was 86% for 1977, 85% for 1987, 86% for 1997, 88% for 2007, and 95% for 2017. LULC change with soil types, temperature, and NDVI, NDBI, and slope classes was common in the study area, and the conversions of bare soil into vegetation area and built-up area were major changes in the past 40 years in Lodhran district. Lodhran district faces rising temperatures, less irrigation water, and low rainfall. Farmers are aware of these climatic changes and are adapting strategies to cope with the effects but require support from government.

Aquaculture net pens inspection and monitoring are important to ensure net stability and fish health in the fish farms. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) offer a low-cost and sophisticated solution for the regular inspection of the underwater fish net pens due to their ability of visual sensing and autonomy in a challenging and dynamic aquaculture environment. In this paper, we report the integration of an ROV with a visual servoing scheme for regular inspection and tracking of the net pens. We propose a vision-based positioning scheme that consists of an object detector, a pose generator, and a closed-loop controller. The system employs a modular approach that first utilizes two easily identifiable parallel ropes attached to the net for image processing through traditional computer vision methods. Second, the reference positions of the ROV relative to the net plane are extracted on the basis of a vision triangulation method. Third, a closed-loop control law is employed to instruct the vehicle to traverse from top to bottom along the net plane to inspect its status. The proposed vision-based scheme has been implemented and tested both through simulations and field experiments. The extensive experimental results have allowed the assessment of the performance of the scheme that resulted satisfactorily and can supplement the traditional aquaculture net pens inspection and tracking systems.

Functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are of great interest due to wide range applications, especially in nanomedicine. However, they face challenges preventing their further applications such as rapid agglomeration, oxidation, etc. Appropriate surface modification of IONPs can conquer these barriers with improved physicochemical properties. This review summarizes recent advances in the surface modification of IONPs with small organic molecules, polymers and inorganic materials. The preparation methods, mechanisms and applications of surface-modified IONPs with different materials are discussed. Finally, the technical barriers of IONPs and their limitations in practical applications are pointed out, and the development trends and prospects are discussed.

The use of insecticides has been a primary tool to manage Bactrocera dorsalis in Pakistan; however, recent reports of field control failures necessitate mapping out the insecticide resistance problem. Therefore, eight field strains from Pakistan, were evaluated for their resistance against trichlorfon and spinosad. Compared with a reference strain, six field strains showed high levels of resistance to trichlorfon, while two field strains expressed intermediate resistance. In case of spinosad, five field strains fell in the susceptible range, whereas, the rest of the strains represented minor resistance. Correlation analysis between LD 50 values of trichlorfon and spinosad of all the field strains revealed non-significant association, suggesting the possibility of lack of cross-resistance between both insecticides. Synergism bioassays implementing S , S , S -tributylphosphorotrithioate (DEF) and piperonyl butoxide (PBO) revealed that the LD 50 values of trichlorfon in the presence of either DEF or PBO in seven field strains were significantly reduced. However, DEF and PBO had a non-significant effect on synergizing spinosad toxicity. The results revealed resistance to trichlorfon in field strains of B . dorsalis , which might be metabolic-based. Absence or minor resistance to spinosad and lack of cross-resistance to trichlorfon, suggest that spinosad could be a potential candidate for managing B . dorsalis .

The use of insecticides such as deltamethrin, permethrin, and temephos has been a primary tool to manage Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) in Punjab province, Pakistan; however, recent reports of control failure necessitate monitoring insecticide resistance. For this reason, we evaluated 12 field strains of Ae. aegypti from Punjab for resistance against deltamethrin, permethrin, and temephos along with underlying resistance mechanisms. For deltamethrin, high level of resistance was observed in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Lahore, Pattoki, and Kasur strains (RRLC50 > 10-fold); moderate level of resistance in Sargodha, Gujranwala, and Sialkot strains (RRLC50 = 5- to 10-fold), and low level of resistance in Okara, Multan, and Sahiwal strains (RRLC50 < 5-fold). In the case of permethrin, high level of resistance was found in all the field strains, except the Okara strain that exhibited moderate resistance. For temephos, five field strains, viz. Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Kasur, Lahore, and Gujranwala, showed high level of resistance; five strains, viz. Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Pattoki, Sahiwal, and Okara, showed moderate resistance, and two strains from Multan and Sargodha showed low resistance to temephos. Synergism bioassays implementing piperonyl butoxide and S,S,S-tributylphosphorotrithioate exhibited a nonsignificant effect on synergizing toxicity of deltamethrin and permethrin in all field strains except the Lahore strain, suggesting the possible role of target-site resistance mechanism. However, both synergists had a significant effect on synergizing toxicity of temephos in all field strains, suggesting the possibility of metabolic-based mechanism of insecticide resistance. In conclusion, the study confirmed the presence of resistance to deltamethrin, permethrin, and temephos in the studied field strains of Ae. aegypti from Punjab, Pakistan.

Diarrhea is an important cause of childhood mortality in developing countries like Pakistan because of unhygienic conditions, lack of awareness, and unwise use of preventive measures. Mechanical transmission of diarrheal pathogens by house flies, Musca domestica, is believed as the most effective route of diarrhea transmission. Although the use of insecticides as a preventive measure is common worldwide for the management of house flies, success of the measure could be compromised by the prevailing environmental temperature since it significantly affects toxicity of insecticides and thus their efficacy. Peaks of the house fly density and diarrheal cases are usually coincided and season specific, yet little is known about the season specific use of insecticides. To determine the temperature-toxicity relationship in house flies, the effect of post-bioassays temperature (range, 20-34°C) on the toxicity of seven insecticides from organophosphate (chlorpyrifos, profenofos), pyrethroid (cypermethrin, deltamethrin) and new chemical (emamectin benzoate, fipronil, spinosad) classes was evaluated by using a feeding bioassay method. From 20-34°C, the toxicities of chlorpyrifos, profenofos, emamectin and fipronil increased 2.10, 2.93, 2.40 and 3.82 fold (i.e. positive temperature coefficient), respectively. Whereas, the toxicities of cypermethrin, deltamethrin and spinosad decreased 2.21, 2.42 and 3.16 fold (i.e. negative temperature coefficient), respectively. These findings suggest that for the reduction in diarrheal cases, house flies should be controlled with insecticides according to the prevailing environmental temperature. Insecticides with a positive temperature coefficient may serve as potential candidates in controlling house flies and diarrhea epidemics in hot season and vice versa.

High-valent cobalt–oxo complexes are reactive transient intermediates in a number of oxidative transformation processes e.g., water oxidation and oxygen atom transfer reactions. Studies of cobalt–oxo complexes are very important for understanding the mechanism of the oxygen evolution center in natural photosynthesis, and helpful to replicate enzyme catalysis in artificial systems. This review summarizes the development of identification of high-valent cobalt–oxo species of tetrapyrrolic macrocycles and N-based ligands in oxidation of organic substrates, water oxidation reaction and in the preparation of cobalt–oxo complexes.

Aquaculture is vital in ensuring a sustainable protein supply for economic purposes. Timely identification of damage to net pens poses a notable challenge in the aquaculture environment. Detecting damaged net pens in underwater environments using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) offers a safe and efficient solution, eliminating the need for human divers to face potential dangers. Underwater inspections with optical cameras face challenges due to reduced visibility caused by floating particles and light attenuation. So, selecting the best available robot view is vital for clear images for net inspection. To address this issue, we track the mean gradient feature across partial or entire images and actively control the robot’s pose to get the best available images. To simplify setting the desired set-point for distance control, we train a convolutional neural network (CNN) offline using supervised learning and integrate it with a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller. This combined approach enables the ROV to maintain a consistent relative pose with respect to the fishnet, thereby obtaining clear net images in dynamic marine environments and effectively identifying any damage. Experimental results obtained in both the garden pool and the real fish farm environments validate the efficacy of the proposed method.

Increasing the unplanned penetration of Distributed Generators (DGs) has spurred active and reactive power losses in the distribution system. This article suggests using a novel Strawberry Plant Propagation Algorithm (SPPA) for planning the placement of the DGs with the aim of reducing the network (active) power losses and improving the overall voltage profile. The proposed method (SPPA) has been tested on 33 and 69 node radial systems in MATLAB. A cost analysis was also performed and compared with other contemporary methods. The results for the considered variables show the significance of the proposed method in comparison to various other counterparts, including the Mine Blast Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization.

Water and land both are limited resources. Current management strategies are facing multiple challenges to meet food security of an increasing population in numerous South Asian countries, including Pakistan. The study of land cover/land use changes (LCLUC) and land surface temperature (LST) is important as both provide critical information for policymaking of natural resources. We spatially examined LCLU and LST changes in district Multan, Pakistan, and its impacts on vegetation cover and water during 1988 to 2017. The LCLUC indicate that rice and sugarcane had less volatility of change in comparison with both cotton and wheat. Producer’s accuracy (PA) is the map accuracy (the producer of map), but user’s accuracy (UA) is the accuracy from the point of view of a map user, not the map maker. Average overall producer’s and user’s accuracy for the region was 85.7% and 87.7% for Rabi (winter) and Kharif (summer) seasons, respectively. The results of this study showed that ‘built-up area’ increased with 7.2% of all the classes during 1988 to 2017 in the Multan district. Anthropogenic activities decreased the vegetation, leading to an increase in LST in study area. Changes on LCLU and LST during the last 30 years have shown that vegetation pattern has changed and temperature has increased in the Multan district.