Anaerobic digestion is a process to convert organic biomass into bio-methane. Plenty of produced waste in Pakistan is enough to compensate energy thirst of country and have potential to replace costly fossil fuels. The lignocellulosic biomass such as wheat straw, almond shell, sugarcane bagasse, maize straw and corn cob were subjected to bio-methane potential assay after proximate, ultimate and chemical analysis. These chemical fractions provide better understanding about theoretically predicating bio-methane potentials such as neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, carbohydrates, proteins and elemental analysis. Experimental bio-methane potentials were found, 267.74 (wheat straw), 255.32 (almond shell), 222.23 (corn cob), 247.60 (sugar cane bagasse) and 293.12 ml/g (maize straw) volatile solids and was much less than predicted methane potential. The energy content on dry basis and methane potential has been assessed to find economic feasibility of biomass. The biodegradability and methane potential inversely related to the lignin content of biomass. Bioenergy production from biomass is economically favourable. The volatile fatty acids were produced in the percentage of 53–58% acetic acid, 30–35% butyric acids and 6–13% propionic acid and showed same metabolic pathway and types of bacteria involved in digestion.

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Bio-methane from agricultural waste has enough potential to compete with other sources of energy. This study aims to examine the bio-methane potential of numerous agricultural wastes, including cotton waste, wheat bran, lentil straw, barley straw, rice bran and peanut peels straw with the aim to produce renewable energy and solve waste disposal issues. The proximate, ultimate and chemical composition analyses were performed to predict the theoretical biomethane potentials in silico. However, the potential was experimentally assayed at mesophilic conditions. Moreover, elemental and lignin based biodegradability of substrates have also been determined. The methane contents in biogas are in the range 57-64% and the yield varied from 216.3 (barley straw) to 317.6 (cotton waste) ml/g volatile solids. These results indicate that higher biodegradability of substrates resulted in higher methane production. The prediction of bio-methane potential from chemical composition, elemental composition and organic fraction were not as fit accurately as being assessed for methane potential. It merely provided the extent of biodegradability. During digestion, volatile fatty acids were produced, viz. acetic acid (58-63%), butyric acid (28-32%), propionic acid (6-13%) and converted into methane but limited concentrations of intermediate acids indicated similar microbial consortium in all digestions. Hence, it was also concluded that the lignin and hemicellulose content played a limiting role in digestion and posed negative impact on biogas production.

Aim: The goal of this analysis is to determine the proportion of psychoactive substance disorder and socio-demographic profile of Psychoactive Substance Users. Study Design: A descriptive study. Place and Duration: In the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department PGMI/AMC/LGH Lahore, Pakistan and Mardan Medical Complex for six months duration from October 2021 to March 2022. Methods: A total of 120 subjects with psychoactive substance use disorder (conferring to the ICD-10 criteria) were recruited after attaining their written informed consent. In the course of the study, all patients with substance use disorders were interviewed through partially structured addiction questionnaire. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 21.0 using inferential and descriptive statistics. Results: Out of the 120 subjects, 100 were men and 20 were women. The adults and adolescents were the main groups indulging in the consumption of psychoactive substances. Most of the subjects, 45%, started substance abuse at 16-20 years of age. Of the remaining 18.3%, started substance abuse at 26 years old and older, 24.2% started at the age of 21-25 years, and 12.5% started at the age of 13-15 years. It was found that 50% were in the recovery process. The relapse rate was 33.3%, 12.5% were not in contact, 2.5% died, and 1.7% were in prison. Opioid was the psychoactive substance preferred by 66.7% of the young population. The most common opioid was brown sugar; 13.3% prefer cannabis, 2.5% prefer tablets, 4.2% prefer injectable use and 0.83% prefer volatile usage of substances. Conclusion: The main consumers of psychoactive substances were the adults and adolescents and majority start using it at a younger age. Psychoactive substance abuse is a serious problem effecting young people, which is a sensitive group. So, special consideration should be paid to psychoeducation about psychoactive substances prior to adolescent. Keywords: Psychoactive substance, Sociodemographic profile.