Shrinkage of urban green space has led to the disruption of the ecological balance. Population growth, industrial expansion, development activities and land encroachment reduce the vegetation cover of metropolitan cities including Lahore, Pakistan. Presently, Lahore is on top of all metropolitan cities in the world having worst air quality index (AQI). Thus, monitoring of the vegetation cover in urban areas is the ultimate need of the day for the conservation and protection of environment which is also the agenda of new government (Clean and Green Pakistan). Besides, Honorable Lahore High Court has also passed an order to plant trees in the oldest and biggest graveyard of Lahore to tackle the climate change issue. Considering the above-mentioned facts, the current research was carried out for the first time in Lahore, Pakistan to analyze the vegetation cover using spatio-temporal technique. For vegetation cover assessment, spatial techniques were used in the present study viz. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Transformed Normalized Vegetation Index (TNDVI), Difference Vegetation Index (DVI) and supervised classification. On the basis of high magnitude of smog and air pollution issue, four recent years were selected, i.e. 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 to observe ground reality. The results of the study revealed the depletion of vegetation cover in cemeteries at an alarming rate. Furthermore, the results of study revealed no significant change in green cover in Miani Sahib after the passing order of Lahore High Court of plantation in the graveyard.

The death rate of people is increasing globally during the current outbreak of coronavirus. To combat with COVID-19 havoc, the world has adopted lockdown policies, including Pakistan. Ironically, the invisible virus is suffocating humans at a fast rate but on the other side, there is a visible monster in the world gobbling up human health, i.e., air pollution. Therefore, the main rationale of the present research is to visualize the air quality during the 'Lockdown' period in Lahore, Pakistan by mapping via online tools and techniques using a geospatial system. According to the present findings, the concentrations of air pollutants, such as particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen oxides as NO and NO2, and sulphur dioxide, are below the maximum permissible levels of the Punjab Environmental Quality standards (PEQs), although ozone exceeds its PEQs. So in light of the results, once this COVID-19 crisis is over, the government should speed up measures to lessen air pollution to achieve targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Moreover, the present results of air assessment during COVID-19 would serve as a useful reminder for the government of Punjab to cut down air emission levels after the pandemic.

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The current study has been intended to estimate the belongings of vitamins E and C on lipid profile and renal performance of Albino rats. Vitamin E is a chain-breaking lipid dissolvable cancer prevention agent that has been utilized in the therapy of cardiovascular illnesses, immunological and hematological issues, and peripheral neuropathy. Vitamin C is enormous in imperative metabolic exercises including tryptophan digestion, iron retention, development of ferritin as cell cancer prevention agent, electron transport framework and coenzyme for cathepsin, liver esterases, and omega-oxidation of unsaturated fats. Vitamin C and E are known to be powerful antioxidant, utilization of vitamin C and E indicated significantly lowered hypertension and improved insulin activity, and decline lipid profile. Both vitamin C and vitamin E decreased lipid peroxidation. The experiment was conducted on Albino rats and treated with different doses of vitamins according to the protocol. Albino rats were divided into 4 groups, out of four groups one group was called the control group and the other 3 groups were treated groups, treated group A was supplemented with vitamin C, treated group B was supplemented with vitamin E), treated group C was supplemented with both vitamins together and fourth group (Group D) called the control group this group was given free access to food and water throughout the experiment. After completion of the experimental period, rats were sacrificed for the collection of blood, and blood was taken in EDTA for the collection of serum. Serum was collected for the analysis of higher density lipoprotein test (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoproteins test (VLDL), total cholesterol test (TG), meanwhile Urea test, Uric acid test, and Creatinine test were examined. Results showed that means values of initial body weight and final body weight were significantly (p≤0.05) different. Values of Liver, Kidney, Pancreas, and Heart weight (g) of Albino rats were significantly (p≤0.05) different. Values of Urea, Uric acid, and Creatinine of Albino rats were significantly (p≤0.05) different. Values of the lipid profile of Albino rats were significantly (p≤0.05) different.

Brick sector is a mainstay of the urban economy of Punjab. The traditional technology of brick making emits a lot of toxic gases and smoke particulates into air. Hence, the Government of the Punjab, Pakistan announced a ban on low technology brick kiln operations during winter season by the end of December 2020. Initially, the existing set up of brick kilns and air pollution levels were evaluated before and during lockdown period using spatial application. Further, environmental parameters such as aerosols, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide were determined to analyze the air quality, including metrological factors. Results of the study exhibited that the upper and central regions of Punjab are the major hubs of brick kilns. So, the level of air quality was inconsistent in the study period due to the existence of large mushrooms of brick kilns. Further, despite lockdown the highest concentration of carbon monoxide was recorded in the eastern side of the province, such as Kasur, Lahore, and Sheikhupura. The level of aerosols also fluctuated and shifted its trends in the central and southern part of the province. While SO2 and CO2 level declined and revealed a satisfactory level of air quality during shutdown. On the other hand, no significant relation to metrological factors, such as rain, is involved in the pollution reduction. Conclusively, the findings of the present study encourage the government agencies to realign the stringent control measures to improve the quality of air in the winter months using the experience of quarantine in 2020.

Coronavirus and air pollution,having a positive correlation, are inauspiciouslythe greatest challenge of the millennium. Therefore, the study presented the initial outcomes from the analysis of the COVID-19 impact on (1) air qualityand, (2)informal sector i.e. old technology brick kiln industry. In order to evaluate the progress, the spatial analysis was carried out,comprising aerosol optical depth, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ozone with the inclusion of metrological element i.e. rainfall and environmental index (NDVI). The results of the spatial data indicated that the air quality of Punjab improved with the lockdown policy. However, improvements vary across the districts and were absent in a few districts where no strict lockdown policy was observed. During lock-down,fluctuation in rainfall and decrease in NDVI,which had no positive impact in reducing the pollutants concentration in the atmosphere, was observed. The spatial correlation results presented that the pandemic lock-down helped in the reduction of the extent of air pollution. In addition, in the COVID-19 anthropause, Government of the Punjab initiated a stringent action to ban outdated brick kilns causing air pollution. Resultant, conversion of old technology brick kilns into Zig-Zag Technology is a remarkable step to mitigate smog.

In 21st century, cities outpaced in size and also in density due to development of economic sector. Consequently, the wide spread expansion of urban areas is resulting in the loss of productive green cover and water bodies. Therefore, realizing this alarming situation, the present study is aimed to investigate and evaluate the pattern of urban expansion by considering two major land cover types (i) built-up area (ii) other classes (vegetation, waterbody, soil etc.) during the last six years (2015-2020). For this study Sentinel imagery was acquired from USGS Earth Explorer, while Modis Terra images were acquired from World View NASA. New built-up area index (NBUI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), worldview water index (WV-WI) and land surface temperature (LST) were calculated in order to analyze variations in Lahore’s major land cover types and its varying temperature patterns. Spatial analysis presented the obvious impacts of land development on Lahore. NBUI indicated that the built-up area has increased drastically from 34.0% in 2015 to 84.2% in 2020; NDVI analysis depicted a decline from 0.76% to 0.73%, in the green spaces of Lahore during the study period; WV-WI portrayed inconsistent values of water bodies, a gift of massive rise in the built-up area in Lahore. LST results presented that the temperature was 42.21°C in 2015, which simultaneously increased and recorded at 49.51°C in 2020. The increase in LST exhibited the alarming situation for urban environment and can become threat to increase the air pollution level in Lahore. Therefore, this study will serve as a snapshot for policy makers to control the menace of unplanned urbanization by formulating stringent policies to protect environment.

Diabetes is a condition in which glucose levels of blood become higher and can lead to many complications and death. The recent study was designed to check the hypo-glycemic effects of the Citrullus colocynthis and Momordica charantia leaves extract on streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic albino rats. For this purpose, 30 albino rats were divided into five treatment groups. Three groups were treated with plant extracts and the remaining two were given only a basal diet for 21 days. At the completion of the experiment, the body weight and glucose level of the rats were recorded and then dissected to collect blood and organs. The blood serum was separated by centrifugation to measure various chemical compounds. The organs’ weight was also recorded to check the animal performance. The recorded data were analyzed statistically by SAS and found that plant extracts separately or in combination significantly increased the bodyweight of rats than control groups, whereas, glucose level was decreased significantly as compared to control groups. It was observed that liver and pancreas weight were non-significantly and kidney weight was significantly decreased in treatment groups as compared to control groups. In our research, it was observed that the level of cholesterol (mg/dL), triglyceride (mg/dL), and Very low-density lipoprotein (mg/dL) were non-significantly lower in treatment groups than in control. However, a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein (mg/dL) and a significant decrease in the low-density lipoprotein (mg/dL) and HbA1c (%) was observed among treatment groups. It was concluded that supplementation of plant extracts in an animal’s diet can put health-promoting effects in diabetic rats.