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77. Al-Mursalat/(Winds) Sent Forth

77. Al-Mursalat/(Winds) Sent Forth

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.

77:01
a. By those which are sent in swift succession,

77:02
a. and then forcing on with force as tempests,

77:03
a. and spreading clouds far and wide,

77:04
a. thus separating that separates,

77:05
a. and those bringing the reminder to hearts,

77:06
a. to serve either as an excuse for forgiveness from HIM or as a means of warning of HIS punishment,

77:07
a. that what is being promised is surely going to happen -

77:08
a. - when the stars’ light will extinguish,

77:09
a. and when the celestial realm will split apart,

77:10
a. and when the mountains will be crushed to pieces and blown away as dust,

77:11
a. and when the time to bring the Messengers together will arrive,

77:12
a. for what Time are these things promised -

77:13
a. for the Time of Division?
b. The Time of Judgment.

77:14
a. And what may enable you to perceive the Time of Division?

77:15
a. It will be too bad a Time for those who keep denying and belying the coming of this Time.

77:16
a. Have WE not destroyed the earlier generations for their persistent denial and disbelief of this Time?
b. Indeed, WE did!

77:17
a. Then WE made others who disbelieved to follow them in destruction.
b. WE...

South Asian Orient: Colonial Epistemological Inquiry and its Modern Connections

As analysts assume that the South Asian regional political environment is difficult to comprehend due to its ethnic divisions and lingual bifurcations as the region hosts more than one and half billion inhabitants divided into India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Geographic diversity makes this region unique from all other regions in the world as it is bordered off the Persian Gulf and Arab world through the Indian ocean and opened up from Central Asia to the northern hemisphere. Such a racial, geographic, cultural, lingual and religious diversification had undergone epistemological inquiry during the colonial period in order to devise a central administrative system of regulating Raj’s affairs for the upcoming global world. Therefore, there emerged a unique sense of exploring the unfathomability and multiplicity of the scattering communalities. Through employing Edward W. Said’s critical framework, the present study exposes main theoretical Orientalist formulations by deconstructing major Western theories on South Asian cultures, geography and societies along with its connectivity to the overlapping of global power interests in the present world.

Biodegradability of Synthetic Plastics Polystyrene and Styrofoam by Fungal Isolates

Polystyrene is a rigid plastic that is commonly used in crystalline and foamed form. Biodegradation of polystyrene is very slow in natural environment and it persists for longer period of time as solid waste. The aim of the study was to investigate the biodegradation process of polystyrene and explore the ways to enhance the biodegradation process. Soil burial method was used to isolate microorganisms. The plastic films recovered from soil after 8 months were incubated on mineral salts media (MSM) agar plates for 3 months to get the growth of only those microorganisms that were able to grow with polystyrene for longer time. Six fungal and five bacterial stains were isolated and identified. Three fungal isolates were selected on the basis of biodegradability of polystyrene films in shake flask transformation experiments analysed by Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The selected fungal strains were characterized taxonomically on the basis of sequence homology of conserved regions of 18S rRNA and were identified as Rhizopus oryzae NA1, Aspergillus terreus NA2 and Phanerochaete chrysosporium NA3. The 18S rRNA sequences were deposited in NCBI database with accession numbers in Genbank FJ654430, FJ654431 and FJ654433 for strain NA1, NA2, NA3 respectively. The biodegradation of polystyrene was studied by CO 2 evolution test (Sturm test) all the isolated showed higher CO 2 levels in the test as compared to control showing effective mineralization of polystyrene. Biodegradation studies in liquid media with polystyrene films, expanded polystyrene (EPS) films and beads were conducted in the static and shake flask (120rpm) fermentation experiments at 30 oC. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis showed that the fungal isolates were able to establish mycelia on the polymer surface and maximum growth was observed in glucose added mineral salts media. FTIR spectra of the treated films showed increase in absorption spectra around 536 cm -1 , 748 cm -1 (mono substituted aromatic compound), 1026 cm -1 , 1450 cm -1 , 1492 cm - 1 (C=C stretching vibration of aromatic compounds), 2916 cm -1 , 3400 cm -1 (aryl-H stretching vibrations). Major changes were observed in 1000-1700 cm -1 and 3400 cm -1 region which indicated depolymerisation and degradation into monomers. xiiMolecular weight distribution was studied by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The weight average molecular weight and number average molecular weight increased in the samples of polystyrene films and EPS beads treated with the fungal isolates as compared to control while decreased in case of expanded polystyrene. The polydispersity decreased in polystyrene and increased in EPS films. In proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectra of polystyrene and expanded polystyrene intensities of the signals were increased in treated samples as compared to control but treated samples did not show any significant change in the spectra. The degradation products of the polystyrene and expanded polystyrene were analysed by HPLC. 1-phenyl-1,2-ethandiol, 2-phenylethanol and phenyacetaldehyde and styrene oxide, which were oxidation degradation products of monomer styrene, were detected in most of the cases. 1-phenyl-1,2-ethandiol was detected with highest concentration of 21.3 ppm in media sample of polystyrene incubated with A. terreus NA2 in shake flask and 34.7 ppm with P. chrysosporium NA3 in static conditions. Polystyrene films were given pretreatment of UV irradiation (1-2 hr. at λ 254 nm) and heat (60 ̊C and 80 ̊C for 1 hour) and then biodegradation was studied. UV pretreatment of 2 hours showed enhancing effect on biodegradation by fungal isolates indicated a decrease of weight average molecular weight in the treated samples. Heat pretreatments did not show enhancing effect on biodegradation except P. chrysosporium NA3 treatment of heat pretreated polystyrene films. Enhancing effect of glucose on biodegradation of polystyrene films was observed in FTIR spectral analysis, when glucose was used as additional carbon source in mineral salts media, The soil buried films of polystyrene for six months showed very significant degradation in FTIR and GPC analysis. The scanning electron micrographs of the treated films from all the samples also confirmed the biodegradation process by showing some changes in structure and colonization of fungi on the films. The selected fungal strains are capable of utilising polystyrene as a sole carbon source and have potential to be used for polystyrene biodegradation in the environment.
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