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The study aimed to compare teacher effectiveness in English and Mathematics by using students' ratings on quality factors such as learning environment, instructional planning and strategies, subject matter knowledge, assessment, and effective communication. Through using a multistage sampling technique, the data was obtained from the students of 10th grade (N=2009), who evaluated their teachers' performance on STEQ developed by Akram (2018). The five factors of STEQ exhibited a high level of reliability (α=.88) with factor-wise reliability ranging from 0.74 to 0.86. T-test for independent samples was used to compare boys' and girls', and urban and rural students' perceptions of teacher effectiveness in English and Mathematics. Female teachers were perceived as more effective than male teachers by their students in Mathematics and English, while urban teachers were perceived as more effective as compared to rural teachers by their students in Mathematics and English. Student achievement in English and Mathematics also statistically significantly differed based on the gender of students and school location. The study also gave recommendations.

The study examined the effect of professional learning communities (PLC) on the achievement of students. PLC is about developing collaborative learning among colleagues to enhance the performance of an organization within a specific environment. Student achievement has defined the performance of students which can be evaluated with the help of tests. Data were gathered from SSTs (N=890) involving three districts (Sheikhupura, Kasur, and Lahore) through a multistage sampling technique. The study adopted the Professional Learning Communities Assessment (PLCA) scale to examine the PLC which was developed by Olivier et al. (2010). Student achievement scores were obtained from their respective schools based on BISE results of 10th grade. The study found that teachers strongly agreed that they were part of PLC in their institutions. The study also found a moderate and significant relationship between both PLC and student achievement (r=.71), and a 41% variance in student achievement could be explained with the help of PLC. Overall, female teachers were found better than male teachers, while urban teachers were better than urban teachers for being part of PLC. The recommendations were also added to the given study.

The study examined the effect of instructional leadership on school performance. Instructional leadership is a process that how quality practices: building and sustaining the school vision, monitoring of curriculum and instruction, leading a learning community, data gathering and assessing, and shared leadership were implemented by head teachers effectively. School performance is defined as the attainment of targets by teachers, students and schools. In district Sahiwal, head teachers were evaluated for instructional leadership by their SSTs (N=1026) on HTEQ. For school performance, a score of student achievement were obtained from their schools, while data on factors: cleanliness of schools, student presence, the functionality of facilities, and teacher presence were obtained through monthly visit reports of MEAs. The study revealed that head teachers were used practices of instructional leadership effectively and excellent level of schools' performance were found. The study explored a moderate relationship between variables (r=.54), and a 39 % variance in school performance could be explained through instructional leadership. The recommendations were also added in the study.

Malik Muhammad Irfan,1,2 Shefaat Ullah Shah,1,2 Ikram Ullah Khan,3 Muhammad Usman Munir,4 Nauman Rahim Khan,1,2 Kifayat Ullah Shah,1 Saif Ur Rehman,5 Muhammad Sohaib,1,2 Hafiz Muhammad Basit,1,2 Saima Mahmood1,2 1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gomal University, D.I. Khan, 29050, KPK, Pakistan; 2Gomal Centre for Skin/Regenerative Medicine and Drug Delivery Research (GCSRDDR), Faculty of Pharmacy, Gomal University, D.I. Khan, 29050, KPK, Pakistan; 3Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 4Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University Sakaka, Aljouf, 72388, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Poonch, Rawlakot, AJK, PakistanCorrespondence: Shefaat Ullah ShahDepartment of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gomal University, D.I. Khan, PakistanTel +92-336-514 0 682Email shefaatbu@gmail.comIntroduction: The current work aimed to formulate a novel chitosan-based finasteride nanosystem (FNS-NS) for skin delivery to optimize the drug availability in skin for a longer time and enhance ex vivo performance of finasteride against androgenic alopecia.Methods: Both undecorated and chitosan decorated FNS-NSs were synthesized by a high energy emulsification technique. All the prepared nanosystems were further subjected to physicochemical characterizations like pH, viscosity, encapsulation efficiency, surface morphology and in vitro drug release behavior. The influence of the nanosystem on the drug permeation and retention in rat skin was examined using Franz diffusion cell apparatus.Results: The droplet size of developed nanosystems ranged from 41 to 864 nm with a low polydispersity index. The zeta potential of the nanosystems was between -10 mV and +56 mV. This chitosan decorated nanosystem exhibited controlled drug release, ie about 78– 97% in 24 h. Among all the nanosystems, our chitosan decorated formulation (F5) had low drug permeation (16.35 μg/cm2) and higher drug retention (10.81 μg/cm2).Conclusion: The abovementioned results demonstrate satisfactory in vitro drug release, skin retention profiles and ex vivo performance with chitosan decorated FNS-NS (F5). This optimized formulation could increase drug availability in skin and could become a promising carrier for topical delivery to treat androgenic alopecia.Keywords: finasteride, nanosystem, solubility, chitosan, permeation, retention, androgenic alopecia