Tsunami force on low building and the effect of surrounding buildings

Today tsunami hazard has become an important aspect in national security of Indonesia and generated many researches. Tsunami disaster in the Hindian Ocean 2004 has caused a lot of buildings damaged and probably the greatest loss of lives ever due to tsunami. This research aims to analyze the tsunami force acting on the low building or overtopping building and the effect of other buildings nearby. The research was conducted using physical model at the Hydraulic and Hydrology Laboratory, Research Centre for Engineering Science, Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta. The physical model simulations were carried out in the wave flume of 24 m long, 1.5 m high, and 1.45 m width that was facilitated with tsunami generator based on dam break system. The buildings were placed in a row perpendicular to tsunami wave flume. The distances between the buildings were varied to observe the effect of such opening on the impact. The physical simulation represented the tsunami attack in Aceh in 2004, where the houses and other low structures were overtopped by tsunami. The building models were made of plywood. Data acquisition was carried out using a load cell to measure the total force on the building. The results shows that the maximum force depends on the opening between the buildings and that higher building nearby gave more impact to the building investigated. Simple equations for practical use are proposed to calculate the tsunami force on the overtopping building with the effect of the surrounding buildings

Identifying clinically significant novel drug candidate for highly prevalent Alzheimer's disease

618-623Pharmacokinetics is very important in target validation and in shifting a lead compound into a drug. It is a cumbersome process in clinical research. A quantitative personation based on computed, pharmacokinetics, physicochemical properties, ILOGP, drug-likeness, medicinal chemistry friendliness, bioavailability radar and BOILED-Egg for all the synthesized, 6 novel compounds have been assessed using Swiss ADME. An effective drug can be produced from the physicochemical properties discussed in this model. The physicochemical properties of all designed Schiff bases of curcumin have been found to be optimal and so, they are perceived to have acceptable oral absorption and adequate permeability. All the monomers obeyed the rule of five by Lipinski and the oral bioavailability is accounted worldwide. The desired set of monomers have been enhanced by effective ADME screening and molecular simulation methods with Microtubuleassociated protein tau (MAPT) (PDB code: 10636) receptor could represent favourable building blocks as preferable chemotherapeutic factor in resistance to Alzheimers disease

Identifying clinically significant novel drug candidate for highly prevalent Alzheimer's disease

Pharmacokinetics is very important in target validation and in shifting a lead compound into a drug. It is a cumbersome process in clinical research. A quantitative personation based on computed, pharmacokinetics, physicochemical properties, ILOGP, drug-likeness, medicinal chemistry friendliness, bioavailability radar and BOILED-Egg for all the synthesized, 6 novel compounds have been assessed using Swiss ADME. An effective drug can be produced from the physicochemical properties discussed in this model. The physicochemical properties of all designed Schiff bases of curcumin have been found to be optimal and so, they are perceived to have acceptable oral absorption and adequate permeability. All the monomers obeyed the rule of five by Lipinski and the oral bioavailability is accounted worldwide. The desired set of monomers have been enhanced by effective ADME screening and molecular simulation methods with Microtubuleassociated protein tau (MAPT) (PDB code: 10636) receptor could represent favourable building blocks as preferable chemotherapeutic factor in resistance to Alzheimers disease

C9orf72-ALS human iPSC microglia are pro-inflammatory and toxic to co-cultured motor neurons via MMP9

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive motor neuron loss, with additional pathophysiological involvement of non-neuronal cells such as microglia. The commonest ALS-associated genetic variant is a hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) mutation in C9orf72. Here, we study its consequences for microglial function using human iPSC-derived microglia. By RNA-sequencing, we identify enrichment of pathways associated with immune cell activation and cyto-/chemokines in C9orf72 HRE mutant microglia versus healthy controls, most prominently after LPS priming. Specifically, LPS-primed C9orf72 HRE mutant microglia show consistently increased expression and release of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9). LPS-primed C9orf72 HRE mutant microglia are toxic to co-cultured healthy motor neurons, which is ameliorated by concomitant application of an MMP9 inhibitor. Finally, we identify release of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) as a marker for MMP9-dependent microglial dysregulation in co-culture. These results demonstrate cellular dysfunction of C9orf72 HRE mutant microglia, and a non-cell-autonomous role in driving C9orf72-ALS pathophysiology in motor neurons through MMP9 signaling

Influence of reaction time and synthesis temperature on the physical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by the hydrothermal method

Influence of synthesis temperature and reaction time on the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by the hydrothermal method was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, and UV–visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. The XRD pattern and HR-TEM images confirmed the presence of crystalline hexagonal wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles with average crystallite size in the range 30–40 nm. Their energy gap determined by fluorescence was found to depend on the synthesis temperature and reaction time with values in the range 2.90–3.78 eV. Thermal analysis, thermogravimetric and the differential scanning calorimetry were used to study the thermal reactions and weight loss with heat of the prepared ZnO nanoparticles

To see or not to see: investigating detectability of Ganges River dolphins using a combined visual-acoustic survey

Detection of animals during visual surveys is rarely perfect or constant, and failure to account for imperfect detectability affects the accuracy of abundance estimates. Freshwater cetaceans are among the most threatened group of mammals, and visual surveys are a commonly employed method for estimating population size despite concerns over imperfect and unquantified detectability. We used a combined visual-acoustic survey to estimate detectability of Ganges River dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) in four waterways of southern Bangladesh. The combined visual-acoustic survey resulted in consistently higher detectability than a single observer-team visual survey, thereby improving power to detect trends. Visual detectability was particularly low for dolphins close to meanders where these habitat features temporarily block the view of the preceding river surface. This systematic bias in detectability during visual-only surveys may lead researchers to underestimate the importance of heavily meandering river reaches. Although the benefits of acoustic surveys are increasingly recognised for marine cetaceans, they have not been widely used for monitoring abundance of freshwater cetaceans due to perceived costs and technical skill requirements. We show that acoustic surveys are in fact a relatively cost-effective approach for surveying freshwater cetaceans, once it is acknowledged that methods that do not account for imperfect detectability are of limited value for monitoring

Causes and incidence of community-acquired serious infections among young children in south Asia (ANISA): an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: More than 500 000 neonatal deaths per year result from possible serious bacterial infections (pSBIs), but the causes are largely unknown. We investigated the incidence of community-acquired infections caused by specific organisms among neonates in south Asia. METHODS: From 2011 to 2014, we identified babies through population-based pregnancy surveillance at five sites in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Babies were visited at home by community health workers up to ten times from age 0 to 59 days. Illness meeting the WHO definition of pSBI and randomly selected healthy babies were referred to study physicians. The primary objective was to estimate proportions of specific infectious causes by blood culture and Custom TaqMan Array Cards molecular assay (Thermo Fisher, Bartlesville, OK, USA) of blood and respiratory samples. FINDINGS: 6022 pSBI episodes were identified among 63 114 babies (95·4 per 1000 livebirths). Causes were attributed in 28% of episodes (16% bacterial and 12% viral). Mean incidence of bacterial infections was 13·2 (95% credible interval [CrI] 11·2-15·6) per 1000 livebirths and of viral infections was 10·1 (9·4-11·6) per 1000 livebirths. The leading pathogen was respiratory syncytial virus (5·4, 95% CrI 4·8-6·3 episodes per 1000 livebirths), followed by Ureaplasma spp (2·4, 1·6-3·2 episodes per 1000 livebirths). Among babies who died, causes were attributed to 46% of pSBI episodes, among which 92% were bacterial. 85 (83%) of 102 blood culture isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin, or a combination of these drugs. INTERPRETATION: Non-attribution of a cause in a high proportion of patients suggests that a substantial proportion of pSBI episodes might not have been due to infection. The predominance of bacterial causes among babies who died, however, indicates that appropriate prevention measures and management could substantially affect neonatal mortality. Susceptibility of bacterial isolates to first-line antibiotics emphasises the need for prudent and limited use of newer-generation antibiotics. Furthermore, the predominance of atypical bacteria we found and high incidence of respiratory syncytial virus indicated that changes in management strategies for treatment and prevention are needed. Given the burden of disease, prevention of respiratory syncytial virus would have a notable effect on the overall health system and achievement of Sustainable Development Goal. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation