Selecting a Temporary Debris Management Site for Effective Debris Removal

The overall debris removal after disasters is often prolonged due to the huge amount of debris and lack of capacities such as a Temporary Debris Management Site (TDMS) in the community. This results in a delay of overall recovery and increases the total recovery cost. Strategic planning and building a TDMS will help in providing extra time for proper disposal of debris and clearing a disaster-impacted site that will facilitate the reconstruction process. This paper presents a unique approach for identifying and selecting TDMS locations for expediting debris removal from the community. A hypothetical example of a community impacted by a natural hazard is presented to explain how the the proposed model works. The research integrates data from a loss assessment report obtained from HAZUS-MH, Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), and Geographical Information System (GIS) in a dynamic simulation model. Various TDMS locations could be evaluated based on the existing capacity and infrastructure services and considering factors such as overall debris removal time, associated cost, productivity, and availability of resources. Debris management teams would greatly benefit from the research for strategically siting TDMS for accelerating the debris removal process

STUDY THE EFFECT OF SPECIFIC CARDIO-VASCULAR EXERCISE ON BMR W.S.R. TO SHARIRA PRAKRUTI

Basic principles of Ayurveda mainly concern with Sharira Kriya, gives knowledge about Dhosh, Dhatu, and Mala etc. According to Ayurvda Prakruti is a factor which originates in a person right from the time of conception and it determines the physical and mental attributes of man. Prakriti, the build and constitution of the human body is a sum total of morphological, physiological and psychological traits of human beings. Prakriti of a man has genetic and acquired aspect; the genetic aspect depends upon Shukra and Shonita, while acquired constitution develops in relation to environmental factors like climate, season, time factor, age, race and individuals (Pratyatmniyta). According to Ayurveda, Prakruti analysis is an important concept, which describes the constituency of a person healthy or diseased. The Prakruti analysis is based on Shareerika and Manasika Gunas. Today, the BMR is used as a measure of an individual's metabolism, which changes with age, weight, height, and a variety of medical conditions. A person's exercise habits may affect their BMR. A daily routine of cardiovascular exercise can improve health and fitness and increase BMR. Exercise and fitness has become an obsession in popular culture hence number of studies were done. The concept of Prakruti plays major role in this regard, hence with an academic interest to know the possible relation of Prakruti, BMR and Cardio-vascular exercise so this topic was undertaken

Functional dissection of the catalytic carboxyl-terminal domain of Origin Recognition Complex Subunit 1 (PfORC1) of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Origin Recognition Complex subunit 1 (ORC1) is essential for DNA replication in eukaryotes. The deadly human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum contains an ORC1/CDC6 homolog with several interesting domains at the catalytic carboxyl-terminal region that include a putative nucleoside triphosphate-binding and hydrolysis domain, a putative PCNA-Interacting-Protein (PIP) motif and an extreme C-terminal region that shows poor homology with other ORC1 homologs. Due to the unavailability of a dependable inducible gene expression system, it is difficult to study the structure and function of essential genes in Plasmodium. Using a genetic yeast complementation system and biochemical experiments, here we show that the putative PIP domain in ORC1 that facilitates in vitro physical interaction with PCNA is functional in both yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Plasmodium in vivo, confirming its essential biological role in eukaryotes. Furthermore, despite having less sequence homology, the extreme C-terminal region can be swapped between S. cerevisiae and P. falciparum and it binds to DNA directly, suggesting a conserved role of this region in DNA replication. These results not only provide us a useful system to study the function of the essential genes in Plasmodium, they help us to identify the previously undiscovered unique features of replication proteins in general

Cancer stem cell metabolism: A potential target for cancer therapy

© 2016 The Author(s). Cancer Stem cells (CSCs) are a unipotent cell population present within the tumour cell mass. CSCs are known to be highly chemo-resistant, and in recent years, they have gained intense interest as key tumour initiating cells that may also play an integral role in tumour recurrence following chemotherapy. Cancer cells have the ability to alter their metabolism in order to fulfil bio-energetic and biosynthetic requirements. They are largely dependent on aerobic glycolysis for their energy production and also are associated with increased fatty acid synthesis and increased rates of glutamine utilisation. Emerging evidence has shown that therapeutic resistance to cancer treatment may arise due to dysregulation in glucose metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and glutaminolysis. To propagate their lethal effects and maintain survival, tumour cells alter their metabolic requirements to ensure optimal nutrient use for their survival, evasion from host immune attack, and proliferation. It is now evident that cancer cells metabolise glutamine to grow rapidly because it provides the metabolic stimulus for required energy and precursors for synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. It can also regulate the activities of some of the signalling pathways that control the proliferation of cancer cells. This review describes the key metabolic pathways required by CSCs to maintain a survival advantage and highlights how a combined approach of targeting cellular metabolism in conjunction with the use of chemotherapeutic drugs may provide a promising strategy to overcome therapeutic resistance and therefore aid in cancer therapy

Infrastructure capacity building for recovery and resilience needs of communities to natural hazards

The impact of natural disasters in a region is intensified by reduced infrastructure serviceability and inadequate capacities such as resources, manpower, equipment, knowledge base, and institutional capacities for recovery. Often, existing capacities are unable to support post disaster recovery phases of the emergency, short term recovery or restoration and long term recovery. For example, the serviceability of the transportation network in Haiti after the earthquake impeded both the first emergency response teams and the supply of international aid. The hospitals were not able to treat survivors due to lack of utility services such as water, electricity as well as medical supplies, hospital beds, and medical equipment. This shortage of capacities increases the severity of impact and delay the recovery period. The restoration and reconstruction of the community is also slowed, delaying the return of the community to pre disaster status. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the shortage of capacities of infrastructure and communities during the disaster response period. The need for this assessment is justified by its potential impact on community resilience through strategic building of capacities to adequately meet the requirements of recovery arising in different phases. Furthermore, it will also complement the reduced infrastructure services which in turn will provide additional support for community recovery. This research focuses on developing a decision support system that will allow decision makers to i) identify the capacity needs to expedite post disaster recovery thereby enhancing resilience, ii) develop strategies for post disaster recovery, iii) integrate the experiences of emergency/short term phases into long term planning. For this purpose, infrastructure are classified into seven types: civil, civic, social, financial, educational, environmental, and cyber. These infrastructure play a vital role in not only supporting community’s sustenance but also mitigating post disaster needs for recovery. The decision support system establishes relationships among infrastructure using node analysis and identifies capacity needs based on capacities existing during post disaster situation and the recovery and sustaining activities of a community. This is further used to develop effective strategies for each recovery phase. The decision support system identifies capacities specific to different recovery phases. For emergency and short term phase, the optimal capacities are selected from the identified capacities to complement the reduced infrastructure services. This helps in adequately meeting the gap between the needed and available services. For long term recovery, the capacities are identified and selected using the benefit cost comparison analysis. Through this analysis, both monetary and nonmonetary benefits are prioritized for selecting the appropriate long term solution. This decision support system also facilitates the integration of capacity building experiences of emergency/short term into long term planning. The selected solution for long term planning will allow the communities to respond better during subsequent disasters. The developed decision support system was applied to the case of a medium sized hospital in Midwest region of the United States. The case study focuses on building capacities for adequately meeting the water demands of the hospital in case of a water outage exceeding twelve hours. The development of the case study included discussions with the facility planners for understanding the emergency water planning preparedness. Required data was collected through published reports, documents and articles. The developed decision support system is adaptable to other infrastructure networks, infrastructure and community needs and can be scaled to analyze multiple relationships at the same time. Through this research, decision makers could: (i) identify the capacity needs to expedite post disaster recovery thereby enhancing resilience, (ii) develop strategies for post disaster recovery, and (iii) integrate the experiences of emergency/short term phases into long term planning

Severity of social and economic impact due to flood damaged critical infrastructure on associated communities and industries

The functioning of communities and industries depend on infrastructure network. Daily activities (such as production, shipping, supply chain, etc. for industries and commuting for work, business, schooling, etc. for communities) are performed efficiently with the help of infrastructure network. It is vital for infrastructure to function efficiently at all the times. However, during disasters, either manmade or natural, the functioning or serviceability of infrastructure could be severely affected. This in turn has an impact on the activities/services of communities and industries. These activities and services contribute socially and economically. When their functioning is affected and usually reduced in case of disasters, their social and economic contribution is reduced. This reduction can be assessed as social and economic impact on communities and industries due to reduction in serviceability of infrastructure network. This research proposes a framework that explains the flow of disaster impact from damaged infrastructure to communities and industries. The flow of disasters is based on the relationship that is established between activities of communities and industries and related infrastructure. The framework identifies activities as an important factor for measuring social and economic impact. The research also proposes a Severity Assessment Tool (SAT) which is based on the aforesaid relationship. The tool uses analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for prioritization of activities based on social/economic contribution they offer and infrastructure required for supporting activities based on the assistance level they can provide. The tool uses excel spreadsheets for performing simulation using Monte Carlo technique. The results are interpreted using frequency diagrams in terms of social and economic impacts. This model would help the city managers and emergency response agencies in understanding the social and economic impact of disasters on communities and the associated industries and would assist them in preparing appropriate disaster mitigation strategies

The Role of Secreted Frizzled-related Protein-4 (sFRP4) in the Epigenetics, Metabolism and Chemo-sensitisation of Cancer Stem Cells

This study investigated molecular signals involved in sustaining CSCs and ways to target their activity using sFRP4 alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs, possible involvement of methylation-mediated silencing of the sFRP gene family, and metabolic reprogramming by relocating metabolic flux to glycolysis or oxidative phosphorylation. sFRPs have an ability to sensitize tumour cells to chemotherapeutic drugs, thereby enhancing cell death. Altogether, sFRP4 treatment compromises the cell proliferation, and critically affects the cell survival mechanisms of CSCs

En coup de sabre treated with platelet-rich plasma

Contour defects such as linear morphea are difficult to treat and can be a cause for great cosmetic and sociopsychological morbidity. The pivotal discovery of platelet-derived growth factors in promoting wound healing, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling has paved the way for various uses of platelet-rich plasma (PRP). We report a novel indication for this promising therapeutic modality with satisfactory results. A 24-year-old female presented with nonprogressive linear hyperpigmented atrophic lesion over the left supraorbital region and scalp of 15 years duration was diagnosed as linear morphea. She had taken immunosuppressants over the last 3 years with minimal improvement. PRP was obtained with a platelet count up to 2.5 times the baseline count. Calcium chloride (1:9) was added as an activator. About 3 ml of PRP was injected into the linear contour defect every week for a total duration of 12 weeks. The results were corroborated quantitatively by a repeat high frequency focal ultrasound which showed focal minimal irregularity over frontoparietal region of scalp corresponding to bony lesion measuring 0.5 cm × 1.8 cm (original defect of 1.4 cm × 1.8 cm). A remarkable reduction in hyperpigmentation of overlying skin was noted which further enhanced the cosmetic outcome. The effect was sustained until the end of follow-up period of 6 months after the last PRP sitting. No secondary changes or side effects were noted during the entire course of treatment. PRP therapy is safe and effective in the treatment of linear morphea over face and scalp as demonstrated in this case

Multicomponent synthesis of highly functionalized piperidines using sulfamic acid as a heterogeneous and cost effective catalyst

545-550Sulfamic acid has been found as an efficient and cost effective catalyst for one pot multicomponent synthesis of some new densely functionalized piperidine derivatives using amines, aldehydes and β-keto esters. The meritorious aspects of this novel protocol are atom economic process, heterogeneous and easily accessible catalyst, good to excellent yield, convenient work up and eco-friendly route