Pile Group Stiffness for Seismic Soil-Structure Interaction

This paper deals with stiffnesses of pile groups based on single pile stiffness as worked out by Novak and Sharnouby (1983) using dynamic analysis. The interaction factors between two neighboring piles are used as those derived by Poulos (1971) statically but assumed to hold under dynamic situation at low frequencies such as involved in earthquakes. Pile groups of 4 to 32 piles in single circular ring and up to 60 piles in multiple rings as used under raft foundations of circular chimneys and overhead water tanks are accordingly analysed. It is found that the stiffness of the group is much less than the vector sum of individual pile stiffness, the reduction factor being quite different for vertical and horizontal translational stiffnesses and the rotational stiffness of the group

0.5V 3rd-order Tunable gm-C Filter

This paper proposes a 3rd-order gm-C filter that operates with the extremely low voltage supply of 0.5V. The employed transconductor is capable for operating in an extremely low voltage power supply environment. A benefit offered by the employed transconductor is that the filter’s cut-off frequency can be tuned, through a dc control current, for relatively large ranges. The filter structure was designed using normal threshold transistors of a triple-well 0.13μm CMOS process and is operated under a 0.5V supply voltage; its behavior has been evaluated through simulation results by utilizing the Analog Design Environment of the Cadence software

Traditional Indian Foods-Some Recent Developments

Considerable progress has been made in the preservation of traditional Indian foods in ready-to-eat form and products like chapaties, stuffed parothas, halwa, upma, kheer, idli, avial, pullav, precooked dehydrated dhals, precooked dehydrated instantised pullav and alu-chholay have been preserved for periods ranging from 6 months to one year under ambient conditions either by thermal processing in cans and flexible retortable pouches or by the use of preservatives and dehydration. Processes have also been developed for freeze drying of tropical Indian fruits like mango and pineapple in the form of fruit juice powders. Preserved products have been utilized extensively during mountaineering expeditions, Antarctica expeditions and feeding of cosmonauts in space programmes. Some of the critical parameters in the process development and their role in the sensory quality of preserved foods have been highlighted

A Study of Cognitive Functioning in Aging

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive functioning in individuals changes with aging. The extent and pattern of decline varies among various cognitive do mainsand also among individuals. Certain cognitive domains tend to decline as a person ages in comparison to his younger counterpart. Some elderly individuals may not show a decline in cognitive functioning. High intelligence, well organized work habits and sound judgment compensate for many of the progressive shortcomings of old age. Cognitive decline is thought to start after the age of 30 years. Little that is new and original is learned after the age of forty. A ttention, language, and memory are the basic processes that serve as building blocks for the development of higher intellectual functions. The higher cognitive functions include manipulation of well learned material, abstract thinking, problem solving, judgment, arithmetic computations. These complex functions are predicated on the integrity and interaction of more basic processes. Because they represent the most advanced stages of intellectual development, the higher cognitive functions are more susceptible to neurological diseases. The evaluation of these higher functions may demonstrate the early effects of cortical damage before the more basic processes of attention, language and memory are affected. AIM OF STUDY 1.To study the pattern of decline of various cognitive functioning with aging. 2. To compare with healthy controls in the community. 3. To identify the differences in cognitive status based on the educational level and IQ of the patient. MATERIALS AND METHODS: STUDY CENTRE: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Madras Medical College & Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital Chennai. STUDY DESIGN: Case control study. SAMPLE SIZE: One hundred and twenty six: seventy six cases above the age of 65 and 50 controls from 20-30 age group. STUDY DURATION: December 2011 –November 2012. SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS: INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Patients above 65 yrs of age attending the geriatric outpatient department. 2. Healthy controls between 20 and 30 years of age from the community. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Acutely toxic patients. 2. Patients with diabetes, hypertension, stroke and primary neurologic disease like alzhemier’s. CONCLUSION: Cognitive changes show a positive correlation with both aging and educational status. Verbal fluency shows a decline with age ,but shows a stronger association to the level of education. Higher the level of education, better performance on verbal fluency . Recent memory, episodic memory, Executive functions, Visuospatial skills, and psychomotor functions also decline as age advances. Performance on tests of executive functions, visuospatial skills, verbal fluency show a positive correlation to the level of education. Performance on tests of Recent memory, episodic memory and psychomotor function a decline with aging irrespective of the educational status

A comparison of soil moisture characteristics predicted by the Arya-Paris model with laboratory-measured data

Soil moisture characteristics predicted by the Arya-Paris model were compared with the laboratory measured data for 181 New Jersey soil horizons. For a number of soil horizons, the predicted and the measured moisture characteristic curves are almost coincident; for a large number of other horizons, despite some disparity, their shapes are strikingly similar. Uncertainties in the model input and laboratory measurement of the moisture characteristic are indicated, and recommendations for additional experimentation and testing are made

Peningkatkan Penguasaan Konsep dengan Model Pembelajaran Konsep dalam Pembelajaran IPS di Sekolah Dasar

Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi siswa mengalami kesulitan dalam penguasaan konsep. Dikarenakan guru menggunakan metode ceramah dalam pembelajaran, memberikan materi konsep sebatas materi yang ada, mendominasi pembelajaran, guru menyampaikan materi konsep secara langsung. Solusi untuk permasalahan tersebut yaitu dengan menerapkan model pembelajaran konsep. Tujuan dari penelitian adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana peningkatan aktivitas guru dan siswa, hasil belajar penguasaan konsep, dan respon siswa terhadap model pembelajaran konsep. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian tindakan kelas terdiri dari tiga siklus. Instrumen yang digunakan lembar observasi aktivitas guru dan siswa, tes, dan lembar angket. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan hasil belajar penguasaan konsep siswa, aktivitas guru dan siswa, serta respon siswa mengalami peningkatan di setiap siklusnya dan memenuhi indikator keberhasilan