Effect of Earthquake loads on School Buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Background: The designing of the reinforced concrete building for the reduction of the seismic load has significantly gained popularity. Most of the buildings in Saudi Arabia are designed for the gravity load, based on its seismicity level. Objective: The study evaluates the effects of the earthquake load on the RC school building located in Saudi Arabia. Method: An equivalent static analysis technique used to apply the seismic analysis and design method according to Saudi Building Code SBC301 (2007). This design code is used to redesign the chosen school building. The SAP 2000 structural analysis software was used to analyses and study the structure behaviour due to the seismic load. Results: The results of the study provide that the RC school building design in Saudi Arabia is inadequate, and unsafe for the earth quakes. Conclusion: One of the important conclusions in this study is that the designer of the school building in Saudi Arabia should take into consideration the earthquake loads. It also emphasizes on the development of the adequate framework for the implementation of the safe designing of the buildings inclusive of earthquake safety measures

Antimicrobial, Antiviral, and In-Vitro Cytotoxicity and Mosquitocidal Activities of <i>Portulaca oleracea</i>-Based Green Synthesis of Selenium Nanoparticles

The aqueous extract of Portulaca oleracea was used as a biocatalyst for the reduction of Na2SeO3 to form Se-NPs that appeared red in color and showed maximum surface plasmon resonance at a wavelength of 266 nm, indicating the successful Phyto-fabrication of Se-NPs. A FT-IR chart clarified the role of plant metabolites such as proteins, carbohydrates, and amino acids in capping and stabilizing Se-NPs. TEM, SAED, and XRD analyses indicated the formation of spherical, well-arranged, and crystalline Se-NPs with sizes in the range of 2–22 nm. SEM-EDX mapping showed the maximum peaks of Se at 1.4, 11.3, and 12.4 KeV, with weight and atomic percentages of 36.49 and 30.39%, respectively. A zeta potential of −43.8 mV also indicated the high stability of the synthesized Se-NPs. The Phyto-synthesized Se-NPs showed varied biological activities in a dose-dependent manner, including promising activity against pathogenic bacteria and Candida species with varied MIC values in the range of 12.5−50 µg·mL−1. Moreover, the Se-NPs showed antiviral activity toward HAV and Cox-B4, with percentages of 70.26 and 62.58%, respectively. Interestingly, Se-NPs showed a target orientation to cancer cell lines (HepG2) with low IC50 concentration at 70.79 ± 2.2 µg·mL−1 compared to normal cell lines (WI−38) with IC50 at165.5 ± 5.4 µg·mL−1. Moreover, the as-formed Se-NPs showed high activity against various instar larvae I, II, III, and IV of Culex pipiens, with the highest mortality percentages of 89 ± 3.1, 73 ± 1.2, 68 ± 1.4, and 59 ± 1.0%, respectively, at 50 mg L−1. Thus, P. oleracea-based Se-NPs would be strong potential antimicrobial, anti-viral, anti-cancer, and anti-insect agents in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries