Performance of Port Facilities During the Northridge Earthquake

During the January 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake, two of the Port of Los Angeles\u27 facilities called Berths 121-126 and Pier 300 sustained moderate damage. Lateral displacement of dikes up to five inches and liquefaction of hydraulic fills were observed. Several geotechnical analyses from simplified SPT -based method to sophisticated fully-coupled analyses are presented. Observed lateral displacements are predicted reasonably well by the fully-coupled analysis procedure and an intermediate analysis procedure which incorporates some results from a fully-coupled analysis in to a simplified Newmark-type deformation analysis. The potential for higher pore pressure generation underneath the dike compared to a level ground is also discussed

Infra Red Spectra of Different Species of Cultivated Oyster Mushrooms Possible Tool for Identifying Bioactive Compounds and Establishing Taxonomic Linkage

Mushrooms are macrofungi that serve as a vegetarian source of protein along with various bio-active molecules of primary health importance. The activity of the bio-active molecules range from antioxidant, immunomodulation, hepatoprotection. Cultivated oyster mushrooms are also rich in these components which may be estimated quantitatively by skill intensive ‘destructive’ chemical techniques. Infra Red spectroscopy provides a non-destructive user friendly technique to quickly assess the presence of bio-active compounds in mushroom species to be used as a quality control measure as this non-destructive tool can be used to segregate mushroom harvest according to availability of bioactive compounds. IR spectra based strain classification and taxa delimitation of mushroom samples are also attempted vis a vis DNA sequence based phylogeny analysis of the same, but no correlation is observed between the two types of phylogeny analysis

Study of diuretic activity of aqueous extract of amaranthus spinosus linn on rats

Background: Traditional Siddha medicine literature claims that the Amaranthus spinosus Linn. Whole plant possesses diuretic property. The aim of the present study is to investigate the diuretic activity of aqueous extract of amaranthus spinosus linn on rats.Methods: The rats were randomly divided into four groups of six animals each and deprived of food for 18 hours before the experiments. Control (Group I) rats were treated with Normal saline (5ml/Kg,) and Standard (Group II) rats were administered furosemide 15mg/Kg, I.P. Group III and IV were treated with Aqueous extract of Amaranthus spinosus Linn (AEAS) 250 and 500 mg/kg in normal saline respectively, The urine was collected after 5 and 24 hours. The urine volume and the total concentration of Na+, K+, and Cl- in the urine were estimated. The data were presented as mean ± standard deviation and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Student's "t"-test. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Conventional windows software was used for statistical analysis.Results: Urine analysis showed that Na+, K+, and Cl- levels were significantly (p<0.05) increased with AEAS 250 and 500 mg/kg as rats treated with furosemide 15mg/kg. Urine volume is significantly (p<0.05) increased in rats treated with drugs (AEAS 500 mg/kg and furosemide 15mg/kg) compared to normal saline 25ml/Kg, treated rats at 5 and 24 hours.Conclusions: These data suggest that AEAS has produced notable diuretic effect which appeared to be comparable to that produced by the standard diuretic furosemide

Antimicrobial Studies on Epidermal Mucus of Fish Anabas Testudineus

The present investigation was conducted to find out the antimicrobial, hemolytic activity and protein content of fish epidermal mucus and their chemical constituents from Anabas testudineus. The in vitro hemolytic activity were analyzed and the antimicrobial activity against human pathogens (Bacteria) were determined by agar well diffusion methods. Epidermal mucus sample protein was analyzed by (Thin layer chromatography and SDS-PAGE). Totally thirteen human pathogens were tested against the fish mucus. Out of thirteen pathogens five pathogens have proved to be sensitive to the mucus. The average value of maximum zone of inhibition was observed against K. pneumonia (15.17±0.09mm) > P. vulgaris (13.2±0.17mm) > E. lentum (12.43±0.18mm) > MRSA (11.37±0.32mm) > S. aureus (10.5±0.11mm). The percentage of haemolysis for lyophilized sample shows more hemolytic activity. The amount of protein present in the mucus for Lyophilized sample: 3.61 g/dL, for Rotavac sample: 1.08 g/dL. The present inspection were revealed that positive progresses in the fish mucus extracts hostile to human pathogen (Bacteria) and the hemolytic activity, also the simple population of proteins (SDS PAGE) and the (TLC) reveals the presence of amino acids and peptides. Further efforts are required for the isolation of the active antimicrobial compounds in order to establish their possible applications

A REVIEW ON PHARMACO KINETIC DRUG INTERACTIONS OF STATINS

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are generally well tolerated as monotherapy. Statins are associated with two important adverse effects, asymptomatic elevation in liver enzymes and myopathy. Myopathy is most likely to occur when statins are administered with other drugs. Statins are substrates of multiple drug transporters (including OAT- -P1B1, BCRP and MDR1) and several cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes (including CYP3A4, CYP2C8, CYP2C19, and CYP2C9). Possible adverse effects of statins can occur due to interactions in concomitant use of drugs that substantially inhibit or induce their methabolic pathway. This review aim is to summarize the most important interactions of statins

Beta2-adrenoceptor agonists for dysmenorrhoea

Background:Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological complaint that can affect as many as 50% of premenopausal women, 10% of whom suffer severely enough to be rendered incapacitated for one to three days during each menstrual cycle. Primary dysmenorrhoea is where women suffer from menstrual pain but lack any pathology in their pelvic anatomy. Beta2-adrenoceptor agonists have been used in the treatment of women with primary dysmenorrhoea but their effects are unclear.Objectives:To determine the effectiveness and safety of beta2-adrenoceptor agonists in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea. Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 8), MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the EBM Reviews databases. The last search was on 22 August 2011.Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials comparing beta2-adrenoceptor agonists with placebo or no treatment, each other or any other conventional treatment in women of reproductive age with primary dysmenorrhoea. Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted the data.Main results:Five trials involving 187 women with an age range of 15 to 40 years were included. Oral isoxsuprine was compared with placebo in two trials, terbutaline oral spray, ritodrine chloride and oral hydroxyphenyl-orciprenalin were compared with placebo in a further three trials. Clinical diversity in the studies in terms of the interventions being evaluated, assessments at different time points and the use of different assessment tools mitigated against pooling of outcome data across studies in order to provide a summary estimate of effect for any of the comparisons. Only one study, with unclear risk of bias, reported pain relief with a combination of isoxsuprine, acetaminophen and caffeine. None of the other studies reported any significant clinical difference in effectiveness between the intervention and placebo. Adverse effects were reported with all of these medications in up to a quarter of the total number of participants. They included nausea, vomiting, dizziness, quivering, tremor and palpitations.Authors\u27 conclusions:The evidence presented in this review was based on a few relatively small-sized studies that were categorised to have unclear to high risk of bias, which does not allow confident decision-making at present about the use of beta2-adrenoceptor agonists for dysmenorrhoea. The benefits as reported in one study should be balanced against the wide array of unacceptable side effects documented with this class of medication. We have emphasised the lack of precision and limitations in the reported data where appropriate

Neuronal growth on high-aspect-ratio diamond nanopillar arrays for biosensing applications

Monitoring neuronal activity with simultaneously high spatial and temporal resolution in living cell cultures is crucial to advance understanding of the development and functioning of our brain, and to gain further insights in the origin of brain disorders. While it has been demonstrated that the quantum sensing capabilities of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond allow real time detection of action potentials from large neurons in marine invertebrates, quantum monitoring of mammalian neurons (presenting much smaller dimensions and thus producing much lower signal and requiring higher spatial resolution) has hitherto remained elusive. In this context, diamond nanostructuring can offer the opportunity to boost the diamond platform sensitivity to the required level. However, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of a nanostructured diamond surface on the neuronal viability and growth was lacking. Here, we pattern a single crystal diamond surface with large-scale nanopillar arrays and we successfully demonstrate growth of a network of living and functional primary mouse hippocampal neurons on it. Our study on geometrical parameters reveals preferential growth along the nanopillar grid axes with excellent physical contact between cell membrane and nanopillar apex. Our results suggest that neuron growth can be tailored on diamond nanopillars to realize a nanophotonic quantum sensing platform for wide-field and label-free neuronal activity recording with sub-cellular resolution