INVESTIGATION OF DISTORTIONAL AND GLOBAL BUCKLING INTERACTION ON COLD FORMED STEEL LIPPED CHANNEL COLUMNS

The paper presents the investigation on cold formed steel lipped channel columns experiencing distortional and global buckling interaction under axial compression. Five cross sections are chosen based upon the limitations given in the draft IS 801 code. The cross section dimensions and length ensures equal distortional/global critical buckling loads, thus maximizing the distortional/global mode interaction effects through elastic buckling analysis using CUFSM software. The plate slenderness ratio (b/t) is within the limit to avoid local buckling. The ends of the columns are considered as Pinned-Pinned. The Numerical analysis are carried out by the finite element package ANSYS. Finite element model include the geometric and material non-linearities. Geometric imperfections are incorporated in the model by extracting distortional and global modes obtained from buckling analysis. Parametric studies are carried out by varying the yield stress as 250,350 and 550 N/mm2.Theoretical Analysis are carried out by Direct Strength Method DSM-AISI 100-2007 and Australian Standard AS/NZS:4600-2005.The results are compared and the effect of distortional and global interaction on ultimate strength is discussed

The level of anxiety and coping abilities among patients with cancer undergoing radiation therapy at Meenakshi Mission Hospital, Madurai, Tamilnadu

A study to determine the level of anxiety and coping abilities among patients with cancer who were receiving radiation therapy at Meenakshi Mission Hospital, Madurai, Tamilnadu was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of a degree of Master of Science in Nursing under the Tamilnadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical university, Chennai. The research design was descriptive design. Sample size was 60; purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE: To determine the level of anxiety among patients with cancer who are receiving radiation therapy. To determine the level of coping abilities among patients with cancer who are receiving radiation therapy. To assess the relationship between the level of anxiety and coping abilities among patients with cancer who are receiving radiation therapy. To find out the association between the level of anxiety and selected demographic variables such as age, sex, religion, education, occupation, income, marital status, number of children, type of family, dietary pattern, habits, hobbies, family history of cancer, site of cancer, duration of illness, stage of disease, duration of treatment, and number of radiation therapy attended. To find out the association between the level of coping abilities and selected demographic variables such as age, sex, religion, education, occupation, income, marital status, number of children, type of family, dietary pattern, habits, hobbies, family history of cancer, site of cancer, duration of illness, stage of disease, duration of treatment, and number of radiation therapy attended. The study was based on the ROSENSTOCK’S BECKER (1974) AND MAINMA’S (1975), HEALTH BELIEF MODEL. HYPOTHESES: There will be a significant relationship between the level of anxiety and the coping abilities among cancer patients who are receiving radiation therapy. There will be a significant association between the level of anxiety and the selected demographic variables such as, age, sex, religion, education, occupation, income, marital status, number of children, type of family, dietary pattern, habits, hobbies, family history of cancer, site of cancer, duration of illness, stage of disease, duration of treatment, and number of radiation therapy attended. There will be a significant association between the level of coping abilities and the selected demographic variables such as, age, sex, religion, education, occupation, income, marital status, number of children, type of family, dietary pattern, habits, hobbies, family history of cancer, site of cancer, duration of illness, stage of disease, duration of treatment, and number of radiation therapy attended. The aim of the researcher was to determine the level of anxiety and coping abilities among patients with cancer undergoing radiation therapy at Meeenakshi Mission Hospital, Madurai, Tamilnadu. A descriptive design was used for this study. The study population was 60 adult patients with cancer who fulfilled the criteria. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. In order to collect the data the tool was prepared which comprised of demographic variables, Modified Spielberger’s State Anxiety Inventory to assess the level of anxiety, Jalowiec Coping Scale to assess the coping abilities of the samples. The pilot study was carried out on 6 patients who fulfilled the criteria. The data collected during the data collection period were analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study have been discussed in terms of objectives and hypotheses of the study. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY WERE: Majority of the samples were in the age group of 51 to 65 (65%). Males were affected more with cancer 35 (58.4%). Most of the samples were Hindus (80%). Most of the patients studied upto middle school level (23.4%). Majority of the samples were unemployed (55%). Most of the family’s income (per month) was less than Rs. 5000 (48.3%). Maximum number of patients were married (93.4%). Majority of the samples(48%) were having more than two children. Most of the patients belong to Nuclear family (55%). Maximum number of the patients were Non vegetarians (80%). Majority of the patients had no bad habits (78.3%). Most of the sample’s hobby was watching movies (51.7%). Maximum number of patients had family history of no cancer (88.3%). Majority of the samples were having the cancer cervix (26.7%). Majority of the patient were suffering with cancer for 0 to 3 months (30%) and more than one year (30%). Majority of the samples were in the II stage (61.7%) of Disease. Majority of the samples had undergone 0 to 1 month treatment (41.7%). Most of the patients had received radiation therapy for more than two times. Majority of the cancer patients 36 (60%) had moderate level of anxiety, 14 (23.33%) patients had low level of anxiety, and 10 (16.67%) patients had high level of anxiety. Majority of the 39 (65%) cancer patients had moderate level ofcoping abilities, 13 (21.67%) patients had maximum level of coping abilities, and 8 (13.33%) patients had minimal level of coping abilities. The reports indicated that there was a negative correlation between the level of anxiety and coping abilities. The results indicated that there was a significant association between anxiety and selected demographic variables such as Religion, Occupation, Family history of cancer, Duration of illness, and Number of radiation therapy attended. The results confirmed that there was a significant association between coping abilities and selected demographic variables such as Dietary pattern, Hobbies, Family history, and Stage of disease

Role of Micronuclei as a Diagnostic Tool in Exfoliative Cytology of Oral Preneoplastic and Neoplastic Conditions among Tobacco Chewers

BACKGROUND: The assessment of Micronuclei frequency in exfoliated oral epithelial cells have been shown to correlate with severity of the genotoxic damage and seem to increase steadily in order from tobacco chewers with apparently normal mucosa to premalignant and malignant lesions. AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the frequency of micronuclei (MN) in oral exfoliated cells of tobacco chewers with oral premalignant and malignant lesions and comparing them with that of healthy tobacco chewers and controls of non tobacco chewers. Materials and Methods: The study subjects are divided into four groups consisting of tobacco chewers with apparently healthy oral mucosa, premalignant lesions and malignancy, and normal controls, each of 20 cases. The cytosmears are stained with Pap, Giemsa and Crystal violet stains. The micronuclei was identified using Tolbert’s criteria. RESULTS: The frequency of micronuclei is found to be higher in malignant lesions as compared with premalignant lesions and healthy tobacco chewers, and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, micronuclei can be used as a biomarker of genotoxic damage, which is an useful diagnostic as well as prognostic indicator

Studies on the Leaves of Cardiospermum Halicacabum L. and Experimental Assessment of Lipid Absorption Inhibition and Cardio Protection of its Bioactive Insulinomimetic Pinitol

The present investigation highlights the pharmacognostical, phytochemical and potential role of lipid absorption inhibition and cardio protection of the leaves of Cardiospermum halicacabum belonging to the family Sapinadaceae, a widely, easily available edible plant. Ethnomedical information revealed that it was used in various ailments including, rheumatoid arthritis, GI disease, diuretic, stomachic, rubefacient, ear ache, back ache, fever ,lumbago, nervous disease, demulcent, dropsy etc. The economic potentiality of this cash crop remains neglected by the scientists, technologists, physician, traders, administrators, policymakers, farmers, etc. The morphological evaluation showed the adherence of general characters to the family. Detailed microscopical characters of the leaves showed the usual leaf characters, vascular bundle, ranunculaceous stomata, non-glandular, glandular simple, unicellular or multicellular, unbranched uniseriate trichomes on both epidermis, The inner part of the adaxial cone includes a cluster of angular collenchyma cells and inner part of abaxial cone consist of schlerenchyma cells. Scanning Electron Mciroscope (SEM) showed the trichomes and ranunculaceous or anomocytic stomata and their distribution. Petiole shows two prominent grooves towards upper side where as the lower side. epidermis is composed of single layer of cells. Powder microscopy, microscopic schedules vein islet and vein termination number, stomatal number and stomatal index, palisade ratio, physicochemical parameters ash values, extractive values, loss on drying were determined and presented. Preliminary phytochemical screening showed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids and absence of mucilage, volatile oil, fixed oil. Identification of inorganic minerals of the leaves of C.halicacabum by Electron Dispersive x-ray Spector photometer (EDS) showed the presence of minerals C-53.67%, O-44.05%, Mg-0.18%, P-0.36%, Cl-0.18%, K-1.27% Ca-0.28%. Total flavonoids and total phenolic contents were determined and presented 1.06 mg/g, 38.05 mg/g respectively. HPTLC profile of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of C.halicacabum was presented. Presence of Pinitol was confirmed and quantified as 0.142 mg/100mg. “The 3R’s (Reduction, Refinement, Replacement) of ethical principle was implemented that help to minimize harms to animals used in science. In our investigation we used zebra fish larvae which is a emerging novel preclinical in vivo model that support rapid decision making in the early phases of drug discovery process. It is amenable to medium to High Throught Screening (HTS) because of numerous advantages. The properties of the genome of zf have established it as an excellent model system that is relevant to studies of human diseases. We performed preliminary toxicological studies of EECHL on the embryo and larvae of zebrafish and found no pronounced retardation in zf embryo development when exposed to normal concentrations (0.5 to 2μg/ml) which showed that EECHL of leaf would pose no hazard to early life stages Danio rerio but standard toxin podophyllotoxin showed 100% mortality at 0.01μg/ml. Larval toxicity study was carried out on zf larvae of 5dpf , it was observed that there was no mortality in 0.5 and 0.75 mg/ml concentrations. 5, 10, 100% mortalities were observed in 1,2,mg/ml of EECHL and 0.5μg/ml of podophyllotoxin respectively. Previous Investigation on the acute toxicity of the ethanolic extract of the leaves showed no mortality and morbidity even under high dose levels (2000mg/kg b.w.) indicating high margin of safety of the plant extract. We used a high-fat diet egg yolk to feed larvae and develop a zf larval hyperlipidemia model. In our model EECHL significantly decrease lipid levels at 100, 150, 200μg/ml dose dependently comparable to the standard drug. (p< 0.001). Human lipid lowering drug ezetimibe (the Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 NPC1L1 protein cholesterol transporter blocker) significantly reduce lipid levels after treatment. In addition we also found that there was increase in heartbeat of hyperlipidemic zf larvae which became normal and without any morphological changes (heart rate, cardiac enlargement, blood flow, etc.) dose dependently in EECHL treated showing no CVS complication. This conventional zebrafish hyperlipidemia model is predictive, easily available, economic with a short testing duration and could speed up lipid lowering drug research development. Further investigations are needed to elucidate potential biochemical and molecular mechanisms of this biological effect. The plant leaf possesses several flavonoids such as apigenin, luteolin and the cyclitol pinitol which are reported as the antilipidemic principles. The hypoglycemic action and anti-hyperlipidemic effect of pinitol has been well established. The beneficial antihyperlipidemic activity may be attributed to pinitol. These results suggest that ethanolic extract of the leaves of C.halicacabum (EECHL) exerts in zebrafish larvae a therapeutic effect and that may be used as advantage in therapeutic approach. Further experiments are required to prove the mechanism and advantage of EECHL over other drugs. The hypercholesterolemic zebrafish can be used as a low-cost andinformative model for testing new drug candidates and for investigating mechanisms of action

Cutaneous manifestations of chronic renal failure and renal transplantation

INTRODUCTION: The kidney and the skin are the two large networks of the body with their abundant blood supply, far in excess of their nutritional demands, the former for the constancy of the milieu interior and the latter maintaining mainly homeostasis. No wonder therefore, that they share many diseases and reflect mutually one another’s pathology which should be made use of by the clinician. Scientific and technologic improvements during the second-half of the 20th century have provided renal replacement therapy as a life sustaining option for many individuals who otherwise might have died. In each and every year of the last decade, the number of individuals with ESRD (end stage renal disease) has grown approximately from 20 to 30,000 per year. Cutaneous examination of patients with ESRD has shown that 50 – 100% of patients have at least one dermatologic condition. In addition to ESRD, uraemia and conditions associated with renal replacement therapy are fraught with numerous and often, relatively unique cutaneous manifestations. AIMS OF THE STUDY: 1. To study the various cutaneous manifestations and their incidence in patients with chronic renal failure. 2. To study the agewise and sexwise incidence of the individual cutaneous manifestation. 3. To study the incidence of cutaneous manifestations in renal transplant recipients. 4. To study the incidence of cutaneous manifestations of associated systemic disorder that may contribute to chronic renal failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was done for 2 years from October 2009 to October 2011 at Nephrology OPD, ward and medicine ward, Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, Tirunelveli. Approval was obtained from the institutional ethical committee prior to the conduct of this study. During this period, 100 patients who had the presence of skin manifestations were selected and studied. 80 patients were known cases of chronic renal failure, diagnosed at Nephrology department or medical department and 20 patients were renal transplant recipients who were referral cases. Patient selection: Inclusion criteria: 1. Age : All ages, 2. Sex : Both males and females, 3. Patients with chronic renal failure, 4. Renal transplant patients. Exclusion criteria : 1. Patients with HIV infection, 2. Patients with previous malignancies, 3. Drug related cutaneous manifestations, 4. Patients on dialysis. SUMMARY: This clinical study of cutaneous manifestations of chronic renal failure and renal transplant recipients done during the period from October 2009 to October 2011, revealed the following: 1. Most of the specific cutaneous manifestations of chronic renal failure and renal transplantation were noted in this study. Pruritus (58.8%) and xerosis (57.5%) were the most common among the specific cutaneous manifestations of chronic renal failure, which is similar to another study[104]. Pigmentary changes (55%) and nail abnormalities (56.2%) were the next. Mucosal and hair abnormalities were noted in good percentage of cases. Nearly 4 % had perforating dermatosis. Interesting findings noted in this study were digital gangrene, poor wound healing and restless leg syndrome. The onset of cutaneous manifestations after CRF ranges between 6 months to 3 years in this study. 2. Skin changes due to renal transplantation were mostly due to infections (excluding medication related disorders), with fungal infections (40%) being the most commonly noted. The next to follow was viral infections (35%) with verruca vulgaris being the commonest manifestation. The high incidence of cutaneous infections in these patients could be due to impaired immunity resulting in increased susceptibility to infections. Premalignant and malignant lesions were not noted in this study. After renal transplantation, there is improvement in pruritus in 9 (45%) patients and xerosis in 6 (30%) patients. 3. Skin changes specific to associated systemic diseases helped in finding various etiologies of chronic renal failure such as diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, vasculitis and ITP. 4. Other associated skin conditions were not related to etiology and were found to be just coincidental. CONCLUSION: Pruritus and xerosis were the most common among the specific cutaneous manifestations of chronic renal failure, followed by nail abnormalities and pigmentary changes. Calciphylaxis and uremic frost were not noted in any patient. The incidence of hair and nail abnormalities were more among females than males in this study. Cutaneous manifestations of renal transplantation were mostly due to infections, of which fungal infections were commonly observed followed by viral infections

Hormone receptor status in breast cancer in relation to histological grading, age and lymph node involvement

BACKGROUND: Aim of the study is to evaluate hormone receptor status and HER 2/neu in breast carcinoma by using immunohistochemical method and to correlate with histological grade, age and lymphnode involvement in breast cancer patients attending General Surgery OPD, Govt. Stanley Medical College Hospital, Chennai. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To evaluate ER, PR receptor status and HER 2/neu oncoprotein expression in carcinoma breast using immunohistochemical method. 2. To evaluate tumour grading, lymph node status in histopathological specimen. 3. To correlate ER, PR and HER 2/neu status with lymph node, tumour grading and age of the patient. 4. To evaluate occurrence of histological variants of carcinoma breast in patients attending OPD in Govt. Stanley Medical College Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an analytical study done during the period from January 2013 to October 2013. It is conducted to female patients presented with a breast lump in the female OPD, The department of General surgery, Govt. Stanley Hospital, Chennai. Female patients with palpable lump are admitted and are subjected to detailed history regarding age, parity, family history, socio economic status, menstrual history, lactational history and any previous biopsy reports if any. Newly diagnosed patients and with unilateral breast malignancies, with no history of neoadjuvant chemotherapy are included in this study. Patients with bilateral breast malignancies and has a history of neoadjuvant chemotheroy are excluded from this study. Based on the clinical examination, patients are subjected to mammogram, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). If FNAC is proven to be inconclusive, trucut biopsy was done. RESULTS: From the above study in a group of 50 breast cancer patients, we found that Invasive Ductal Carcinoma-Nos type constituted the most commonest histological variants. Regarding histological grade, Grade II tumours was found to be commonest. Estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity was found in about 70% of cases, whereas HER 2/neu positivity was found in 36% of the tumours. Larger the tumour size lesser is the expression of hormone receptor status. There is higher receptor expression in nodal negative patienrs.HER 2/neu overexpression is found in about 64% of nodal positive patients. Higher the histological grade lower the receptor positivity and greater the HER 2/neu overexpression. There is an inverse relation between the receptor and HER 2/neu overexpresssion. CONCLUSION: Estrogen, Progesterone receptor positive tumours are more common in the post menopausal women, tumours of more than 2cm in size, Histological grade I and in nodal negative patients. Oncoprotein overexpression is common among the tumours of more than 2cm in size, grade III tumours and in nodal positive patients. Hormone receptor and oncoprotein expression has an inverse correlation with each other

Removal of Phosphorous in Waste Water using Natural Coagulants

This study aims to explore the feasibility of employing natural coagulants like Cassia alata, Calotropis procera, Hyacinth bean, Banana leaves, Carica Papaya, Acacia mearnsii, Jatropha curcas cactus, tamarind seeds, and watermelon seeds for reducing the content of red phosphorus in industrial wastewater. A series of batch coagulation tests were performed to determine the optimal dosage of coagulants for the purpose of eliminating red phosphorus from the wastewater. The efficacy of each chosen coagulant in removing red phosphorus was depicted graphically. Among the various coagulants evaluated, Hyacinth bean exhibited the highest efficacy in reducing red phosphorus content (75%), surpassing the performance of casuarina leaves and banana leaves. On the other hand, tamarind seeds demonstrated the least effective removal of red phosphorus from the wastewater, achieving a removal rate of 56%. Notably, Hyacinth bean stands out as a potential coagulant for effective removal of red phosphorus, offering promising results akin to its capability in aiding blood clot clearance. By maintaining a pH level of 8 and employing a coagulant dosage of 20 ml, alongside initial and final red phosphorus concentrations of 4372.5 mg/lit and 1072.5 mg/lit respectively, with mixing and settling times of 30 and 45 minutes, the study achieved a significant percentage of red phosphorus removal efficiency

IN VITRO ANTIDIABETIC, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF CLITORIA TERNATEA L

Objective: To investigate the in vitro Antidiabetic, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory activity of Clitoria ternatea L. leaves and flowers. Methods: Phytochemicals of leaves and flowers were analysed by using standard methods. In vitro antioxidant studies were carried out for the ethanolic extract of the Clitoria ternatea leaves and flowers using various free radical models such a DPPH, Reducing power assay and Hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay. In vitro antidiabetic assay such as Non-enzymatic glycosylation of haemoglobin assay, Glucose uptake in Yeast cells and Inhibition of salivary-amylase enzyme were carried in ethanolic extract.. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity such as inhibition of albumin denaturation and membrane stabilization assay were performed in ethanolic extract. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of ethanolic extract of the Clitoria ternatea revealed the presence of various bioactive components like alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, phenol, saponin, terpenoids and tannin in both leaves and flowers. Anthroquinone is absent in both the parts studied. The in vitro antidiabetic potential of plant extract was confirmed through non enzymatic glycation, glucose uptake by yeast cells and amylase inhibition methods. Antiinflammatory activity of Clitoria ternaea was also confirmed. Conclusion: The result of the present study concluded that the ethanolic extracts of Clitoria ternaea L. leaves and flowers possess significant antidiabetic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. The potential pharmacological activity of Clitoria ternaea L. leaves and flowers might be due to the presence of phytochemicals

CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF HERBO - MINERAL SIDDHA FORMULATION KARA SOODA SATHU PARPAM BY USING MODERN TECHNIQUES

Kara Sooda Sathu Parpam (KSSP) is a traditional Siddha Herbo- mineral drug. The aim of the present study was to standardize the physico-chemical traits of the Siddha herbo mineral formulation KSSP. Efforts have been made to lay down the analytical standards for Kara Sooda Sathu Parpam which were not found reported to till date. This paper appraises a detail study of physico-chemical properties, phytochemical constituents and heavy metal contents of the selected drug (KSSP) were analyzed. The total ash value was found to be 9.3 %w/w, acid insoluble ash value is 0.94%w/w, water soluble ash value is 5.5 %w/w, and loss of drying at 105 º c is  7.3 % w/w. The water soluble extractives and alcohol soluble extractives were found to be 8.67 % w/w and 5.0 % w/w. The ICP-OES reveals that the heavy metals such as Mercury, Lead, Arsenic, cadmium are present in the drug are below detected limit. HR-SEM analysis has been used to study particle size shape and distribution. The study highlights the appropriate application of modern scientific methods for developing the new insights into metal based Siddha drugs