Impact of Larger Diameter Strands on AASHTO/PCI Bulb-Tees

This thesis consists of the analytical study and the experimental investigation of larger diameter strands in AASHTO Type I girders. The main purpose of this study was to verify that the 2 inch minimum spacing recommended by ACI 318-08 and AASHTO (2008) can be used for 0.7 inch diameter strands by comparing various effects in girders using 0.7 and 0.6 inch diameter strands. Based on the parametric analysis it was concluded that by using 0.7 inch strands there was a considerable saving in the material. For example, an AASHTO BT-72 with 0.6 inch strand could be replaced with AASHTO BT-54 with 0.7 inch strand for the same span capacity. In order to fully realize the benefits and to verify the adequacy of 2 inch spacing, a three dimensional finite element analysis was performed with two full-scale AASHTO Type I girders with 0.6 inch and 0.7 inch diameter strands. Only the effects due to the prestressing force at transfer were studied in the two models. The maximum principal stress and the axial stress in the concrete along the direction of the strands were determined. Based on the analytical results from the FE model it was found that the girder with the 0.7 inch diameter strand was more vulnerable to cracking at the transition zone between the bottom flange and the web. This defect could be overcome by placing the required amount of confinement reinforcement at the end zone of the girder. Based on the analytical study, two I-girder specimens, one with larger 0.7 in. strand and other with high strength 0.62 in. strand were cast. The transfer lengths of both the girders were measured and compared with the current AASHTO 2008 and ACI 318-08 equations. It was found that both strands exhibited a shorter transfer length than obtained in the equations. Based on these experimental results further studies are to be carried out for the implementation of these highly efficient strands

A Study on Evaluation of Training Effectiveness among Employees in M/S Addison & Co., Ltd., Chennai

The main aim of the study is to prepare the employees both new and existing to meet the present as well as the changing requirements of the organization.Training programme helps to remove performance deficiencies of employees. The effectiveness of the training programme ensures there is greater stability, flexibility and capacity for growth of the organization. Training programme contributes to employee’s stability.Employees become efficient after training programme. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the company. Growth renders stability to the work force and trained employees tend to stay with the company and seldom leave the company.Training programmes make the employees versatile in operations. Growth in employees indicates prosperity, which is reflected in increased profits from year to year and only well-trained employees can contribute to the prosperity of an enterprise

Cytotoxic Effect of Betulinic Acid on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Betulinic Acid (BA) is a widely available plant-derived triterpene reported as a selective cytotoxic activity against cancer cell of neuroectodermal origin and leukaemias. Interestingly, this will be first report to demonstrate the cytotoxic effect of BA in VSMCs. First, MTT cytotoxic assay was used to measure cell viability of VSMCs with predetermined concentrations of BA for 24h, 48h and 72h. The results obtain indicated that BA inhibit the growth and proliferation of VSMCs in a dose dependent manner IC10 of 0.4μg/ml, IC25 of 1μg/ml and IC50 of 3.8 μg/ml significantly (P<0.05). Secondly, the genotoxic potential associated to exposure to BA was assessed on VSMCs in vitro by the comet assay. BA exhibits low level of DNA damage and not likely to increase the level of DNA damage after 24 h exposure. Moreover, Flow cytometric analysis revealed that BA treatment FOR 24 h induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and caused the appearance of a sub-G1 DNA peak at 48 h. Finally, the cell death morphology indicates that the percentage of apoptotic at 24 h were 12.43 ± 1.55% and at 48 h were 23.17 ± 1.73%, the percentage of necrotic cells at 48 h were 14.63 ± 1.45%. An increase percentage of apoptotic cells at 72 h were 45.92 ± 1.45%. In conclusion, exposure of BA to VSMCs initiate early DNA damage, arrest at G1 phase and induce apoptosis

Functional insect protein extracts for food applications.

Entomology, or the consumption of insects has been extensively accepted worldwide but is uncommon in the United States. There has been positive research on the sustainability, renewability, nutrition and safety of crickets as food. Due to the current trend of an increasing human population, food security has become a challenge worldwide, especially in developing countries. Studies on crickets as a protein source are still limited. Hence, a thorough investigation of crickets as an alternate insect protein source and incorporation of cricket proteins into low nutrient foods, such as breads and pasta, can help improve the nutritional content and food security. This study aimed to extract the proteins from defatted cricket powder, study its functional properties, incorporate the protein extract into pasta and carry out product analysis. In this research, proximate analysis of fresh cricket powder was studied and is proven to contain 63.43% protein, 20.86% fat, 4.65% ash, 7.56% carbohydrates, 3.50% moisture and 472Kcal/100g. Due to the high-fat content present in the powder, defatting was carried out using hexane and ethanol, reducing the fat content from 20.86% to 9.27% by rotary evaporation. Extraction of proteins was carried out using NaOH and ascorbic acid, ascorbic acid gave the highest yield of 87.75%. The defatted protein extract using ascorbic acid was a good source of essential amino acids having an overall protein content of 69.69%. Nutritional and functional properties of the protein extract were studied for further product formulation and analysis like color, texture, water activity, cooking quality, shelf life study and sensory evaluation. Results demonstrated that insect protein extracts helped improve the nutritional content of freeze-dried pasta thus offering an alternative protein source to the food industry

HEPATOPROTECTIVE POTENTIAL OF Physalis peruviana L. FRUIT EXTRACTS ON LEAD ACETATE INTOXICATED RATS

Physalis peruviana has been widely used as a medicinal herb for treating various diseases since ancient times. This study aimed to examine the hepatoprotective potential of the ethanolic extract of&nbsp;P. peruviana fruit (EPPF) against lead acetate (LA) intoxicated male albino rats. The experimental rats were divided into ten groups of 4 animals. Animal of Group I served as normal, Group II animals were administered orally 15 mg/Kg body weight of LA, Group III to V animals received EPPF 150mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg respectively, Group VI animals received standard silymarin 50 mg/kg, and Group VII to X were treated with LA (15 mg/kg) with EPPF 150, 300, 600 and std 50 mg/kg, orally for 32 days respectively. The degree of protection was measured by estimating hematological parameters such as Hb, RBC, WBC, PCV, platelets, MCV, MCHC, and ESR and biochemical parameters such as urea, creatinine, Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VLDL, bilirubin, SGOT, SGBT,&nbsp; ALP, GGT, protein, albumin and globulin. Lead acetate induced alterations of hematological and biochemical parameters were observed in group II animals and these levels brought back to normal in the animals treated with EPPF at the concentrations of 150, 300 and 600 mg/kg which was significantly similar to silymarin treated animals. The data of the results obtained depicted that the fruit extract of P. peruviana was found to have promising protective efficacy against lead acetate induced liver toxicity

Management of chronic pain in the elderly: focus on transdermal buprenorphine

Chronic pain in the elderly is a significant problem. Pharmacokinetic and metabolic changes associated with increased age makes the elderly vulnerable to side effects and overdosing associated with analgesic agents. Therefore the management of chronic cancer pain and chronic nonmalignant pain in this growing population is an ongoing challenge. New routes of administration have opened up new treatment options to meet this challenge. The transdermal buprenorphine matrix allows for slow release of buprenorphine and damage does not produce dose dumping. In addition the long-acting analgesic property and relative safety profile makes it a suitable choice for the treatment of chronic pain in the elderly. Its safe use in the presence of renal failure makes it an attractive choice for older individuals. Recent scientific studies have shown no evidence of a ceiling dose of analgesia in man but only a ceiling effect for respiratory depression, increasing its safety profile. It appears that transdermal buprenorphine can be used in clinical practice safely and efficaciously for treating chronic pain in the elderly

REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES FOR OIL PALM AGE CLASSIFICATION USING LANDSAT-5 TM SATELLITE

This paper demonstrates the procedure to classify the age of oil palm trees using Landsat-5 TM (thematic mapper) remote sensing data. The study was conducted in two phases: phase I focuses on the the land cover classification, and phase II involves the oil palm age classification. Firstly,the region of interest (ROI) was identified and drawn in order to supply the training and testing pixels for the supervised classification. Maximum likelihood (ML) classifier was used for land cover classification. The land cover classification using the ML produces a good result with an overall accuracy of 85.51% and kappa coefficient of 0.8208. Meanwhile, three classifiers were used to investigate the age of oil palm classification, which are the 1) Maximum likelihood (ML), 2) Neural Network (NN) and, 3) Support Vector Machine (SVM). The accuracy of the classifications was then assessed by comparing the classifications with a reference set using a confusion matrix technique. Among the three classifiers, SVM performs the best with the highest overall accuracy of 54.18% and kappa coefficient of 0.39

Analysis of displaced supracondylar fractures in children treated with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning

Background: Closed reduction is difficult not only to achieve but also to maintain because of the thinness of bone of the distal humerus between the coronoid and olecranon where most supracondylar fractures occurs. For this reason percutaneous pinning techniques have become the treatment of choice for most supracondylar fractures. By this procedure even the displaced and rotated fracture can be treated successfully with minimal incidence of complications. The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of management of displaced supracondylar fractures using closed reduction with percutaneous K-wire pinning and to analyze the results, loss of carrying angle, and loss of motion with incidence of complications.Methods: 35 Cases of displaced supracondylar fractures in children aged between 3 and 13 years were treated by closed reduction and percutaneous pinning and were studied prospectively for functional outcome.30 cases were treated with crossed pinning. 5 cases were treated with lateral pinning.Results: 31(88.6%) of the patients observed satisfactory results. 4 (11.4%) of the patients observed poor results. Of the cases treated by crossed pinning 26 (86.5%) had good results and 4 (13.3%) had poor results. All the patients treated with lateral pinning had excellent results. The difference in the functional outcome between the two groups were statistically significant.Conclusion: The results obtained in this study shows that anatomical reduction by closed method and stabilization with K-wire fixation is the first treatment of choice for displaced supracondylar fractures.