Soil Nailing

 

Soil Nailing

Key words: soil nailing, construction of wall, rail road

Soil nailing is a construction technique in which steel bars are inserted in the holes driven on ground slopes. The purpose of  nailing is to stabilize natural slopes, excavated slopes or retaining walls.

 One of the first applications of soil nailing was in 1972 for a railroad widening project near Versailles, France, where an 18 m (59 ft) high cut-slope in sand was stabilized using soil nails (Rabejac and Toudic 1974). Clouterre’s  research program, (Schlosser 1983; Clouterre 1993) is another step in this direction..

 In Germany, the first use of a soil nailing   was for construction of a wall in the year  1975 (Stocker et al. 1979). The first major research program onn soil nail walls was undertaken in Germany from 1975 through 1981 by the University of Karlsruhe and the construction company Bauer. (Gassler and Gudehus 1981; Schlosser and Unterreiner 1991).

  In US, the first FHWA document on soil nailing was issued through FHWA’s Office of Research and Development (Elias and Juran 1991). Updated version of above FHWA soil nailing manual was made public in 2003 (Carlos et al. 2003).

 In India use of soil nailing technology is gradually increasing and guidelines have been made by IRC( Indian Road Congress) with the help of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

 

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Laughter - best medicine

                               Laughter- The Best Medicine

               Tags: laughter, medicine, sorrow, tests

It is recognized all over the world that  laughter  is the best medicine! Researchers have found that  positive  emotions  have a beneficial impact on a person's health. It has been observed  that watching comedy films boosts blood flow to the heart.

It was  found that artery blood flow was reduced after watching movie clips that caused distress; but  was increased  after watching movie clips that elicited laughter. The difference in flow between sad and happy responses exceeded an astonishing 50 percent.

The study was conducted on 20 healthy young adults after asking them to  view 15 to 30 minutes of  tragic / comic films. For the analysis 160 measurements of artery blood flow were taken before and one minute after exposing to phases of laughter or sadness.

Source: British Medical Journal - Specialty Journals / Kate Melville

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Be Young in Old Age

 Quite interesting to hear. But is it possible to remain young in old age? Difficult to believe. Hours roll into months, days into months and months to years. The old saying "Time and tide wait for no man" is perfectly apt. We can't stop time ticking off. As days pass on, we get older. Our thinking changes, our attitude changes and our physical body changes. Ageing is a natural process. We can't completely change the effects of old age; but we can, of course retard the deterioration of the body to a certain extent by leading a healthy and positive life style.

Effects of Aging:

As we get older, changes take place both in the physical and mental levels. Increased blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, diabetes, cholesterol, cancer - are some of the major common problems of old age. The body cells start deteriorating and function less effectively; the skin loses elasticity, tissues break down, muscles weaken, eye sight reduces, hearing becomes weak, decayed teeth, increase in degenerative disease - all manifestations of old age. The absence of care, love and affection from children and other close relatives and friends further add chances for depression and increased mental tension. 

Causes of Ageing 

As discussed earlier, aging is a natural process and we can't completely reverse the process of aging. The main causes of aging are: 

Faulty Life style: 

Improper food, lack of physical exercise, increased mental tension- these all come under the category of faulty life style. 

Heredity 

The genes inherited from parents have got an important effect on aging. However one can't do anything to influence the genes.

Free Radicals

 Free radicals are highly corrosive oxidizing molecules. It is considered that free radicals are the main cause of aging and to a certain extent to cancer. The causes of these free radicals are : poor nutrition, cigarette smoking, strong sun light and air pollution. 

Aging Process

The aging process can be reversed to a certain extent by taking the following steps.

 - Have balanced ,nutritious food - 

- Take anti oxidants : Vitamins A, C & E and the mineral selenium

 - Proper physical exercise

 - Sufficient rest and sleep

 - Avoid mental tension and worry 

- Engage in some sort of mental activity

 - Have a positive attitude

 - Involve in creative social activity 

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Rainy day

It is raining.

Dark clouds in the sky.

Drops of rain water trickling down.

Slippery ground, stagnant water,

Thoughts and thoughts down the lane

Those years spent in Manak Nagar

The days are gone, never to return

Can't help ,Can't help.

 

Back Pain

Back Pain – Its Causes And Remedial Measure

Key words: Back pain, Back pain causes, Chronic back pain

Back pain must have occurred at least once in each and everybody’s life. In one way it is an unavoidable phenomenon. Statistical analysis shows that ladies are less susceptible to this than gents. The pain can be chronic or severe. Discomfort arises out of the pain and one may find it difficult to attend to his normal duties. One can see lot of advertisements about pain killers. The effectiveness of these is doubtful.

Before going into the causes of back pain, one has to know the anatomy of the human back. The back of our body is composed of bony lumbar spine (vertebrae) which consists of discs. The back bone includes bone, muscles and elastic tissues. The spine which is placed at the centre of back has twenty four block bones. It holds the body upright and ensures its mobility. Inter-vertibral discs cushion in between the blocks is to keep the bones separated from rubbing each other.

Symptoms

The basic symptoms of back pain are-

-Pain in the region of middle or lower back.

-Difficulty in bowel /bladder movement

-Pain in the hip/waist region

-Difficulty in movement

Causes

The main back pain causes are-

-Fall or injury

-Obesity

-Sedentary life style

-Old age

-Strenuous work

-Wrong diet

-Smoking

-Depression

-Maintaining wrong posture

-lifting of heavy things

Remedial Measures

The remedial measures can be grouped under two classes-

Temporary

-Use of pain killer medicine

-Ice pack

-Oil massage

Long Term Measures

Do’s

-Maintain proper posture

-Use hard bed

-Regular exercise

-Proper rest and sleep

Don’ts

-Do not use high heeled shoes

-Do not sit continuously in chair

-Avoid carrying heavy things

-Do not stand for long hours

If proper care is taken in day to day activities, back pain can be avoided. However for chronic back pain, a physiotherapist should be consulted.

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Posted by Ramachandran at 8:55 PM 1 comment: 

Sustainable development - the need of the hour

 Sustainable Development - The need of the hour

Development of a nation is a must. There must be all round progress so that people can lead a comfortable life. The basic requirements of a person are food, shelter and clothing. With the increase in population coupled with overall progress in the industrial field, natural resources are getting depleted day by day. Environmental pollution adds to the miseries.

While meeting the demands of the present, there must be sufficient resources so that the future generation can lead a comfortable life. This is called the sustainable development.

The issue of sustainable development was discussed in detail at the Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1992. In addition to the increase in production, the protection of environment  and conservation of natural resources are extremely important.

Strategies for sustainable development

The suggested strategies are:

-       Use locally available materials

-       Adopt the 3 R (Reduce, Recyle, Reuse) approach

-       In order to inculcate a sense of awareness, educate the general public

the steps to be followed for a sustainable living

Conservation of Resources

The main natural resources are: Water, Energy and Land.

Water: is a very important natural resource. This is required for humans and animals. Water is required for drinking, cooking, washing, toilets, agriculture and industries. A recent study has revealed that while the rainfall is reducing, the atmospheric temperature is rising. At the same time, the demand is increasing with the increase in population. Steps should be taken to reduce the wastage of water in the domestic and industrial sectors. As far as irrigation of agricultural crops are concerned, drip irrigation should be practiced. The suggested steps for conservation are:

-       Leakage of water should be identified and repaired immediately

-       Taps should be closed when not in use

-       The waste water should be treated and reused for gardening and washing floor.

-       Arrangements should be made for rain water harvesting

-       Losses in irrigation water should be reduced by lining of canals and by adopting drip irrigation

Energy: We can’t imagine a life without energy. It is required for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. The suggested steps for conservation of energy are:

-       Switch off lights and fans when not in use

-       Use CFL lamps and tube lights

-       Use pressure cooker

-       Keep the vessel covered with a lid when cooking

Land: Land is largely covered with forests, wet lands, grass lands, agricultural lands and human settlements. Land gets degraded due to soil erosion, water logging, salinity, desertification and various developmental activities. The suggested steps for soil conservation are:

-       Slow down the movement of water when it flows along a slope

-       Have more vegetation cover

-       Adopt afforestation

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Health is Wealth

Key words: health, wealth, happiness, life style, fate

Health is wealth; no doubt for it! If health is lost, everything is lost. We can’t lead a happy life without proper health. To a certain extent, it is within our hands to take correct steps for maintaining good health.

But certain things are beyond our control. The other day I went to a leading hospital where one of my relatives had been admitted for treatment. She was in the intensive care  unit  under artificial respiration. Her whole body was covered with different tubes and wires.  She was not in a position to talk, drink water or take meals. She has no financial problems. Children  are grown up and employed. Husband is her side throughout the day. About five years back, she had under gone a kidney transplant operation. She is in the mid fiftys.

Here comes the question - what is life? Is it beyond one’s control and leave it to the mercy of God. It is very difficult to give a proper reply. Money is required to lead a comfortable life. But health is a prerequisite for all that. Some diseases are hereditary and perhaps difficult to diagonise and have a proper treatment while some are due to wrong life style of the present day. Improper and unbalanced food, lack of physical exercise, smoking, too much intoxicating drinks, mental tension and worry are some of the factors contributing to life style diseases like diabetes, high bold pressure, cholesterol, obesity etc.

Remember the old adage – “Prevention is better than cure. “ Instead of going for a treatment at a later stage, it is always better to take preventive steps from early child hood itself. Children should be educated in their school days itself the importance of good  life style and the necessary steps to be followed. In addition to the importance of maintaining physical health, it is very essential to have advice on the mental health also.

But unfortunately it is seen that due attention is not paid with regard to mental health. A positive attitude towards  life  devoid of hatred, anger, envy and tension is of utmost importance. A contended life, with a friendly and helping attitude towards fellow members of the society without looking towards religion, cast and  creed is the attitude that is required.