bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Empowerment of Patients over their Personal Health Record Implies Sharing Responsibility with the Physician
Authors: Quantin Catherine  , Benzenine Eric  , Auverlot Bertrand  , Jaquet-Chiffelle David-Olivier  , Coatrieux Gouenou  , Allaert François-André
Published: February 2025

Through this article, we point out the unavoidable empowerment of patients with regard to their personal health record and propose the mixed management of patients' medical records. This mixed management implies sharing responsibilities between the patient and the Medical Practitioner (MP) by making patients responsible for the validation of their administrative information, and MPs responsible for the validation of their patients' medical information. We propose a solution to gather and update patients' administrative and medical data in order to reconstitute patients' medical histories accurately. This method is based on two processes. The aim of the first process is to provide patients administrative data, in order to know where and when they received care (name of the health structure or health practitioner, type of care: outpatient or inpatient). The aim of the second process is to provide patients' medical information and to validate it under the responsibility of the MP with the help of patients if needed. During these two processes, the patients' privacy will be ensured through cryptographic hash functions like the Secure Hash Algorithm, which allows the pseudonymization of patients' identities. The Medical Record Search Engine we propose will be able to retrieve and to provide upon a request formulated by the MP all the available information concerning a patient who has received care in different health structures without divulging the patient's true identity. Associated with strong traceability of all access, modifications or deletions, our method can lead to improved efficiency of personal medical record management while reinforcing the empowerment of patients over their medical records.
Health Multi-Terminology Portal: A Semantic Added-value for Patient Safety
Authors: Grosjean Julien  , Merabti Tayeb  , Dahamna Badisse  , Kergourlay Ivan  , Thirion Benoit  , Soualmia Lina F.  , Darmoni Stefan J.
Published: February 2025

Since the mid-90s, several quality-controlled health gateways were developed. In France, CISMeF is the leading health gateway. It indexes Internet resources from the main institutions, using the MeSH thesaurus and the Dublin Core metadata element set. Since 2005, the CISMeF Information System (IS) includes 24 health terminologies, classifications and thesauri for indexing and information retrieval. This work aims at creating a Health Multi-Terminology Portal (HMTP) and connect it to the CISMeF Terminology Database mainly for searching concepts and terms among all the health controlled vocabularies available in French (or in English and translated in French) and browsing it dynamically. To integrate the terminologies in the CISMeF IS, three steps are necessary: (1) designing a meta-model into which each terminology can be integrated, (2) developing a process to include terminologies into the HMTP, (3) building and integrating existing and new inter-terminology mappings into the HMTP. A total of 24 terminologies are included in the HMTP, with 575,300 concepts, 852,000 synonyms, 222,800 definitions and 1,180,000 relations. Heightteen of these terminologies are not included yet in the UMLS among them, some from the World Health Organization. Since January 2010, HMTP is daily used by CISMeF librarians to index in multi-terminology mode. A health multiterminology portal is a valuable tool helping the indexing and the retrieval of resources from a quality-controlled patient safety gateway. It can also be very useful for teaching or performing audits in terminology management.
Patient Summary and Medicines Reconciliation: Application of the ISO/CEN EN 13606 Standard in Clinical Practice
Authors: Farfán Sedano Francisco J.  , Terrón Cuadrado Marta  , Castellanos Clemente Yolanda  , Serrano Balazote Pablo  , Moner Cano David  , Robles Viejo Montserrat
Published: February 2025

The comparison of the patient's current medication list with the medication being ordered when admitted to Hospital, identifying omissions, duplications, dosing errors, and potential interactions, constitutes the core process of medicines reconciliation. Access to the medication the patient is taking at home could be unfeasible as this information is frequently stored in various locations and in diverse proprietary formats. The lack of interoperability between those information systems, namely the Primary Care and the Specialized Electronic Health Records (EHRs), facilitates medication errors and endangers patient safety. Thus, the development of a Patient Summary that includes clinical data from different electronic systems will allow doctors access to relevant information enabling a safer and more efficient assistance. Such a collection of data from heterogeneous and distributed systems has been achieved in this Project through the construction of a federated view based on the ISO/CEN EN13606 Standard for architecture and communication of EHRs.
Drug Knowledge Expressed as Computable Semantic Triples
Authors: Elkin Peter L.  , Carter John S.  , Nabar Manasi  , Tuttle Mark  , Lincoln Michael  , Brown Steven H.
Published: February 2025

The majority of questions that arise in the practice of medicine relate to drug information. Additionally, adverse reactions account for as many as 98,00o deaths per year in the United States. Adverse drug reactions account for a significant portion of those errors. Many authors believe that clinical decision support associated with computerized physician order entry has the potential to decrease this adverse drug event rate. This decision support requires knowledge to drive the process. One important and rich source of drug knowledge is the DailyMed product labels. In this project we used computationally extracted SNOMED CTTMcodified data associated with each section of each product label as input to a rules engine that created computable assertional knowledge in the form of semantic triples. These are expressed in the form of “Drug” HasIndication “SNOMED CTTMcode”. The information density of drug labels is deep, broad and quite substantial. By providing a computable form of this information content from drug labels we make these important axioms (facts) more accessible to computer programs designed to support improved care.
ICT for Quality and Safety of Care: Beyond Interoperability
Authors: Kolitsi Zoi
Published: February 2025

Risk Management in healthcare is a particularly challenging task. From a health system perspective a systemic and person centered approach is needed. From an ICT perspective, continuity of care and sharing information for clinical purposes, research and care improvement can be supported though interoperable systems and services and concurrent ability of proper interpretation of this knowledge by different users. Research provides solutions to specific patient safety challenges. Supporting the dynamics of change will furthermore necessitate strategies to shorten the innovation cycle from research to implementation, deployment, adoption and routine use. Transferring research results to deployable solutions requires in addition a high degree of co-ordination at EU level, with strong links to the national competent organisations and stakeholder communities. The breadth and complexity of the issues that need to be addressed require that an appropriate, EU Collaborative Governance is set up.
Linear dielectric relaxation of dipolar, rigid, non-interacting and asymmetric-top molecules in Smoluchowski-Debye approach
Authors: Alexiewicz Wladyslaw  , Grygiel Krzysztof
Published: February 2025

Assuming the low molecular reorientation approximation, the formulae for linear electric polarization induced in liquids composed of rigid, noninteracting, dipolar and asymmetric-top molecules in spherical solvents were derived. The Kalmykov's equation [Phys.Rev., E 65 (021101) 2001] – equivalent to the classical, noninertial Smoluchowski-Debye model of rotational diffusion was applied. In order to highlight the influence of the anisotropy of rotational diffusion tensor components and the orientation of permanent dipole moment of the molecule on the complex linear electric susceptibility, we present three-dimensional plots of the dispersion and absorption spectra, Cole-Cole diagrams for different values of the anisotropies of rotational diffusion tensor components and different frequencies of an ac electric field.
Exploiting Global Properties in Path-Consistency Applied on SAT
Authors: Surynek Pavel
Published: February 2025

The task of enforcing certain level of consistency in Boolean satisfiability problem (SAT problem) is addressed in this paper. The concept of path-consistency known from the constraint programming paradigm is revisited in this context. Augmentations how to make path-consistency more suitable for SAT are specifically studied. A stronger variant of path-consistency is described and its theoretical properties are investigated. It combines the standard path consistency on the literal encoding of the given SAT instance with global properties calculated from constraints imposed by the instance – namely with the maximum number of visits of a certain set by the path. Unfortunately, the problem of enforcing this variant of path-consistency turned out to be NP hard. Hence, various types of relaxations of this stronger version of path-consistency were proposed. The relaxed version of the proposed consistency represents a trade-off between the inference strength and the complexity of its propagation algorithm. A presented theoretical analysis shows that computational costs of the proposed consistency are kept reasonably low. Performed experiments show that the new consistency outperforms the standard path-consistency in terms of the inference strength as well.
Using Concept Formation for Mining Linguistic and Biological Texts
Authors: Bel-Enguix Gemma  , Dahl Veronica  , Jiménez-López M. Dolores
Published: February 2025

We present, discuss and exemplify a fully implemented specialization of the Concept Formation Cognitive model into a model of text mining that can be applied to spoken languages as well as to molecular biology languages.
Deidentification within Unstructured Medical Records
Authors: Dahl Veronica  , Saghaei Sara  , Schulte Oliver
Published: February 2025

De-identification is the process of automatic removal of all Private Health Information (PHI) from medical records. The main focus in this active and important research area is on semi-structured records. This narrow focus has allowed the development of standard criteria that formally determines the boundaries of privacy and can be used for evaluations. However, medical records include, as well as semi-structured data from filling in forms, etc., free text in which identifiers are more difficult to detect. In this article we address the problem of de-identification within unstructured medical records. We show how through the following methods we are able to recognize, in some cases, identifiers that currently go undetected: (1) Parsing free-form medical text into typed logical relationships including assumptions for candidate identifiers. (2) A novel use of the state-of-the-art engines for processing English queries to the web. We present as well a formal definition of our approach within a rigorous logical system that supports the implementation of our ideas.
Startle Reactivity in Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Kozarić-Kovačić Dragica  , Jambrošić-Sakoman Andrea  , Jovanovic Tanja
Published: February 2025

The aim of this study is to prospectively examine electromyographic (EMG) responses in patients diagnosed with acute stress disorder (ASD) after experiencing a traffic accident or violent attack, within one month after the traumatic event and six months later. Half of the participants met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after six months. Psychophysiological parameters can provide a better clarification between ASD and PTSD patients. Heightened startle magnitude in the immediate aftermath of trauma may be a good predictor of PTSD; moreover, a lack of startle habituation appears to be a more stable marker of PTSD, which persists for six months after trauma exposure.
Virtual Reality Exposure in Patients with Eating Disorders: Influence of Symptom Severity and Presence
Authors: Ferrer-Garcia Marta  , Gutierrez-Maldonado Jose
Published: February 2025

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of several modulating variables on subjective discomfort experienced by patients with eating disorders while exposed to virtual environments that were emotionally significant for them. Severity of symptoms and sense of presence were analyzed. Both variables influenced the level of subjective discomfort during the exposure to virtual environments.
Virtual Reality to Study Responses to Social Environmental Stressors in Individuals With and Without Psychosis
Authors: Brinkman Willem-Paul  , Veling Wim  , Dorrestijn Emily  , Sandino Guntur  , Vakili Vanessa  , van der Gaag Mark
Published: February 2025

A Virtual Reality (VR) environment was created to study psychotic symptoms in patients and non-patients. Participants' task was to find five virtual characters that each had a small number label on his or her chest. The density and ethnic appearance of the virtual characters in the bar was controlled. For a non-patient group (N=24), results showed a significant main effect for density on participants' physiological responses, their behavior, reported level of discomfort, and their ability to remember place and location of the numbered avatars. The avatar's ethnicity had a significant effect on non-patients' physiological responses. Comparison between two patients and non-patient group showed differences in physiological responses, behavior and reported level of discomfort.
Variation of Hydrodynamic Forces and Moments on Offshore Piles in the Niger Delta
Authors: Akpila S.B.  , Ejezie S.U.
Published: February 2025

The variation of hydrodynamic forces and moments on different circular pile sections of 1.0 to 2.0 m diameters in the offshore Niger Delta Environment has been investigated. Available meteorological and oceanographic data were used to obtain wave characteristics. Inertia coefficient, cm and drag coefficient, cd were obtained from Reynolds number, Re, while maximum inertia force, kim, maximum drag force, kDm, maximum inertia moment, Sim and maximum drag moment, SDm were evaluated from standard charts. The revealed variation of hydrodynamic forces and moments with pile diameter showed that the horizontal forces and moments increase as pile diameter and wave height increase. Drag dominated forces and moments were obtained for wave heights greater than 3m.
Some Engineering Properties of Fine and Coarse Grained Soil Before and After Dynamic Compaction
Authors: Harrison Brian  , Blom Eben
Published: February 2025

Over the last 50 years Dynamic Compaction (DC) has been used extensively as a soil improvement technique to densify a range of soil types and fills over considerable depth. The efficacy of the technique is frequently determined by means of in-situ penetrometer and large diameter plate load tests. This paper presents the results of a range of in-situ and laboratory tests for two sites underlain by fine and coarse grained soils, both before and after treatment with DC.
Characterization of Granular and Bitumen Stabilised Materials using Triaxial Testing
Authors: Jenkins Kim  , Mulusa William
Published: February 2025

In pavement engineering, there is a need for improved methods of characterisation of materials. This would contribute to improved mix design, pavement design and quality control of the materials. In particular, granular and bitumen stabilised materials (BSMs) need for more reliable testing procedures than CBR, UCS and ITS tests for the characterisation and QA/QC (with bitumen and emulsion binders, has long been recognised by the roads industry. Granular materials and BSMs incorporating either foamed bitumen or emulsion can be viewed in the same light because of similarities in their behaviour i.e. stress dependency and shear resistance.
Appropriate Engineering Solutions for Rural Roads in Mozambique
Authors: Fernandes Luis  , Simoes Irene
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the National Road Administration (ANE) Strategy for upgrading of Rural Roads in Mozambique, with the use of durable and definitive engineering solutions, for the provision of low-volume roads with special emphasis on the use of locally available materials and application of appropriate surfacings. The main aim of this programme is the development of documentation which includes a Guideline on Specifications and Work norms for Low-Volume Roads. The paper gives information on what has been trialled up to now and the expected outputs and outcomes.
Preliminary Studies on the Utilization of Sand Treated With Emulsion
Authors: Fernandes Luis  , Simoes Irene  , Tayob Hilário
Published: February 2025

The objective of this paper is to present the preliminary studies undertaken to perform an appropriate mix and structural design of sands treated with emulsion. Its intention that the models developed in this study will be validated and provide an interim guideline for the design of emulsion treated sands as pavement layers, knowing that the main purpose of structural design is to obtain an objective rational estimate of the capacity of the pavement, with a certain level of confidence, to provide an acceptable service level without major structural distresses. For that purpose a project has been commissioned under the Rural Road Investment Programme (RRIP) where the use of emulsion is being trialled and researched for future use in low volume roads.
Geotechnical characteristics of the Portuguese Triassic mudstones
Authors: Quinta-Ferreira Mário
Published: February 2025

The Portuguese Triassic mudstones show frequently severe geotechnical problems, changing very rapidly from a soft rock to a soil, when decompressed and in the presence of water. They are an unusual soft rock, without expansive clays, extremely weatherable after wetting, due to the very fine equidimensional network of pores, developing high capillary stress. The water turns this soft rock into a muddy soil. The more problematic situations are related to foundations and slopes following intense rainfall.
Site Selection of the Mathemele Landfill
Authors: Quadros Carlos  , Mindo Ivan
Published: February 2025

Both Maputo and Matola Cities do not have a properly designed landfill, however there are several waste disposal sites in use that are environmentally unacceptable. The proposed solution is to develop the first municipal landfill at Mathemele, located at the border between Maputo and Matola. The Site is underlain by deposits of the Congolote formation. The upper 18 m of this formation is made of fine to medium sand, and the ground water level varies between 13 to 15.5 m, conditions that are favorable to the construction of a landfill. The presentation is based on field work, physical modeling of the ground and the waste management principles adopted and aims at providing inputs for the design of the Mathemele landfill. The only landfill to date in Mozambique that could be considered as environmental friendly is the Mavoco landfill for hazardous waste.
Équations et Exemple de Calcul Hydrique dans les Sols Non Saturés
Authors: Zadjaoui Abdeldjalil
Published: February 2025

Cet article présente un modèle numérique en éléments finis construit sur la base des équations de la consolidation des milieux poreux élastoplastiques non saturés. Ce modèle a été programmé dans le code de calcul TFAP (Transient Flow Analysis Program). Les équations du modèle tiennent compte de l'interaction des déformations du squelette, des écoulements de l'eau et de l'air ainsi que des mouvements de l'air dissous dans l'eau. La résolution numérique de ces équations associe la méthode des éléments finis pour discrétiser l'espace et un schéma d'intégration implicite pour discrétiser le temps. Les déformations du squelette sont décrites selon l'approche des variables indépendantes. Une application est décrite en détail et l'auteur donne les conclusions relatives à ce travail.
Processus de la consolidation des sols peu cohérents saturés
Authors: Diane Mohamed Salou  , Diane Salou
Published: February 2025

L'étude du processus de la consolidation des sols peu cohérents saturés sous l'action des charges dynamiques est dictée par le développement intense de la construction des ouvrages civils et industriels sur des sites récupérés, le plus souvent, par remblayage hydraulique. L'étude a permis de résoudre les problèmes plans de la consolidation du sol totalement liquéfié contenant des sous-couches de sols peu perméables non liquéfiés et de sols à couches multiples totalement liquéfiés.
A Survey on the Application of Conceptualisations in Energy Systems Modelling
Authors: Keirstead James  , van Dam Koen H.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a study on the conceptualisations of energy systems which are used in computer modelling. A survey was designed and executed, containing questions about the type of energy systems, the scope of the problem, spatial and temporal dimensions of the work as well as software tools, specific conceptualisations and the difficulty of obtaining data. 50 responses were received, with people from a wide range of backgrounds and working on different types of problems. Key results show that almost all respondents use computer models and that the overall majority of them wrote or customised their own tools and models, which are generally complex and take weeks to months for a new user to become familiar with. More than two-thirds of the respondents claimed that it is either difficult or very difficult to collect the right data and a majority is willing to share input data as well as outcomes of the studies. However, only about half of them indicated that they currently use any shared conceptualisations or ontologies in their work. Analysis of the data reveals that researchers find data collection difficult in almost all circumstances and therefore if a common ontology facilitated easier data access, it could be widely applicable. From the results, we can confirm our hypothesis that there is not yet one widely used conceptualisation for energy systems, and it does not seem likely that a one-size-fits-all solution can be developed. Nevertheless the idea of a generic middle-layer ontology for energy systems, taking into account the standards that people already use in their work, could prove useful to link more detailed schemas and future work will explore how this can be achieved to benefit the larger community.
Towards a Formal Account of Similarity and Family Resemblance for Technical Functions
Authors: Carrara Massimiliano  , Morato Vittorio
Published: February 2025

According to [5], the best way to formalize the notion of technical function is to treat such a notion as a family resemblance concept. A family resemblance concept (the term is due to L. Wittgenstein) is characterized and understood in terms of a network of similarity relations that link the various members of the class. Essential to an analysis of the notion of family resemblance is therefore a rigorous definition of the notion of similarity. We present two of the most authoritative formal approaches to similarity, the geometrical model and feature matching model, and we discuss the prospects of applying such models to the case of technical functions.
Electronic Medical Record Information System for Patient Consultations in Chinese Medicine
Authors: Bjering Heidi  , Ginige Athula  , Maeder Anthony  , Bensoussan Alan  , Zhu Xiaoshu  , Lattuca Charles
Published: February 2025

Currently there are no widely used systems to electronically record individual patient consultations with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners. As TCM practice differs significantly from western medicine both in diagnosis and treatment, using information systems created for western medicine is not suitable. There is a need for information systems developed specifically for TCM practitioners to manage patient consultation and treatments. Such system should be designed to facilitate safe and effective practice by providing decision support, utilising existing knowledge such as known herb-drug interactions to signal safety risks. Utilising current and developing standards and vocabularies such as those developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is important to facilitate interoperability with other systems. To facilitate continued growth in consumer demand, this type of system should be compatible with the needs of the individual electronic health records and other medical systems, and provide interfaces to external systems such as Medicare, pathology and radiology systems, and insurance systems. This paper presents the high level design of a patient consultation system for TCM practitioners that addresses the individual practitioner's needs for health records entry, storage, retrieval, display and support in managing health care delivery to patients and be part of Australia's emerging e-health system.
Vision-Based Detection of Unusual Patient Activity
Authors: Borges Paulo Vinicius Koerich  , Nourani-Vatani Navid
Published: February 2025

Automated patient monitoring in hospital environments has gained increased attention in the last decade. An important problem is that of behaviour analysis of psychiatric patients, where adequate monitoring can minimise the risk of harm to hospital staff, property and to the patients themselves. For this task, we perform a preliminary investigation on visual-based patient monitoring using surveillance cameras. The proposed method uses statistics of optical flow vectors extracted from the patient movements to identify dangerous behaviour. In addition, the method also performs foreground segmentation followed by blob tracking in order to extract shape and temporal characteristics of blobs. Dangerous behaviour includes attempting to break out of safe-rooms, self-harm and fighting. The features considered include a temporal and multi-resolution analysis of blob coarseness, blob area, movement speed and position in the room. This information can also be used to normalise the other features according to estimated position of the patient in the room. In this preliminary study, experiments in a real hospital scenario illustrate the potential applicability of the method.
Laboratory tests of footing supported on geotextile-reinforced sand under repeated loading
Authors: Moghaddas Tafreshi S.N.  , Dawson A.R.
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the results of laboratory model tests performed on strip footings supported on unreinforced and geotextile-reinforced sand bed under a combination of static and repeated loads. Footing settlement due to initial static applied load and up to 20000 subsequent load repetitions was recorded, until its value become stable or failure occurred due to excessive settlement. The response under the first few cycles was found to be a significant behavioral characteristic of footings under repeated loads. The influence of various amplitudes of repeated load on foundation and different numbers of geotextile layers below the footing base on dynamic behaviour of footing were investigated. Footing settlement patterns due to repeated loading of reinforced sand are found to be comparable with increases in the numbers of geotextile layers reducing the magnitude of the final settlement and usually acting as a settlement retardant against the effects of repeated loading. The reinforcement's efficiency in reducing the maximum footing settlement decreased as numbers of geotextile layers was increased.
Requirements for the foundation of gravity dams in border-line terrains
Authors: Romana M.
Published: February 2025

The requirements for the foundation of concrete dams are, commonly, expressed in qualitative form, without translation into quantitative measurable magnitudes of geotechnical parameters. Most authors ask for sound rock as a requisite for concrete dams foundations. Actually many CVC and RCC dams have to be founded in less sound rock, even in border-line terrains. Several rock mass parameters are considered as foundation referents: weathering state (ISRM scale), longitudinal velocity (celerity) of the terrain, rock mass deformation modulus, geomechanics classifications (RMR, DMR). Through the revision of a number of cases of CVC and RCC gravity dams (with satisfactory or unsatisfactory service behaviours) the paper examines the possible minimum requirements to be demanded from the foundations to be able to build a safe gravity dam. The case for hardfill dams is also considered
Analyse en retour de soutènements butonnés dans les molasses toulousaines
Authors: Emeriault F.  , Zghondi J.  , Kastner R.
Published: February 2025

Cette communication présente une méthode d'analyse en retour par éléments finis, et son application d'une part à une expérimentation sur modèle réduit, et d'autre part au cas d'une paroi butonnée mise en place dans un sol très surconsolidé instrumentée à l'aide de tubes inclinométriques et d'extensomètres à cordes vibrantes. Le modèle de type «élastique linéaire – Mohr Coulomb »(MC) est comparé au modèle «Hardening Soil»(HSM) qui permet une bonne description de la non-linéarité du comportement des sols. En se basant sur des indicateurs prenant en compte les efforts dans les butons, les moments fléchissant et la déformée de la paroi, on montre que :
Observations of anomalies in diaphragm walls for deep tunnel excavations
Authors: Maekelberg W.  , De Clercq E.  , Maertens J.
Published: February 2025

By assignment of the Belgian railway company, INFRABEL n.v., diaphragm walls are used for two major tunnel projects, the Diabolo-project and the Liefkenshoek tunnel. These diaphragm walls are permanent constructions retraining a certain water pressure and having a thickness up to 1.50m. The excavation depths are between 5 and 22m and the diaphragm walls are founded at a depth of 32m. During the excavation, some major anomalies in the diaphragm walls occurred such as bentonite/sand inclusions and inadequate concrete cover. These anomalies have been investigated.
Block-in-matrix structure – tunneling in hard soil and/or weak rock
Authors: Adam D.  , Markiewicz R.  , Brunner M.
Published: February 2025

The city bypass tunnel of Waidhofen an der Ybbs (Austria) is situated in an intricate geological-geotechnical complex consisting of soil, hard soil, weak rock and solid rock. Marls and marly limestone (Waidhofener formation) predominate followed by tectonic breccia of the Alpine cliff zone, which is a tectonic melange zone. Materials of this kind universally have isolated interior blocks (shaded areas) embedded in a matrix (blank area) called “block-in-matrix” requiring a particular characterization of the mechanical rock mass properties. The complex geological and morphological situation required the application of various tunneling methods including open cuts, cut-and-cover sections and the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). During construction in creeping slopes increased movements were triggered, which required the installation of a sophisticated monitoring system. On the basis of monitoring data and additional ground investigations structural measures were assessed that enabled safe tunneling in the creeping slope.
Rock reinforcement in squeezing weak rocks
Authors: Li C.C.
Published: February 2025

The deformation characteristics of weak rocks are presented through a few case studies. Field measurements of rock deformation are then presented aiming to outline the size of the failure zone as well as the rock deformation in the immediate wall/roof rocks. The cores taken from a hole drilled in a deep mine drift is studied in detail. RQD logging of the cores indicates the existence of a natural pressure arch in the country rock surrounding the drift. The principles of rock support are then discussed. In squeezing rock conditions, the failure zone would extend beyond the length of rock bolt in case of high in-situ rock stresses. In this case systematic bolting should be carried out to establish an artificial pressure arch in the failure zone. Energy-absorbing support elements should be used in the support systems for squeezing rocks. A new energy-absorbing rock bolt, the D-bolt, is briefly introduced in the end of the paper.
Dynamic behavior of a softer layer overlying hard soil / bedrock and vibration reduction
Authors: Kellezi L.
Published: February 2025

For new buildings constructed on layered soil conditions and located near heavy traffic or industrial areas, ground vibrations are more and more an issue of concern. Considering different soil conditions the two-layer soil system consisting of a softer layer overlying a stronger one or hard soil is often a realistic approximation for geotechnical engineering design. A numerical investigation on the dynamics of this two-layer soil system is carried out using finite element (FE) method. Transient analysis is applied employing implicit time integration and incorporating an absorbing boundary formulation to simulate radiation damping at infinity. The dynamic stiffness of a single footing resting on this two-layer soil system is also investigated by Echo Models, which represent an alternative to the rigorous approaches. Based on the dynamic of the foundation - two layer soil system interactions the affectivity of the design of a mitigation measure for environment vibration is presented. Numerical examples highlight the efficiency of the method in reducing ground vibrations.
Mesures en grand pour essais en faibles perméabilités
Authors: Massonnet R.
Published: February 2025

Le stockage des déchets nécessite de connaître la perméabilité des sols de confinement. Il s'agit de faibles perméabilités inférieures à 10−7m/s. Les sols ne sont pas homogènes et comportent des strates de perméabilités différentes de celle en masse. L'idée est d'intéresser un grand volume de sol, et de mesurer la propagation d'écoulement de l'eau à des distances et directions différentes. Pour cela, on mesure en continue, la différence de potentiel sous intensité constante, entre une injection d'eau et différentes tiges métalliques. Le dispositif consiste en une poche soumise à injection d'eau sous pression fixée et en tiges en bronze foncées à des distances et directions variables, au niveau de cette poche. Des câbles électriques remontent en surface en aplomb de chaque tige. On mesure la tension U0entre la poche d'injection et les différentes tiges en bronze sous courant alternatif constant. A partir du temps t0de l'injection d'eau, les différences de potentiel entre les différents points sont enregistrées. On note pour chaque tige, le rapport U/U0= E qui varie donc de 1 à 0 en fonction du temps. Les équations de propagations hydrauliques et électriques permettent, pour une poche d'injection donnée de définir à la fois E = f(t) et E = g(r) pour k/n donné, k étant la perméabilité et n la porosité efficace. On obtient ainsi la perméabilité en masse, mais aussi la cartographie du front d'eau. Un exemple d'application sur un voile d'injection de protection d'un stockage enterré sera présenté en détail.
Intesa-San Paolo Tower in Turin – Geotechnical issues
Authors: Gasparre A.  , St. John H.D.  , Jamiolkowski M.  , Rocchi G.
Published: February 2025

The building comprises a 200 metre tall tower and 20 metre deep basement in a densely developed urban area. The tower has a steel frame closed by glass panels. The vertical loads are transmitted to the ground by six mega-columns and by a core in the central area. The lateral load restraint is provided by a permanent slab placed according to the top-down method. This paper discusses the geotechnical issues associated with the project and the ground investigation carried out to assess both the variability of the underlying soils and the parameters for design. The large amount of information on ground conditions around the site at shallow depths was integrated with a site-specific investigation that reached depths of 80 metres. Soil parameters were extrapolated from cross-hole tests, which were carried out with two boreholes and from the measurements of the mechanical energy, pressures and torque (PAPERO tests) during drilling. The groundwater water level was found at approximately 20 metres depth. The information provided by the ground investigation allowed the design of the retaining wall and the foundation system and the selection of a construction technique that accounted for the urban context.
A new concept to identify and characterize active clays
Authors: Stanciu A.  , Lungu I.  , Ciobanita L.  , Aniculaesi M.
Published: February 2025

The paper proposes to geotechnical engineers a new concept to identify active clays based on the meaning of a graphical representation – the soil chart – originated from a Romanian Standard, that unifies the Casagrande's chart (LL-PI), the Skempton's chart (IA) with the granulometric curve of the investigated soil. The normalized area of the soil chart An= f(LL; PI; IA;P90;A2μ) is considered a composite indicator of the soil swelling-contraction potential. Thus, a new index is proposed, based on a similar structure with the soil liquidity index (IL=1-IC) to estimate the soil swelling-contraction potential, as the activity coefficient. This one correlates the normalized areas of the soil chart for two clays developing extreme behaviour, kaolinitic clay (AnC) and montmorillonitic clay respectively (AnM), with the normalized area of the investigated soil (AnO), resulting in the activity coefficient (CA). This new and original concept has been calibrated by laboratory tests using kaolinitic and montmorillonitic clays from Romania and as the investigated soil, and active clay present in the flat area of the Bahlui River, frequently found as the foundation soil in Iasi city and county. The obtained results compared with the other indices ( UL; IA; A2μ; Cp; ws; Cv, w15; qmax; pu) presented in the corresponding literature are considered relevant and useful to acknowledge the activity coefficient (CA) as a new physical parameter integrating all the other classical ones, that characterizes the intensity of the swelling-contraction phenomena anticipated during the geotechnical design on construction sites on active clays.
Investigation of interdependence of map and distract represented on it at engineering – geological researches in construction
Authors: Shokarev V.S.  , Shokarev A.S.  , Solonetz A.K  , Zhusupbekov A.
Published: February 2025

The revealing technique for detecting fractured zones in rocky massif is developed. Scheduled positions of fractured zones marked on map and directly on locality, determined with use of biolocation effect, were identical. Results, which were received with use of biolocation methods, have confirmed with devices, geophysical researches and scientific experimental works on cementation detected of fractured zones
Interpretation of axial load tests for bored piles penetrating soft rocks
Authors: Ciortan R.  , Manea S.  , Tsitsas G.
Published: February 2025

Axial load tests performed during the construction of the deep foundations have demonstrated the significant effect of the pile penetration into the degraded bedrock for both end bearing and skin friction capacities.
Flexural effects in dynamic determination of pile capacity
Authors: Holeyman A.  , Allani M.
Published: February 2025

The flexural vibration of piles during dynamic tests have to be investigated carefully. In this paper, we present two large scale case histories of high strain dynamic pile testing where eccentric impacts where generated. First, dynamic measured signals are presented to show the different quantities relationships (force, velovity, bending moment, and angular velocity). Then, flexural effects on the dynamic pile capacity are determined by wave reflexions.
Towards a Metadata Registry for evaluating Augmented Medical Interventions
Authors: Silvent Anne-Sophie  , Moreau-Gaudry Alexandre  , Cinquin Philippe
Published: February 2025

Quality evaluation in the field of Augmented Surgery is strategic for public health policies. It implies to be able to effectively perform evaluation of Quality in term of Expected Medical Benefit (EMB). The notion of EMB is complex and not standardized in this field. To define and to evaluate EMB, it is necessary to discover the knowledge on the domain targeted by the device and to structure it. This paper presents first parts of this work. Focused on navigated knee surgery, it led us to obtain two main results: the identification of a new criterion for evaluating EMB obtained thanks to the formalization of a new kind of metadata. These encouraging results seem to offer new perspectives for the evaluation of devices from the field of augmented surgery.
Medical Providers' Dental Information Needs: a Baseline Survey
Authors: Acharya Amit  , Mahnke Andrea  , Chyou Po-Huang  , Rottscheit Carla  , Starren Justin B.
Published: February 2025

Articulation of medical and dental practices has been strongly called for based on the many oral-systemic connections. With the rapid development and adoption of electronic health records, the feasibility of integrating medical and dental patient data should be strongly considered. The objective of this study was to develop an initial understanding of the medical providers' core dental information needs and opinion of integrated medical-dental electronic health record (iEHR) environment in their workflow. This was achieved by administering a 13 question survey to a group of 1,197 medical care providers employed by Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, United States. The survey received a response rate of 35%. The responses were analyzed based on provider ‘Role’ and ‘Specialty’. The majority of the respondents felt the need for patient's dental information to coordinate or provide effective medical care. An integrated electronic health record environment could facilitate this holistic patient care approach.
Innovation in Intensive Care Nursing Work Practices with PACS
Authors: Creswick Nerida  , Hains Isla M.  , Westbrook Johanna I.
Published: February 2025

Doctors are the main users of x-rays and other medical images in hospitals and as such picture archive and communication systems (PACS) have been designed to improve their work processes and clinical care by providing them with faster access to images. Nurses working in intensive care units (ICUs) also access images as an integral part of their work, yet no studies have examined the impact of PACS on the work of intensive care nurses. Our study aimed to examine whether and how ICU nurses view and use images and whether access to PACS promotes innovation in work practices. We interviewed (n=49) and observed (n=23) nurses in three Australian metropolitan teaching hospital ICUs with varying degrees of PACS implementation. Our study found that nurses with access to PACS were able to independently and easily access images, did so more frequently when required, and perceived that this had the potential to positively impact upon patient safety. Those without PACS usually viewed images more traditionally as part of a ward round. The introduction of PACS to ICU settings promotes changes in nursing work practices by providing nurses with the ability to act more autonomously, with the potential to enhance patient care.
Personal Health Information on Display: Balancing Needs, Usability and Legislative Requirements
Authors: Gjære Erlend Andreas  , Tøndel Inger Anne  , Line Maria B.  , Andresen Herbjørn  , Toussaint Pieter
Published: February 2025

Large wall-mounted screens placed at locations where health personnel
Emotions and Personal Health Information Management: some Implications for Design
Authors: Piras Enrico Maria  , Zanutto Alberto
Published: February 2025

This work reflects on the translation of a paper-based information system into an electronic one, taking account of the emotional dimension of material artifacts. A qualitative analysis carried out through semi-structured interviews enabled us to describe laypeople's healthcare practices, and specifically the use of “ pediatric booklets”, which are paper health diaries designed to provide parents with a repository of the most relevant clinical data about their children. Our analysis reveals that parents' use of the booklet does not depend only on the clinical relevance of the information contained in it. Its success rather depends on practices that reshape the booklet's original meaning. In particular, parents use booklets as containers for other clinical records, and they consider them more as objects of affection and symbols of their caring for their children than as clinical tools with instrumental value in themselves. In the discussion we consider the risks of dematerializing health information tools by underestimating the relevance of the emotional side.The present article is an entirely collaborative effort by two authors. If, however, for academic reasons individual responsibility is to be assigned, Enrico Maria Piras wrote Introduction and Results, Alberto Zanutto wrote Methods and Discussion.
Web 2.0 in Healthcare: State-of-the-Art in the German Health Insurance Landscape
Authors: Kuehne Mirko  , Blinn Nadine  , Rosenkranz Christoph  , Nuettgens Markus
Published: February 2025

The Internet is increasingly used as a source for information and knowledge. Even in the field of healthcare, information is widely available. Patients and their relatives increasingly use the Internet in order to search for healthcare information and applications. “Health 2.0” – the increasing use of Web 2.0 technologies and tools in Electronic Healthcare – promises new ways of interaction, communication, and participation for healthcare. In order to explore how Web 2.0 applications are in general adopted and implemented by health information providers, we analysed the websites of all German health insurances companies regarding their provision of Web 2.0 applications. As health insurances play a highly relevant role in the German healthcare system, we conduct an exploratory survey in order to provide answers about the adoption and implementation of Web 2.0 technologies. Hence, all 198 private and public health insurances were analysed according to their websites. The results show a wide spread diffusion of Web 2.0 applications but also huge differences between the implementation by the respective insurances. Therefore, our findings provide a foundation for further research on aspects that drive the adoption.
A Standard Based Approach for Biomedical Knowledge Representation
Authors: Farkash Ariel  , Neuvirth Hani  , Goldschmidt Yaara  , Conti Costanza  , Rizzi Federica  , Bianchi Stefano  , Salvi Erika  , Cusi Daniele  , Shabo Amnon
Published: February 2025

The new generation of health information standards, where the syntax and semantics of the content is explicitly formalized, allows for interoperability in healthcare scenarios and analysis in clinical research settings. Studies involving clinical and genomic data include accumulating knowledge as relationships between genotypic and phenotypic information as well as associations within the genomic and clinical worlds. Some involve analysis results targeted at a specific disease; others are of a predictive nature specific to a patient and may be used by decision support applications. Representing knowledge is as important as representing data since data is more useful when coupled with relevant knowledge. Any further analysis and cross-research collaboration would benefit from persisting knowledge and data in a unified way. This paper describes a methodology used in Hypergenes, an EC FP7 project targeting Essential Hypertension, which captures data and knowledge using standards such as HL7 CDA and Clinical Genomics, aligned with the CEN EHR 13606 specification. We demonstrate the benefits of such an approach for clinical research as well as in healthcare oriented scenarios.